JP2014146236A - Input device, information processing method, and information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent termination of information input when a user does not intend to terminate information input.SOLUTION: An input device 12 comprises: a person position acquisition unit 21 which acquires a position of a person; a hand position acquisition unit 22 which acquires a position of a hand; an operation area setting unit 23 which sets a virtual operation area in front of the person on the basis of an acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit 21; and an input information acquisition unit 25 which, on the basis of an acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22, when it is determined that the hand is in contact with the operation area, starts to acquire input information on the basis of the hand position or movement, and when it is determined that the hand determined to leave the operation area moves in a predetermined direction, terminates acquisition of input information.

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device, an information processing method, and an information processing program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, gesture input devices that perform input by hand movement have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, a virtual plane is set based on the position of the operator, and dragging is performed based on the contact time between the operator's hand and the virtual plane and the penetration amount of the operator's hand passing through the virtual plane. There has been proposed an image display device that performs operation determination. In the drag operation in Patent Document 1, a hand is moved to the start point without touching the virtual plane, the hand penetrates the virtual plane, the hand is moved to the end point as it is, and the hand is moved from the virtual plane at the end point. Pull out to complete the drag operation.

JP 2004-258714 A

  By the way, in an input device that starts acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand when the hand touches the operation area and ends acquisition of input information when the hand leaves the operation area, the hand is in the operation area. In the configuration in which only the fact that the user has left the system is used as the end condition for acquiring the input information, the end of the input of information unintended by the user may occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an input device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can suppress the end of information input unintended by a user.

  An input device according to the present invention includes a person position acquisition unit that acquires a position of a person, a hand position acquisition unit that acquires a position of a hand, and a virtual position in front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit. Acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the acquisition result of the operation area setting means for setting a correct operation area and the hand position acquisition means The input information is acquired when it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. Input information acquisition means for ending.

  Further, the information processing method according to the present invention includes a person position acquisition step for acquiring a person position, a hand position acquisition step for acquiring a hand position, and a front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition step. Input based on the position or movement of the hand when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the operation area setting step for setting the virtual operation area and the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition step. When the acquisition of information is started and it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the input information is determined when it is determined that the movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. And an input information acquisition step for ending the acquisition.

  Further, the information processing program according to the present invention includes a person position acquisition step for acquiring the position of the person, a hand position acquisition step for acquiring the position of the hand, and a front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition step. Input based on the position or movement of the hand when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the operation area setting step for setting the virtual operation area and the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition step. When the acquisition of information is started and it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the input information is determined when it is determined that the movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. And an input information acquisition step of ending acquisition of the computer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the completion | finish of the information input which a user does not intend can be suppressed.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a display system in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen displayed on a display apparatus. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an input device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows an example of an operation area | region. It is a figure which shows an example of a reference | standard area | region. 6 is a diagram for explaining processing by a calculation timing determination unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation of the coordinate by a coordinate calculation part. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of the input device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a person table. It is a figure which shows an example of a hand table. It is a top view which shows an example of an operation area | region. It is a side view which shows an example of an operation area | region. It is a perspective view which shows another example of an operation area | region. It is a top view which shows another example of an operation area | region. It is a side view which shows another example of an operation area | region. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an input device according to Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining processing by a calculation timing determination unit in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of an operation area and a semi-operation area in the third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of an input device according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 25 is a top view illustrating an example of an operation region set after the start of acquisition of input information in the sixth embodiment. FIG. 20 is a top view showing another example of operation areas set after the start of acquisition of input information in the sixth embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
(Display system configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a display system 10 including an input device 12 according to the first embodiment. The display system 10 is a system that acquires input information from a user by the input device 12 and displays a screen according to the acquired input information.

  In FIG. 1, the display system 10 includes an image acquisition device 11, an input device 12, a display control device 13, and a display device 14. The image acquisition device 11 and the input device 12, the input device 12 and the display control device 13, and the display control device 13 and the display device 14 are connected by wire or wireless, and can communicate with each other. The image acquisition device 11, the input device 12, the display control device 13, and the display device 14 may be physically integrated or separated from each other. For example, the image acquisition device 11, the input device 12, the display control device 13, and the display device 14 are housed in one housing. As another example, the image acquisition device 11 and the input device 12 are integrated to form a remote controller, the display control device 13 and the display device 14 are integrated to form an information display device, and the remote controller and the information display device are wirelessly connected. A configuration for performing communication is also conceivable.

  Hereinafter, the image acquisition device 11, the input device 12, the display control device 13, and the display device 14 will be described.

  The image acquisition device 11 acquires an image captured by a user (or person). For example, the image acquisition device 11 acquires an image in a predetermined range in front of the display device 14. Specifically, the image acquisition device 11 includes an optical unit such as a lens, an image sensor, an image processing unit that processes a signal from the image sensor to generate image data, a frame buffer unit that stores the generated image data, and the like. Consists of. The acquired image data is referred to by the input device 12. Image acquisition is performed at regular intervals, for example, every 1/30 seconds.

  In the present embodiment, the image acquisition apparatus 11 is a so-called stereo camera that includes two pairs of an optical unit such as a lens and an image sensor, and processes two signals to generate two image data. is there. The stereo camera can measure the three-dimensional position of the object based on the principle of triangulation using the difference (parallax) between the positions of the objects captured in the two image data.

  The input device 12 detects the position or movement (or gesture) of the user's (or person's) hand based on the image data acquired by the image acquisition apparatus 11, and inputs input information based on the detected position or movement of the hand. The acquired input information is output to the display control device 13. The input device 12 is also called a gesture input device. In this example, the input device 12 acquires two-dimensional coordinates in a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate system based on the position of the user's hand as input information. The detailed configuration and processing of the input device 12 will be described later.

  The display control device 13 generates a display screen and controls the screen based on input information from the input device 12 and outputs a display signal indicating the display screen to the display device 14.

  The display device 14 includes a liquid crystal panel, for example, and is a device that displays a display screen based on a display signal from the display control device 13.

  Each of the input device 12 and the display control device 13 may be realized only by hardware resources such as an electric circuit, or may be realized by cooperation of hardware resources and software. For example, a computer program May be realized by being executed by the information processing apparatus (or computer). Specifically, some or all of the functions of the input device 12 and the display control device 13 are read by an information processing program recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) into a RAM (Random Access Memory). It may be realized by being issued and executed by a central processing unit (CPU). The information processing program may be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as an optical disk, or may be provided via a communication line such as the Internet.

  In addition, the display system 10 in the present embodiment can be used specifically as a display device such as a digital television, a digital signage (or electronic signboard), a car navigation system, or a part of an information processing device such as a personal computer. Available as The display system 10 includes a display screen such as a factory device including an operation terminal, and can be widely applied to devices operated by a user.

(Example of user operation and display control)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display screen S that is generated by the display control device 13 and displayed on the display device 14. Hereinafter, an example of display control by the display control device 13 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, an example is shown in which a map is displayed on the display screen, and scroll processing is performed to move the map display range (the range of the map displayed on the display screen) by the user's operation.

  In FIG. 2A, a map is displayed on the display screen S of the display device 14. At this time, a part of the entire map information that can be displayed is displayed on the display screen S.

  When the user scrolls the display screen S, the user first projects his hand in front of the body. Thereby, the cursor C is displayed at the coordinates on the display screen S corresponding to the position of the hand, and the scroll process is started (see FIG. 2B).

  When the user moves his / her hand after the scroll process is started, the cursor C moves in accordance with the movement of the user's hand, and the display range of the map moves in the same movement direction and movement amount as the movement of the cursor C ( (See FIG. 2C).

  The user moves the display range to a desired position and then draws his hand toward the body. As a result, the cursor C on the display screen S disappears, and the scroll process ends (see FIG. 2D). Once the scroll process is completed, the display range does not move even if the hand is moved unless the hand is pushed out in front of the body and the scroll process is started again.

  In the present embodiment, the input device 12 calculates two-dimensional coordinates in accordance with the movement of the user's hand, and the display control device 13 is on the display screen S corresponding to the two-dimensional coordinates calculated by the input device 12. A cursor C is displayed at the position. Further, the display control device 13 displays a cursor C when the input device 12 starts calculating the two-dimensional coordinates and starts scrolling processing. When the input device 12 finishes calculating the two-dimensional coordinates, the display control device 13 displays the cursor C. Disappears and the scroll process ends.

(Configuration of input device)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the input device 12 according to the first embodiment. The configuration of the input device 12 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the input device 12 includes a person position acquisition unit 21, a hand position acquisition unit 22, an operation region setting unit 23, a reference region setting unit 24, and an input information acquisition unit 25.

  The person position acquisition unit 21 acquires the position of a person. In this example, the person position acquisition unit 21 detects a person (specifically, an image of a person) from the two image data acquired by the image acquisition device 11, and acquires the three-dimensional position thereof. Specifically, the person position acquisition unit 21 detects the position of the person's face as the position of the person. More specifically, the person position acquisition unit 21 detects the position of the person's face in the two image data, and acquires the three-dimensional position of the person's face using the principle of triangulation.

  As a method for detecting the position of a person's face from an image, a method called a viola-Jones method is known. In summary, the Viola-Jones method sets a small area in an image while changing the position and size of the small area in the image, extracts a feature amount from the small area, and uses the discriminator to extract the small area. It is determined whether or not the area is a face. For example, the person position acquisition unit 21 is represented by the coordinate axes of the image data (captured image) from the position and size of the small area determined to be a face after applying the Viola-Jones method to the image data. The center position of the face and the size of the face can be obtained.

  When a plurality of persons are detected from the image data, the person position acquisition unit 21 acquires a position for each of the detected plurality of persons.

  Further, the person position acquisition unit 21 continuously acquires the position of the person by detecting the position of the person from each image data acquired at regular intervals, for example. In this case, when the image data includes a plurality of persons, the person position acquisition unit 21 may identify each person and continuously acquire and record the position of each identified person.

  The hand position acquisition unit 22 acquires the position of the hand. In this example, the hand position acquisition unit 22 detects a person's hand (specifically, an image of the hand) from the two image data acquired by the image acquisition device 11, and acquires the three-dimensional position thereof. Specifically, the hand position acquisition unit 22 detects the position of the person's hand in the two image data, and acquires the three-dimensional position of the hand using the principle of triangulation, like the person position acquisition unit 21. To do.

  The position of a person's hand in the image can be detected by, for example, extracting the outline of the object by extracting a skin color area from the image data or extracting a point where the luminance gradient is maximized, and then extracting the contour of the object by a template matching method or the like. This can be done by determining whether the contour resembles a hand. Alternatively, from the viewpoint of simplifying the acquisition of the hand position and increasing the accuracy, the hand position acquisition unit 22 determines the position of the object or device that the user (or person) holds or wears from the image data. You may detect as a position of a hand. As an object held by the user, an indicator shaped like a remote controller (for example, a TV remote controller) can be considered. In addition, the object worn by the user may be a shape such as a glove, a ring, or a bracelet. For example, when the user wears an object or device having a specific color or specific pattern on the hand, the hand position acquisition unit 22 extracts the specific color or pattern region from the image data. The position can be detected as the position of the hand.

  When a plurality of hands are detected from the image data, the hand position acquisition unit 22 acquires a position for each of the detected plurality of hands.

  The hand position acquisition unit 22 continuously acquires the position of the hand by detecting the position of the hand from each piece of image data acquired at regular intervals, for example. In this case, when a plurality of hands are included in the image data, the hand position acquisition unit 22 may identify each hand and continuously acquire and record the position of each identified hand.

  The operation area setting unit 23 sets a virtual operation area (or operation space) in front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit 21. Specifically, the operation area setting unit 23 sets an operation area corresponding to the person in front of the position of the person acquired by the person position acquisition unit 21. The operation area is an area allocated in the real space. Generally, when the hand is put in the operation area, the acquisition of the input information is started, the input information is acquired based on the position or movement of the hand in the operation area, and the hand is put out of the operation area. Acquisition of input information ends.

  When the position of a plurality of persons is detected by the person position acquisition unit 21, the operation area setting unit 23 sets an operation area for each of the plurality of persons.

  The operation region set by the operation region setting unit 23 is a rectangular parallelepiped region R1 in front of the person A, for example, as shown in FIG. The operation area is preferably set so that the hand is included in the operation area when the person naturally extends his / her hand forward. A detailed setting method of the operation area and another aspect of the shape of the operation area will be described later.

  The reference area setting unit 24 sets a virtual reference area (or reference space) at a predetermined position for the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit 21. Similar to the operation area, the reference area is an area allocated in the real space. In this example, the reference area is set in the vicinity of the position of the person detected by the person position acquisition unit 21, and the change in the position of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area corresponds to the movement that draws the hand to the body. Used to determine if there is.

  When the position of a plurality of persons is detected by the person position acquisition unit 21, the reference area setting unit 24 sets a reference area for each of the plurality of persons.

  The reference area set by the reference area setting unit 24 is set so that the straight line passes through the reference area when the direction of hand movement when the person naturally draws his / her hand is indicated by a straight line. For example, the reference area moves from the reference area side toward the operation area when the person naturally extends his hand, and when the person pulls his hand toward the body, The hand is set to move toward the reference area side. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the reference region is set so as to include the positions of both shoulders of the person A and to face the front of the person A. Specifically, in FIG. 5, the reference area is a rectangular shape that passes through the center of the person A and the positions of both shoulders perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the person A and has a width slightly wider than the shoulder width of the person A. This is a plane region R2. At this time, as the width of the plane region R2, for example, a value obtained by multiplying the shoulder width of the person by a certain numerical value (for example, 1.2) is set. The shoulder width of the person may be set in advance by referring to statistical values related to the dimensions of the human body, or the shoulder width of the person who actually performs the operation may be acquired. When acquiring the shoulder width of the person who actually performs the operation, for example, the size of the face of the person is acquired from the image data, and the correlation between the face size set from the statistical values and the shoulder width of the person is used. Next, the shoulder width of the person is estimated.

  Referring to FIG. 3 again, the input information acquisition unit 25 acquires input information based on the position or movement of the hand when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation region based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22. Start, when it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the acquisition of input information is terminated when it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area (or until the hand leaves) is movement in a predetermined direction. To do. In one example, the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement in a direction toward the person corresponding to the operation area, and the input information acquisition unit 25 performs input when the person pulls the hand toward the body and moves away from the operation area. End information acquisition. Further, the hand movement when the hand leaves the operation area is, for example, the hand movement immediately before it is determined that the hand has left the operation area.

  In the present embodiment, when the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has left the operation area based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22, the hand when the hand leaves (or until the hand leaves) from the operation area. When the direction line indicating the direction of the movement is obtained and it is determined that the direction line passes through the reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area, the acquisition of the input information is terminated. For example, the reference area is set such that the direction line passes through the reference area when the hand moves in the direction toward the person and moves away from the operation area. The direction line is a half line extending in the direction from the start point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand leaves the operation area.

  When determining whether or not the hand has touched the operation area, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has touched the operation area, for example, when the position of the hand has moved from outside the operation area into the operation area. To do. Alternatively, the input information acquisition unit 25 may determine that the hand has touched the operation area when the position of the hand has been within the operation area for a certain period of time after moving from outside the operation area into the operation area.

  Further, when determining whether or not the hand has left the operation area, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has left the operation area, for example, when the position of the hand moves from the operation area to the outside of the operation area. To do. Alternatively, the input information acquisition unit 25 may determine that the hand has left the operation area when the position of the hand has moved out of the operation area from the operation area and has been outside the operation area for a certain period.

  When the operation area and the reference area are set for each of the plurality of persons, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines, for each operation area, whether or not the hand has touched the operation area. If it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started, and then it is determined that the hand has left the operation area. When it is determined that the movement is in a predetermined direction, the acquisition of input information is terminated.

  Further, when the positions of a plurality of hands are acquired by the hand position acquisition unit 22, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines whether any of the plurality of hands has touched the operation area, When it is determined that the hand has touched, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started, and then, when it is determined that the hand has left the operation area, the hand leaves the operation area. When it is determined that the hand moves in a predetermined direction, the acquisition of the input information is terminated.

  When the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has touched the operation area, the input information acquisition unit 25 does not necessarily start acquiring input information, but starts acquiring input information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Also good. As the predetermined condition, for example, there is one shown in a fifth embodiment described later.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the input information acquisition unit 25 includes a contact determination unit 31, a direction line calculation unit 32, a passage determination unit 33, a calculation timing determination unit 34, and a coordinate calculation unit 35.

  The contact determination unit 31 determines whether a human hand is in contact with the operation area. For example, the contact determination unit 31 determines whether or not the hand position acquired by the hand position acquisition unit 22 is included in the operation region set by the operation region setting unit 23. If it is not included, it is determined that it is not in contact. Alternatively, the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand is in contact with the operation area when the state in which the position of the hand is included in the operation area continues for a certain time (for example, 1 second), and the position of the hand is When a state not included in the operation area continues for a certain period of time, it is determined that the hand is not in contact with the operation area, and the state where the hand position is included in the operation area or not included is continued If the time is less than a certain time, the previous determination result may be maintained. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an erroneous operation due to an unintended instantaneous hand contact.

  Further, when a plurality of hand positions are acquired, or when a plurality of operation areas are set, the contact determination unit 31 performs hand combinations for all combinations of hand positions and operation areas. It is determined whether the position is included in the operation area or whether the hand is in contact with the operation area.

  When the determination result changes from non-contact to contact, the contact determination unit 31 may determine that the person's hand has touched the operation area, and when the determination result changes from contact to non-contact In addition, it may be determined that the person's hand has left the operation area.

  The direction line calculation unit 32 calculates a direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area. For example, when the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the direction line calculation unit 32 calculates the direction line of the hand based on the position of the hand in a certain period until that time. For example, the direction line starts from the position of the hand before a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds) before the time when the hand leaves the operation area, and passes through the position of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area. It is a straight line. That is, the direction line has, for example, the position at the time when the hand leaves the operation area as the end point, and the position of the hand before a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds) from the time when the hand leaves the operation area as the start point. It is a half line obtained by extending a line connecting the start point and the end point from the start point to the end point direction. Alternatively, the direction line calculation unit 32 is a straight line that passes through the position of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area, and the position of the hand at a plurality of times before the time when the hand leaves the operation area. The straight line that minimizes the sum of the squares of the distances to the straight line may be calculated as the direction line.

  The direction line calculation unit 32 may calculate the direction lines for all the hands acquired by the hand position acquisition unit 22 regardless of the determination result of the contact determination unit 31.

  The passage determination unit 33 determines whether the direction line calculated by the direction line calculation unit 32 passes through the reference region set by the reference region setting unit 24 (or crosses the reference region). At this time, when a plurality of direction lines are calculated, or when a plurality of reference areas are set, the passage determination unit 33 determines that the direction lines are the same for all combinations of the direction lines and the reference areas. It is determined whether or not the reference area is passed.

  The calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the start and end of calculation of two-dimensional coordinates by a coordinate calculation unit 35 described later. The start and end of the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates by the coordinate calculation unit 35 means the start and end of information input or gesture input by the user.

  When the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has touched the operation area, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the start of calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand by the coordinate calculation unit 35. However, when the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand has already been started, the calculation start is not determined.

  The calculation timing determination unit 34 is a case where the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has moved away from the operation area, and the passage determination unit 33 determines that the direction line of the hand passes the reference area. Further, when the operation area and the reference area are set for the same person, the end of calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand by the coordinate calculation unit 35 is determined. To do. However, when the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand is not performed, the end of the calculation is not determined.

  6A and 6B, the operation area R1 of the person A is set in front of the position of the person A, and the reference area R2 of the person A faces the front of the person A in the vicinity of the position of the person A. Is set to In this case, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the hand H is separated from the operation region R1 and the direction line D of the hand H intersects the reference region R2, the hand H is moved from the operation region R1 to the reference region R2. The movement of the hand H is highly likely to be a movement of the hand when the person A draws his / her hand toward the body. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the hand H is away from the operation area R1 and the direction line D of the hand H does not intersect the reference area R2, the movement of the hand H is determined by the person A. There is a high possibility that the movement of the person A is moving the hand within the operation area R1 instead of the movement of the hand when the person is drawn toward the body. Therefore, in this case, there is a possibility that the hand has left the operation area even though the user does not intend to end the gesture input and intends to move the hand within the operation area. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines whether or not the direction line passes through the reference region, whereby the movement of the hand when leaving the operation region is detected by the person's hand. It is determined whether or not the movement is a hand movement when the hand is drawn toward the body. When it is determined that the movement is a movement when the hand is drawn toward the body, the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates is terminated.

  The coordinate calculation unit 35 calculates two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand. The calculation of coordinates by the coordinate calculation unit 35 can be performed by projecting the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand onto a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate system. The predetermined two-dimensional coordinate system is, for example, a two-dimensional coordinate system based on the operation area touched by the hand or a two-dimensional coordinate system based on the position of a person corresponding to the operation area touched by the hand. .

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the coordinate calculation unit 35 calculates the coordinates when the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand are projected on the plane stretched by the two vectors u and v defined in the operation region R1. The coordinate values in the coordinate system based on the two vectors u and v are calculated.

  The two-dimensional coordinates calculated by the coordinate calculation unit 35 are output to the display control device 13.

(Process flow)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the input device 12 according to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing of the input device 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A series of processing described below is executed at certain timings. For example, it is executed once every 1/30 seconds in accordance with the timing (for example, once every 1/30 seconds) at which the image acquisition device 11 acquires image data.

  In addition, here, the input device 12 includes a person table that holds data related to a person and a hand table that holds data related to a hand.

  FIG. 9 shows a person table. The person table includes a person ID that is identification information for identifying a person, the position of the person, an operation area of the person, a reference area of the person, a start flag indicating the start of gesture input by the person, and a gesture input. Are recorded in association with each other. The start flag takes either a value of “0” or “1”, “0” indicates that it has not started, and “1” indicates that it has started. The initial value of the start flag is “0”. In FIG. 9, M1 (T) and M2 (T) are the current three-dimensional coordinate values of the corresponding person, respectively.

  FIG. 10 shows a hand table. In the hand table, a hand ID, which is identification information for identifying a hand, a position of the hand, and a direction line of the hand are recorded in association with each other. The hand position is recorded in a time-series manner up to the present. In FIG. 10, H1 (T) is the current three-dimensional coordinate value of the corresponding hand, and H1 (TN) is the three-dimensional coordinate value N times before the corresponding hand.

  Referring to FIG. 8, first, the input device 12 acquires image data from the image acquisition device 11 (S1), detects a person from the acquired image data, and acquires the position of the detected person (S2).

  Specifically, for each detected person, the input device 12 determines whether or not the data of the person is already registered in the person table, and if not registered, assigns a person ID to the person. The person ID and position of the person are newly registered in the person table. On the other hand, if it is already registered, the position of the person is updated in the person table. The above determination is made based on, for example, the positional relationship between the position of the person acquired this time and the position of each person registered in the person table. Specifically, the input device 12 determines whether a position of a person whose distance from the position of the person detected this time is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold is registered in the person table. If the data of the detected person is newly registered and registered, the position of the person closest to the position of the detected person among the positions of the persons registered in the person table is detected this time. Update with position. However, the input device 12 may make a determination by a method other than the above. For example, the characteristics of each person are extracted from the image data, the characteristics of each person are recorded in the person table, and the person detected this time is recorded. The determination may be made based on the similarity between the feature and the feature of each person recorded in the person table.

  Further, the input device 12 deletes, from the person table, the data of the person who has not been detected this time, that is, the data of the person whose position has not been updated among the person data registered in the person table.

  Next, the input device 12 determines whether or not the position of the person has been acquired in step S2 (S3). If the position of the person has not been acquired (S3: N), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the position of one or more persons is acquired (S3: Y), the input device 12 sets an operation area for each acquired position of the person (S4) and sets a reference area. (S5). Specifically, the input device 12 records the operation area and the reference area set for the person in association with each person ID registered in the person table.

  Next, the input device 12 detects a person's hand from the image data acquired in step S1, and acquires the position of the detected hand (S6).

  Specifically, for each detected hand, the input device 12 determines whether or not the hand data is already registered in the hand table, and if not, assigns a hand ID to the hand. The hand ID and position of the hand are newly registered in the hand table. On the other hand, if already registered, the hand position acquired this time is added to the time series data of the hand position in the hand table. The above determination is made based on, for example, the positional relationship between the hand position acquired this time and the position of each hand registered in the hand table. Specifically, the input device 12 determines whether a hand position whose distance from the currently detected hand position is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold is registered in the hand table. If the detected hand data is newly registered and registered, the position of the hand closest to the currently detected hand position among the hand positions registered in the hand table is detected this time. Update with position. However, the input device 12 may make a determination by a method other than the above. For example, the feature of each hand is extracted from the image data, the feature of each hand is recorded in the hand table, and the hand detected this time is recorded. The determination may be made based on the similarity between the feature and the feature of each hand recorded in the hand table.

  Further, the input device 12 deletes, from the hand table, hand data that has not been detected this time, that is, hand data for which no position has been added, among the hand data registered in the hand table.

  Next, the input device 12 determines whether or not there is a hand whose position has been acquired for a certain time or more (S7), and when such a hand exists (S7: Y), On the other hand, a direction line is obtained (S8). Specifically, the input device 12 obtains a direction line for each such hand and registers it in the hand table when there are hands whose position data is registered in a predetermined number or more in the hand table. For example, the hand position (point through which the direction line passes) acquired this time and the hand position (start point of the direction line) 0.5 seconds before are registered in the hand table as data indicating the direction line. On the other hand, if no hand has acquired a position for a certain time or longer (S7: N), the process ends.

  After step S8, the process proceeds to step S9. The processes after step S9 are performed for each person whose position is acquired in step S2, that is, each person registered in the person table.

  In step S <b> 9, the input device 12 determines whether the person to be processed (hereinafter referred to as “target person”) has already started the gesture input. Specifically, in the person table, if the start flag of the target person is “0”, it is determined that it has not started, and if it is “1”, it is determined that it has started.

  If the gesture input has not started (S9: N), the input device 12 determines whether to start the gesture input as follows.

  The input device 12 determines whether or not the hand touches the operation area set for the target person (S10). Specifically, it is determined whether there is a hand touching the operation area based on the operation area of the target person recorded in the person table and the current position of each hand recorded in the hand table. To do. If there is no hand touching the operation area (S10: N), the process is terminated. On the other hand, when there is a hand touching the operation area (S10: Y), the gesture input by the target person is started (S11), and the two-dimensional coordinates from the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand touching the operation area of the target person are started. Is calculated (S12), and the process is terminated. In step S11, the input device 12 sets the start flag to “1” in the data of the target person in the person table, and the hand ID of the hand touching the operation area of the target person for performing gesture input. Register as

  If it is determined in step S9 that the target person has already started the gesture input (S9: Y), it is determined whether or not the gesture input is terminated as follows.

  First, the input device 12 determines whether or not the operation area set for the target person is touched by a hand performing gesture input (S13). Specifically, the operation area of the target person recorded in the person table, the hand ID for inputting the gesture of the target person recorded in the person table, and the hand ID associated with the hand ID are recorded in the hand table. Based on the current position of the hand, it is determined whether or not the hand performing gesture input touches the operation area of the target person.

  If the hand that makes the gesture input touches the operation area (S13: Y), the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand that makes the gesture input are calculated without ending the gesture input (S12). ), The process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the hand performing gesture input is not touching the operation area (S13: N), the input device 12 sets the direction line calculated for the hand performing gesture input for the target person. It is determined whether or not it intersects with the reference area (S14).

  If the direction line intersects the reference area (S14: Y), the gesture input by the target person is terminated (S15), and the process is terminated. In this case, in the data of the target person in the person table, the start flag is returned to “0” and the hand ID of the hand performing the gesture input is deleted.

  On the other hand, if the direction line does not intersect the reference area (S14: N), the two-dimensional coordinates are calculated based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand performing the gesture input without ending the gesture input (S12), and processing Exit.

(Operation area setting)
The operation region set by the operation region setting unit 23 in the present embodiment based on the position of the person will be described.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation area is a rectangular parallelepiped area positioned in front of the person. An example of the position and size of the operation area is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 are a top view and a side view showing the positional relationship between the person and the operation area, respectively.

  In the following description, the dimensions of the person A in the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, and the direction parallel to the front-rear direction are referred to as width, height, and depth, respectively.

  In FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the operation area R1 translates a rectangle having a width W and a height H in the front-rear direction of the person A from the position L1 away from the position P of the person A to the position away from the distance L2. It is a cuboid that can be. The rectangular parallelepiped has a width W, a height H, and a depth (L2-L1).

  The values of the width W and the height H are preferably set so that the entire rectangle having the width W and the height H existing at the position L1 away from the position P of the person A can be reached. For example, the width W is slightly longer than the shoulder width of the person A, and the height H is the length from the top of the person A to the waist position. Further, for example, the operation area R1 is arranged such that the center of the operation area R1 coincides with the position of the person A (for example, the center position of the face) P in the left-right direction of the person A, and The upper end and the lower end are arranged so as to coincide with the positions of the head and waist of the person A, respectively.

  The distance L1 is preferably a value smaller than the length of the hand of the person A, and the distance L2 is preferably a value larger than the length of the hand of the person A. Accordingly, when the person A naturally extends his / her hand forward, the hand can touch the operation area R1.

  Here, the shoulder width of the person, the length from the top of the person to the position of the waist, and the length of the hand of the person may be set in advance by referring to statistical values related to the dimensions of the human body, or You may acquire the dimension of the person who actually operates. When acquiring the dimensions of the person who actually performs the operation, for example, the person's face size is acquired from the image data, and the person's face size is calculated based on the correlation between the face size and the person's dimension set from statistical values. Estimate the dimensions of

  Further, in the process of setting the operation area and the reference area in the input device 12, the left / right direction, the up / down direction, and the front / rear direction of the person are determined based on, for example, the posture of the person or the face direction acquired from the image data. Alternatively, it may be set based on the arrangement of the input device 12 and the display device 14 in advance. For example, the horizontal direction of the screen of the display device 14 may be set as the horizontal direction of the person, the vertical direction of the screen of the display device 14 may be set as the vertical direction of the person, and the normal direction of the screen of the display device 14 may be set as the front-back direction of the person. .

  FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 are a perspective view, a top view, and a side view, respectively, showing another example of the operation region.

  In this example, the operation region R3 has a shape in which a part of a cylindrical solid body is combined on both sides of a rectangular parallelepiped. When the person A is viewed from above, the cylindrical solid is preferably centered on the shoulder positions SR and SL of the person A. Since the range within which a person's hand can reach is a circular range centered on the shoulder, by incorporating a partial cylindrical solid in the operation region R3, it is possible to set an operation region that can be easily reached by the whole.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the operation region R3 is a region sandwiched between a first surface S1 located on the near side when viewed from the person A and a second surface S2 located on the far side. is there. The first surface S1 is located in front of the person A, and is connected to the line segment connecting both shoulders of the person A and the plane part SC1 parallel to the vertical direction of the person A, and the left end of the plane part SC1 when viewed from the person A. The left curved surface portion SL1 having a partial cylindrical surface centering on a straight line extending in the vertical direction of the person A through the position SL of the left shoulder of the person A and the right end of the plane portion SC1 when viewed from the person A are connected to the person A right curved surface portion SR1 having a partial cylindrical surface centered on a straight line extending through the position A of the right shoulder of A and extending in the vertical direction of the person A. The second surface S2 is located in front of the person A, and is connected to a line segment connecting both shoulders of the person A and the plane part SC2 parallel to the vertical direction of the person A, and the left end of the plane part SC2 when viewed from the person A. The left curved surface portion SL2 having a partial cylindrical surface centering on a straight line extending in the vertical direction of the person A through the position SL of the left shoulder of the person A and the right end of the plane portion SC2 when viewed from the person A are connected to the person A right curved surface portion SR2 having a partial cylindrical surface centered on a straight line passing through the position SR of the right shoulder of A and extending in the vertical direction of the person A.

  Regarding the first surface S1, the distance from the line segment connecting both shoulders of the person A to the plane part SC1, the radius of the left curved surface part SL1, and the radius of the right curved surface part SR1 are smaller than the length of the arm of the person A. Regarding the second surface S2, the distance from the line segment connecting both shoulders of the person A to the plane part SC2, the radius of the left curved surface part SL2, and the radius of the right curved surface part SR2 are larger than the length of the arm of the person A. In the example of FIG. 14, the distance from the line connecting the shoulders of the person A to the plane portion SC1 is L1, the radius of the left curved surface portion SL1 and the radius of the right curved surface portion SR1 are both r1, The distance from the line connecting the shoulders to the plane portion SC2 is L2 (> L1), and the radius of the left curved surface portion SL2 and the radius of the right curved surface portion SR2 are both r2 (> r1).

  Alternatively, the operation region R3 includes a rectangular parallelepiped central portion RC arranged in front of the person A, a left side RL connected to the left side of the central portion RC when viewed from the person A, and a central portion RC when viewed from the person A. And a right side RR connected to the right side. The central portion RC has the same shape as the operation region R1 shown in FIGS. The left side portion RL is a partially cylindrical solid centering on a straight line extending in the vertical direction of the person A through the position SL of the left shoulder of the person A, and the right side portion RR passes through the position SR of the right shoulder of the person A. It is a partial cylindrical solid whose central axis is a straight line extending in the vertical direction of the person A.

(effect)
According to the present embodiment described above, the following effects (1) to (10) can be obtained.
(1) In this embodiment, when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area, the input device starts acquiring input information based on the position or movement of the hand and determines that the hand has moved away from the operation area. In this case, when it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction, the acquisition of the input information is ended. Thereby, the end of information input not intended by the user can be suppressed. Specifically, it is possible to prevent the operation from being terminated because the hand has left the operation area even though the user does not intend to terminate the input. For example, the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement toward the person corresponding to the operation area. In this case, the acquisition of the input information is finished only when the person moves the hand toward the body. Can do.

  More specifically, since the user cannot accurately grasp the range of the operation area, even if the user intends to move his / her hand in the operation area, the user can actually get out of the operation area. There is sex. For this reason, in the configuration in which the end of input is determined only by the removal of the hand from the operation area, the input ends when the user unintentionally exits the operation area even though the user does not intend to end the input. May end up. In such a case, for example, when scrolling an image such as a map on the screen by moving the hand, the scrolling ends in the middle, or when drawing a line on the screen by moving the hand, If it is interrupted, user convenience is impaired. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the input ends when the hand moves away from the operation area and the movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. Compared with the configuration in which the input is terminated only by the user, the termination of the input unintended by the user can be suppressed.

  (2) The input device sets the operation area in front of the person, sets a virtual reference area at a predetermined position with respect to the person, and determines that the hand has touched the operation area. When the acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started and it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, a direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is obtained. When it is determined that the person passes through the reference area set for the person corresponding to the area, the acquisition of the input information is ended. According to this aspect, by determining whether or not the direction line passes through the reference area, it is possible to determine whether or not the movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. It is possible to suppress the end of information input not intended by the user. For example, the reference area is set so that the direction line passes through the reference area when the hand moves in the direction toward the person and moves away from the operation area. In this case, whether or not the direction line passes through the reference area. It is possible to determine the movement of the hand in the direction toward the person.

  (3) The reference area is set to face the front of the person closer to the person than the operation area. In this case, when the hand moves away from the operation area and the direction line passes through the reference area, the person's movement is likely to be a movement that draws the hand toward the body and moves it away from the operation area. For this reason, according to this aspect, it is possible to determine an operation in which a person pulls his hand toward the body and separates it from the operation area, and when the hand leaves the operation area by the operation, information input can be terminated.

  (4) The direction line is a half line extending in the direction from the start point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand leaves the operation area. According to this aspect, by restricting the direction in which the direction line extends to one side, the end of information input unintended by the user is more reliably suppressed as compared to the case where the direction line is a straight line extending infinitely in both directions. can do.

  (5) The input device determines that the hand has touched the operation area when the position of the hand has been in the operation area for a certain period after moving from outside the operation area to the operation area. According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the start of information input due to an instantaneous hand contact unintended by the user.

  (6) The input device determines that the hand has moved out of the operation area when the position of the hand has moved out of the operation area from the operation area and has been outside the operation area for a certain period of time. According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the information input from ending when the hand unintentionally leaves the operation area instantaneously.

  (7) The operation area includes a partial cylindrical area whose center axis is a straight line that passes through the position of the person's shoulder and extends in the vertical direction of the person. In this aspect, it is possible to obtain an appropriate operation region in consideration of the range that a person can reach. Specifically, since the reach of the person is a circular area centered on the shoulder when the person is viewed from above, according to this aspect, an operation area with less excess or deficiency of the range is obtained. It is done.

  (8) The operation region is a region sandwiched between a first surface located on the near side when viewed from a person and a second surface located on the back side, and the first surface and the second surface are Each of them is composed of the above-described flat surface portion, a left curved surface portion having a partial cylindrical surface shape, and a right curved surface portion having a partial cylindrical surface shape. According to this aspect, an operation region that can be easily reached is obtained.

  (9) With respect to the first surface, the distance from the line connecting the shoulders of the person to the plane portion, the radius of the left curved surface portion, and the radius of the right curved surface portion are smaller than the length of the person's arm. In this case, the user can naturally reach out and put his hand in the operation area.

  (10) With respect to the second surface, the distance from the line segment connecting both shoulders of the person to the plane portion, the radius of the left curved surface portion, and the radius of the right curved surface portion are larger than the length of the person's arm. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the hand from going out of the operation area when the user fully extends the hand forward.

  Hereinafter, input devices according to Embodiments 2 to 6 will be described. The input device according to the second to sixth embodiments is the same as the input device according to the first embodiment except for a part thereof. In the description of the second to sixth embodiments, the same portions as those of the first embodiment will be described. Omitted or simplified, the same or corresponding elements as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The input device 12 according to the second embodiment determines whether or not the movement of the hand is in a predetermined direction by a determination method different from that of the first embodiment, and determines the end of acquisition of input information.

  FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the input device 12 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 16, the input device 12 includes a person position acquisition unit 21, a hand position acquisition unit 22, an operation area setting unit 23, and an input information acquisition unit 25.

  In the present embodiment, the input information acquisition unit 25 starts acquiring input information based on the position or movement of the hand when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22. If it is determined that the hand has moved away from the operation area, a direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is obtained, and a point determined at a predetermined position with respect to the person corresponding to the operation area and the hand When it is determined that the angle formed by the straight line connecting the position and the direction line is within a predetermined range (for example, less than a predetermined value or more than a predetermined value), the acquisition of input information is terminated.

  In one example, the direction line is a half line extending in the direction from the start point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand leaves the operation area. The one point is set such that the angle formed by the hand moves in the direction toward the person and leaves the operation area so that the angle formed is within the predetermined range. For example, the point is set closer to the person than the operation area. Is done. Further, the position of the hand on the straight line connecting the one point and the position of the hand is, for example, the position of the hand at the time of leaving the operation area (for example, the end point of the directed line segment) or the time of moving away from the operation area. The position of the hand (for example, the starting point of the directed line segment) before a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

  In the example of FIG. 16, the input information acquisition unit 25 includes a contact determination unit 31, a direction line calculation unit 32, a calculation timing determination unit 34, and a coordinate calculation unit 35.

  When the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the calculation timing determination unit 34 calculates a straight line connecting a point determined in the vicinity of the person and the position of the hand at the time of moving away from the operation area, and a direction line An angle formed by the direction line of the hand calculated by the unit 32 is obtained, and when it is determined that the formed angle is within a predetermined range, the coordinate calculation unit 35 calculates the two-dimensional coordinates based on the three-dimensional position of the hand. Determine the end of the calculation.

  As illustrated in FIG. 17, for example, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the midpoint PC of the positions SL and SR of both shoulders of the person A based on the three-dimensional position of the person A acquired by the person position acquisition unit 21. Set as one point. Then, an angle θ formed by the straight line LH connecting the hand position PH when the point PC is away from the operation area and the direction line DH of the hand is obtained, and the formed angle θ is less than a certain value (for example, less than 30 degrees). When it is determined that the two-dimensional coordinates are calculated based on the three-dimensional position of the hand.

  If the angle between the straight line connecting the point in the vicinity of the person and the position of the hand and the direction line of the hand is less than a certain angle, the movement of the person's hand is caused when the person pulls the hand toward the body. This is likely a hand movement. For this reason, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines whether or not the angle formed is within a predetermined range, so that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area It is determined whether or not the movement is a hand movement at the time of drawing, and the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates is ended when it is determined that the movement is a movement at the time of drawing the hand toward the body.

  Next, processing of the input device 12 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the process of setting the reference area (the process of step S5) may be omitted. In step S14, the input device 12 determines the position of the person recorded in the person table and the current position of the hand recorded in the hand table instead of determining whether the direction line intersects the reference area. The angle formed by the straight line connecting the two and the direction line recorded on the hand table is obtained, and it is determined whether the formed angle is less than a certain value. If the angle to be formed is less than a certain value (S14: Y), the gesture input by the target person is terminated (S15). If the angle to be formed is not less than a certain value (S14: N), the gesture input is not terminated. Two-dimensional coordinates are calculated based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the input hand (S12), and the process ends.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area, the input device starts acquiring input information based on the position or movement of the hand, and the hand has moved away from the operation area. If it is determined, a direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand moves away from the operation area is obtained, and a straight line and a direction line connecting the position of the hand and a point determined at a predetermined position with respect to the person corresponding to the operation area When it is determined that the angle between and is within a predetermined range, the acquisition of the input information is terminated. According to this aspect, by determining whether or not the angle formed is within a predetermined range, it is possible to determine whether or not the movement of the hand when moving away from the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. It is possible to suppress the end of information input not intended by the user. For example, the one point is set so that the angle formed when the hand moves in the direction toward the person and leaves the operation area is within the predetermined range. In this case, whether or not the angle formed is within the predetermined range. It is possible to determine the movement of the hand in the direction toward the person.

  In the second embodiment, the input device 12 determines whether the direction line passes through the reference region as in the first embodiment, and also determines whether the angle formed is within a predetermined range. Good. In this case, the input device 12 is input when at least one of the first condition that the direction line passes through the reference region and the second condition that the angle formed is within a predetermined range is satisfied. The acquisition of information may be terminated, or the acquisition of input information may be terminated when both conditions are satisfied. In addition, the direction line (first direction line) used for the first condition and the direction line (second direction line) used for the second condition may be the same as or different from each other. May be.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the third embodiment, from the viewpoint of preventing the state where the input is not ended even though the user has pulled out the hand from the operation area with the intention to end the operation, the input information acquisition unit 25 Even when the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is not a movement in a predetermined direction, when it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied, the acquisition of the input information is ended. Specifically, the calculation timing determination unit 34 calculates the two-dimensional coordinates by the coordinate calculation unit 35 when it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied regardless of whether or not the direction line passes through the reference region. Determine the end of.

  For example, if the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the state in which the hand is not touching the operation area has continued for a certain period (for example, 3 seconds) or longer, the input information acquisition unit 25 ends the acquisition of input information by the hand.

  Further, the input information acquisition unit 25 does not touch the operation area, and the moving speed of the hand (for example, the magnitude of a moving vector indicating a change in the three-dimensional position of the hand in a certain period) is greater than a certain value (for example If it is determined that the input information is 50 cm / sec or more, the acquisition of input information by the hand may be terminated. Here, when the user moves his / her hand in the operation area to operate, the hand tends not to move at high speed, and when the moving speed of the hand exceeds a certain level, the user ends the operation. It is highly probable that they have an intention to do so.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the operation region setting unit 23 is adjacent to the operation region R1 in addition to the operation region R1 based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit 21, and the person A more than the operation region R1. The semi-operation region R4 is set at a position close to, and the input information acquisition unit 25 ends the acquisition of input information by the hand when the hand does not touch either the operation region R1 or the semi-operation region R4. Also good. Here, when the hand does not touch either the operation region R1 or the semi-operation region R4, the hand is in a position sufficiently close to the person's body, and the user intends to draw the hand toward the body. Conceivable.

According to the present embodiment described above, it is possible to prevent the state where the input is not ended even if the user pulls his / her hand from the operation area with the intention to end the input.
The configuration of the third embodiment may be applied to the input device of the second embodiment.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the fourth embodiment, the input information acquisition unit 25 ends the acquisition of the input information based on the result of the logical operation of some or all of the following conditions (a) to (f). Specifically, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the end of the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates by the coordinate calculation unit 35 by a logical operation combining a plurality of conditions selected from the following (a) to (f). To do.
(A) The hand is outside the operation area.
(B) A direction line indicating the direction of hand movement when the hand leaves the operation area passes through a reference area set at a predetermined position with respect to the person corresponding to the operation area.
(C) An angle formed by a straight line connecting a point determined at a predetermined position with respect to a person corresponding to the operation area and the position of the hand and a direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area. Within a predetermined range.
(D) The state in which the hand is outside the operation area continues for a certain period or more.
(E) The moving speed of the hand is above a certain level.
(F) The hand is outside the quasi-operation area set adjacent to the operation area and closer to the person than the operation area.

  The condition (b) is determined as in the first embodiment, the condition (c) is determined as in the second embodiment, and (d) to (f) are determined as in the third embodiment.

  In one aspect, the logical operation is configured such that the acquisition of input information is terminated when the hand moves away from the operation area and the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction, For example, the condition (a) and at least one of the conditions (b) and (c) are included.

  In one example, the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the end of the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates when the conditions (a) and (f) are satisfied, and the condition (a) is satisfied and the condition (f) is not satisfied. When the condition (b) is satisfied, the end of the calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates is determined.

According to the present embodiment described above, the input is not ended even though the user has drawn his hand from the operation area with the intention to end the input, and the user has no intention to end the input. It is possible to prevent both the operation from being terminated because the hand has left the operation area.
Note that the configuration of the fourth embodiment may be applied to the input device of the second or third embodiment.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
When it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area, the input device 12 according to the fifth embodiment starts acquiring input information when it is determined that a predetermined condition is satisfied.

  In the present embodiment, the reference area setting unit 24 is a virtual start determination reference area (hereinafter referred to as “start reference area”) at a predetermined position with respect to a person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition unit 21. ). The reference area setting unit 24 may set a start reference area in addition to the end determination reference area described in the first embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as “end reference area”), or may include a start reference area and an end reference area. A common reference area may be set as the reference area. For example, the start reference area is set in the vicinity of the position of the person detected by the person position acquisition unit 21, and the change in the position of the hand until the hand contacts the operation area corresponds to the movement of moving the hand forward. It is used to determine whether or not

  When the position of a plurality of persons is detected by the person position acquisition unit 21, the reference area setting unit 24 sets a start reference area for each of the plurality of persons.

  The start reference area set by the reference area setting unit 24 is set so that the straight line passes through the start reference area when the direction of hand movement when the person naturally extends his / her hand forward is indicated by a straight line. For example, when the person naturally extends his hand forward, the hand is set to move in the direction from the start reference area to the operation area. The start reference area may be set similarly to the end reference area, for example, as shown in FIG.

  When the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has touched the operation region based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22, the movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation region (or until the hand contacts) When it is determined that the movement is in a predetermined direction, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started. In one example, the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement in the direction from the person side corresponding to the operation area to the operation area, and the input information acquisition unit 25 extends the hand forward and contacts the operation area. Start getting input information. The hand movement when the hand contacts the operation area is, for example, the hand movement immediately before it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area.

  In this example, when the input information acquisition unit 25 determines that the hand has contacted the operation region based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit 22, the input information acquisition unit 25 is in contact with the operation region (or until the contact is made). When a direction line for start determination indicating the direction of hand movement (hereinafter referred to as “start direction line”) is obtained, and the start direction line passes through the start reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area. When the determination is made, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started. For example, the start reference area is set so that the start direction line passes through the start reference area when the hand moves in the direction from the person side toward the operation area and contacts the operation area. The start direction line is, for example, a half straight line extending from the end point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand contacts the operation region to the start point direction.

  When the operation area and the start reference area are set for each of the plurality of persons, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines, for each operation area, whether or not the hand has touched the operation area. When it is determined that the contact has occurred, a start direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area is obtained, and the start direction line is set for the person corresponding to the operation area. It is determined whether or not to pass the start reference area, and when it is determined to pass, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started.

Further, when the positions of a plurality of hands are acquired by the hand position acquisition unit 22, the input information acquisition unit 25 determines whether any of the plurality of hands has touched the operation area, If it is determined that the hand has touched, a start direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area is obtained, and the start direction line is determined for a person corresponding to the operation area. It is determined whether or not to pass through the set start reference area, and when it is determined to pass, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started.
Note that the end of acquisition of input information is the same as in the first embodiment.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the input information acquisition unit 25 includes a contact determination unit 31, a direction line calculation unit 32, a passage determination unit 33, a calculation timing determination unit 34, and a coordinate calculation unit 35.

  In addition to the direction line for end determination (hereinafter referred to as “end direction line”) described in the first embodiment, the direction line calculation unit 32 determines the direction of hand movement when the hand contacts the operation area. The starting direction line shown is calculated. For example, when the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has touched the operation area, the direction line calculation unit 32 determines the start direction line of the hand based on the position of the hand during a certain period until the contact time. calculate. The start direction line is, for example, a half line with the position where the hand touches the operation area as the end point, and passes through the position of the hand a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds) before the time when the hand contacts the operation area It is a half line. That is, the start direction line has, for example, the position where the hand touches the operation area as the end point, and the position of the hand a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds) before the time when the hand touches the operation area. A half line obtained by extending a line connecting the start point and the end point in the direction of the start point from the end point. Alternatively, the direction line calculation unit 32 is a half straight line whose end point is a position where the hand touches the operation area, and each time point (for example, 0.1 second before the contact time point) until the hand touches the operation area. A half line that minimizes the sum of the squares of the distance to the hand position at the time of every 0.1 second from 1 second to 1 second before may be calculated as the start direction line.

  When the contact determination unit 31 determines that a plurality of hands have contacted the operation area, the direction line calculation unit 32 calculates a start direction line for each of the plurality of hands.

  The direction line calculation unit 32 may calculate start direction lines for all the hands acquired by the hand position acquisition unit 22 regardless of the determination result of the contact determination unit 31.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the passage determination unit 33 determines whether the end direction line passes through the end reference region, and the start direction line calculated by the direction line calculation unit 32 is set by the reference region setting unit 24. It is determined whether the starting reference area is passed. At this time, when a plurality of start direction lines are calculated, or when a plurality of start reference areas are set, the passage determining unit 33 applies to all combinations of the start direction lines and the start reference areas. Then, it is determined whether or not the start direction line passes through the start reference area.

  The calculation timing determination unit 34 is a case where the contact determination unit 31 determines that the hand has touched the operation area, and the passage determination unit 33 determines that the start direction line of the hand passes the start reference area. In addition, when the operation area and the start reference area are set for the same person, the start of calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates by the coordinate calculation unit 35 is determined.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the input device 12 according to the fifth embodiment. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 19, the processing of the input device 12 in the present embodiment will be described.

  A series of processing described below is executed at certain timings. For example, it is executed once every 1/30 seconds in accordance with the timing (for example, once every 1/30 seconds) at which the image acquisition device 11 acquires image data.

  Here, the input device 12 sets a common reference area as the start reference area and the end reference area, and has a person table shown in FIG. 9 and a hand table shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 19, in the present embodiment, in step S8, a start direction line and an end direction line are obtained for the hand whose position has been acquired for a certain time or more. Specifically, the input device 12 obtains a start direction line and an end direction line for each of such hands when there are hands whose position data is registered in a predetermined number or more in the hand table. Register with. Here, the hand position acquired this time (the end point of the start direction line, the point where the end direction line passes) and the hand position 0.5 seconds before (the point where the start direction line passes, the end The start point of the direction line) is registered in the hand table as data indicating the start direction line and the end direction line.

  If it is determined in step S10 that there is a hand touching the operation area (S10: Y), the input device 12 sets the start direction line calculated for the hand for the target person. It is determined whether it intersects the reference area (S20).

  When the start direction line intersects the reference area (S20: Y), the gesture input by the target person is started (S11), and the two-dimensional coordinates are calculated from the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand touching the operation area of the target person. (S12), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the start direction line does not intersect the reference area (S20: N), the process is terminated.

According to the present embodiment described above, the following effects (11) to (16) can be obtained.
(11) In this embodiment, when the input device determines that the hand has touched the operation area, the input device determines that the movement of the hand when contacting the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. Acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started. Thereby, the start of the information input which a user does not intend can be suppressed. Specifically, it is possible to prevent the information input or the operation from being started because the hand touched the operation area even though the user does not intend to start the input. For example, when a user's hand accidentally touches the user's operation area, such as by waving his hand, or when an input of a person other than the user touches the user's operation area Can be prevented. As a result, erroneous input and erroneous operation can be suppressed.

  For example, the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement in a direction from the person side corresponding to the operation area toward the operation area. In this case, acquisition of input information is started only when the person moves the hand forward. can do.

  (12) The input device sets an operation area in front of the person, sets a virtual start reference area at a predetermined position with respect to the person, and determines that the hand has touched the operation area. A start direction line indicating the direction of hand movement when contacting the operation area is obtained, and when it is determined that the start direction line passes the start reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area, The acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of is started. According to this aspect, by determining whether or not the start direction line passes through the start reference area, it is determined whether or not the hand movement when the hand contacts the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. It is possible to suppress the start of information input not intended by the user. For example, the start reference area is set so that the start direction line passes through the start reference area when the hand moves in the direction from the person side toward the operation area and touches the operation area. By determining whether or not the start reference area is passed, it is possible to determine the movement of the hand in the direction from the person side toward the operation area.

  (13) The start reference area is set to face the front of the person closer to the person than the operation area. In this case, when the hand is in contact with the operation area and the start direction line passes through the start reference area, it is highly likely that the person's movement is a movement that moves the hand forward and touches the operation area. Therefore, according to this aspect, it is possible to detect an operation in which a person puts his hand forward and touches the operation area, and information input can be started when the hand touches the operation area.

  (14) The start direction line is a semi-straight line extending from the end point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand contacts the operation area to the start point direction. According to this aspect, by restricting the direction in which the start direction line extends to one side, the start of information input unintended by the user can be more reliably compared to the case where the start direction line is a straight line extending infinitely in both directions. Can be suppressed.

  (15) When acquiring the positions of a plurality of persons, the input device sets an operation area and a start reference area for each person. Then, for each operation area, it is determined whether or not the hand has touched the operation area. When it is determined that the hand has touched, a start direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area And determines whether or not the start direction line passes through the start reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area. Start acquiring information. According to this configuration, when there are a plurality of persons, each person can perform information input or operation by moving his / her hand within the operation area set for the person. In addition, when there are multiple persons and an operation area is set for each person, even if one user touches the operation area set for another person, information input will not start, so the user starts input It is possible to prevent information input from being started because the user's hand touches the operation area even though there is no intention to do so.

  (16) When the input device acquires the positions of a plurality of hands, the input device determines whether any of the plurality of hands has touched the operation area, and determines that any of the hands has touched. In this case, a start direction line indicating the direction of movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area is obtained, and the start direction line passes through the start reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area. If it is determined whether or not to pass, and acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started. According to this aspect, acquisition of input information can be appropriately started even when there are a plurality of hands.

  The configuration of the fifth embodiment may be applied to any input device of the second to fourth embodiments.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
The input device 12 according to the sixth embodiment changes the shape or position of the operation area before and after the start of input information acquisition.

  In the present embodiment, after the input information acquisition unit 25 starts acquiring the input information, or after the calculation timing determination unit 34 determines the acquisition start of the input information, the operation area setting unit 23 Set operation areas with different positions or shapes. For example, in step S4 of FIG. 8, when the input device 12 sets an operation region for a certain person, when the start flag of the person is “0”, the input device 12 sets an operation region for the start, and the start flag When “1” is “1”, a post-start operation area is set.

  For example, after the input information acquisition unit 25 starts acquiring the input information, the operation region setting unit 23 sets the operation region so that the operation region is closer to the person than before the input information acquisition starts, The operation area is set so that the operation area becomes larger than before the acquisition starts. For example, after starting the acquisition of input information, the operation region setting unit 23 makes the operation region closer to a person and reduces the value of the distance L1 in FIG. Extend the range of

  Further, for example, the operation region setting unit 23 starts the input information acquisition by the input information acquisition unit 25 and then starts the input information acquisition (or determines the start of calculation of the two-dimensional coordinates) and the hand position and start direction. The operation area is set based on one or both of the positions where the line passes through the start reference area. For example, the operation area setting unit 23 determines whether the position where the start direction line at the start of input information acquisition passes through the start reference area is the right side or the left side of the person, and determines the area of the position or shape according to the determination result. Set as the operation area.

  Specifically, when the position where the start direction line intersects the start reference area is on the right side of the person, the person is highly likely to extend his right hand. Therefore, when the crossing position is on the right side of the person, for example, as shown in FIG. 20, the operation region R5 is set at a position shifted to the right hand side before the start of acquisition (FIGS. 4 and 11). When the position to be performed is on the left side of the person, the operation area is set at a position shifted to the left hand side before the start of acquisition.

  Alternatively, when the crossing position is on the right side of the person, for example, as shown in FIG. 21, a partial cylindrical surface shape having a straight line passing through the right shoulder position SR of the person A and extending in the vertical direction of the person A as the central axis. And a partially cylindrical outer peripheral surface SO having a radius larger than the inner peripheral surface SI and having a central axis as a straight line passing through the position SR of the right shoulder of the person A and extending in the vertical direction of the person A. A region that is sandwiched or a partial cylindrical region centered on the right shoulder position SR is set as the operation region R6. On the other hand, when the crossing position is on the left side of the person, a partially cylindrical inner peripheral surface having a straight line extending in the vertical direction of the person passing through the position SL of the person's left shoulder and the position of the person's left shoulder A region sandwiched between the outer peripheral surface of the partial cylindrical surface having a radius larger than the inner peripheral surface with a straight line extending through the SL in the vertical direction as the central axis, or a partial cylindrical region centered on the position of the left shoulder Is set as the operation area.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, after starting the acquisition of input information, the input device sets the operation region so that the operation region is closer to a person than before the acquisition is started or the operation region is wider. Thereby, after starting information input, it is possible to prevent the user from unintentionally leaving the operation area and ending information input. In addition, before the start of information input, the operation area can be kept away from a person to some extent, or the operation area can be reduced to some extent, and information input starts when the hand touches the operation area unintentionally. Can be prevented.

  In addition, the input device sets the operation region based on one or both of the position of the hand and the position where the start direction line passes through the start reference region at the start of acquisition after the start of the acquisition of the input information. Thereby, it is possible to set an operation area that is easy to input in accordance with the position and movement of the user's hand. For example, when the position of the hand at the start of acquisition or the position where the start direction line passes through the start reference area is the right side of the person, it is easy to perform input or operation with the right hand by shifting the position of the operation area to the right side. An operation area can be set.

  The configuration of the sixth embodiment may be applied to any input device of the second to fifth embodiments.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above description, the case where the three-dimensional position of the person and the hand is acquired is illustrated, but the input device 12 may acquire the two-dimensional position of the person and the two-dimensional position of the hand. Examples of the two-dimensional position include coordinates in a two-dimensional coordinate system parallel to the horizontal plane. Even in this case, for example, it is possible to discriminate the movement of the person putting the hand forward or the movement of drawing.

  Further, the movement in the predetermined direction in the end determination is not limited to the movement in the direction toward the person, and may be in another direction. Similarly, the movement in the predetermined direction in the start determination is not limited to the movement in the direction from the person side toward the operation area, and may be in another direction.

  Further, the position and shape of the end reference area are not limited to the above, and may be determined as appropriate depending on the direction of hand movement used as the end operation of information input. For example, an end reference area may be set between the operation area and the person, or the end reference area may be set at a position somewhere behind the person. In addition, for example, when the movement of pulling the right hand diagonally to the right is used as the movement at the end, the end reference area may be set diagonally to the right of the person. Similarly, the start reference area may be determined as appropriate depending on which direction the hand movement is used as the operation at the start of information input.

  In the above description, a half straight line is illustrated as the end direction line. However, the end direction line may be another type of line, and may be appropriately determined according to the position and shape of the reference region. For example, the end direction line may be a straight line extending in both directions through the start and end points of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area, or the directed line segment. It may be a line segment of a predetermined length extending from the start point to the end point direction. Similarly, the start direction line may be determined as appropriate. For example, the start direction line is a straight line extending in both directions through the start point and end point of the directed line segment indicating the change in the position of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area. Alternatively, it may be a line segment having a predetermined length extending from the end point of the directed line segment to the start point direction.

  Further, in the above description, when the positions of a plurality of persons are acquired, the configuration in which the operation area and the reference area are set for each of the plurality of persons is exemplified. The operation area and the reference area may be set for a specific person (for example, one person) among a plurality of persons based on the characteristics and characteristics.

  Further, when the input device calculates a two-dimensional coordinate based on the position of the hand when the hand is outside the operation region (for example, after determining “N” in step S14 in FIG. 8, in step S12). When calculating two-dimensional coordinates), a position in the operation region closest to the position of the hand (position outside the operation region) may be obtained, and the two-dimensional coordinates may be calculated based on the position.

  In the above description, the case where the two-dimensional coordinates are calculated based on the three-dimensional position of the hand as the input information is illustrated. However, the input information acquisition unit 25 performs the user's gesture based on the change or movement of the hand position. Alternatively, the instruction may be recognized and the recognized gesture or instruction may be output.

  In the above description, the case where the input device is used for the display system has been exemplified. However, the input device may output the input information to other types of target devices, or other types based on the input information. The target device may be controlled.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display system, 11 Image acquisition apparatus, 12 Input apparatus, 13 Display control apparatus, 14 Display apparatus, 21 Person position acquisition part, 22 Hand position acquisition part, 23 Operation area setting part, 24 Reference area setting part, 25 Input information acquisition Unit, 31 contact determination unit, 32 direction line calculation unit, 33 passage determination unit, 34 calculation timing determination unit, 35 coordinate calculation unit.

Claims (18)

Person position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the person;
Hand position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the hand;
Based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition means, an operation area setting means for setting a virtual operation area in front of the person;
Based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition means, when it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started, and the hand moves away from the operation area. Input information acquisition means for ending the acquisition of the input information when it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. An input device.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement in a direction toward a person corresponding to the operation area. Based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition means, further comprising a reference area setting means for setting a virtual reference area at a predetermined position with respect to the person,
When the input information acquisition unit determines, based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit, that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the input information acquisition unit indicates a direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area. One direction line is obtained, and when it is determined that the first direction line passes through a reference area set for a person corresponding to the operation area, the acquisition of the input information is terminated. The input device according to claim 1 or 2.   The input device according to claim 3, wherein the reference area is set so as to face the front of the person closer to the person than the operation area.   The first direction line is a half line extending from a start point of a directed line segment indicating a change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand leaves the operation area to an end point direction. Item 5. The input device according to Item 3 or 4.   When the input information acquisition unit determines, based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit, that the hand has moved away from the operation area, the input information acquisition unit indicates a direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area. 2 direction lines are obtained, and an angle formed by a straight line connecting a point defined by a predetermined position with respect to the person corresponding to the operation region and the position of the hand and the second direction line is within a predetermined range. 6. The input device according to claim 1, wherein when the determination is made, the acquisition of the input information is terminated.   The input device according to claim 6, wherein the one point is set closer to the person than the operation area.   The second direction line is a half line extending in the direction from the start point to the end point of a directed line segment indicating a change in the position of the hand during a certain period when the hand leaves the operation area. Item 8. The input device according to Item 6 or 7.   When the input information acquisition unit determines that the state where the hand is outside the operation area has continued for a certain period or longer, the input information acquisition unit is configured to input the input even if the movement of the hand is not a movement in the predetermined direction. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the acquisition of information is terminated.   When the input information acquisition unit determines that the hand is outside the operation area and the moving speed of the hand is equal to or higher than a certain level, the movement of the hand is not a movement in the predetermined direction. Even if it exists, acquisition of the said input information is complete | finished, The input device of any one of Claim 1 to 9 characterized by the above-mentioned. The operation area setting means further sets a semi-operation area at a position adjacent to the operation area and closer to the person than the operation area based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition means,
When the input information acquisition means determines that the hand is outside the operation area and the hand is outside the semi-operation area, the movement of the hand is not movement in the predetermined direction. However, the input device according to claim 1, wherein acquisition of the input information is terminated. 2. The input information acquisition unit ends acquisition of the input information based on a result of a logical operation of some or all of the following conditions (a) to (f): The input device described in 1.
(A) The hand is outside the operation area.
(B) A first direction line indicating a direction of movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area passes through a reference area set at a predetermined position with respect to a person corresponding to the operation area. .
(C) a second line indicating a direction of movement of the hand when the hand moves away from the operation area, and a straight line connecting a point determined at a predetermined position with respect to the person corresponding to the operation area and the position of the hand The angle formed by the direction line is within a predetermined range.
(D) The state where the hand is outside the operation area continues for a certain period or more.
(E) The moving speed of the hand is above a certain level.
(F) The hand is outside the quasi-operation area set adjacent to the operation area and closer to the person than the operation area.   When the input information acquisition unit determines that the hand has contacted the operation area based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition unit, the movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area is in a predetermined direction. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started when it is determined that the movement is a movement of the hand.   The input device according to claim 13, wherein the movement in the predetermined direction is a movement in a direction from the person corresponding to the operation area toward the operation area. Based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition means, further comprising a start reference area setting means for setting a virtual start reference area at a predetermined position for the person,
The input information acquisition means, based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition means, when it is determined that the hand has contacted the operation area, the direction of movement of the hand when the hand contacts the operation area When the third direction line is obtained, and it is determined that the third direction line passes the start reference area set for the person corresponding to the operation area, the input based on the position or movement of the hand 15. The input device according to claim 13, wherein acquisition of information is started.   The said input information acquisition means acquires the two-dimensional coordinate in a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate system based on the position of the said hand as said input information, The any one of Claim 1 to 15 characterized by the above-mentioned. Input device. A person position obtaining step for obtaining a person position;
A hand position obtaining step for obtaining a hand position;
An operation area setting step for setting a virtual operation area in front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition step;
When it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition step, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started, and the hand moves away from the operation area. An input information acquisition step of ending the acquisition of the input information when it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction. Information processing method. A person position obtaining step for obtaining a person position;
A hand position obtaining step for obtaining a hand position;
An operation area setting step for setting a virtual operation area in front of the person based on the acquisition result of the person position acquisition step;
When it is determined that the hand has touched the operation area based on the acquisition result of the hand position acquisition step, acquisition of input information based on the position or movement of the hand is started, and the hand moves away from the operation area. If it is determined that the movement of the hand when the hand leaves the operation area is a movement in a predetermined direction, the computer is caused to execute an input information acquisition step of ending acquisition of the input information. An information processing program characterized by that.

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