JP2009101035A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technical means for preventing the calculation result of the direction of a controller from getting inaccurate with a time lapse in a game apparatus obtaining the direction of the controller by integrating an output signal of a sensor provided in the controller. <P>SOLUTION: A body part 1 and the controller 2 each include a speaker or a microphone, which perform a directive sound transmission for allowing one to receive sound emitted by the other, only when the controller 2 faces the direction of a body part 1. When the directive sound transmission is satisfied between the body part 1 and the controller 2, the controller 2 controls to correct a direction angle θ obtained by a gyroscope sensor 22 to a reference angle O corresponding to the direction of the body part 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game apparatus comprising a main body for playing a game and a controller for transmitting control information to the main body.

As this type of game apparatus, there has been proposed one in which a sensor such as an acceleration sensor is provided in a controller, information indicating the movement of the controller detected by this sensor is sent to the main body, and used for controlling the progress of the game. For example, Patent Document 1 relates to a game controller for enjoying a drive game. However, the game controller disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a handle type that is separated from the main body of the game apparatus and is freely steered by a user. It is a game controller. This game controller is provided with an acceleration sensor. Based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, the steering angle of the game controller, which is a steering wheel, is obtained and used to control the progress of the game. .
JP 2002-224444 A

  By the way, in a controller using a sensor such as the acceleration sensor described above, information indicating the direction of the controller (steering angle in the case of Patent Document 1) is obtained by integrating the output signal of the sensor. Therefore, in order to accurately obtain information indicating the direction of the controller, it is necessary to initialize the integrated value of the output signal of the sensor in a state where the controller is facing the reference direction. However, even if such initialization is performed, there is a drift in a sensor such as an acceleration sensor, so that an error based on drift accumulates in the integrated value of the output signal of the sensor with the lapse of time after initialization, There was a problem that the information indicating the direction gradually became inaccurate.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and in a game device that determines the direction of a controller by integrating the output signals of sensors provided in the controller, the calculation result of the direction of the controller increases with time. It aims to provide technical means to prevent inaccuracies.

The present invention provides a game apparatus comprising a main body for proceeding with a game and a controller for transmitting control information to the main body, wherein the controller is detected by an angular velocity detecting means for detecting an angular velocity and the angular velocity detecting means. A direction detector having an integrator that calculates a directional angle indicating the inclination of the direction of the controller with respect to the direction of the main body by integrating the angular velocity of the main body, and the controller includes the controller. A speaker or a microphone that establishes directional transmission of a sound that is received by one of the sounds emitted by the other when facing the direction of the main body, and the directivity of the sound between the main body and the controller; When transmission is established, the direction angle obtained by the direction detection unit of the controller is To provide a game apparatus, wherein said main body portion or the controllers direction correction control means for performing control for correcting the reference angle corresponding to the direction is provided.
According to such a game apparatus, the direction correction control means outputs the direction detection unit of the controller when the controller faces the direction of the main body and sound directivity transmission is performed between the main body and the controller. Control is performed to correct the direction angle to a reference angle corresponding to the direction of the main body. Therefore, every time the controller faces the direction of the main body, the direction angle is corrected, and it is possible to prevent the direction angle from becoming inaccurate with time.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are block diagrams showing the configuration of a game apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the main body 1 of the game apparatus, and FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of a structure of the controller 2 of the game device. Here, the main body 1 is a device that progresses the game, and the controller 2 is a device that transmits control information related to the progress of the game to the main body 1.

The main features of the game device according to the present embodiment are as follows.
a. The gyro sensor 22 measures the direction angle indicating the inclination of the direction of the controller 2 with respect to the direction of the main body 1 and is used for controlling the progress of the game. The controller 2 faces the direction of the main body 1, and the main body 1 and the controller A point of correcting the direction angle of the controller 2 measured by the gyro sensor 22 when the directional transmission of sound between the two is established; b. The sound signal is exchanged between the main body 1 and the controller 2, and the distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2 is obtained based on the measurement result of the round-trip time of the sound signal, and is used for controlling the progress of the game. Point c. Use of sound signals that have been subjected to spread spectrum modulation for information patterns to be sent to the other party of communication as a carrier of information in communication between the main unit 1 and the controller 2

  The reason why the game apparatus is provided with the function corresponding to the feature a is as already described in the section “Problems to be solved by the invention”.

  The reason why the game apparatus is provided with a function corresponding to the feature b is as follows. First, in order to perform various controls regarding the progress of the game, it is necessary to determine the movement of the controller in detail. As a game device that has been proposed so far, for example, an infrared transmission device is provided in a controller, and infrared rays transmitted by the infrared transmission device of this controller are received by infrared reception devices provided in various places in the room, and the position of the controller is specified. There was something to do. However, if such an infrared transmission device and an infrared reception device are used, the game device becomes expensive. Therefore, in this embodiment, the distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2 is obtained by an inexpensive means such as a sound signal transmitting / receiving means. If the distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2 can be obtained in addition to the direction of the controller 2 described above, various controls can be performed regarding the progress of the game.

  From this point of view, the game apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a main body 1 that advances a game and a controller 2 that transmits control information to the main body 1. The distance measurement sound signal is transmitted by the omnidirectional speaker, the controller 2 receives the distance measurement sound signal by the omnidirectional microphone, and transmits the reception report sound signal by the omnidirectional speaker. The distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2 is calculated based on the time from reception of the reception report sound signal by the omnidirectional microphone and transmission of the distance measurement sound signal to reception of the reception report sound signal. It can be said that it is a game device characterized by this.

  The reason why the game apparatus is provided with a function corresponding to the feature c is as follows. In the present embodiment, in order to obtain an opportunity for correcting the direction angle of the controller 2 measured by the gyro sensor 22, a sound signal is exchanged between the main body 1 and the controller 2, and the main body 1 and the controller 2 are exchanged. In order to measure the distance, a sound signal is exchanged between the main body 1 and the controller 2. In addition, in this embodiment, sound signals are exchanged for information exchange between the main body 1 and the controller 2. In this way, only the various measurements for obtaining the parameters (here, the direction angle of the controller 2 and the distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2) used for controlling the progress of the game by only transmitting and receiving sound signals. In addition, it is possible to cover up to information exchange for controlling the progress of the game, and there is no need to provide another type of wireless communication device for exchanging information between the main body unit 1 and the controller 2. Can be made inexpensive. However, when sound signals are used in this way, if the spectrum of the sound signals is concentrated in a specific band, it may cause annoying noise. Therefore, as a bearer of information in communication between the main unit 1 and the controller 2, a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation on an information pattern to be transmitted to a communication partner is employed to avoid such noise generation.

  From this point of view, the game apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a main body 1 and a controller in a game apparatus including a main body 1 that progresses a game and a controller 2 that transmits control information to the main body 1. One of the two includes a spread spectrum transmission processing unit that transmits a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation on an information pattern addressed to a communication partner, and the other of the main body 1 and the controller 2 is subjected to spread spectrum modulation. It can be said that the game apparatus is characterized by including a spread spectrum reception processing unit that receives a received sound signal via a microphone and demodulates an information pattern sent from the communication partner from the sound signal.

In the present embodiment, a spread spectrum transmission processing unit and a spread spectrum reception processing unit are provided in both the main unit 1 and the controller 2 in order to perform bidirectional sound signal communication between the main unit 1 and the controller 2. ing. However, for example, when it is only necessary to transmit a unidirectional sound signal from the controller 2 to the main body unit 1, the controller 2 is provided with a spread spectrum transmission processing unit, and the main body unit 1 is provided with a spread spectrum reception processing unit. It's okay.
Details of the configuration of the game device according to the present embodiment will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body unit 1 includes a processor 10, an external storage device 11, a memory unit 12, a sound signal transmission / reception unit 13, a signal processing unit 14, and an I / F (interface) 15. is doing. The processor 10 is a device that controls the entire main body 1. The external storage device 11 is a device that stores a recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), for example, and reads a game application program recorded on the recording medium under the control of the processor 10. The memory unit 12 includes a ROM that stores various control programs executed by the processor 10 and a RAM that the processor 10 uses as a work area. The processor 10 loads the control program in the ROM of the memory unit 12 and the game application program in the recording medium of the external storage device 11 into the RAM of the memory unit 12 and executes them, and the game proceeds according to the game application program. Let

  The sound signal transmission / reception unit 13 is a device for transmitting / receiving a sound signal to / from the controller 2 and includes an omnidirectional speaker 131 and an omnidirectional microphone 132. The signal processing unit 14 includes a spread spectrum transmission processing unit 141 and a spread spectrum reception processing unit 142. Here, the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 141 performs spread spectrum modulation processing on the information pattern addressed to the controller 2 given from the processor 10 to generate an audio band signal (hereinafter simply referred to as a sound signal), and this sound signal is generated. It is a device that radiates from an omnidirectional speaker 131. Further, the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142 receives the sound signal subjected to the spread spectrum modulation process emitted from the controller 2 via the omnidirectional microphone 132, performs the spread spectrum demodulation process on the sound signal, and spreads the spectrum. This is a device that restores an information pattern before modulation processing and delivers it to the processor 10.

  The I / F 15 is a device that controls transmission and reception of information between the processor 10 and the monitor 3 outside the main body 1. Here, the monitor 3 is a household television receiver, for example, and has a function of displaying an image and a function of reproducing sound. The processor 10 sends image data and sound data indicating the development of the game to the monitor 3 via the I / F 15, and causes the display 3 and reproduction as sound. Further, when there is information to be transmitted to the user such as a function selection menu, the processor 10 sends the information to the monitor 3 via the I / F 15 and displays it as an image.

  As a control program stored in the ROM of the memory unit 12 and executed by the processor 10, there is a control program for control of processing for exchanging information with the controller 2 and acquiring information related to the controller 2. In FIG. 1, a box indicating the processor 10 shows a distance acquisition process 101 and a direction acquisition process 102 which are a part of the process executed by the processor 10 in accordance with this control program. Here, the distance acquisition process 101 is a distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2, more precisely, a distance between the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 and the omnidirectional microphone (see FIG. 2) of the controller 2. This is a process for obtaining D. The direction acquisition process 102 is a process for obtaining a direction angle θ indicating the inclination of the controller 2 with reference to a virtual straight line connecting the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 and the directional microphone of the controller 2 (see FIG. 2). It is. The distance D acquired by the execution of the distance acquisition process 101 and the direction angle θ acquired by the execution of the direction acquisition process 102 are transferred to the game application program and used for controlling the progress of the game.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the controller 2 includes a processor 20, an operation unit 21, a gyro sensor 22, a memory unit 23, a sound signal transmission / reception unit 24, and a signal processing unit 25. The processor 20 is a device that controls the entire controller 2. The operation unit 21 is a collection of operation elements such as push buttons arranged in the controller 2. The gyro sensor 22 is a device that serves as a direction detection unit that detects a direction angle θ indicating the inclination of the direction of the controller 2 with respect to a virtual straight line connecting the controller 2 and the main body 1, and detects the angular velocity of the controller 2. It has an angular velocity detection sensor and an integrator that calculates the direction angle θ by integrating the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detection sensor. The memory unit 23 includes a ROM that stores various control programs executed by the processor 20 and a RAM that the processor 20 uses as a work area. The processor 20 loads the control program in the ROM of the memory unit 23 into the RAM of the memory unit 23 and executes it, thereby controlling each unit of the controller 2.

  The sound signal transmission / reception unit 24 is a device for transmitting / receiving a sound signal to / from the main body unit 1, and includes an omnidirectional speaker 241, an omnidirectional microphone 242, and a directional microphone 243. Here, the directional microphone 243 has a directional pattern that receives only sound coming from the direction of a predetermined axis of the controller 2 at a sufficient volume. In the present embodiment, the directional microphone 243 and the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 receive the sound radiated by one when the controller 2 is facing the main body 1. It plays a role in establishing “directional transmission of sound”.

  The signal processing unit 25 includes a spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 and spread spectrum reception processing units 252 and 253. Here, the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 performs spread spectrum modulation processing on the information pattern addressed to the main unit 1 given from the processor 20, and uses the signal obtained by the spread spectrum processing as a sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 241. It is a device that emits radiation. Further, the spread spectrum reception processing units 252 and 253 receive the sound signal subjected to the spread spectrum process emitted by the controller 2 via the omnidirectional microphone 242 and the directional microphone 243, respectively, and spread the spectrum signal to the received signal. It is a device that performs demodulation processing, restores the information pattern before the spread spectrum processing, and delivers it to the processor 20.

  As a control program stored in the ROM of the memory unit 23 and executed by the processor 20, there is a control program for controlling a process of exchanging information with the main body unit 1 and acquiring information about the controller 2. In FIG. 2, a box indicating the processor 20 shows a measurement auxiliary process 201, a direction correction process 202, and a control information transmission process 203, which are a part of processes executed by the processor 20 in accordance with this control program. . Here, the measurement auxiliary processing 201 is configured to receive the received report sound when the distance measurement sound signal is radiated from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 and the distance measurement sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 242. This is processing for performing control to transmit a signal from the omnidirectional speaker 241. Further, the direction correction processing 202 is a control for correcting the direction angle obtained by the gyro sensor 22 as the direction detection unit when the sound signal transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body unit 1 is received by the directional microphone 243. More specifically, this is a process for performing control to initialize the direction angle θ held by the integrator of the gyro sensor 22 to the reference angle 0 corresponding to the direction of the main body 1. The control information transmission processing 203 collects various information patterns (bit strings indicating information) generated in the controller 2 such as the direction angle θ output from the gyro sensor 22 and the operation information of the operation unit 21, and indicates the collected information patterns. This is processing for transmitting a sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 241.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 141 of the main body 1 and the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 of the controller 2. The spread spectrum transmission processing unit in this example executes spread spectrum modulation processing by a direct spreading method. In FIG. 3, the PN generator 42 outputs a PN pattern that is a sequence of +1 and −1 in synchronization with the clock provided from the clock generator 41. The spread modulation unit 43 outputs the product of this PN pattern and the information pattern given from the processor 10 or 20. The amplifying unit 44 amplifies the output signal of the spread modulation unit 43 and supplies the amplified signal to the omnidirectional speaker 131 or 241, and transmits the sound signal subjected to the spread spectrum modulation process using the PN pattern from the omnidirectional speaker 131 or 241. Let

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142 of the main body unit 1 and the spread spectrum reception processing units 252 and 253 of the controller 2. The amplifying unit 51 amplifies the sound signal output from the omnidirectional microphones 132 and 242 or the directional microphone 243, and provides the amplified signal to the spread demodulation unit 52 and the synchronization unit 53. The synchronization unit 53 includes a PN generator 531 and a time discrimination control circuit 532. The processor 10 or 20 causes the PN generator 531 to generate the same PN pattern that is used for the spread spectrum modulation processing of the sound signal to be received. The time discrimination control circuit 532 controls the phase of the PN pattern output from the PN generator 531 so that the cross-correlation value between the PN pattern output from the PN generator 531 and the sound signal output from the amplifier 51 is maximized. To do. The spread demodulator 52 multiplies the PN pattern output from the PN generator 531 by the sound signal output from the amplifier 51, thereby restoring the information pattern before spread spectrum modulation from the sound signal, and the processor 10 or 20 Output to.

  In this embodiment, two types of PN patterns are prepared. The spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 of the controller 2 performs a spread spectrum modulation process using the first PN pattern on the information pattern addressed to the processor 10 of the main body unit 1, and the sound signal obtained as a result is transmitted to the omnidirectional speaker. 241 radiates. Then, the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142 of the main body 1 performs a spread spectrum demodulation process using the first PN pattern on the sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, restores the information pattern, and performs a processor. 10 is output. On the other hand, the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 141 of the main body unit 1 performs spread spectrum modulation processing using the second PN pattern on the information pattern addressed to the processor 20 of the controller 2, and the sound signal obtained as a result is omnidirectional. Radiating from the directional speaker 131. Then, the spread spectrum reception processing units 252 and 253 of the controller 2 perform spread spectrum demodulation processing using the second PN pattern on the sound signals received by the omnidirectional microphone 242 and the directional microphone 243, respectively. The information pattern is restored and output to the processor 20.

  Here, when the information pattern addressed to the main body 1 is subjected to spread spectrum modulation processing using the first PN pattern, and the resulting sound signal is radiated from the omnidirectional speaker 241 of the controller 2, The sound signal may be reflected by the wall of the room in which the game apparatus is installed and received by the omnidirectional microphone 242 or the directional microphone 243. However, since the spread spectrum reception processing units 252 and 253 following the omnidirectional microphone 242 and the directional microphone 243 perform the spread spectrum demodulation process using the second PN pattern, the sound from the omnidirectional speaker 241 The information pattern is not restored from the signal. The same applies to the sound signal radiated from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 and received by the omnidirectional microphone 132 after being reflected by the wall of the room.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation related to the correction of the direction angle θ among the operations of the game apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the game device, when the processor 10 of the main unit 1 starts executing the game application program, the control program causes the processor 10 to execute an initialization process that is a part of the direction acquisition process 102. In this initialization process, the processor 10 causes the monitor 3 to display a message indicating that the controller 2 is directed to the main body 1 and the initial setting button of the controller 2 should be pressed. When the user confirming this message points the controller 2 toward the main body 1 and presses the initial setting button of the operation unit 21, the processor 20 of the controller 2 executes the direction correction process 202 and holds it in the integrator of the gyro sensor 22. The set direction angle θ is initialized to 0 (steps S101 and S102). At that time, the processor 20 executes the control information transmission process 203 and gives an initialization completion report information pattern to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 to the effect that the initialization of the direction angle θ is completed. As a result, a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation processing on this information pattern is transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 241.

  In the main unit 1, the sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, and the information pattern of the initialization completion report is restored from the sound signal by the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142. Upon receiving the initialization completion report information pattern from the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142, the processor 10 advances the game according to the game application program (step S103).

  In the controller 2, the processor 20 repeats the processes of steps S104 to S106. First, in step S104, the processor 20 executes a control information transmission process 203, and before the bit string indicating the direction angle θ output from the gyro sensor 22, an identification code indicating that the bit string indicates the direction angle θ. In addition, an information pattern is generated, and this information pattern is given to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251. As a result, a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation processing on this information pattern is transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 241.

  In the main unit 1, the sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, and the information pattern of the identification code and the direction angle θ is restored from the sound signal by the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142. When the processor 10 receives the information pattern from the spread spectrum reception processing unit 142, the processor 10 executes the direction acquisition processing 102 and delivers the direction angle θ in the information pattern to the game application program.

  Next, in step S <b> 105, the processor 20 determines whether or not the directional microphone 243 has received a sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1. When the determination result is “NO”, the process proceeds to step S <b> 106, and the processor 20 determines whether or not a game end command is given by the operation of the operation unit 21. If the determination result is “NO”, the processor 20 returns the process to step S104 and repeats steps S104 to S106. Therefore, when the directional microphone 243 does not receive the sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 and the game end command is not given by the operation of the operation unit 21, steps S104 to S106 are performed. The acquisition of the direction angle θ from the gyro sensor 22 and the transmission of the direction angle θ to the main body 1 are repeated.

  When the controller 2 faces the main body 1 and the sound signal transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 is received by the directional microphone 243 of the controller 2, the determination result in step S105 is “YES”. Become. As a result, the processor 20 in the controller 2 executes the direction correction process 202, and initializes the direction angle θ held by the integrator of the gyro sensor 22 to 0 (step S107). Then, the processor 20 returns the process to step S104. As described above, in the controller 2 according to the present embodiment, every time a sound signal transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 is received by the directional microphone 243, the direction held by the integrator of the gyro sensor 22. A process for initializing the angle θ to 0 is performed.

When the user operates the operation unit 21 of the controller 2 to give an instruction to end the game, the processor 20 of the controller 2 detects the instruction to end the game and displays an identification code indicating the instruction to end the game as an information pattern. Is transmitted to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251, and the sound signal obtained by performing the spread spectrum modulation process on the identification code indicating the game end command is transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 241 and the process is terminated (step S106). In the main body 1, this sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, and an identification code indicating a game end command is demodulated from the sound signal. In accordance with the demodulated identification code, the processor 10 ends the execution of the game application program.
The above is the details of the operation related to the correction of the direction angle θ in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 6A is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the distance acquisition processing 101 executed by the processor 10 of the main body 1 in this embodiment, and FIG. 6B is the measurement auxiliary processing 201 executed by the processor 20 of the controller 2. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content. FIG. 7 is a time chart showing how sound signals are transmitted and received for measuring the distance between the main body 1 and the controller 2 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, operations related to the measurement of the distance D among the operations of the game apparatus in the present embodiment will be described with reference to these drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, in the distance acquisition process 101, the processor 10 of the main body 1 first executes a sound signal transmission process (step S201). In this sound signal transmission process, an information pattern including an identification code indicating that the sound signal to be transmitted is a distance measurement sound signal is delivered to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 141. Thus, a distance measurement sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation processing on the identification code is transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 131. The processor 10 that has transmitted the distance measurement sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 131 thereafter repeatedly determines whether or not the reception report sound signal indicating that the distance measurement sound signal has been received is received from the controller 2 ( Step S202).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, the processor 20 of the controller 2 repeatedly determines whether or not a distance measurement sound signal has been received from the main body 1 side in the measurement auxiliary process 201 (step S301). ). Then, when the distance measurement sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 242, and the identification code of the distance measurement sound signal is restored by the spread spectrum reception processing unit 252, the identification code of the distance measurement sound signal is converted to the processor 20. To be handed over. As a result, the determination result in step S301 is “YES”, and the processor 20 causes the built-in timer to start measuring a predetermined time (step S302). Next, the processor 20 delivers an identification code indicating that it is a reception report of a distance measurement sound signal as an information pattern to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251, and receives the identification code of the reception report subjected to spread spectrum modulation processing. The report sound signal is transmitted from the omnidirectional speaker 241 (step S303). Then, the processor 20 repeats the determination of whether or not the time measurement by the built-in timer has ended (step S304).

  When the time measurement by the timer ends and the time is up, the determination result in step S304 is “YES”. Thereby, the processor 20 resets the timer (step S305). Next, the processor 20 determines whether or not an instruction to end the game is given by the operation of the operation unit 21 (step S306). If the determination result is “NO”, the processor 20 returns the process to step S301 and repeats the determination of whether or not the distance measurement sound signal has been received from the main body 1 side.

  By the way, immediately after the controller 2 receives the distance measurement sound signal and the processor 20 causes the built-in timer to start timing, the subsequent distance measurement sound signal may reach the controller 2 as shown in FIG. is there. However, during the period when the time is measured by the built-in timer, the determination result of step S304 is “NO”, and the processing of steps S301 to S303 is not executed. Therefore, the distance measurement is performed by the omnidirectional microphone 242 of the controller 2. Even if the sound signal is received, the sound signal for distance measurement is ignored. The reason why the distance measurement sound signal is ignored for a certain period after the distance measurement sound signal is first received is as follows. That is, the distance measurement sound signal received first is a direct wave directly reaching the controller 2 from the main body 1 and is suitable for use in measuring the distance D between the main body 1 and the controller 2. On the other hand, the subsequent distance measurement sound signal is a reflected wave that reaches the controller 2 after being transmitted from the main body 1 and reflected by the wall of the room, and is not suitable for use in the measurement of the distance D. .

  As described above, the processor 10 that has transmitted the distance measurement sound signal from the omnidirectional speaker 131, as shown in FIG. 6A, receives the reception report sound indicating that the distance measurement sound signal has been received. The determination as to whether or not a signal has been received from the controller 2 is repeated (step S202). When a reception report sound signal is received from the controller 2, the determination result in step S202 is “YES”. As a result, the processor 10 causes the built-in timer to start measuring a predetermined time (step S203). Next, based on time a (see FIG. 7) from the first transmission of the distance measurement sound signal to the confirmation of reception of the reception report sound signal (step S202 = “YES”), the processor 10 A distance D between the unit 1 and the controller 2 is calculated (step S204). More specifically, the distance D is calculated by multiplying the time a by the time required to process the sound signal on the controller 2 side by the sound speed. This distance D is delivered from the distance acquisition process 101 to the game application program. Next, the processor 10 transmits a sound signal for distance measurement from the omnidirectional speaker 131 (step S205). Thereafter, the processor 10 repeats the determination of whether or not the time measurement by the timer has ended (step S206).

  Then, when the time measurement by the timer ends and the time is up, the determination result of step S206 is “YES”. As a result, the processor 10 resets the timer (step S207). Next, the processor 10 determines whether or not a game end command is received from the controller 2 (step S208). When the determination result is “NO”, the processor 10 returns the process to step S202 and repeats the determination of whether or not the reception report sound signal is received from the controller 2 side.

  In the processing on the main body unit 1 side described above, immediately after the main body unit 1 receives the reception report sound signal and the processor 10 starts the timing of the built-in timer, as shown in FIG. May reach the main body 1 in some cases. However, during the period when the time is measured by the built-in timer, the determination result of step S206 is “NO”, and the processing of steps S202 to S205 is not executed. Even if the report sound signal is received, the received report sound signal is ignored. This is because, similar to the processing on the controller 2 side already described, the reflected wave is ignored in the received report sound signal received from the controller 2 side, and the distance is measured based only on the direct wave.

  When the user operates the operation unit 21 of the controller 2 to give an instruction to end the game, the controller 2 determines “YES” in step S306. Thereby, the processor 20 gives an identification code indicating a game end command to the spread spectrum transmission processing unit 251 as an information pattern, and the sound signal obtained by performing the spread spectrum modulation processing on the identification code indicating the game end command is non-directional. Transmitting from the speaker 241, the measurement auxiliary process 201 is terminated. In the main body 1, this sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, and an identification code indicating a game end command is demodulated from the sound signal. As a result, the determination result in step S208 is “YES”, and the processor 10 ends the distance acquisition process 101 and ends the execution of the game application program.

  In the operation related to the measurement of the distance D described above, the timer time in the main body 1 and the controller 2 is determined as follows, for example. First, assuming that the distance D between the main body 1 and the controller 2 is in the range of 1 m to 4 m and the sound speed is 340 m / sec, the round trip time a shown in FIG. 7 is 2 × 1 / 340≈0.006 sec. The range is 2 × 4 / 340≈0.024 sec. In this case, since it takes at least 0.006 sec from the time the controller 2 receives the distance measuring sound signal to the next time the distance measuring sound signal is received again, the controller 2 sets the timer time to 0.006 sec. During the period of 0.006 seconds after receiving the distance measurement sound signal, the subsequent distance measurement sound signal is regarded as a reflected wave and ignored. The same applies to the main body 1 side, and the time measured by the timer is set to 0.006 sec. During the period of 0.006 sec after the reception report sound signal is received, the subsequent reception report sound signal is regarded as a reflected wave and ignored. By doing in this way, the influence of a reflected wave can be avoided, the round-trip time a of a sound signal can be calculated | required, and the distance D between the main-body part 1 and the controller 2 can be calculated | required correctly.

  In the present embodiment, when the controller 2 receives the distance measurement sound signal from the main body 1, the controller 2 immediately transmits a reception report sound signal, and when the main body 1 receives the reception report sound signal from the controller 2, immediately. The distance D was calculated by obtaining the round-trip time a, and a distance measurement sound signal was transmitted. For this reason, the transmission interval of the distance measurement sound signal in the main body 1, that is, the sampling period that is the measurement period of the distance D is the round-trip time a of the sound signal between the main body 1 and the controller 2, and a sufficiently short sampling period Thus, the distance D can be measured. However, the controller 2 may transmit the reception report sound signal after waiting for a predetermined time after receiving the distance measurement sound signal from the main body 1. In this case, although the sampling period of the distance D becomes long, there is an advantage that the time count of the timer is lengthened and the influence of the reflected wave can be surely avoided.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the sound signal radiated from the omnidirectional speaker 131 of the main body 1 is received by the directional microphone 243 of the controller 2, the controller 2 detects the gyro sensor 22. Since the direction angle θ held by the integrator is corrected to the initial value, the calculation result of the direction angle θ is prevented from becoming inaccurate with the passage of time, and the accurate direction angle θ is obtained to obtain the game Can be used to control progress.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the sound signal is reciprocated between the main body 1 and the controller 2 and the reciprocation time is measured, between the main body 1 and the controller 2 based on the measurement result of the reciprocation time. Distance D can be calculated and used to control the progress of the game.

  In this embodiment, when measuring the distance D using the sound signal, the controller 2 side receives the distance measurement sound signal from the main body 1 side within a predetermined time thereafter. The distance measurement sound signal is ignored as a reflected wave, and when the reception report sound signal from the controller 2 side is received on the main body 1 side, the reception report sound signal received within a predetermined time after that is received as the reflection wave. Since it is ignored, the influence of the reflected wave can be avoided, the round trip time of the sound signal that is a direct sound can be obtained, and the distance D can be accurately calculated.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the communication between the main body 1 and the controller 2 is performed using the sound signal transmission / reception units 13 and 24 without using wireless transmission / reception means such as infrared rays and electromagnetic waves. And the communication means between the controllers 2 can be made inexpensive.

  In the present embodiment, since a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation on the information pattern is adopted as a bearer of information in communication between the main body unit 1 and the controller 2, the spectrum of the sound signal in a specific band within the audio band is adopted. The sound signal can be transmitted and received between the main body 1 and the controller 2 without causing unpleasant noise by spreading the spectrum of the sound signal over the entire audio band.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention may have other embodiments. For example:

(1) In the embodiment described above, the directional microphone 243 is provided in the controller 2 in order to perform sound directional transmission between the main body 1 and the controller 2. However, the controller 2 may be provided with a directional speaker, and control for correcting the direction angle θ of the controller 2 may be performed when sound directivity transmission from the controller 2 to the main body 1 is performed. . 8 and 9 each show an example thereof.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the directional speaker 244 provided in the controller 2 always transmits a sound signal in a fixed direction as viewed from the controller 2. When the body unit 1 receives the sound signal from the directional speaker 244 by the omnidirectional microphone 132, the body unit 1 transmits the sound signal as the reception report by the omnidirectional speaker 131. When the controller 2 receives the sound signal as the reception report by the omnidirectional microphone 241, the controller 2 initializes the direction angle θ held by the integrator of the gyro sensor 22 (see FIG. 1) to the reference angle 0. Also in this aspect, every time the controller 2 faces the direction of the main body 1, the sound signal from the directional speaker 244 of the controller 2 is received by the omnidirectional microphone 132 of the main body 1, and the controller 2 has the direction angle θ. Correction is performed. Therefore, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

  Also in the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the directional speaker 244 always transmits a sound signal in a fixed direction when viewed from the controller 2. In addition, the controller 2 periodically transmits a sound signal indicating the direction angle θ through the omnidirectional speaker 241. Then, the main body 1 obtains the direction angle θ from the sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone 132, performs correction by subtracting the offset α from the direction angle θ, and uses the direction angle θ-α for controlling the progress of the game. is doing. Then, when the body unit 1 receives the sound signal from the directional speaker 244 of the controller 2 by the omnidirectional microphone 132, the direction angle θ (for example, obtained from the sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone 132 immediately after that) is set as an offset α, and thereafter, the direction angle θ−α = θ−θx obtained by subtracting the offset α = θx from the direction angle θ obtained from the sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone 132 progresses the game. It is used for control. Also in this aspect, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

(2) In the above embodiment, the sample period for measuring the distance D cannot be made shorter than the time a during which the sound signal reciprocates between the main body 1 and the controller 2. Therefore, the main body 1 cyclically transmits a plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals through the omnidirectional speaker 131, and the controller 2 sequentially receives the plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals through the omnidirectional microphone 242. Accordingly, a plurality of types of reception report sound signals respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals are sequentially transmitted by the omnidirectional speaker 241, and the main body unit 1 receives a plurality of types of reception signals by the omnidirectional microphone 132. Every time a report sound signal is received and each type of reception report sound signal is received, a distance measurement sound signal corresponding to the reception direction sound signal is transmitted until the reception report sound signal is received. The distance D between the main body 1 and the controller 2 may be calculated based on the above time.

  According to this aspect, the distance measurement sound signals A and B generated by performing spread spectrum modulation processing on different information patterns, for example, at a time interval shorter than the round-trip time a of the sound signal between the main body 1 and the controller 2. , C in sequence, the controller 2 receives the distance measurement sound signal A and then transmits a reception report signal A ′ corresponding thereto, and then, for example, during time a, it may be a reflected wave. Only the sound signal A for measuring distance that has a certain characteristic should be ignored. Further, after receiving the distance measurement sound signal B, the controller 2 transmits a reception report signal B ′ corresponding to the distance measurement sound signal B, and then for the time a, for example, the distance measurement sound that may be a reflected wave Only signal B has to be ignored. In addition, after receiving the distance measurement sound signal C, the controller 2 transmits a reception report signal C ′ corresponding to the distance measurement sound signal C. Then, for example, during the time a, the distance measurement sound that may be a reflected wave is transmitted. Only the signal C has to be ignored.

  On the other hand, when receiving the reception report sound signal A ′, the main body 1 calculates the distance D and measures the distance based on the time from the transmission of the preceding distance measurement sound signal A to the reception of the reception report signal A ′. For example, only the reception direction sound signal A ′, which may be a reflected wave, may be ignored during the time a after transmitting the sound signal A. Further, when receiving the reception report sound signal B ′, the main body 1 calculates the distance D based on the time from the transmission of the preceding distance measurement sound signal B to the reception of the reception report signal B ′ and the distance measurement. For example, only the reception direction sound signal B ′, which may be a reflected wave, may be ignored during the time a after transmitting the sound signal B. In addition, when receiving the reception report sound signal C ′, the main body 1 calculates the distance D based on the time from the transmission of the preceding distance measurement sound signal C to the reception of the reception report signal C ′ and the distance measurement. For example, during the time a, only the reception direction sound signal C ′ that may be a reflected wave may be ignored. According to this aspect, it is possible to measure the distance D between the main body 1 and the controller 2 at a time interval shorter than the round-trip time a of the sound signal while avoiding the influence of the reflected wave. As a method for obtaining a plurality of different distance measurement sound signals and reception report sound signals, for example, a method of changing an PN pattern in addition to a method of changing an information pattern when a sound signal is obtained by spread spectrum modulation processing. A method may be used.

(3) In the above embodiment, in addition to the sound signal transmitting / receiving units 13 and 24, wireless communication means between the main unit 1 and the controller 2 is added to correct the direction angle θ of the controller 2, and the main unit 1 and the controller 2 The sound signal transmission / reception units 13 and 24 may be used only for measuring the distance D between them, and other communication between the main body unit 1 and the controller 2 may be performed by an added wireless communication unit.

(4) In the above embodiment, the sound signal that has been subjected to the spread spectrum modulation process is transmitted and received between the main body 1 and the controller 2 to correct the direction angle θ of the controller 2 and the distance D between the main body 1 and the controller 2. The sound signal that has been subjected to modulation processing by another modulation method or the sound that has not been subjected to any modulation processing is transmitted and received between the main body 1 and the controller 2, and the direction angle θ of the controller 2 is determined. You may make it perform correction | amendment and the measurement of the distance D between the main-body part 1 and the controller 2. FIG.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the game device which is one Embodiment of this invention, and is a block diagram which shows the structure of the main-body part 1 of the game device in detail especially. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the game device, and is a block diagram which shows especially the structure of the controller 2 of the game device in detail. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the spread-spectrum transmission process part 141,251 used in the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the spread spectrum reception process part 142,252,253 used in the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement relevant to correction | amendment of direction angle (theta) among the operation | movement of the game device. (A) is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distance acquisition process 101 which the processor 10 of the main-body part 1 of the game device performs, (b) shows the processing content of the measurement auxiliary | assistance process 201 which the processor 20 of the controller 2 performs. It is a flowchart. 4 is a time chart showing how sound signals are transmitted and received for measuring a distance between a main body 1 and a controller 2 in the game device. It is a figure which shows the other structural example for establishing directional transmission of the sound between the main-body part 1 and the controller 2 in the same game device. It is a figure which shows the other structural example for establishing directional transmission of the sound between the main-body part 1 and the controller 2 in the same game device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main-body part, 2 ... Controller, 10, 20 ... Processor, 11 ... External storage device, 12, 23 ... Memory part, 13, 24 ... Sound signal transmission / reception part, 14, 25 ... Signal processing , 131, 241... Omnidirectional speaker, 132, 242... Omnidirectional microphone, 243. Processing unit 101 ... Distance acquisition process, 102 ... Direction acquisition process, 201 ... Measurement assist process, 202 ... Direction correction process, 203 ... Control information transmission process.

Claims (5)

In a game device comprising a main body for proceeding with a game and a controller for transmitting control information to the main body,
The controller includes an angular velocity detection unit that detects an angular velocity, and an integrator that calculates a direction angle indicating an inclination of the direction of the controller with respect to the direction of the main body by integrating the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detection unit. Comprising a direction detection unit having
The main body unit and the controller each include a speaker or a microphone that establishes directional transmission of sound that is received by the other when the other side receives sound only when the controller faces the direction of the main body. ,
Direction for performing control to correct the direction angle obtained by the direction detection unit of the controller to a reference angle corresponding to the direction of the main unit when the sound directivity transmission is established between the main unit and the controller. A game apparatus, wherein the main body or the controller comprises a correction control means. Each of the main body and the controller includes an omnidirectional speaker and an omnidirectional microphone,
The main body transmits a distance measurement sound signal using an omnidirectional speaker,
The controller receives the distance measurement sound signal by an omnidirectional microphone, and transmits a reception report sound signal by an omnidirectional speaker.
The main body is configured to receive the reception report sound signal by an omnidirectional microphone, and based on a time from when the distance measurement sound signal is transmitted to when the reception report sound signal is received, The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the controllers is calculated. The controller ignores the distance measurement sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone until a predetermined time elapses after the distance measurement sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone;
The main body portion ignores the reception report sound signal received by the omnidirectional microphone after a predetermined time elapses after the reception report sound signal is received by the omnidirectional microphone. The game device according to claim 2. The main body section cyclically transmits a plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals using an omnidirectional speaker,
The controller omnidirectionally receives a plurality of types of reception report sound signals respectively corresponding to the plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals in response to sequentially receiving the plurality of types of distance measurement sound signals by an omnidirectional microphone. Sequentially sent by the active speaker,
The main unit sequentially receives the plurality of types of reception report sound signals by an omnidirectional microphone, and each time each type of reception report sound signal is received, the type of distance measurement sound corresponding to the reception report sound signal. 4. The game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a distance between the main body and the controller is calculated based on a time from when the signal is transmitted until the reception report sound signal is received.   One of the main unit and the controller includes a spread spectrum transmission processing unit that transmits a sound signal obtained by performing spread spectrum modulation on an information pattern addressed to a communication partner, and the other of the main unit and the controller 5. A spread spectrum reception processing unit which receives a sound signal subjected to spread modulation through a microphone and demodulates an information pattern sent from a communication partner from the sound signal. The game device according to any one of claims.

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