JPH0451987A - Tv game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable speedy and direct position designation by irradiating a screen with a light beam from a light beam irradiation gum integrated with a semiconductor laser, and advancing a game while detection the irradiated position. CONSTITUTION:A screen 6 is irradiated with the light beam from a light beam irradiation gun 7 integrated with the semiconductor laser, and the game is advanced while detecting such an irradiated position P. Then, the screen 6 is a rear projection type screen and an image pickup device 1 to measure the position P irradiated with the above-mentioned light beam and a photodetector 3 to transmit a signal loaded on the above-mentioned light beam are built in. As the result, the position can be designated independently, speedily and directly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a TV game machine that plays games using a so-called TV projector.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, a light beam from a light beam irradiation pistol is irradiated onto a screen, and the irradiation position is detected to advance the game, and the screen is a rear projection type screen, and the light beam is irradiated on the screen. The present invention provides a TV game machine that can quickly and directly specify a position by incorporating a means for detecting a position and a signal carried on a light beam.

[Conventional technology]

The conventional so-called TV (television) game machine is a TV
A computer graphics picture (or video) is displayed on the screen (cathode ray tube) of the receiver, and the game player (
The game progresses in accordance with signals such as game start and game selection from a controller in the hand of the operator. Communication between this controller and the game machine main body is performed by, for example, a signal line, light, or wirelessly.

Therefore, in a conventional TV game machine, in order to indicate an arbitrary point on the TV screen, for example, it is necessary to use the X by specifying the Y coordinate or inputting with a stylus on the data table,
There are methods for specifying the position, such as specifying the Y coordinate, approaching an arbitrary specified point with a pointer mark by pressing an arrow button or the like, or specifying numerical values for the X and Y coordinates from the keyboard.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, these position specifications do not directly specify the position on the screen, but all indirectly, and therefore it is not possible to specify the position quickly and directly. First, it is difficult to realize a TV game in which direct position designation itself has autonomy.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a TV game machine that can quickly and directly specify a position.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The TV game machine of the present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and it irradiates a screen with a light beam from a light beam irradiation pistol incorporating a semiconductor laser. , the game progresses by detecting this irradiation position.

Further, the screen is an abrodiexilane type screen, and includes a built-in imaging device that measures the irradiation position of the light beam and a photodetector that detects a signal carried on the light beam.

(Function) According to the present invention, the light beam of the light beam irradiation pistol is directly irradiated onto the screen and the irradiation position is detected, thereby making it possible to directly specify the position.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a TV game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The TV game machine shown in FIG. 1 irradiates a screen 6 with a light beam from a light beam irradiation pistol 7 (hereinafter simply referred to as pistol 7) incorporating a semiconductor laser, and detects the irradiation position P to proceed with the game. It was designed so that The screen 6 is a rear projection type screen, and includes an imaging device 1 for measuring the irradiation position of the light beam, and a photodetector 3 for detecting a signal carried by the light beam.

That is, in FIG. 1, a projector 2 and a screen 6 constitute a so-called TV projector, and the above-mentioned imaging device I and photodetector 3 are added to this TV projector. In addition, these imaging devices 1, projectors 2. Photodetector 3
are respectively connected to an image generating device 5 which is the main body of the TV game machine.

Here, the projector 2 includes an image generating device 5.
A computer graphics video signal is supplied from the projector 2, and an image is projected onto the screen 6 from the projector 2. The screen 6 is a so-called transmission type lenticular screen, and the R, GB light constituting the image from the projector 2 placed behind the screen 6 is transmitted through the screen 6. Therefore, it appears to a person in front of the screen 6 that an image is being projected on the screen 6.

Further, the pistol 7 may have a wavelength of 680 nm or 7 nm, for example.
A semiconductor laser that emits laser light with a wavelength of 80n- or the like is built-in. From the pistol 7, a laser beam (light beam) from the built-in semiconductor laser is transmitted to the trigger 7a.
It is designed to fire depending on the movement of the person. That is, when the trigger 7a is pulled, the pistol 7 emits a laser beam.

Here, the action when pulling the trigger 7a of the pistol 7 can be switched between a one-stage action as described above and a two-stage distinguishable action as described later. It can be made possible. When the trigger 7a operates in two stages, for example, the first stage detects that a finger touches the trigger 78, and the second stage detects the trigger 7a. For example, the trigger 7a can be pulled shallowly and stopped midway to the u+1 stage, and then pulled deeply at the second stage. The operation mode may be alternately switched each time the key is pulled.

Of course, the trigger 7a is not limited to the two-stage operation described above, but can also be operated in multiple stages. The pistol 7 emits, for example, a continuous laser beam when the trigger 7a operates as described above in the first stage operation mode, and emit, for example, a laser beam that blinks at a predetermined period in the second stage operation mode. Laser light in different states is emitted depending on the operating mode of the first stage and the second stage. Further, the blinking period of the laser beam may be changed between the first stage and the second stage.

The imaging bag M1 is, for example, a CCD camera capable of photographing the entire rear surface of the screen 6, and is focused on the screen 6.

Further, the imaging device 1 includes a filter 4 that transmits only light having the wavelength of the laser light of the semiconductor laser in the pistol 7.
is placed, for example, in front of the objective lens. Therefore, when the screen 6 is irradiated with the laser beam from the pistol 7, only the light from the bright spot of the laser beam at the irradiation position P that has passed through the screen 6 is transmitted to the filter 4. The irradiated light is filtered by , and is imaged on the CCD of the imaging device 1, so that the irradiation position P on the screen 6 can be detected. Moreover, the irradiation timing of the laser beam can also be detected.

The filter 4 is also placed in front of the light receiving surface of the photodetector 3.
are arranged. Therefore, the photodetector 3 also receives only the bright spot of the laser beam from the pistol 7 that has passed through the screen 6. This photodetector 3 is capable of detecting the blinking cycle of the received light (or detecting whether or not the light is blinking), so that the trigger 73 of the pistol 7 can perform the two-step operation described above. Detection of whether the trigger 7a of the pistol 7 is in the first stage or the second stage is detected based on the detection output of the light of the bright spot by the photodetector 3. becomes possible.

That is, it is possible to detect the difference (mode difference) between, for example, a continuous laser beam in the first operation mode and a blinking laser beam in the second operation mode, or that the mode has been switched. can. Further, the photodetector 3 can also detect the timing of the received light with higher precision.

These imaging devices 1. The output of the photodetector 3 is sent to the image generating device 5. Therefore, the image generating device 5 uses the positional information of the irradiation position P on the screen 6 from the imaging device 1, the reception time (timing) of the bright spot light from the photodetector 3, or the blinking cycle of the received light. The game progresses based on the detection output, that is, the mode detection information.

Here, each operation of the TV game machine and the TV projector when playing a shooting game, for example, will be explained using the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step Sl, a computer graphics video signal from the image generation device 5 is transmitted to the projector 2.
The R, G, and B lights are projected from the projector 2 onto the screen 6, and an image is projected on the screen 6. The image at this time is displayed as a menu in which, for example, each item indicating each of a plurality of types of games is associated with a predetermined position on the screen 6. In step S2, the game player sets the trigger 78 of the pistol 7 to operate in the two stages described above, for example, sets the trigger 7a to the first stage operation mode and fires a continuous laser beam from the semiconductor laser, and This laser light is irradiated to the item position where an arbitrary game on 6 is displayed. At this time, the game player
Assume that, for example, a shooting game item is selected by setting the trigger 7a to the second stage operation mode in step S2.

After selecting this shooting game, for example, the game player switches the pistol 7 to emit a laser beam in only one step. Next, in step S3,
When the shooting game program starts, a target T (FIG. 1), for example, is displayed on the screen 6. When this target T is displayed, in step S4, the game player pulls the trigger 7a, for example, and shoots the target T with a laser beam. In step S5, the imaging device 1 detects the position and irradiation timing of the bright spot (irradiation position P) of the laser beam on the screen 6. In addition, the photodetector 3
may be used for more accurate timing detection of the irradiation timing.

In step S6, the image generating device 5 measures the position of the bright spot on the screen 6 and the irradiation time. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the bright spot meets the set conditions, that is, whether the bright spot is located at the position (range represented by the X and Y coordinates) corresponding to the image (target T) on the screen 6, and whether the laser light is irradiated. It is checked whether the time when the target T was displayed matches the time when the target T was displayed. In step S8, the program is advanced according to whether or not step S7 passes. For example, if the target T is hit by a bullet (laser light), the next target is displayed on the screen 6, and if the bullet does not hit, for example, the program is advanced to fire again.

Of course, the progress of the program in step S8 can be arbitrarily set when creating the game program.

Further, when playing the shooting game described above, for example, when playing the game after step S3, the trigger 7a of the pistol 7 can be operated in two stages. In this case, when the target T is displayed on the screen 6 in step S3, the game player sets the trigger 7a in the first stage operation mode in step S4, and directs the laser beam to any target on the target T. Decide where to shoot by irradiating the target, and when the shooting position is determined, trigger 7a
Pull to the second stage operation mode. That is, in the shooting game in this case, the laser beam in the first operation mode is used as a sight for the game player to simply specify the shooting position, and the laser beam in the second operation mode is used to target the bullet. is assumed to be fired. In step S5, the imaging device 1 detects the bright spot position and the irradiation timing, and the photodetector 3 detects the mode of the first or second stage laser light. As a result, when it is detected that the laser beam at the above-mentioned irradiation timing is in the second stage mode, the bullet (laser beam) is emitted from the pistol 7.
is detected as when it is fired.

Further, in this embodiment, only one TV projector is used, but it is also possible to prepare a plurality of TV projectors according to this embodiment and use a plurality of targets for the shooting game. In this case, the shooting port II (target) is Since there are multiple units and a wide range, it is possible to realize a more advanced shooting game.

As described above, if the TV game machine of this embodiment is used, it is possible to specify any point on the screen 6 by using the X, Y, etc.
You can directly specify any position with the bright spot of the laser beam, rather than indirectly, such as by specifying coordinates or approaching the specified point with a pointer mark by pressing an arrow button or the like by the time or number of times you press an arrow button. allows for quick and direct positioning.

Furthermore, since the operating mode of the trigger 7a can be detected, it is also possible to aim the pistol 7, for example.

[Effects of the Invention] In the TV game machine of the present invention, the screen is irradiated with a light beam from a light beam irradiation pistol incorporating a semiconductor laser, and the game progresses by detecting the irradiation position. In addition, it is an abrogie gun type screen with a built-in imaging device that measures the irradiation position of the light beam and a photodetector that detects the signal on the light beam. , direct position specification becomes possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart. 1......Imaging device 2...Projector 3...Photodetector 4...
......Filter 5...Image generation device 6...Screen 7...Light beam irradiation pistol patent application Person: Sony Corporation Representative Patent Attorney Akira Kobe (2 others) 70-Ima Yat Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A TV game machine characterized by irradiating a screen with a light beam from a light beam irradiation pistol incorporating a semiconductor laser and detecting the irradiation position to advance the game. (2) A claim characterized in that the screen is a rear projection type screen and includes an imaging device that measures the irradiation position of the light beam and a photodetector that detects a signal carried on the light beam. The TV game machine according to item (1).