JP3291763B2 - Input device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device and an input method used by being worn on a part of a body such as a data glove.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, research has been conducted to create and use a virtual world (virtual space) by a computer. The virtual space is a three-dimensional world that is modeled and reproduced using a display device and an audio device as if there is a world around the user.

[0003] In this virtual space, various use forms are considered. In combination with a simulator capable of simulating driving and operating an airplane through a simulated experience, and a high-speed communication network, people in remote areas gathered together. Representative examples include a telecommunications conference system that allows a user to hold a meeting or work with such a feeling, telexistence combined with remote control of a robot, and the like.

Incidentally, as a technique for creating a virtual space by a computer, an efficient input technique is important together with a display technique having a high sense of reality.

Here, existing input devices that can be used to generate a virtual space include a mouse, a joystick, and the like. The mouse has a sensor unit for detecting the movement amount of the mouse itself. For example, the mouse moves on a plane, inputs the movement amount to a computer, and moves the pointer on the screen. The joystick moves the pointer on the screen up, down, left, and right by a handle-like operation.

[0006] These input devices input only two-dimensional movement information of a pointer on a display. As an input device used for generating a virtual space, when the device is worn on a hand and operated, the operation is detected. It is desirable to be able to directly manipulate an image using the three-dimensional information.

[0007] As an input device meeting such a demand,
Data gloves are being developed at VPL and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, the Industrial Technology Institute. The data glove of VPL has an optical fiber wired along each finger of a glove-like operation unit. In this data glove, the bending angle of each finger is determined from the amount of light attenuation that changes as the finger is bent, and the shape of the hand is detected.

[0008] The data glove of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, the Institute of Industrial Science and Technology has a current displacement sensor having a thickness of about 2 mm attached to the side of a finger. When the glove's finger is bent, the resistance value of the current displacement sensor is reduced. Changes, thereby detecting hand movements.

[0009]

However, the data gloves described above have low practicality because the optical fiber or the current displacement sensor serving as a sensor is expensive. In addition, in a data glove using a current displacement sensor, since the current displacement sensor is heavy, operability is low, and a long-time operation may cause a feeling of fatigue.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of such a conventional situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an input device which is lightweight, has excellent operability, and has inexpensive parts.

[0011]

The input device according to the present invention proposed to achieve the above object has an operation detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes by deformation. Motion information on the ventral, dorsal, and side surfaces of the joint detected by the sensor is input to the computer.

Further, the input device according to the present invention has an operation detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes by deformation, and the conductive gel is applied so as to surround a portion corresponding to a joint. Operation information detected by the operation detection sensor is input to a computer.

Further, the input device according to the present invention has an operation detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes by deformation, and the conductive gel includes an abdominal side, a dorsal side, and a side surface of a joint. , A pair of electrodes are inserted into the computer, and operation information detected by the operation detection sensor is input to a computer.

According to the input device of the present invention, the motion detection sensor detects both the motion information of all the joints of the fingers of the hand and the motion information of the joints of the wrist.

[0015] The conductive gel constituting the input device according to the present invention is silicon rubber, and the conductive gel is obtained by dispersing and mixing a conductive filler in silicon rubber. As the conductive gel, a material obtained by dispersing and mixing a carbon filler in silicon rubber can be used.

The filler used here is desirably spherical.

The input device according to the present invention is used by being worn on a part of a body. More specifically, the input device according to the present invention is a data glove or a data suit.

According to the present invention, there is provided an input method for inputting, to a computer, motion information on the abdominal, dorsal and lateral sides of a joint detected by a motion detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes due to deformation. It is.

According to the present invention, there is provided an input method for inputting, to a computer, motion information detected by a motion detection sensor made of a conductive gel applied so as to surround a portion corresponding to a joint, the resistance value being changed by deformation. It is.

Further, the present invention provides a method for controlling
This is an input method for inputting operation information detected by an operation detection sensor made of a conductive gel in which a pair of electrodes are inserted into side surfaces and a resistance value changes by deformation to a computer.

In the input method according to the present invention, the motion detection sensor detects both the motion information of all the joints of the fingers of the hand and the motion information of the joints of the wrist.

[0022]

The input device according to the present invention is worn on the body and used, and a conductive gel is used as a motion detection sensor. Here, the conductive gel is obtained by dispersing and mixing a conductive filler in the gel. By using such a conductive gel as a motion detection sensor, motion information is output with good followability to the motion of the body. The motion information on the abdominal, dorsal, and side surfaces of the joint detected by the motion detection sensor is input to the computer.

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the present invention will be described based on experimental results.

The input device of the present invention is applied to at least a part of a body such as a data glove or a data suit, and detects an operation of the data glove or a data suit and inputs the data to a computer.

The present invention relates to such an input device,
A conductive gel is used as a motion detection sensor to obtain operability and practicality. The conductive gel is obtained by dispersing and mixing fine particles (filler) of highly conductive metal or carbon into the gel, and is lightweight and inexpensive. By using such a conductive gel as the motion detection sensor, the operability and versatility of the input device are improved.

When the conductive gel is compressed, its electric resistance changes in accordance with the amount of compression displacement. For example, the density of the conductive filler increases due to compression, and the electrical resistance decreases.Or, when the conductive filler is spherical, the electrical resistance once decreases according to the amount of compression displacement, and when the amount of compression displacement further increases, the electrical resistance decreases. Resistance increases. Using such a property, it is possible to function as a motion detection sensor.

The operation of an input device using a conductive gel whose resistance value decreases with an increase in the amount of compressive displacement as an operation detection sensor will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an input device according to the present invention. This input device is formed by applying a conductive gel 2 to a joint of a glove 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive gel 2 has a pair of electrodes 3, 4, on the ventral side, the back side, and the side surface.
5 is inserted, and an ammeter 6 for measuring a current value between the electrodes is connected to the pair of electrodes 3, 4, 5.

To operate such an input device, a hand is inserted into the glove 1. First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the finger is bent, the conductive gel on the ventral side is compressed, the electric resistance is reduced according to the amount of compression, and the current between the ventral electrodes 3 is increased. On the other hand, the conductive gel on the back side expands, the electric resistance increases in accordance with the amount of extension, and the current between the back side electrodes 4 decreases.

Next, when the finger is extended, the conductive gel on the ventral side in the compressed state and the conductive gel on the dorsal side in the extended state return to the original state, and accordingly, the current between the electrodes 3 and 4 is reduced. Return to initial value. The conductive gel on the side surface slightly expands and contracts depending on the direction of the finger, and the current between the side electrodes 5 changes according to the amount of compression and the amount of expansion. By observing such a current change, the bending amount and direction of the finger are detected, and the motion of the hand is reproduced.

The conductive gel is preferably a silicone gel. A conductive gel using a silicon gel changes its resistance value sharply in a normal range of compression and extension displacement of a finger, and is suitable as a motion detection sensor. The conductive particles to be mixed and dispersed in the silicon gel include Metallite AgSF44 and Metallite AgSF
14. Ag-coated ceramic hollow balloon such as Metallite AgCG (all manufactured by Showa Denko KK), NCP-S
1 (manufactured by Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), Ni-coated ceramic hollow balloon, Donacarbo S-241, Donacarbo S
Pitch-based carbon fibers such as -242 (manufactured by Dainippon Ink), artificial graphite powders such as POG-2 and POG-80 (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical), and conductive materials such as Tentor BK200 (manufactured by Otsuka Chemical). Titanium oxide and the like. Such a conductive gel composed of a conductive filler and a silicon gel is available, for example, from Suzuki Corporation.

Next, the input device was actually manufactured, and its operation detection performance was examined.

First, an electrically conductive gel was prepared by mixing a commercially available silicone rubber with an Ag-coated ceramic hollow balloon (metallite AgCG manufactured by Showa Denko KK) as an electrically conductive filler. Note that the concentration of the conductive filler was about several tens%.

Next, a vinyl glove was prepared, a hand was inserted into the vinyl glove, the index finger was extended, and the conductive gel was applied to a portion corresponding to the second joint. After confirming that the conductive gel expands and contracts by bending and extending the finger, attach a metal tape that serves as an electrode to the conductive gel on the ventral side of the finger, connect it to a digital multimeter, and measure the resistance. did.

The thus prepared data glove was actually worn on a hand, and the change in resistance when the index finger was bent and extended was observed. As a result, when the index finger was bent, the gel on the belly side of the finger was compressed, and the resistance increased in accordance with the amount of bending of the finger. From this, it was found that the conductive gel functions as an operation detection sensor.

[0035]

As is clear from the above description, since the input device of the present invention uses a conductive gel as a motion detection sensor, it is light and inexpensive, and can be easily worn on the body. Operability can be realized, and body movements can be reliably detected. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an input device and an input method suitable for forming a virtual space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of mounting electrodes of the input device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state when the input device is mounted and operated.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 conductive gel, 3 ventral electrode, 4 back electrode,
5 Side electrode, 6 Ammeter

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G12B 1/00 G06F 3/033 310

Claims (14)

(57) [Claims] 1. An operation detection sensor comprising a conductive gel whose resistance value changes by deformation, wherein the operation information on the abdominal, dorsal, and side surfaces of the joint detected by the operation detecting sensor is transmitted to a computer. An input device for inputting. 2. An operation detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes due to deformation, wherein the conductive gel is applied so as to surround a portion corresponding to a joint, and an operation detected by the operation detecting sensor is provided. An input device for inputting information into a computer. 3. An operation detection sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes due to deformation, wherein a pair of electrodes are inserted into the abdominal, dorsal, and side surfaces of the joint, respectively, in the conductive gel. An input device for inputting operation information detected by the operation detection sensor to a computer. 4. The motion detection sensor according to claim 1, wherein the motion detection sensor detects motion information of all the joints of the fingers of the hand and motion information of the joints of the wrist together. Input device. 5. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive gel is silicone rubber. 6. The input device according to claim 5, wherein the conductive gel is formed by dispersing and mixing a conductive filler in silicone rubber. 7. The input device according to claim 5, wherein the conductive gel is obtained by dispersing and mixing a carbon filler in silicon rubber. 8. The input device according to claim 6, wherein the filler is spherical. 9. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input device is used by being worn on a part of a body. 10. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input device is a data glove or a data suit. 11. An input which is characterized by inputting motion information on the abdominal, dorsal and lateral sides of the joint detected by a motion detecting sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes due to deformation to a computer. Method. 12. An input characterized in that a resistance value changes due to deformation, and motion information detected by a motion detection sensor made of a conductive gel applied so as to surround a portion corresponding to a joint is input to a computer. Method. 13. A pair of electrodes are inserted into the abdominal, dorsal and side surfaces of the joint, respectively, and operation information detected by an operation detection sensor made of a conductive gel whose resistance value changes due to deformation is input to a computer. An input method characterized by: 14. The motion detection sensor according to claim 11, wherein both the motion information of all the joints of the fingers of the hand and the motion information of the joints of the wrist are detected. input method.