JP2007156125A - Umbrella-type afterimage display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an umbrella-type afterimage display device in which the content displayed at an afterimage display section are changed variously, according to the rotational speed, at which a user rotates an umbrella. <P>SOLUTION: The umbrella-type afterimage display device is equipped with a gyrosensor 103 which is provided in the handle of the umbrella and detects the rotational speed of the umbrella; an afterimage display section 104 which is provided in a rib part of the umbrella and comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes; a display control section 105 which controls respective light emission timings of the plurality of light-emitting diodes of the afterimage display section; a display content selection processing section which selects the contents to be displayed, according to the rotational speed detected by the gyrosensor; and a data processing section which performs data conversion for displaying, at the afterimage display section, the display contents selected by the display content selection part that is under the control of the display control section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an umbrella-type afterimage display device, and more specifically, an afterimage display unit composed of a plurality of light-emitting diode rows is provided on the bone portion of the umbrella, and the afterimage according to the rotational speed at which the user rotates the umbrella. The present invention relates to an umbrella-type afterimage display device that can change the content displayed on the display unit in various ways, for example, refresh the feeling of a user who is likely to sink on a rainy day, and improve interest Is.

  In recent years, technical elements that support mobile environments or ubiquitous environments, in particular, information input systems (for example, Non-Patent Document 11 and Non-Patent Document 1) including GPS, RFID, and sensor networks have been rapidly put into practical use. Yes. On the other hand, with regard to information presentation methods for feeding back information obtained from such infrastructure to the user, there are still few technologies in practical use, and various proposals (for example, Non-Patent Document 8 and Non-Patent Document 10) have been made. It is a stage. In particular, information presentation methods that assume a mobile environment such as outdoors have not yet been fully discussed.

  In such a mobile / ubiquitous environment information presentation method, it is known that the parallelism (easy to acquire information) of the amount of information transmitted at one time and the task of daily life is generally inversely proportional (Non-Patent Document 12). ).

  Ishii et al. (Non-patent Document 3) classify them into Foreground and Explicit from the viewpoint of whether or not real-world interaction is at the center of user consciousness. For example, a typical display is a Foreground media. While a lot of information can be transmitted at once, the user needs to watch the screen, so the possibility of hindering daily life tasks is increased.

  On the other hand, information that can be perceived by a peripheral sensation such as light in the space is a background medium. Although the amount of information that can be transmitted at one time is small, the parallelism with the tasks of daily life is high, so the user can easily receive the information. In this way, since both have advantages and disadvantages, it is important to use them according to the situation. Here, the background information is defined as “ambient information” and the foreground information is defined as “detailed information”. Further, the degree of detail of the information is defined as the “granularity” of the information.

  In particular, in a mobile environment, it is dangerous to occupy the user's consciousness, so an information presentation method that uses ambient information on a daily basis and uses detailed information as necessary is effective. For example, in a mobile phone, it is common to know an incoming call with a vibration motor, take out the phone from there, and confirm the detailed contents using a display.

  As a simple display in this type of portable device, a portable device incorporating a display device using an afterimage effect of the eyes is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes an afterimage display incorporated in a side portion of a wireless mobile communication device, and Patent Literature 2 proposes an afterimage display incorporated in a portable electric fan.

  Thus, afterimage display devices are used in a wide range of products from outdoor electronic bulletin boards to toys. Next, the afterimage display devices are classified into (1) manual type, (2) semi-automatic type, (3) electric type, and (4) other four types, and their characteristics are examined.

  (1) Manual afterimage displays are used for relatively inexpensive toys including Pokemotion (Non-Patent Document 9) and Lighttalk (Non-Patent Document 5). Pokemotion allows you to enjoy graphics and animation of various characters stored in the built-in memory by shaking a stick-like device left and right at regular intervals. Lighttalk can scan and enjoy pictures and characters that you have written and display them in the same way as a pocket motion.

  (2) As for a semi-automatic afterimage display, HokeySpokes (Non-patent Document 2) can be mentioned. HokeySpokes can express various beautiful patterns by attaching an afterimage display to the wheel of a bicycle. The feature is that the user does not have to shake intentionally by devising the mounting location.

  (3) An example of an electric afterimage display is Twister (Non-Patent Document 4). Twister is a display that allows a stereoscopic image with a high viewing angle to be observed with the naked eye by rotating an information presentation unit combining two LED arrays and a light shielding plate at high speed. It is mainly used for teleexistence and virtual reality. Another slightly afterimage display is Light Stick (Non-patent Document 6) exhibited in Sony Explorer Science. LightStick fixes an LED array that blinks at high speed, and the user can see an image by moving or shaking his / her head at a fixed timing.

  As a method for linking ambient information and detailed information, Push & Pull (Non-Patent Document 14) can be cited. Push & Pull has proposed an interface technique for switching the computer usage mode from passive to active by sliding the computer display back and forth. Mizuguchi et al. (Non-patent Document 7) consider the transition from passive interaction to active interaction from various viewpoints.

As yet another example, there is Active Belt (Non-Patent Document 13) as an approach for presenting intermediate information between ambient information and detailed information in a mobile environment. ActiveBelt implements a tactile information presentation method with azimuth information by mounting eight vibration motors around the belt. By using tactile information, it is possible to present explicit azimuth information while suppressing the burden on the user, so that a certain amount of information can be given.
JP 2005-517970 A JP 2003-314487 A Crossbow Technology Home Page, 2004.http: //www.xbow.com/. HokeySpokes, 2003. http://www.hokeyspokes.com/. H. Ishii and B. Ullmer. TangibleBits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits and Atoms. InProceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI97), pp. 234-241. ACM Press, 1997. Y. Kunita, N. Ogawa, A. Sakuma, M. Inami, T. Maeda, and S. Tachi.Immersive AutostereoscopicDisplay for Mutual Telexistence: TWISTER I (Telexistence Wide-angle ImmersiveSTEReoscope model I). In Proseedings of IEEE VR 2001, pp. 31-36, 2001. Lightalk, 2004. http://www.nittohkogaku.co.jp/lightalk/contents.html. LightStick (Sony ExploraScience), 2003. http://www.sonyexplorascience.jp/whatis.html. Mitsuru Mizuguchi, Tomonori Takeuchi, Arata Kuramoto, Yu Shibuya, Yoshihiro Kanno, Passive interaction style: User interface that encourages the transition to dense interaction, Transactions of Human Interface Society, 5 (4): 121-130, 2003. G. Pingali, C. Pinhanez, A. Levas, R. Kjeldsen, M. Podlaseck, H. Chen, and N. Sukaviriya. Steerable Interfaces for Pervasive Computing Spaces. In First IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom'03) , pp. 315-322, March 2003. Pokemotion, 2003. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n09/p_motion/. S. Rapp, G. Michelichesch, M. Osen, J. Williams, M. Barbisch, R. Bohan, Z. Valsan, and M. Emele. Spotlight Navigation: Interaction with a Handheld Projection Device. InPervasive 2004 Video Program, 2004. Interaction with a portable LED projector. RFID technology editorial department (edition), all of wireless IC tags, Nikkei BP, 2004. Ichiro Shiio, Michiaki Yasumura, Masaaki Fukumoto, Shinichiro Iga, Toshiyuki Masui, Mobile & Ubiquitous Interface, Journal of Human Interface Society, 5 (3): 313-322, 2003. Koji Tsukada, Michiaki Yasumura, Active Belt: Belt-type navigation mechanism using tactile information, Transactions of Information Processing Society of Japan, 44 (11): 2649-2658, 2003. Keita Watanabe, Tomoaki Yasumura, Push & Pull: Proposal of an interface that smoothly transitions between “viewing” and “using”, Interaction 2004 Proceedings, pp. 209-210, 2004.

  In many cases, such ambient information and detailed information are provided as independent media, and until now, a method for smoothly linking the two has not been considered. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an umbrella-type afterimage display device in which an afterimage display device is incorporated in an umbrella as a method for smoothly controlling the granularity of information in a mobile environment.

  Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an afterimage display unit composed of a plurality of rows of light emitting diodes on the bone portion of the umbrella, and display on the afterimage display unit according to the rotation speed of the user rotating the umbrella. It is an object of the present invention to provide an umbrella-type afterimage display device that can change the contents of the image to make the user feel refreshed and improve the interest.

  In order to achieve the above object, an umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention includes a gyro sensor that is provided in a handle portion of an umbrella and detects the rotational speed of the umbrella, and a plurality of light-emitting diodes that are provided in a bone portion of the umbrella. An afterimage display unit composed of a plurality of rows, a display control unit for controlling the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the afterimage display unit, and a content to be displayed according to the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor. And a data processing unit that performs data conversion for displaying the display content selected by the display content selection unit on the afterimage display unit under the control of the display control unit.

  In the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention, the afterimage display unit is provided radially along a plurality of bone portions, and the display control unit displays the afterimage display according to the rotation speed detected by the gyro sensor. The light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes is controlled, and the displayed contents are displayed by graphical display based on the afterimage effect.

  Further, the display control unit controls the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the afterimage display unit according to the rotation speed detected by the gyro sensor, and displays the displayed content as a character display by an afterimage effect. May be configured. In these cases, the display content selection processing unit selects ambient information when the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor is less than the first predetermined value, and is greater than or equal to the first predetermined value and less than the second predetermined value. Then, the predetermined information is selected, and when the second predetermined value or more is selected, the detailed information related to the predetermined information is selected.

  According to the umbrella-type afterimage display device of the present invention configured as described above, an afterimage display unit composed of a plurality of rows of light emitting diodes is provided on the bone portion of the umbrella, and a display control unit, a display content selection processing unit, The contents displayed on the afterimage display unit are changed variously according to the rotational speed at which the user rotates the umbrella by the processing of the data processing unit. For example, the user who is likely to sink on a rainy day There is provided an umbrella-type afterimage display device that can refresh the feeling and improve the interest. Furthermore, various applications for the mobile environment such as navigation and weather information can be expected by cooperating with GPS, various sensors, and the content DB.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, features of an afterimage display device using an LED (light emitting diode) array will be described.

  An afterimage display device is an information presentation device that recognizes an image in space by the afterimage effect of human vision by moving an LED (light emitting diode) row while blinking at high speed. For example, in a stick-shaped afterimage display equipped with a plurality of LEDs, if the LED blinking pattern is changed at a high speed from “up → down → up”, and the device is moved to the left or right, the letter “V” will appear as a space. It looks floating above. Features of this afterimage display device are (1) low cost and low cost, (2) easy to view from a long distance, and (3) unique appearance and operation.

In the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention, as a characteristic of the afterimage display device that has hardly been utilized in such existing products,
(1) The ability to present information with different granularity between the stationary state and the moving state,
(2) Easy transition from a stationary state to a moving state;
Focusing on these two points, an umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus having a mechanism capable of preferably utilizing this characteristic is configured.

  That is, it has a configuration that can use the afterimage display device as an information presentation mechanism with different granularity so that ambient information with a small information acquisition burden in a stationary state and detailed information with a large amount of information in a moving state are presented. Yes. Furthermore, a simple operation of moving the device, that is, the operation of rotating the umbrella manually, and the operation of further rotating the umbrella, can utilize characteristics that can smoothly link from ambient information to detailed information.

In general, as an information presentation device suitable for a mobile environment,
(1) reduce the burden on the user wearing / carrying;
(2) Elements that consider privacy are important.
Furthermore, in order to effectively use the afterimage display device,
(3) It is also important that the afterimage display can be easily driven without load.
As a result of considering these points, the present invention is an afterimage display device using an umbrella.

  Umbrellas are everyday items that are familiar to many people, and are widely used especially on rainy and sunny days. Also, an afterimage display is installed inside the umbrella because it covers the user like a dome. Therefore, it is possible to present information in consideration of privacy so that information is not disclosed to outsiders. Furthermore, the afterimage display attached to the umbrella is characterized in that it can be driven by "turning" the umbrella. In the case of a stick-shaped afterimage display, it is necessary to swing the arm to the left and right, and the fatigue is severe. However, when the operation of turning the umbrella is not required, a large movement is not required. Easy. Further, the operation of turning the umbrella around is generally familiar, and the user does not have to learn a new operation. Based on such a background, the present invention provides an umbrella-type afterimage display device capable of smoothly controlling the granularity of information in a mobile environment.

  Here, the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus according to the present invention is referred to as “Phantom Parasol” as a name that expresses such characteristics well. Next, the concept, device configuration, and operation image of Phantom Parasol will be described.

The concept of Phantom Parasol is broadly divided into the following three points.
1. Information presentation with a smooth granularity 2. Expand general daily necessities (umbrellas). Various applications suitable for mobile / ubiquitous environment

  The first point is that ambient information and detailed information can be easily switched by making good use of the characteristics of the afterimage display. As described above, in the mobile environment, an information presentation method is used in which ambient information is presented on a daily basis, and a user can easily obtain detailed information as necessary. In Phantom Parasol, ambient information that light falls from the top is displayed when an umbrella is put on, and graphical detailed information is presented in a state where it is turned around.

  The second point is to expand the familiar daily necessities, such as umbrellas, to realize a device configuration that is easy to carry and use for many people. It is considered that many people are familiar with the action of putting an umbrella and turning around. Furthermore, by effectively utilizing the shape of the umbrella and incorporating an afterimage display inside the umbrella, it is possible to present information in consideration of privacy in the mobile environment.

  The third point is that various applications can be expected as a new information presentation mechanism suitable for a mobile / ubiquitous environment centering on outdoor use by cooperating with sensors such as GPS / RFID and wireless communication mechanisms.

  Next, the device configuration of Phantom Parasol will be described. The Phantom Parasol is composed mainly of a gyro sensor mounted on the central axis (handle) of the umbrella, a plurality of afterimage displays (LED arrays) mounted on the inside of the umbrella, and a plurality of microcomputers for controlling them.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of an umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 illustrates the apparatus configuration of a signal control processing system and an information processing system of the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus according to the present invention. It is a block diagram. 1 and 2, 100 is an afterimage display device, 101 is an umbrella unit, 102 is an umbrella handle for manually rotating the umbrella, 103 is a gyro sensor that is provided in the handle portion of the umbrella and detects the rotational speed of the umbrella, Reference numeral 104 denotes a display module composed of a plurality of light emitting diode rows provided on the bone portion of the umbrella, and reference numeral 105 denotes a control module for controlling the display modules. Reference numeral 106 denotes an external communication module, and 107 denotes an external computer for providing information to be displayed on the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus.

  The control module 105 includes a plurality of microcomputers, and performs display control signal processing for controlling the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes in the display module 104, and displays according to the rotation speed detected by the gyro sensor 103. Display content selection processing for selecting the content to be performed, and data processing for performing data conversion for displaying the selected display content.

  In the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus 100 here, the plurality of display modules 104 are provided radially along the plurality of bone portions. By the display control signal processing of the control module 105, the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the display module 104 is controlled according to the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor 103, and the displayed contents are graphically displayed by the afterimage effect. To display information. Further, in the display control signal processing of the control module 105, the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the display module 104 is controlled in accordance with the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor 103, and the displayed content is changed to an afterimage effect. The information is displayed by the character display by.

  Further, in the signal processing and data processing of the control module 105, ambient information is selected when the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor is less than the first predetermined value, and is greater than or equal to the first predetermined value and less than the second predetermined value. Then, when the predetermined information is selected and the second predetermined value or more is selected, the detailed information related to the predetermined information is selected, and the signal control processing and information are displayed on the display module 103 to display the information. Process.

  In the umbrella-type afterimage display device 100 having such a configuration, when the user performs an operation of opening the umbrella and manually rotating the umbrella, the gyro sensor 103 acquires the rotation speed of the umbrella in real time, and the display module 104. It is used as a trigger for switching the blinking cycle of the light emitting diode (LED) and the granularity of information.

  In the display module 104, the LED array provided in each bone portion of the umbrella is controlled to repeat blinking at an arbitrary period / pattern, and the ambient information is displayed when stationary, and the graphical information based on the afterimage effect is rotated. Present. The LED arrays here are provided on each of the bone parts of the umbrella, but here, by mounting a plurality of rows of LED arrays, it is considered that the granularity of information can be widely changed. , Using at least three LED arrays. By using three LED arrays extending in three directions at equal intervals from the center of the umbrella, graphic display is possible depending on the rotational speed of the umbrella. Each microcomputer of the control module 105 is used to control these devices and to communicate with the host PC (change / save contents, etc.).

  Next, an outline of the overall operation of the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus (Phantom Parasol) 100 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of display control for displaying content from ambient information to detailed information in the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, when the user “opens” the umbrella, a switch attached to the joint of the umbrella is turned on, and ambient information presentation centering on the color / number / period of LEDs of the display module 104 is started. (Left side of FIG. 5). When the user starts to turn the umbrella, the gyro sensor 103 senses the rotational motion, and graphical information presentation using the afterimage effect is started (center of FIG. 5). Further, by turning the umbrella quickly, more detailed information such as resolution / content is presented (right side of FIG. 5). In this way, an information presentation device is provided in which the user can easily switch the granularity of information according to the rotation speed with a simple operation of turning the umbrella around.

  A specific example of the configuration of the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention will be described in detail. The umbrella-type afterimage display device is mounted in such a manner that an LED module (LED array), a gyro sensor, a microcomputer, and the like are attached to the inside of a Japanese-Western umbrella. The radius of the umbrella is 522 mm, and the one having 24 wooden bones is used. Eight equally spaced bones of this umbrella are selected, and a total of eight rows of LED modules are attached. One LED module is composed of 52 high-intensity LEDs and four demultiplexers (74HC154). As the colors of the LEDs, four colors of red, blue, green, and yellow are used, and they are arranged so that the same color comes on a diagonal line.

  These LED modules can be operated as a level meter with 52 steps when the umbrella is stationary, and can be used as a bitmap display having a resolution of 52 × 52 pixels when rotating. Here, data displayed at rest / rotation is expressed as “content” for convenience.

  A gyro sensor (ENC-03J manufactured by Murata Electronics) is mounted near the tip of the central axis of the umbrella. This gyro sensor (ENC-03J) is a uniaxial gyro sensor, detects the angular velocity of the rotary shaft of the umbrella, and outputs it as an analog voltage of 0 to 5V.

  A total of eight control modules 105 are mounted on the bone adjacent to each display module (LED array) 104. The microcomputer uses PIC18F252 manufactured by MicroChip. Each microcomputer controls a corresponding display module (LED array) via a demultiplexer. The microcomputers are serially connected in sequence, and send and receive various commands. For example, when a content rewrite command is received, the new content is stored in the microcomputer internal memory. The content once stored is retained even after the power is turned off, can be read out according to the rotating state of the umbrella, and displayed on the display module (LED array).

  In addition to these, one of the microcomputers of the control module 104 (hereinafter referred to as a host microcomputer) serves as (1) control of the gyro sensor and (2) communication with the host PC via the RS232. The analog output of the gyro sensor 103 is digitized by a 10-bit precision A / D converter. The host microcomputer estimates the rotational speed of the umbrella from this numerical value, and changes the blinking cycle of the LED and the content to be displayed. These changes are immediately sent to all microcomputers.

  In the host PC, a dedicated application for cooperating with the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) is operating, and performs device operation adjustment and content rewriting. Each content to be displayed on the display module 104 is created by reading an image file such as bmp / jpg / png of an appropriate size. The image is automatically reduced to 52 × 52 pixels, subjected to binary conversion at an arbitrary brightness, and then transmitted to the microcomputer of the control module 105 via RS232. The serial communication part is replaced with Bluetooth so that the content can be rewritten more easily.

  3 and 4 are flowcharts showing content reading processing and content display processing in the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus, respectively. An outline of these processes will be described. Referring to FIG. 3, in the content reading process, the external computer 107 acquires the content from the content database, adds a header (address, index) to the content, and transmits the content to the microcomputer of the control module 105. . The microcomputer of the control module 105 receives content from the external computer 107 received via the external communication module 106 and analyzes the header of the received content.

  By this analysis, an address and an index are obtained, and it is determined whether or not the header address is the same as the address of the microcomputer of the control module 105. If the address is not the same, it is received by the microcomputer of the next control module 105 Send content. Further, it is determined whether or not the header address is the same as the address of the microcomputer of the control module 105. If the addresses are the same, the received content is transmitted to the microcomputer of the own control module 105. Then, the received content is written in the index position of the memory, and the content reading process is terminated. Such processing is performed in the microcomputer of each control module 105.

  Next, content display processing will be described with reference to FIG. In the content display process, basically, the content to be displayed is selected and changed in accordance with the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor 103, and the content is displayed. In this display process, the rotation speed of the umbrella is detected by the microcomputer control process of the gyro sensor 103, and the rotation speed of the umbrella is transmitted to the microcomputer of the control module 105. In the microcomputer of the control module 105, when the rotational speed transmitted from the microcomputer of the gyro sensor 103 is received, this is used as a trigger to first determine the rotational speed level. In this determination, for example, a first level whose rotational speed is less than a first predetermined value, a second level that is equal to or higher than a first predetermined value and lower than a second predetermined value, and a third level that is equal to or higher than a second predetermined value. Determine the level. According to the determined first to third levels, ambient information, predetermined information, and detailed information related to the predetermined information are selected.

  In the microcomputer of the control module 105, when the rotational speed level is determined, the microcomputer of the gyro sensor 103 is respectively connected to the microcomputer of the control module 105 next to the microcomputer of the plurality of control modules 105 by multitask processing. A process for transmitting the rotational speed information transmitted from the computer is performed. When the microcomputer address is less than n, processing for transmitting the rotation speed to the microcomputer of the next control module 105 is performed.

  Further, when the rotational speed level is determined as described above, for the display control of the afterimage display, the LED array blinking interval is determined from the determined level, and the content to be displayed is selected. Then, the content index is determined from the determined level, and the content is swallowed from the index position of the memory by the determined index. Thus, since the content to be displayed on the display module 104 and the blinking interval of the LED array can be determined, processing for display control is subsequently performed.

  In this display control, one column of content is displayed on the LED array, the time for blinking time is waited, and it is determined whether or not the displayed column is the final column of content. If the displayed one column is not the last column, the next column is displayed. Similarly, one column of the content is displayed on the LED array, and the display unit waits for the blinking time. Whether or not is the last column of content. If the displayed one column is the last content column, the display process is terminated. Thus, according to the rotational speed detected from the microcomputer of the gyro sensor 103, the display timing is controlled and the display control for selecting and displaying the content of the information to be displayed is performed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of display control for displaying weather information as content. As shown in FIG. 6, when the umbrella of the umbrella-type afterimage display device is stationary, the two meter modules are used to express the level meter. When the umbrella of the umbrella-type afterimage display device is rotated, all the LED modules are displayed. The weather information (sunny mark) is expressed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of display control for displaying map information as content. As shown in FIG. 7, the present invention can be applied as an umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) assuming cooperation with GPS / various sensors / wireless communication mechanisms.

  The umbrella-type afterimage display device can be applied as a navigation tool in cooperation with GPS or a direction sensor. The user walks while feeling “feeling” the direction of the destination (LED lighting direction) and distance (the number of LED lighting) while holding the umbrella, and then rotates the umbrella when approaching an intersection. The destination can be confirmed by displaying a rough map on the afterimage display device. At this time, a more detailed map can be displayed by further rotating the umbrella more quickly. As described above, by using the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol), detailed information can be confirmed smoothly as necessary while always feeling the minimum ambient information.

  In addition, by using this umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) in combination with an autonomous sensor or using it in conjunction with a wireless communication mechanism or Web service, the surrounding environment information (weather, wind speed, pollen, etc.) is presented as needed. can do.

  As the contents to be displayed, for example, when displaying weather information, when the user points at an umbrella, the temperature / precipitation probability and the like are indicated by the color of the LED array (red: temperature, blue: probability of precipitation, etc.) and the number of lighting of the LED array. (The more it is, the higher it is). Next, if you want to know more detailed information, you can know the exact temperature / temperature and weather by rotating the umbrella slowly, and if you rotate the umbrella quickly, the future weather information changes (FIG. 6). As described above, it is possible to extend and present surrounding environmental information and the like on the time axis or the space axis.

Although it differs from the presentation of information in a mobile environment, the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) combines the beauty and expressive power of an afterimage display with the ease of handling for a long time, making it a great performance for clubs and stages. It is thought to be effective.
Furthermore, the movement of rotating the umbrella is widely used as a gorgeous expression, as represented by the production of umbrellas by Ebisu Ichinosuke and Master Taro, and the line dance of Takarazuka Women's Opera Company. It is thought that high-sensitivity performance can be realized.

  Although Phantom Parasol has not been formally evaluated, some knowledge and problems have been obtained through trial use in research groups of the inventors. Considering the three elements of “operation to rotate the umbrella”, “resolution”, and “use scene”, the operation to rotate the umbrella is relatively familiar, or the image by the afterimage display by rotating the umbrella. Displaying can also be easily performed by a person who first contacts Phantom Parasol.

  Originally, the operation of rotating the umbrella is a small operation in which the other wrist is moved with the shoulder or one hand as a fulcrum, so the problem of fatigue can be solved to some extent by reducing the weight of the device in the future.

  The resolution of the prototype of the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) is basically 52 × 52 pixels, and when using eight LED modules at the same time, the maximum resolution is 52 × 416 (52 × 8) pixels. Yes. This resolution is lower than that of a typical mobile terminal display, but is sufficient to display weather information and simple messages.

  Also, considering the case of displaying detailed map information, etc., the vertical resolution (number of LEDs per row) needs to be raised a little more, but since LED arrays and multiplexers are fairly inexpensive devices, the vertical direction It is preferable to arrange an LED array about twice as large as the prototype.

  In general, the conventional umbrella has been considered to be used mainly on rainy days. However, in considering the usage scene of the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) according to the present invention, the usage situation of the conventional umbrella is described. There are two possible interpretation directions. First, there is a direction that a new function such as Phantom Parasol may be added to the umbrella to be used in a wide range of situations other than rainy days. In fact, parasols are frequently used mainly by women even on sunny days, and the use of umbrellas may change significantly with the advent of Phantom Parasol. The other is the direction of focusing as an information presentation device used mainly on rainy days. In a mobile / ubiquitous environment, it is not necessary to use a single user interface in all situations, and it is important to select an appropriate interface according to the situation (Non-Patent Document 12). Therefore, the direction of establishing Phantom Parasol as an optimal information presentation interface on rainy days is also sufficiently valuable.

When the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention is compared with the above-described existing afterimage display device,
(1) Ambient information can be presented using a stationary LED array.
(2) The user can arbitrarily adjust the rotation speed of the afterimage display to switch the granularity of the content to be displayed.
(3) There is an advantage that the afterimage display can be actively used as an information presentation method in a mobile environment.

  As a method of linking ambient information and detailed information, the aforementioned Push & Pull (Non-Patent Document 14) can be cited. In Push & Pull, the computer display mode is slid back and forth to change the computer usage mode from passive to active. Switching interface technique. On the other hand, the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) according to the present invention is an information presentation method for smoothly transferring ambient information and detailed information in a mobile environment centering on the outdoors.

  In addition, as an approach for presenting intermediate information between ambient information and detailed information in a mobile environment, there is ActiveBelt (Non-patent Document 13). However, ActiveBelt is equipped with eight vibration motors around the belt. This is a tactile information presentation method with orientation information. By using tactile information, it is possible to present explicit azimuth information while suppressing the burden on the user, so that a certain amount of information can be given. On the other hand, the umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) according to the present invention is characterized in that ambient information and detailed information can be smoothly transferred by a simple act of turning an umbrella.

  The umbrella-type afterimage display device (Phantom Parasol) according to the present invention is an umbrella-type information presentation device that can smoothly control the granularity of information in a mobile environment. In this information presentation device, ambient information is presented by holding an umbrella. By turning around, it is possible to draw an image on the space using the afterimage effect of the LED and present detailed information step by step. Furthermore, in the near future, the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to the present invention has evolved from a tool that “blocks” rain and sunlight into a tool that “transmits” various information by combining with GPS and wireless communication systems. It has the potential to make it happen.

It is a figure explaining the whole structure of the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus by this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the apparatus structure of the signal control processing system and information processing system of the umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reading process of the content in an umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the display process of the content in an umbrella type afterimage display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the display control which displays the content from ambient information to detailed information in an umbrella-type afterimage display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the display control which displays the weather information as a content. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the display control which displays the information of a map as a content.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Afterimage display apparatus 101 Umbrella part 102 Umbrella handle 103 Gyro sensor 104 Display module 105 Control module 106 External communication module 107 External computer

Claims (5)

A gyro sensor provided on the handle portion of the umbrella for detecting the rotational speed of the umbrella;
An afterimage display unit that is provided on the bone portion of the umbrella and includes a plurality of light emitting diode rows;
A display control unit for controlling the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the afterimage display unit;
A display content selection processing unit for selecting content to be displayed according to the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor;
A data processing unit that performs data conversion for displaying the display content selected by the display content selection unit on the afterimage display unit under the control of the display control unit;
An umbrella-type afterimage display device comprising: The umbrella-type afterimage display device according to claim 1,
An umbrella-like afterimage display device, wherein afterimage display portions are provided radially along a plurality of bone portions. The umbrella-type afterimage display device according to claim 1,
The display control unit controls the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the afterimage display unit according to the rotation speed detected by the gyro sensor, and displays information on the displayed content by a graphical display based on the afterimage effect. An umbrella-type afterimage display device characterized by the above. The umbrella-type afterimage display device according to claim 1,
The display control unit controls the light emission timing of each of the plurality of light emitting diodes of the afterimage display unit in accordance with the rotational speed detected by the gyro sensor, and displays the information displayed by the character display based on the afterimage effect. An umbrella-type afterimage display device characterized by the above. In the umbrella-type afterimage display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The display content selection processing unit selects ambient information when the rotation speed detected by the gyro sensor is less than a first predetermined value, and displays predetermined information when the rotational speed is less than a first predetermined value and less than a second predetermined value. An umbrella-type afterimage display device, wherein when selected and further exceeds a second predetermined value, detailed information related to the predetermined information is selected.

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