KR20040061212A - cenesthesic game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A physical interactive game device is provided to make a user to more feel as if it were real by detecting the operation trace or position of game tools and reflecting the same in the game. CONSTITUTION: The physical interactive game device comprises a movement input unit being moved within the three-dimensional space by a gamer for outputting a movement trace and a movement acceleration signal as a wireless signal; wireless sensing units(215l,215r) positioned in an appropriate place in a game device body to have a capture range which is peculiar to the wireless signal; a controlling unit for determining the movement trace and position and the movement acceleration signal of the movement input unit by the sensing signal provided in the wireless sensing unit and for reflecting the same on the game screen; and a monitor for displaying the game screen provided by the controlling unit.

Description

Sensory game apparatus

The present invention relates to a haptic game device, and more particularly, to a haptic game device that enables a more realistic game by detecting and reflecting a motion trajectory or position of a game tool in a game.

Recently, a haptic game device has been developed and used that allows a player to play a game while performing the same motion as in a real game. Among these immersive game devices, when a player takes the same action as in a real game using a game tool such as a bat, a ball or a racket, a haptic game device that changes the ball character on the monitor according to the movement of the game tool is also used. It is proposed. Hereinafter, a description will be given taking a table tennis game as an example of a tangible ball game device.

1 is an external configuration diagram according to an example of a conventional haptic ball game device, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed on a monitor in the game device of FIG. 1. It is disclosed in detail. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the conventional tangible ping pong game device 100 includes a game machine 12, a monitor 18, and an AV cable 20 which connects both of them. The game machine 12 is provided with a direct current power source by the AC adapter 14, but a battery 15 may be used instead.

The game machine 12 includes a housing, on which a power switch 22 is provided and two operation keys 24 'and 26 are provided. The selection key 24 'may be made of, for example, an up and down key, which is used to move the cursor when selecting a menu, and the decision key 26 may be used to determine an input to the game machine 12. The game machine 12 is also equipped with an infrared light receiving unit 30 ', which receives infrared signals from the infrared LEDs 34 of the two racket-type input devices 80. The racket-type input device 80 may also be provided with a sub-switch 82, which is operated when hitting the sub.

The racket type input device 80 is provided with an acceleration sensor made of a piezoelectric buzzer (not shown) or the like, and the game machine 12 receives the acceleration signal from the acceleration sensor and displays a ball on the game screen shown in FIG. 2 (a43). Gives a change. In Fig. 2, reference numerals a491 and a492 denote player characters, a50 and a51 denote net characters and ping-pong table characters, and a521 and a522 denote score display units that display game scores.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the game device of FIG. 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the racket type input device 80 of the conventional tangible ping pong game device is provided with the acceleration sensor 56 as described above, and the voltage signal from the acceleration sensor 56 is controlled. A microprocessor unit (MCU) 84 is provided. The MCU 84 converts or digitally modulates the acceleration correlation voltage signal from the acceleration sensor 56 into a digital signal and provides it to the infrared LED 34. The digitally modulated infrared signal from the infrared LED 34 of each of the two racket-type input devices 80 is received or digitally demodulated by the infrared light receiving portion 30 'of the game machine 12 and input to the game processor 40. One bit of this digital signal is transmitted as " 1 " or " 0 " in accordance with the switch 82 on or off, so the game processor 40 checks the bit to determine which game player the sub was from. Can be determined.

In the conventional tangible ping pong game device 100 having the above-described configuration, the game machine 12, that is, the game processor 40 receives acceleration data included in infrared signals from two racket-type input devices 80, When the moving speed of the racket-type input device 80 is obtained and it reaches a peak, the moving parameter of the ball a43 is determined, and the ball a43 is moved on the game screen according to the parameter. Reference numeral 44 in the drawing represents a memory.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the racket-type input device is shaken in the game device of FIG. 1, thereby detecting the moving speed of the racket-type input device 80 and returning the ball a43. . First, in step S21 the game processor 40 resets the movement speed value of the racket-type input device 80 held in the movement speed register (not shown) formed in the internal memory 44. Thereafter, the game processor 40 inputs the movement speed obtained by a predetermined method, and determines whether the input movement speed is "0", that is, whether the player shakes the racket-type input device 80. do. Here, if the player shakes the racket-type input device 80, the moving speed is not "0". Therefore, the flow advances to step S23. When the moving speed is "0", the flow advances to step S25.

In step S23, the game processor 40 determines whether or not the moving speed input in step S22 is smaller than the holding value held in the moving speed register (moving speed <hold value). Since the moving speed gradually increases at the beginning of the swing of the racket-type input device 80, 'NO' is determined in this step S23. Therefore, the game processor 40 replaces the holding value of the moving speed register with the moving speed at that time, that is, updates the holding value of the moving speed.

On the other hand, if the swing of the racket-type input device 80 proceeds, the moving speed becomes faster and then decreases after reaching the peak. As a result, in step S23, it is determined whether the moving speed of the racket-type input device 80 reaches the peak. You can judge. Subsequently, the game processor 40 determines whether the ball a43 reaches the hemisphere limit position, which is determined by the inward direction position of the ball a43 in the game screen (graphics processor). Can be performed by detecting whether or not it has moved to the position assumed as the hemisphere limit.

Here, the fact that 'YES' has not been determined in step S23 until the ball a43 reaches the hemisphere limit position is reached when the ball a43 has been returned or subtracted by the opponent player to reach the hemisphere limit position. This means that the peak of the moving speed could not be detected. In other words, the swing timing of the racket type input device 80 by the game player did not match the movement timing of the ball a43, and the ball a43 swinged after reaching the hemisphere limit position. The game processor 40 judges that it is "hut swing." However, when the movement speed is "0" in step S22, it means that the racket-type input device 80 has not been swinged. In this case, the game processor 40 has a table tennis table a51 at the arrival position of the ball a43. Depending on whether or not), out or safe is determined.

As described above, steps S22 to S24 are repeatedly executed until the ball a43 reaches the hemisphere limit position. If YES is determined in step S23 in this process, the swing of the racket-type input device 80 is entered. Means that the moving speed has reached the peak. In this case, in step S26, the game processor 40 returns to the racket by the moving speed at that time, the position (course) and timing of the ball a43, that is, the moving speed and direction in the reverse direction of the ball a43. After determining the parameters, the ball a43 is moved accordingly.

As described above, according to the conventional tangible ball game device, since the game is operated by operating a game tool similar to the actual tool, it can be seen that the haptic satisfaction is significantly improved compared to the game by the button operation before that. However, according to the conventional tangible ball game device, since the game is played only by the speed and timing of the game tool that the player wields, there is a problem that the game becomes simple and does not attract great interest.

In particular, the movement paths for the game equipment, that is, the trajectory of the player's swing of the game equipment, are often unknown, resulting in a game result that is far from the actual movement of the game equipment, and thus results in halting the interest of the game. There is a problem in that it is not possible to provide a screen with a realistic feeling in which position and speed are expressed using 3D graphics technology.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a haptic game device that enables a more realistic game by detecting and reflecting the motion trajectory or position of the game equipment to the game.

The haptic game device of the present invention for achieving the above object is moved by a player in a three-dimensional space, the movement input means for outputting a movement trajectory and a movement acceleration signal as a wireless signal; At least two wireless sensing means installed in place of the main body of the game machine to have a unique capture range for the wireless signal; A control means for determining the movement trajectory, the position and the acceleration of the movement input means based on the sensing signal provided by the wireless sensing means, and reflecting it on the game screen; and a monitor for displaying the game screen provided by the control means. Is done.

1 is an appearance configuration diagram according to an example of a conventional haptic game device;

2 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed on a monitor in the game device of FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the game device of FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the racket-type input device is shaken in the game device of FIG. 1;

Figure 5 is a perspective photo showing the appearance of a haptic table tennis game device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

6 is an exemplary view of a three-dimensional stereoscopic screen displayed through a monitor in the haptic table tennis game device of the present invention;

7 is an electrical block diagram of a tangible ping pong game device according to the present invention;

8A and 8B show the capturing range from the front and the plane in the case where two light receiving sensors are adopted in the tangible table tennis game apparatus of the present invention, respectively;

9 is a front view showing a capture range in the case of adopting four light receiving sensors in the haptic game device of the present invention;

10 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the haptic game device of the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

200: table tennis game machine, 210: main body,

211: space holder, 212: monitor,

212a: player character, 212b: table tennis character,

212c: net character, 212d: ball character,

213: operation button, 214: coin inlet,

215: light receiving sensor, 215l: left light receiving sensor,

215r: Right light receiver, 215ul: Left light receiver,

215ur: upper right receiver, 215ll: lower left receiver

215lr: Right bottom light sensor,

220: racket,

221: light emitting element, 222: racket control unit,

223: power supply unit, 224: acceleration detection unit,

225: key input unit, 226: carrier generation / modulation unit,

227: light emitting element driver, 300: main body control unit,

302: key input section 304: left demodulation section,

306: right demodulator, 310: coin input detector,

312: monitor driver, 314: monitor,

316: speaker drive unit, 318: speaker,

320: program storage unit, 322: data storage unit

Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of the haptic game device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 5 is a perspective photograph showing the appearance of the tangible ping pong game device of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an exemplary view of a three-dimensional stereoscopic screen displayed through a monitor in the tangible ping pong game device of the present invention. 5 and 6, in the tangible ping pong game apparatus 200 of the present invention, the game machine main body 210 and the player's holding and swinging racket 220 is formed. In the center of the game machine main body 210, a game-related image, that is, a game player 212a, a table tennis table 212b, a net 212c and a ball 212d, is combined with a background and displays a monitor 212 that is displayed in three dimensions. In addition, an operation button 213 for inputting or selecting various items related to a game is arranged on a main body under the monitor 212. A light receiving sensor 215 for receiving an infrared signal emitted from the racket 220 may be disposed at both sides of the body 210, for example, the operation button 213. The light receiving sensor 215 may further increase the number of the light receiving sensors 215 to more accurately calculate the trajectory or position of the racket 220. For example, when the four light receiving sensors are adopted, the other two light receiving sensors may be used. It may be placed on both sides of the game console main body near the top of the monitor screen.

On the other hand, in front of the game machine main body 210, a spacing holder 211 that guides the player to play the game appropriately away from the game machine main body 210 in consideration of the light receiving range of the light receiving sensor 215, that is, the capture range is placed. It is. In addition, it is preferable to mark the floor of the game hall with a guide mark for guiding the position of the player's foot in consideration of the capture range of the light receiving sensor 215. Although not shown, a control circuit for controlling the overall operation of the game machine is mounted in place of the game machine body 210, for example, inside the game machine body 210. In the drawing, reference numeral 214 denotes a coin inlet.

Next, the racket 220 may be configured in a size and shape similar to those of a conventional table tennis racket, and at least one or more, and preferably two, infrared light emitting elements 221 may be exposed on both sides of the racket 200. And other sub buttons (not shown) may be provided. In addition, such a racket 220 may be connected to a hollow spiral cable (not shown) in place of the main body of the game machine 210 to prevent loss. In this case, as the operating power of the racket 200, an independent battery such as a battery may be used, or a power source provided by the game console main body 210 may be used. The line may be configured to penetrate the spiral iron cable.

7 is an electrical block diagram of the tangible ping pong game device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, in the tangible ping pong game device of the present invention, the rackets 220 circuit components may be embedded between both sides of the racket 220. The racket 220 includes a racket controller 222 for controlling its overall operation, a power supply unit 223 for supplying power to each part of the racket circuit, an acceleration detector 224 for detecting an acceleration of the racket, a sub key, and the like. The same key input unit 225, the light emitting device 221 and the light emitting device driver 227 for driving the same, generates a carrier frequency and modulates the acceleration data detected by the acceleration detector 224 to a carrier frequency to drive the light emitting device driver ( And a carrier generator / modulator 226 provided to 227.

In the above-described configuration, the racket controller 222 may be implemented as a one-chip microcomputer with a program memory, a data memory, and a CPU. The power supply unit 223 may be made of an independent battery such as a battery or a DC power provided from the game machine main body 210. The acceleration detecting unit 224 may be implemented by including a piezoelectric element as in the prior art, and since it is well known by the prior art, further description thereof will be omitted.

The light emitting device 221 is preferably implemented by an infrared light emitting device. The light emitting elements 221 are disposed in place on both sides of the racket 220, in consideration of the failure of the light emitting element 221, it is preferable to arrange two on each side. Of course, in this case, each light emitting element 221 operates to have the same phase and frequency. The carrier generator / modulator 226 generates a carrier signal having a predetermined frequency, modulates the acceleration signal detected by the acceleration detector 224 by the carrier signal, and provides the same to the light emitting device driver 227.

Next, the electrical configuration of the game machine main body 210 is a power supply unit 308 for supplying power to each part of the circuit, the main body control unit 300 for controlling the overall operation of the game machine main body 210, the operation button 213 The signal input from the key input unit 302, the left light receiving sensor 215l and the right light receiving sensor 215r, the left light receiving sensor 215l and the right light receiving sensor 215r to receive a signal from the main body control unit 300 is provided. Waveform shaping and demodulating the infrared signals, respectively, provided to the main body controller 300, the left demodulator 304 and the right demodulator 306, coin input detector 310 for detecting the input of coins, game characters and background screen The displayed monitor 314 and the monitor driver 312 for driving the same, the speaker 318 for outputting various effect sounds, the speaker driver 316 for driving the program, and a program storage for storing various programs related to the operation of the game. Part 320, game It may include a data storage unit 322 that stores a variety of data generated during the operation.

8A and 8B show capturing ranges from the front and the plane in the case where two light-receiving sensors are adopted in the haptic table tennis game device of the present invention, respectively. As shown in FIG. 8, the infrared capture ranges of the left light receiving sensor 215l and the right light receiving sensor 215r disposed on both sides of the game machine main body 210 in the tangible table tennis game device of the present invention are respectively viewed in space. In order to accurately capture the movement trajectory and position of the racket 220, the infrared capture range of each of the light receiving sensors 215l and 215r and the game. Considering the range in which the self-racket 220 is moved together, it can be seen that it is preferable to install each of the light receiving sensors 215l and 215r at an appropriate position and angle. For example, it is preferable that the left range, the center range, and the right range of the game player's motion guide marker 230 be approximately three equal parts. In this case, the relationship between the current position of the racket 220 and the operating state of the light receiving sensor is shown in Table 1 below.

Left sensor Right sensor The current position of the racket 0 0 Out of range 0 One In right range One 0 In left range One One In center range

As a result, when the current position of the racket 220 is combined in time series, the movement trajectory of the racket 220 may be determined.

Fig. 9 is a view showing the capture range from the front when four light receiving sensors are adopted in the haptic ball game device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, in this embodiment, the position of the racket 220, that is, the capture range of the infrared signal, is divided into a total of eight so as to more accurately determine the movement trajectory and the position of the racket 220. In this case, the relationship between the current position of the racket and the operating state of the light receiving sensor is shown in Table 2 below.

Left phase sensor Lower left sensor Idol sensor Lower right sensor The current position of the racket 0 0 0 0 Out of range 0 0 0 One Is in the lower right range 0 0 One 0 In idol range 0 0 One One In the right range 0 One 0 0 In lower left range 0 One 0 One In mid-range 0 One One 0 In the medium range 0 One One One In the medium range One 0 0 0 In upper left range One 0 0 One In the medium range One 0 One 0 In mid-range range One 0 One One In the medium range One One 0 0 In the middle of the seat One One 0 One In the medium range One One One 0 In the medium range One One One One In the medium range

Also in this case, by combining the current position of the racket 220 in time series, it is possible to determine the movement trajectory of the racket 220. For example, the light receiving sensors 215ul, 215ur, and 215ll before the hemisphere timing. When the state of, 215lr is changed as shown in Table 3 below, the movement trajectory of the racket 220 may be determined as shown by a thick solid line.

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 Top left 0 0 One One One One One One Lower left One One One One 0 0 0 0 Idol 0 0 0 0 0 0 One One Uha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Racket Location Lower left Lower left Middle class Middle class Top left Top left slander slander

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the haptic ball game device of the present invention, and the main body control unit 300 is mainly performed. As shown in FIG. 10, in step S100, the main body controller 300 resets the movement speed value of the racket 220 held in the movement speed register (not shown) formed in the data storage unit 322. Thereafter, the main body control unit 300 inputs the moving speed determined by a predetermined method (it will be described in detail in the prior art, and thus the description is omitted here). It is determined whether the player shakes the racket 220. Here, if the player shakes the racket 220, the moving speed is not "0". Therefore, the flow advances to step S104, and when the moving speed is "0", the flow advances to step S110.

In step S104, the main body controller 300 determines the movement trajectory according to the operation of each of the light receiving sensors 215l and 215r, that is, whether it is activated. In the following step S106, the input movement speed is held in the movement speed register. It is judged whether or not it is smaller than the held value. However, since the moving speed gradually increases at the swing start portion of the racket 220, no is determined in this step S106. Therefore, the main body control unit 300 replaces the holding value of the moving speed register with the moving speed at that time, that is, updates the holding value of the moving speed.

On the other hand, if the swing of the racket 220 proceeds, the moving speed becomes faster and reaches a peak and then decreases. As a result, in step S106, it may be determined whether the moving speed of the racket 220 reaches the peak. Subsequently, the main body control unit 300 determines whether the ball 212d reaches the hemisphere limit position, which is determined by the inward direction position of the ball 212d in the game screen (the graphics processor). Can be performed by detecting whether or not it has moved to the position assumed as the hemisphere limit.

Here, the fact that 'Yes' is not determined in step S106 until the ball 212d reaches the hemisphere limit position is reached when the ball 212d reaches the hemisphere limit position after the ball 212d is returned or served by the opponent player. This means that the peak of the moving speed could not be detected. In other words, the swing trajectory and timing of the racket 220 by the game player did not match the movement trajectory or timing of the ball 212d, and the ball 212d swinged after reaching the hemisphere limit position. In this case, the main body controller 300 determines that the swing swing is made in step S112. However, when the moving speed is "0" in step S102, it means that the racket 220 did not swing. In this case, the main body control unit 300 determines whether the ball 212d reaches the table tennis table 212b. Depending on whether or not, out or safe is determined.

In this way, steps S102 to S108 are repeatedly executed until the ball 212d reaches the hemisphere limit position, and if yes is determined in step S106 in this process, the movement speed by the swing of the racket 220 is determined. Means that the peak has been reached. In this case, in step S112, the main body control unit 300 returns to the racket by the course and the moving speed of the ball 212d at that time, the moving speed and the trajectory of the racket 220, and the timing between them, that is, the ball 212d. Parameters such as the speed and direction of movement in the reverse direction are determined, and the ball 212d is moved accordingly.

The haptic ball game device of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified and implemented in various ways within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the racket 220 is provided with an acceleration sensing unit, thereby generating a modulation waveform. However, the racket 220 outputs only an infrared signal having a carrier frequency, that is, a constant waveform. In addition, the main body controller 300 may determine the racket 220 swing speed based on the total detection time of the infrared signal received by the light receiving sensor 215. In addition, the present invention may be applied to a baseball (bat and ball), tennis, or a dancing game machine in addition to a table tennis game machine. Here, in the case of baseball, the ball or bat may be an input device such as a racket, in the case of tennis, the racket may be an input device, and in the case of a dancing game, a type of input worn on the player's body The device may be adopted. In addition, the present invention can be applied to home game consoles that monitor television receivers in addition to arcade game consoles. In addition, as the number of light receiving sensors increases, the movement trajectory or position of the input device may be accurately determined to provide a more realistic game.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made that one player plays a game with a virtual opponent's character inside the game machine, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the two game machine main bodies are arranged side by side as in the above-described embodiment. The game may be configured between two gamers by configuring the game machine to play the game collectively.

According to the haptic game device of the present invention as described above, there is an effect that a more realistic game is possible by detecting and reflecting the motion trajectory or position of the game equipment to the game.

Claims (8)

Movement input means which is moved in a three-dimensional space by the player and outputs a movement trajectory and a movement acceleration signal as a wireless signal; At least two wireless sensing means installed in place of the main body of the game machine to have a unique capture range for the wireless signal; A control means for determining the movement trajectory, the position and the acceleration of the movement input means based on the sensing signal provided by the wireless sensing means, and reflecting it on the game screen; And a monitor configured to display a game screen provided by the control means. According to claim 1, wherein the haptic game device is a table tennis game device, Haptic game device, characterized in that the movement input means made of a racket shape. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless signal is an infrared signal, The wireless sensing means includes an infrared light receiving sensor, Two infrared light-receiving sensors are provided on each side of the game machine main body near each side, haptic game device characterized in that the. The sensory game device according to claim 3, wherein the capturing range of the infrared light receiving sensor comprises a left range, a center range, and a right range. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless signal is an infrared signal, The wireless sensing means includes an infrared light receiving sensor, The infrared light receiving sensor is a haptic game device, characterized in that installed in each of the upper and lower sides of the game machine main body. The sensory game device according to claim 5, wherein a capture range of the infrared light receiving sensor is a lower left range, a left middle range, a left upper range, a middle middle range, a middle middle range, a middle upper range, a lower right range, a middle middle range, and a right upper range. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the movement input means is made of a racket shape, Each of the rackets on each side of the haptic game device characterized in that the two light emitting elements for generating the infrared signal having the same frequency and the same phase are arranged. Movement input means which is moved in a three-dimensional space by the player and outputs a radio signal relating to the movement trajectory; At least two wireless sensing means installed in place of the main body of the game machine to have a unique capture range for the wireless signal; A control means for determining the movement trajectory, the position and the acceleration of the movement input means based on the type and the detection timing of the sensing signal provided by the wireless sensing means and reflecting the same on the game screen; And a monitor configured to display a game screen provided by the control means.