JP2007307098A - Virtual space generator and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a virtual space generation technique which enhances the virtual reality. <P>SOLUTION: An environment supply part 10 provides a user 200 with environmental data containing at least one of voices and images. Blow fans 22 are arranged surrounding the user 200. A wind pressure control part 24 controls the number of revolutions of the blow fans according to the environtal data supplied to the user 200 from the environment supply part 10. For example, the wind pressure control part 24 refers to voice data to be reproduced by the environment supply part 10 and controls the number of revolutions of the blow fans according to the volume of the voice given by the voice data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a virtual space generation device that provides a virtual space to a user, such as a game, a home theater, or a virtual reality.

  In recent years, with the enlargement of televisions and the rapid spread of DVDs and high-performance game machines, there has been an increasing interest in home theaters that allow users to enjoy movies and games with a sense of realism at home. In such virtual space generation devices represented by home theaters and games, in addition to real images, attempts are made to enhance the sense of reality by providing the following additional functions.

  For example, stereophonic sound using a 5.1ch surround system and a vibration unit that applies vibration to the user provide a higher sense of realism to the user. Also, in the field of entertainment such as attractions in amusement facilities, a head-mounted display that can move the audience seats in accordance with the video and a head action tracker and can look around the virtual space in the game in all directions has been put into practical use.

Furthermore, by providing a fan for blowing air in such a virtual space generation device, it is possible to apply a wind pressure to the user in synchronization with the provided virtual space to provide a more realistic environment (for example, patents). References 1-3).
JP 2000-78430 A JP 2003-67107 A JP-A-6-210065

  The present invention has been made from such a background, and a general purpose thereof is to provide a virtual space generation technology with a high sense of presence by giving wind pressure to a user.

  An aspect of the present invention relates to a virtual space generation device that generates a virtual space by providing environmental data including at least one of audio and video to a user. The virtual space generation device is provided to the user by an environment providing unit that provides environment data to the user, at least one blower fan disposed around the assumed position of the user, and the environment providing unit. A control unit that controls the rotational speed of the blower fan according to the environmental data.

The “virtual space generation device” includes a home theater, a game device, a virtual reality, and the like, and is a device that allows a user (subject) to view or simulate a space using video and audio. Say.
According to this aspect, since the rotation speed of the blower fan can be controlled on the basis of environmental data prepared in advance such as sound and video, the wind pressure applied to the user can be controlled. There is no need to prepare data, the data capacity for reproducing the virtual space can be reduced, and environment reproduction with a high presence can be realized.

The environmental data may include audio data. The control unit may refer to the audio data to be reproduced by the environment providing unit and control the rotation speed of the blower fan according to the volume indicated by the audio data.
By associating the wind pressure received by the user with the volume, the wind pressure can be increased as the volume increases, and the sense of reality can be enhanced.

  The control unit may rotate the blower fan when the volume indicated by the audio data exceeds a predetermined threshold value. In this case, in a content such as a movie, it is possible to prevent the wind pressure from being changed by sound reproduced at a normal volume such as dialogue or back music.

  The control unit may quantize the volume indicated by the audio data and switch the rotational speed of the blower fan in a stepwise manner.

  The control unit acquires the absolute value of the audio time waveform generated based on the audio data, wavelet transforms the acquired absolute value, and according to the step function obtained as a result, the rotation speed of the fan for blowing May be switched in stages.

There are a plurality of fans for blowing, and the fans are arranged so as to be blown from different directions, and the sound reproduced by the environment providing unit may be prepared as a multi-channel sound signal having directionality. . The control unit may associate each of the plurality of blower fans with one of the multi-channel audio signals, and may control the number of rotations of each of the blower fans according to the sound data of the associated channel.
In this case, when reproducing contents such as movies having multi-channel audio information such as 5.1ch and 7.1ch, by rotating the rotation speeds of a plurality of blower fans to each channel, each blower fan The wind pressure from the can be suitably controlled, and the presence can be enhanced.

  Another aspect of the present invention also relates to a virtual space generation device. The virtual space generation device includes a speaker system including a plurality of speakers that provide audio data from different directions to a user, a plurality of blower fans provided close to each of the plurality of speakers, and a plurality of fans. A control unit that controls the number of rotations of each of the blower fans in accordance with an output sound volume from an adjacent speaker. According to this aspect, since the sound propagation direction and the wind direction coincide with each other, it is possible to provide a virtual space with high presence.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to a virtual space generation method for generating a virtual space by providing environmental data including at least one of audio and video to a user. The virtual space providing method includes a step of providing environmental data to a user, and a step of controlling the rotation speed of at least one blower fan arranged around the user based on the environmental data. Prepare.

  According to this aspect, since the rotation speed of the blower fan can be controlled on the basis of environmental data prepared in advance such as sound and video, the wind pressure applied to the user can be controlled. There is no need to prepare data, the data capacity for reproducing the virtual space can be reduced, and environment reproduction with a high presence can be realized.

  Note that any combination of the above-described components and the expression of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the virtual space production | generation technique which raised the realism can be provided.

  The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted as appropriate. The embodiments do not limit the invention but are exemplifications, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a virtual space generation device 100 according to the first embodiment. The virtual space generation device 100 can be used as a home game machine, a movie viewing device, or a game device in a game facility. The virtual space generation device 100 is configured such that the user 200 is located in the center. The virtual space generation device 100 according to the present embodiment is configured to include three units of a playback device 2, an environment providing unit 10, and an environmental wind reproduction device 20.

  The playback device 2 is a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) player, a TV tuner, a game machine, or the like, and generates video data and audio data to be provided to the user 200.

  The environment providing unit 10 provides environment data including at least one of audio and video to the user 200. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the environment providing unit 10 reproduces the virtual space by providing both audio and video environment data. The environment providing unit 10 includes, for example, a head mounted display (hereinafter referred to simply as HMD) 12 and an audio reproducing unit 14. The HMD 12 is fixed to the head of the user 200 and displays video on a display provided in front of the user 200 to provide the user 200 with video information as environmental data. Instead of the HMD 12, a projector that projects an image on a screen, a plasma display, a liquid crystal display, or the like may be used as the image display means.

  The sound reproducing unit 14 is a headphone or the like, and is fixed to the head of the user 200, and is provided to enhance the sense of reality by giving sound information as environmental data to the user 200's ear. . Both the HMD 12 and the audio playback unit 14 are connected to the playback device 2, and video data and audio data generated by the playback device 2 are input thereto.

  The virtual space generation device 100 is provided with a controller 30 and a sensor 32 as necessary. The controller 30 is an interface used for the user 200 to operate the virtual space generation device 100, switch the viewpoint, or move in the virtual space provided by the virtual space generation device 100. The sensor 32 is attached to a part of the user 200, for example, the head, and is provided to detect the position and movement of the user 200. The virtual space generation device 100 may control the virtual space to be provided according to information obtained by the controller 30 and the sensor 32.

  The virtual space generation device 100 according to the present embodiment can further enhance the sense of reality by providing an environmental wind to the user 200 in addition to environmental data including video and audio. Yes. In order to provide an environmental wind, the virtual space generation device 100 according to the present embodiment includes an environmental wind reproduction device (wind surround system) 20.

The environmental wind reproduction device 20 includes a plurality of blower fans 22 and a wind pressure control unit 24.
A plurality of the blower fans 22 are arranged around the assumed position of the user 200 so that the blower, that is, the wind pressure, can be applied to the user 200 from at least three different directions. Preferably, the blower fan 22 is desirably disposed at a height near the viewpoint of the user 200, and is a plane that is parallel to the ground on which the user 200 is located and includes the viewpoint of the user 200. It is desirable to arrange in the range of 20 cm above and below. This is because the head of the user 200 is not covered with clothing, so there are many exposed parts, and when a person receives wind on his hair, he or she can easily sense the wind pressure. The blower fan 22 can be configured by attaching a fan to the rotors of various motors, regardless of whether they are single-phase or multi-phase.

The wind pressure control unit 24 adjusts the wind pressure applied to the user 200 by controlling the rotational speed of the plurality of blower fans 22. The wind pressure control unit 24 may control the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 by a pulse width modulation method, or may perform linear driving. The wind pressure control unit 24 may control the rotational speed of each blower fan 22 according to environmental wind regeneration data prepared in advance, or environmental data provided by the environment providing unit 10, that is, Video data and audio data may be converted into environmental reproduction data to control the rotation speed. This point will be described in detail in second and third embodiments described later.
In addition, when the virtual space generation device 100 is used in a game machine having two or more users, the virtual space generation device 100 on the other user side is operated according to the operation of one user. The rotational speed of the blower fan 22 may be controlled. For example, an airflow sensor (an air flow meter) is provided on one user side. When the user blows into the airflow sensor and applies the wind pressure, the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 of the other user is controlled according to the applied wind pressure, and the wind pressure is applied. It is also possible.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the environmental wind reproduction device 20, and is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the blower fans 22 desired from the overhead of the user 200. In the present embodiment, sixteen fans 22 are provided and arranged at the same angle, that is, at an interval of 22.5 degrees on the same circle centered on the assumed position of the user 200. All the fans 22 for ventilation are provided facing the user 200. However, the number and arrangement of the blower fans 22 are not limited to this. Since the wind can be combined in a vector manner, it is possible to reproduce the wind in an arbitrary direction for the user 200 by arranging three or more fans for blowing in different directions. For example, by arranging three blower fans 22 on the same plane at intervals of 120 degrees and appropriately controlling the respective wind pressures, the user 200 can experience the wind blowing from all directions of 360 degrees. It becomes. The distance r between the user 200 and each blower fan 22 may be determined according to the wind pressure obtained from the blower fan 22. Furthermore, it is preferable to determine the distance r so as not to hinder the operation of the user 200. From these viewpoints, the distance r is set in a range of r = 0.5 to 1.5 m, for example, about 0.8 to 1 m. Is preferred.

  In addition to the plurality of blower fans 22 arranged on the same plane as shown in FIG. 2, the environmental wind reproduction device 20 is also provided with a blower fan arranged at one or both of the upper side and the lower side of the user 200. 22 may be further provided. In addition, when providing the fan 22 for ventilation in the upper direction and the downward direction, it is desirable to arrange | position all the fans 22 for ventilation on the same spherical surface centering on the user 200. FIG. In this case, wind pressure including a component in the Z-axis direction that is perpendicular to the installation surface of the virtual space generation device 100 can be applied to the user 200, so that wind that blows down from above or wind that blows from below Can be reproduced, and a sense of reality can be further enhanced.

  The operation of the virtual space generation device 100 configured as described above will be described. When the virtual space generation device 100 is used for playback of a movie or the like, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) player or the like is connected to the HMD 12 and the audio playback unit 14 as the playback device 2. When reproduction is instructed, video is displayed on the HMD 12 and audio is output from the audio reproduction unit 14.

  The environmental wind reproduction device 20 of the virtual space generation device 100 applies wind pressure to the user 200 in synchronization with environmental data such as video and audio provided by the environment providing unit 10. For example, when an explosion occurs in the virtual space experienced by the user 200, the blast is reproduced by strongly rotating the blower fan 22. At this time, by driving the blower fan 22 arranged in the direction in which the explosion occurred, the user 200 can feel a sense of reality as if an explosion actually occurred in that direction. Also, in the video that the user 200 views, when the wind is blowing, the air blowing fan 22 to be driven is selected according to the wind direction, and the rotational speed is controlled according to the air volume, thereby changing the environmental wind. Can be reproduced.

  As described above, the data for controlling the rotational speed of each blower fan 22 may be stored on a disk together with video and audio. In this case, content producers such as movies need to create data on the wind direction and air volume suitable for the virtual space reproduced by video and audio. However, it is necessary to reproduce the optimal air volume and wind direction according to each scene. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly realistic virtual space.

  Also, when reproducing a virtual space based on content that does not include wind-related content such as a movie recorded on a DVD that is currently popular, based on video data and audio data, The air volume and direction may be controlled. This will be described later in the third embodiment.

  When the virtual space generation device 100 is used connected to a game device or the like, the air volume and the wind direction given to the user 200 by the environmental wind reproduction device 20 are based on the data obtained from the calculation processing result in the game device. Also good.

  As described above, according to the virtual space generation device 100 according to the present embodiment, in addition to environmental data such as video and audio, by giving an environmental wind to the user 200, it is possible to further enhance the sense of reality. . In the present embodiment, a plurality of blowing fans 22 capable of blowing air from different directions are provided around the user 200, so that the user 200 can experience environmental winds from different directions such as front and rear, left and right. . Further, by controlling the rotational speed of each blower fan 22 by the wind pressure control unit 24, the wind pressure received by the user 200 can be switched according to the scene, and the presence can be enhanced.

(Second Embodiment)
In the second embodiment, in the environmental wind reproduction device 20 of the virtual space generation device 100 described in the first embodiment, a technique for providing data for controlling the rotational speed of the blower fan 22, that is, the wind pressure is described. To do.

  In recent years, attempts have been made to electronically preserve such valuable landscapes and buildings as the destruction and weathering of cultural heritage have become a social issue. In this method, an object to be stored is recorded by a video camera or the like, or three-dimensionally measured and analyzed to be archived electronically. The archived data is virtually reproduced by a video display means such as a large screen display device or HMD using computer graphics technology.

  The technology described in this embodiment is intended to archive the object to be stored more faithfully by storing sound, wind, temperature, and the like heard in the environment in addition to video information. is there. For example, by using the virtual space generation device 100 described in the first embodiment, it is possible to virtually reproduce a storage target using video, sound, and wind as parameters. The environmental wind measuring apparatus 300 described below is based on the acquired air volume in each direction in the environmental wind reproduction apparatus 20 including a plurality of blower fans 22 arranged around the user 200 as shown in FIG. On the premise that the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 is controlled, the environmental wind is acquired and the data is stored. That is, the environmental wind measuring apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment and the virtual space generation apparatus 100 described in the first embodiment are a recording apparatus that records the environmental wind and a playback apparatus that reproduces the recorded wind. A pair of systems is configured.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the environmental wind measuring apparatus 300 according to the second embodiment. The environmental wind measuring device 300 includes six anemometers 40a to 40f and a recording device 42. An anemometer is a device capable of measuring a gas flow rate and a wind speed, and various types of devices such as an air flow meter (air flow sensor) are commercially available. In the following description, it is assumed that the air flow meter is an airflow sensor.

  The six airflow sensors 40a to 40f are arranged in the positive and negative directions of the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis that are orthogonal to each other. Specifically, the airflow sensor 40a is a wind toward the X-axis positive direction, the airflow sensor 40b is a wind toward the X-axis negative direction, the airflow sensor 40c is a wind toward the Y-axis positive direction, and the airflow sensor 40d is Y The wind toward the negative axis direction, the airflow sensor 40e detects the wind toward the positive Z-axis direction, and the airflow sensor 40f detects the wind toward the negative Z-axis direction. Each airflow sensor 40 outputs data corresponding to the amount of wind flowing into the airflow sensor 40. The recording device 42 stores the air volume in each direction acquired by the airflow sensor 40 as electronic data. Note that the arrangement of the airflow sensors 40a to 40f is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that the environmental wind measuring device 300 can detect the amount of wind blown in the positive and negative directions of the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis.

  The data acquired and stored by the environmental wind measuring device 300 corresponds to the air volume in the positive and negative directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. You can know the direction and airflow. By measuring a plurality of environmental winds in an actual environment to be digitally stored by the environmental wind measuring apparatus 300, the air volume and the wind direction at different positions can be stored.

  Data acquired by the environmental wind measuring apparatus 300 is reproduced by the virtual space generating apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. The HMD 12 of the virtual space generation device 100 displays the buildings and scenery existing in the coordinates and orientation of the user 200 in the virtual space. The video displayed on the HMD 12 is updated every time the user 200 instructs the controller 30 to move or the viewpoint 32 is detected by the sensor 32.

  The environmental wind reproduction device 20 can obtain the necessary air volume and direction based on the electronic data acquired by the environmental wind measurement device 300 of FIG. 3 according to the position and orientation of the user 200 in the virtual space. The fan 22 for ventilation is selected and the rotation speed is controlled.

  According to the environmental wind measuring apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to acquire and store the environmental wind to be reproduced together with the video and audio reproduced by the virtual space generation apparatus 100, and later to the user 200. Thus, when the virtual space is provided, the actually measured environmental wind can be given to the user 200, so that a sense of reality can be enhanced.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment describes a technique for controlling the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 in accordance with environmental data such as video data and audio data in the environmental wind reproduction device of the virtual space generation device.

  The virtual space generation device 100 according to the third embodiment can be configured similarly to the virtual space generation device 100 illustrated in FIG. The virtual space generation device 100 provides the virtual space by providing environment data including at least one of audio and video and wind pressure to the user 200 in that the virtual space generation device 100 and the virtual space generation device 100 of FIG. Common. The virtual space generation device 100 includes an environment providing unit 10 that provides environment data to a user 200 and an environment wind reproduction device 20.

  The environmental wind reproduction device 20 includes a blower fan 22 and a wind pressure control unit 24. In the first configuration example, at least one blower fan 22 may be provided around the user 200. The wind pressure control unit 24 controls the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 according to the environmental data provided to the user 200 by the environment providing unit 10.

  In an embodiment, the wind pressure control unit 24 refers to the audio data AUD to be reproduced by the audio reproduction unit 14 of the environment providing unit 10 and controls the rotation speed of the blower fan 22 according to the volume indicated by the audio data AUD. May be. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the wind pressure control unit 24 according to the third embodiment. The wind pressure control unit 24 includes an audio data input unit 50, an audio data analysis unit 52, and a rotation control unit 54.

  The audio data input unit 50 acquires the audio data AUD output from the audio reproduction unit 14 of the environment providing unit 10 and outputs it to the audio data analysis unit 52. The sound data analysis unit 52 analyzes the input sound data AUD and sets the rotation speed of the blower fan 22, that is, the wind pressure to be given to the user 200. The audio data analysis unit 52 instructs the rotation control unit 54 on the set number of rotations. The rotation control unit 54 drives the blower fan 22 at the instructed rotational speed.

  A method for setting the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 based on the audio data AUD in the audio data analysis unit 52 will be described. FIGS. 5A to 5C are waveform diagrams showing how the wind pressure control unit 24 sets the rotation speed of the blower fan 22. In this example, the wind pressure control unit 24 quantizes the audio data AUD and switches the rotational speed of the blower fan in stages. 5A shows the audio waveform reproduced from the audio reproducing unit 14, FIG. 5B shows the absolute value of FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5C shows the waveform of FIG. The wavelet transformed waveform is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the voice data analysis unit 52 acquires the absolute value of the time waveform data of the input voice data AUD shown in FIG. Next, the obtained absolute value is wavelet transformed, smoothed and quantized. FIG. 5C shows the case where the Haar function is used as the mother wavelet, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other functions may be used. Further, the absolute values shown in FIG. 5B may be quantized after being smoothed by a filter without using the wavelet transform. In accordance with the quantized data shown in FIG. 5C, the rotation control unit 54 sets the rotation speed of the blower fan 22. The blower fan 22 may set a pulse width for PWM driving based on the quantized data. In this example, the case where the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 is switched stepwise has been described, but it may be switched continuously. In this case, the blower fan 22 may be linearly driven based on the data obtained by smoothing the absolute value shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the sound data analysis unit 52 may rotate the blower fan 22 when the sound volume indicated by the sound data AUD exceeds a predetermined threshold value. In this case, when the user 200 watches a movie or the like, it is possible to prevent the blower fan 22 from rotating due to background music that flows at a low volume in the back of the video or a normal volume dialogue. . Since there is a tendency for relatively loud sound to occur in scenes where wind is generated, such as explosion sounds associated with blasts or wind sounds associated with strong winds, a process for changing the presence or absence of rotation of the blower fan 22 by providing a threshold value Is valid.

  In this way, by controlling the rotation speed of the blower fan 22 based on the audio signal prepared in advance, it is not necessary to prepare additional data for controlling the wind pressure, and the data capacity for reproducing the virtual space can be reduced. In addition to the reduction, it is possible to reproduce the environment with a high sense of reality. Further, empirically, in a scene where a large wind pressure is generated, a large sound is often reproduced. Therefore, a virtual space with a high sense of realism can be generated by associating the sound with the wind pressure.

  The processing in the audio data analysis unit 52 may be changed according to the type of the audio data AUD. For example, when the sound output from the sound reproducing unit 14 is a monaural signal or the like, the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 is controlled according to the amplitude of one audio signal.

  Further, in order to generate a virtual space with higher presence, the following control may be executed. For example, it is assumed that the virtual space generation device 100 provides the user 200 with different states or fields such as a “normal” state, a “snowstorm” state, a “rain” state, and a “sand beach” state. . In this case, parameters for the air volume and direction may be determined in advance according to each state, and the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 may be controlled.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting parameters according to the state. In this setting example, the final wind pressure is set by multiplying the air volume obtained by analyzing the audio data by the magnification (wind pressure magnification) set for each state. Further, a wind direction is set for each state, and the plurality of blower fans 22 are driven so that the set wind direction can be obtained. In the example of FIG. 6, no wind pressure is generated in the “normal” state. In the “sand beach” state, the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 is reduced so as to obtain an air volume obtained by multiplying the air volume obtained by analyzing the audio data by 0.8. In the “sand beach” state, the wind direction is fixed. In the “rain” or “snowstorm” state, the wind direction is specified in all directions, and all the blower fans 22 are driven. Further, in the “snowstorm” state, the wind pressure magnification is set high.
In this way, by setting the parameter for adjusting the wind pressure and the parameter for setting the wind direction according to the state and field generated in the virtual space, compared with the case where the air volume is set with only the volume as the parameter, , It becomes possible to enhance the presence.

  When the audio reproduction unit 14 of the environment providing unit 10 performs audio reproduction known as multi-channel such as 5.1 channel or 7.1 channel, the user 200 perceives audio from various directions such as front and rear, left and right. Can provide a more realistic environment. In this case, it is desirable that the environment providing unit 10 in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of speakers instead of the sound reproducing unit 14. In this case, sound is output from different directions to the user 200 from the speakers arranged around the user 200.

  The wind pressure control unit 24 associates the plurality of blower fans 22 provided around the user 200 with each of the plurality of speakers. The association is preferably performed so that the direction of the blower fan 22 viewed from the user 200 and the direction of the speaker coincide with each other. For example, in the case of a multi-channel sound system that reproduces 5.1-channel sound, the blower fan 22 disposed on the left front, front, and right front as viewed from the user 200 is associated with each of the left, center, and right speakers. Similarly, the blower fan 22 disposed on the right rear side and the left rear side as viewed from the user 200 is associated with the surround right speaker and the surround left speaker. The sound data analysis unit 52 of the wind pressure control unit 24 controls the rotation speed of each blower fan 22 according to sound data to be reproduced from the associated speaker. The rotational speed of each blower fan 22 may be set based on the volume of each channel as described above.

  As described above, when multi-channel audio reproduction is performed, it is possible to provide a virtual space with a higher sense of presence by using the directionality of the audio information for the control of the blower fan 22. For example, in the virtual space, when an explosion occurs in the right front direction of the user 200, an explosion sound is reproduced from the speaker of the front light. In this case, the blower fan 22 associated with the front light speaker, that is, the blower fan 22 disposed in front of the user 200 rotates at a rotational speed corresponding to the sound volume. As a result, the user 200 receives the wind pressure from the front right direction, that is, from the direction in which the explosion occurred, so that the sense of reality can be enhanced.

  Note that the virtual space generation device 100 does not necessarily include a multi-channel speaker as the audio reproduction unit 14, and multi-channel audio data is prepared as audio data to be reproduced by the audio reproduction unit 14. For example, the same processing can be performed by associating a plurality of blower fans 22 with each channel.

  In the third embodiment, the case where the wind pressure control unit 24 controls the rotation speed of the blower fan 22 based on sound data as environment data has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the wind pressure control unit 24 may control the rotational speed of the blower fan 22 based on video data as environmental data. When controlling the rotation speed based on the video data, a plurality of frames of the video data may be compared to acquire the magnitude of the motion of the image, and the rotation speed may be controlled based on the acquired data.

  The embodiment has been described above. The embodiments are exemplifications, and various modifications are possible, and those skilled in the art will understand that such modifications are also included in the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the virtual space production | generation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of an environmental wind reproduction apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the fan for ventilation desired from the user's overhead. It is a block diagram of the environmental wind measuring apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the wind pressure control part which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. FIGS. 5A to 5C are waveform diagrams showing how the wind pressure control unit sets the rotational speed of the blower fan. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the parameter regarding the wind according to a state.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Environment provision part, 12 HMD, 14 Sound reproduction part, 20 Environmental wind reproduction apparatus, 22 Blower fan, 24 Wind pressure control part, 26 Blower fan, 30 Controller, 32 sensor, 40 Airflow sensor, 42 Recording apparatus, 50 Sound Data input unit, 52 voice data analysis unit, 54 rotation control unit, 100 virtual space generation device, 200 user, 300 environmental wind measurement device.

Claims (9)

An environment providing unit that provides environmental data including at least one of audio and video to a user;
At least one blower fan disposed around an assumed position of the user;
A control unit for controlling the rotational speed of the blower fan according to the environmental data provided to the user by the environment providing unit;
A virtual space generation device comprising: The environmental data includes audio data,
The said control part refers to the audio | voice data which should be reproduced | regenerated by the said environment provision part, and controls the rotation speed of the said fan for ventilation according to the sound volume which the said audio | voice data show. Virtual space generation device.   The virtual space generation device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit rotates the blower fan when a sound volume indicated by the audio data exceeds a predetermined threshold value.   The virtual space generation device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit quantizes the volume indicated by the audio data and switches the rotation speed of the blower fan in a stepwise manner.   The control unit acquires an absolute value of an audio time waveform generated based on the audio data, wavelet transforms the acquired absolute value, and the fan for blowing according to a stepped function obtained as a result The virtual space generation device according to claim 4, wherein the rotation speed of the virtual space is switched stepwise. There are a plurality of the fans for blowing, and the fans are arranged so as to blow air from different directions,
The audio reproduced by the environment providing unit is prepared as a multi-channel audio signal having directionality,
The control unit associates a plurality of blower fans with any one of the channels of the multi-channel audio signal, and controls the rotation speed of each blower fan according to the audio data of the associated channel. The virtual space generation device according to claim 1. A speaker system including a plurality of speakers for providing audio data from different directions to a user;
A plurality of blower fans arranged close to each of the plurality of speakers;
A control unit that controls the number of rotations of each of the plurality of fans for blowing according to an output volume from an adjacent speaker;
A virtual space generation device comprising:   When outputting sound to the user, the air volume corresponding to the sound volume is derived by calculation, and the air blower is controlled based on the derived air volume, so that the sound volume is adjusted from the air blower to the user. A virtual space generation apparatus characterized by performing a corresponding blow. Providing environmental data including at least one of audio and video to a user;
Controlling the number of rotations of at least one blower fan arranged around the assumed position of the user based on the environmental data;
A virtual space reproduction method comprising:

Images