JPH04336090A - Game device using concave mirror - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a small-sized game device having the simple constitution which can secure a relatively large game figure surface. CONSTITUTION:A concave mirror 12 whose center axis 100 is tilted by a prescribed angle for the viewpoint 32 of a player 30 is installed before the player 30, and a display device 14 which is arranged before the concave mirror 12 and projects a game figure surface on the concave mirror 12 is provided. The display device 14 is arranged on the opposite side to the viewpoint 32 of the player 30, keeping the center axis 100 of the concave mirror 12 interposed, and the game figure surface is projected as a magnified visual image behind the concave mirror 12.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game device using a concave mirror.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Video game devices using CRTs and the like have been well known and are widely used, for example, in driving games, shooting games, and various other games. However, in such a video game device, the CRT itself becomes the game screen. For this reason, the size of the game screen is limited to the size of the CRT, and there is a problem in that it is not possible to play a game that is rich in impact.

[0003] In addition to this, there have also been proposals for projection devices that project an enlarged or reduced image onto a fixed screen using a concave mirror or a convex lens (
(Special Publication No. 56-42951). However, this conventional device has the problem that the concave mirror or convex lens, its driving device, light source, etc. are placed on the opposite side of the player across the screen, making the entire device large and expensive. there were.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to create a game that is small and has a simple configuration that allows a relatively large game screen to be obtained. The goal is to provide equipment.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the game device of the present invention includes a concave mirror installed in front of the player with its central axis tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the player's viewpoint, and a concave mirror installed in front of the concave mirror. a display device disposed on the opposite side of the player's viewpoint across the central axis of the concave mirror, the display device projecting a game screen onto the concave mirror, the display device magnifying the game screen behind the concave mirror; It is characterized by being projected as a virtual image.

In the first aspect, the display device is arranged such that the distance between the display surface and the center of the concave mirror is approximately equal to the focal length dimension of the concave mirror, and the player's viewpoint is between the center of the concave mirror and the center of the concave mirror. It is preferable that the distance is set to a value between the focal length dimension and the radius of curvature dimension of the concave mirror.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a concave mirror is installed in front of the player with its central axis tilted at a predetermined angle, and a display device is placed on the opposite side of the player's viewpoint across the central axis of the concave mirror. Thereby, the player can view the game screen projected from the display device toward the concave mirror as a virtual image enlarged behind the concave mirror.

As described above, according to the present invention, a large game screen can be obtained with a simple device, so that the player can enjoy a powerful game. moreover,
According to the present invention, since the player and the display device are located in front of the concave mirror, the entire game device can be made compact, and there are movable parts in the optical path from the display device to the player's viewpoint via the concave mirror. Since there is no such thing, the overall configuration of the device can be made simple and inexpensive.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a game device using a concave mirror according to the present invention. The game device of the embodiment includes a game device main body 10 on which a concave mirror 12 and a display device 14 are attached and fixed, and a base 20 on which a seat 24 on which a player 30 sits and a shooting device 26 are provided.
The base 20 is swingably attached and fixed to the game machine main body 10 via springs 22 at its four corners.

The concave mirror 12 is arranged so that its reflective surface faces the display device 14 and the player 30. The display device 14 includes a concave mirror 12
The point of view 3 of the player 30 is the central axis 100 of the line of symmetry.
2 and the center C of the concave mirror 12, and the center of the display surface 14a is located on a line 120 that is symmetrical to the line 110 connecting the concave mirror 12 and the center C of the concave mirror 12. That is, the arrangement is such that the angle at which the line 110 intersects with the center line 100 is the same angle α as the angle at which the line 120 and the center line 100 intersect.

Accordingly, when a game image is displayed on the display surface 14a of the display device 14 and projected toward the concave mirror 12, the player 30 sees the game image behind the concave mirror 12 as an enlarged virtual image. be able to.

FIG. 2 shows the state of the reflective surface of the concave mirror 12. As shown in the figure, the concave mirror 12 has a video area on which the game screen displayed on the display surface 14a of the display device 14 is displayed. It will be projected as 200.

In a game device using such a concave mirror, how to select the diameter (outer diameter) r of the concave mirror 12 determines how to downsize the entire game device and display a large game screen. This becomes an important element. In this embodiment, the diameter r of the concave mirror 12 is set to 1000 mm, which is the maximum diameter that can be made at low cost, considering the size of the game machine.
It is formed in mm.

Further, the display device 14 can project a larger virtual image as the distance from the concave mirror 12 increases, but in this embodiment, the distance between the display surface 14a and the center C of the concave mirror 12 is set from the viewpoint of miniaturizing the entire device. , concave mirror 1
The focal length dimension connecting the focal point position F of No. 2 and the center C is approximately equal to the focal length dimension. Further, the display device 14 of the embodiment has a display surface 14a of 25
This makes it possible to project the entire surface of the display surface 14a as an image range 200 onto the reflective surface of the concave mirror 12 as shown in FIG. 2, making it possible to effectively utilize the reflective surface of the concave mirror 12. can.

Further, the size of the virtual image that can be seen from the player 30 is the same size if the position of the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 is the focal length dimension, and if the curvature radius dimension (distance between C and O) is the same size. It will be doubled. That is, as the viewpoint 32 is moved further away from the concave mirror 12, a larger virtual image can be seen, but on the other hand, the entire game device becomes larger.

Therefore, from the viewpoint of downsizing the entire device, the distance L connecting the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 and the center C of the concave mirror 12 is a value between the focal length dimension of the concave mirror 12 and the radius of curvature dimension. It is preferable to set it to take . In this embodiment, the focal length is set to an intermediate value between the focal length and the radius of curvature.

Furthermore, in a device using a concave mirror 12 as in this embodiment, how the radius of curvature of the concave mirror 12 is selected is also a very important factor. The smaller the radius of curvature R (distance connecting O and C in FIG. 1) of the concave mirror 12, the larger the angle of view for the virtual image on the concave mirror 12.
0 can be placed nearby, and the overall device can be made more compact. However, as the two are brought closer together in this manner, physical interference of the display surface 14a and distortion due to concave mirror precision become more magnified. Therefore, in this embodiment, the maximum effective range in which the virtual image is reflected on the concave mirror 12 is 600 m.
m x 800 mm (this value is determined by the aforementioned diameter r of the concave mirror 12 and the size of the display surface 14a), so that the position of the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 falls within an appropriate range for the game machine, L=110
The radius of curvature was set to be 0 mm to 1250 mm. That is, the concave mirror 12 of this embodiment has a radius of curvature of
It is formed so that R=1500 mm to 1600 mm.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the angle α at which the line 110 connecting the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 and the center C of the concave mirror 12 intersects with the central axis 100 of the concave mirror 12 is determined as follows. That is, as the angle α becomes larger,
The virtual image on the concave mirror 12 becomes distorted in the vertical direction. Therefore, the smaller this angle is, the more ideal it is, but if it is too small, the lower side of the display device 40 will overlap the field of view of the player 30, which will get in the way. Therefore, considering the distance between the concave mirror 12 and the display device 14, the angle α
was set at 15 to 17.5 degrees.

FIG. 3 shows an electrical circuit diagram of the main parts of the game device according to this embodiment.

A game start button 40 and a trigger button 42 are arranged on the shooting device 26 so as to be operable from the outside, and the operation signals of each button 40 and 42 are sent to the CPU 5.
It is input to 0.

[0022] When the signal from the start button 40 is input, the CPU 50 controls the image synthesis circuit 52 to display the scenery seen from the window of the spaceship operated by the player 30 on the display device 14 as a game image. Figure 2
An example of a game image displayed in this manner is shown in which, for example, an enemy spaceship visible from the window is displayed as a target 210 on the concave mirror 12. The player 30 moves the shooting device 26 vertically and horizontally to aim at the target 210, and operates the trigger button 42 to shoot it down. At this time, the aim of the shooting device 26 is detected by the aim detector 44. In the embodiment, the aiming detector 44 is configured using a Y direction detector 44b and an X direction detector 44a, and each of these detectors 44b, 44a is connected to the base 20, respectively.
The vertical and horizontal inclinations of the shooting device 26 relative to the shooting device 26 are detected, and the detection signals are outputted to the CPU 50. Based on this input signal, the CPU 50 controls the shooting device 26.
, and controls the image synthesis circuit 52 to display the aiming mark 220 on the game screen. Therefore, by operating the trigger button 42 at the timing when the aiming mark 220 overlaps the target 210,
The target 210 is shot down.

The present embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, and its operation will be explained next.

First, the player 30 is seated on the seat 24 and turns on the start button 40 while holding the shooting device 26. As a result, the image of outer space seen from the window of the spacecraft is displayed on the display device 14 using the concave mirror 1 as shown in FIG.
It is projected onto 2. At this time, as described above, the viewpoint 32 of the display device 14 and the player 30 is
are located on opposite sides of the central axis 100 of the players, and the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 is located further away than the focal length dimension of the concave mirror 12. Therefore, the player can view the game image as a virtual image enlarged behind the concave mirror 12.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to project an enlarged image using a compact game device, so that the player 30 can enjoy a powerful game on a large screen.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the optical system for projecting the game screen does not require a drive mechanism like the conventional one, so the entire apparatus can be made simpler and cheaper.

The player 30 operates the shooting device 26 while looking at the game screen projected on the concave mirror 12 in this way, and takes aim by aligning the aiming mark 220 with the target 210 appearing on the game screen. At this time, due to the operation of the shooting device 26 by the player 30, a slight shift in weight occurs, and the base 20 supported by the spring 22 swings back and forth and left and right. As a result, the viewpoint 32 of the player 30 also swings back and forth and left and right, and the game screen that the player 30 sees also swings at the same time, allowing the player 30 to experience a floating sensation as if he were actually riding on an airship flying in outer space. can make it even more interesting.

By the way, when the base 20 swings relative to the game machine main body 10 in this manner, in order to play an accurate shooting game, the shooting device 2 must be adjusted in accordance with the change in the swing position.
It is necessary to correct the aiming position of No. 6 and determine the display position of the aiming mark 210.

However, in a shooting device like this embodiment,
The player almost never shoots while looking at the shooting device 26, and almost always takes aim by relying on the position of the aiming mark 220 reflected on the concave mirror 12.

This embodiment focuses on this point, and the shooting device 2
The horizontal and vertical inclinations of No. 6 with respect to the base 20 are detected by the X-direction detector 44b and the X-direction detector 44a, and the aiming mark 220 is displayed based on this. That is,
Even if the base 20 swings back and forth, left and right, the aiming mark 220 is displayed as if the base 20 is at the reference position without performing any correction calculations. Thereby, when positioning the standard mark 220, there is no need to perform complicated correction calculations, and from this point of view as well, the configuration of the entire apparatus can be made simple and inexpensive.

By operating the trigger button 42 at the timing when the aiming mark 220 and the target 210 overlap, the target 210 can be shot down and the score can be increased.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the base 20 is attached and fixed to the game device main body 10 so as to be swingable is explained as an example, but for example, it is possible to create the floating feeling of a spaceship flying in outer space. In some cases, the base 20 may be attached and fixed to the game machine body so as to be tiltable.

[0034]Also, in the above embodiment, the present invention was explained by taking as an example a case where the present invention is applied to a shooting game, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to various other games such as driving games, etc. .

[0035]

As explained above, the present invention provides a novel configuration in which a concave mirror and a display device are combined, and the display device is placed on the side opposite to the player's viewpoint across the central axis of the concave mirror. By adopting this technology, it is possible to project the game screen as an enlarged virtual image behind the concave mirror, and as a result, a game device that can play powerful video games on a large game screen can be made smaller and cheaper. This has the effect that it can be formed.

In particular, by setting the positional relationship between the display device and the concave mirror as in claim 2, it becomes possible to form a game device using a concave mirror more compactly.

Furthermore, as in claim 3, by attaching the player seating seat to the game machine body so as to be able to swing or tilt, the player can experience a floating sensation as if he were riding in a spaceship, for example. In addition, the player's viewpoint with respect to the concave mirror changes according to the swinging or tilting motion of the seat, and the reflected image on the concave mirror also swings at the same time, so that the player can experience the feeling of floating more effectively from this aspect as well.

Furthermore, in the shooting game device as claimed in claim 3, by configuring the aiming position as in claim 4, it becomes possible to display the aiming position with a simple configuration and at low cost. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram of a game device using a concave mirror according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the concave mirror shown in FIG. 1 and a game image projected thereon.

FIG. 3 is an electrical circuit diagram showing main parts of the game device shown in FIG. 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Game console body 12 Concave mirror 14 Display device 20 Base 22 Spring 24 Seat 26 Shooting device 30 Player 32 Viewpoint 42 Trigger button 44 Aiming position detector 100 Center axis 200 Image range 210 Target 220 Standard mark
NM0159
01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A concave mirror installed in front of the player with its central axis tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the player's viewpoint; and a display device placed in front of the concave mirror and projecting a game screen onto the concave mirror. A game device using a concave mirror, wherein the display device is disposed on the opposite side of the player's viewpoint across the central axis of the concave mirror, and projects the game screen as an enlarged virtual image behind the concave mirror. 2. In claim 1, the display device is arranged such that the distance between the display surface and the center of the concave mirror is approximately equal to the focal length dimension of the concave mirror, and the player's viewpoint is located at a distance between the center of the concave mirror and the center of the concave mirror. A game device using a concave mirror, characterized in that the distance is set to a value between the focal length dimension and the radius of curvature dimension of the concave mirror. 3. The shooting device according to claim 1, further comprising: a seat for seating a player; and a shooting device operated by a player seated on the seat to aim on the concave mirror and shoot at a target; The display device and the concave mirror are mounted and fixed on a game machine main body, and the seat and the shooting device are mounted and fixed on a base that is tiltably or swingably supported on the game machine main body. Game device used. 4. In claim 3, the shooting device comprises:
The display device includes an aim position detection means for detecting an aim position based on a tilt angle with respect to a base, and the display device displays an aim mark on a game screen projected on the concave mirror based on the detected aim position. A game device using a concave mirror.