JP2000069466A - Image input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quicken and simplify a fetching work of data of a face by displaying the face of a photographed object, a first index to align a position of the eyes of the object and a second index to align a position of the chin. SOLUTION: A TV camera 5 is arranged on the lower side of a monitor 3 and photographs light irradiating from a floodlight and to be reflected on a player's face. The floodlight is arranged on the upper side of the monitor 3. Respective floodlights are arranged on the lower side of the monitor 3 and are arranged to sandwich the TV camera 5 from upper and lower sides. Thus, the player's face is photographed from the lower side and the shape of the chin is exactly photographed. An optical 3D scanner is constituted by the TV camera 5 and fetches shape data and texture data of the player's face. In this case, since the player's face is displayed on the monitor 3, distance and positional relation between himself and the TV camera 5 are aligned by moving his body so that the positions of the eyes and the chin of his face come to a predetermined position by the player.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image input device most suitable for a video game machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional video game machine, characters appearing in a game are predetermined and have little relevance to a player.

[0003]

Therefore, it has been considered that a player's face is photographed and displayed as an image in a game, but the size of the player's face varies, and uniform processing is difficult. There was room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and speeds up and simplifies data capturing work by absorbing uniformity in face size and performing uniform processing. The purpose is to:

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, an image input apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a photographing machine (5) for photographing a face of a subject, a face of the subject photographed by the photographing machine, A monitor (3) for displaying a first index for adjusting the position of the subject's eyes and a second index for adjusting the position of the chin is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the photographing device (5) photographs the face of the subject from the front lower side.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image input apparatus further comprises a light projector, wherein the light projector projects the face of the subject from the front upper side or the front lower side.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image input apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising a plurality of light emitters sandwiching the photographing device (5), and projecting the face of the subject from the front lower side.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image input apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image input device includes an operation device 2, a monitor 3, and a TV
It is composed of a V camera 5. The operation device 2 is connected to the TV game device 4 (input / output control circuit 6), and is a device operated by a player such as a joystick, a button, and a switch. The monitor 3 converts the image output signal of the TV game device 4 into a visible image and displays it. TV
The camera 5 is connected to the TV game apparatus 4 (input / output control circuit 6), and shoots a part of the player's face as described later and transmits the image to the input / output control circuit 6.

The TV game apparatus 4 includes an input / output control circuit 6,
It comprises a CPU circuit 7, a screen memory 14, and the like. The input / output control circuit 6 detects a state in which the player operates a joystick, a button, a switch, or the like (the operation device 2), and transmits the state to the CPU circuit 7. CPU
Transmission and reception of signals with the circuit 7 is performed via the system bus 8. The work memory 9 is used as a work area of the CPU circuit 7. The program of the CPU circuit 7 is stored in the program memory 10.

When the CPU circuit 7 outputs an image,
Image data is written to the screen memory 14 via the system bus 8. The monitor 3 reads out the image data written in the screen memory 14, converts it into a visible image, and displays it. The player operates the operation device 2 while watching the visible image on the monitor 3 to advance the game.

The operation device 2, monitor 3, TV game device 4, and TV camera 5 are arranged as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. That is, the operation device 2, the monitor 3, and the TV game device 4 are arranged in front of the player (the left side in FIGS. 2 and 3). The operating device 2 is shown in FIGS.
Here, the steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator pedal. The operation device 2 is arranged below the TV game device 4. The monitor 3 is located at the center of the TV game device 4,
It is placed almost in front of the player's face.

The TV camera 5 is arranged below the monitor 3 and captures light emitted from the light projector 13 (or the light projectors 13a to 13b) and reflected by the player's face. FIG.
Is disposed above the monitor 3. The light projectors 13a to 13b in FIG. 3 are arranged below the monitor 3, and are arranged so as to sandwich the TV camera 5 up and down.
In this way, by photographing the player's face from below, it is possible to accurately photograph the shape of the chin. Also,
The reason why the two projectors 13a to 13b are used in the example of FIG. 3 is to achieve accurate image input of a contour without forming a shadow.

Although the two projectors 13a to 13b are arranged so as to sandwich the TV camera 5 vertically in FIG. 3, they may be arranged so as to sandwich the TV camera 5 left and right. In addition, only one of the two projectors 13a to 13b may be used.

The TV camera 5 constitutes an optical 3D scanner, and takes in shape data and texture data of a player's face. At this time, since the face of the player is displayed on the monitor 3, the player moves his / her body so that the position of the eyes and the position of the chin of the face become a predetermined position. The distance and the positional relationship with the TV camera 5 are adjusted. By fixing the positions of the eyes and the positions of the chins in this way, it is possible to speed up and simplify the operation of capturing the face shape data and the texture data.

The face shape data is converted into polygon data (see FIG. 5), and texture data is obtained from a video signal of the photographed face (see FIG. 6). These data are
It is recorded in the work memory 9 as an object for which texture coordinates are set. By combining polygon data and texture data, as shown in FIG.
The player's polygon character is obtained. The polygon character of the player is displayed in a game (here, a driving game) as shown in FIG.

In the case of a game in which a plurality of players can play at the same time (here, a driving game), as shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of players who play at the same time utilize the polygon character obtained as described above. Are displayed on the monitor 3. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the image reflected in the rearview mirror. As shown in FIG. 10, a player (driver of a following vehicle) playing simultaneously with his / her own polygon character.
Is displayed, and it is possible to enhance the sense of reality as if one is actually competing in the driving game.

[0020]

As described above, according to the image input apparatus of the present invention, the photographing machine (5) for photographing the face of the subject, the face of the subject photographed by the photographing machine, and the positions of the eyes of the subject are determined. A first index for matching the position of the chin and a second index for matching the position of the chin,
Since the monitor (3) for displaying is provided, the photographing can be performed such that the distance and the positional relationship between the photographing machine (5) and the subject are adjusted so that the face of the subject matches the two indices. This makes it possible to speed up and simplify the face data capturing operation by absorbing variations in the face size and performing uniform processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of an image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing one embodiment of an image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing one embodiment of an image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing an embodiment of the image input device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Operating device 3 Monitor 4 TV game device 5 TV camera 6 Input / output control circuit 7 CPU circuit 8 System bus 9 Work memory 10 Program memory 13 Projector 13a Projector 13b Projector 14 Screen memory

Claims (4)

[Claims] A photographing device for photographing a face of a subject, a first index for matching a face of the subject photographed by the photographing device with a position of an eye of the subject, and a second indicator for matching a position of a chin tip. An image input device comprising: a monitor (3) for displaying an index. 2. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein the photographing device photographs the face of the subject from a lower front side. 3. The image input device according to claim 1, further comprising a light projector, wherein the light projector projects the face of the subject from a front upper side or a front lower side. 4. An image input device according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of said light projectors sandwiching said photographing device (5) vertically or horizontally, and projecting said subject's face from the front lower side. apparatus.