JPH08112449A - Image control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To realize an image control device in which a virtual reality as if a player performs a batting operation at hand can be created. CONSTITUTION: A characteristic point detecting part 50 and a CPU 71 detect the position and size of a chromakey image in a taken image, and converts them into the three-dimensional position of an operating element virtually arranged within a virtual space and its operating quantity. A collision judging part 60 converts the pitching locus of an object image into the three-dimensional position within the virtual space, and judges whether or not the three- dimensional position of the object image collides the three-dimensional position of the operating element. While screen-displaying the object image according to the pitching locus, the CPU 71 also generates a batting locus corresponding to the operating quantity of the operating element when the collision judging part 60 judges the collision, and screen-displays the object image after batted according to this batting locus. Thus, a virtual reality as if a ball delivered to the hand of a batter is batted can be created.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image control apparatus suitable for use in, for example, a video game for creating virtual reality.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various image control devices have been put into practical use, which control a moving image of an object image or generate a sound effect in accordance with an operation of an operation pad or the like. In addition,
The object image mentioned here refers to a “character” displayed on the game screen, and is moved and displayed on the background screen as a background. This type of device is called a video game or a TV game, and a shooting game that asks a player's reflexes, a game that simulates a virtual reality, and the like are known.

Such a video game is composed of an image processing section for generating a video signal corresponding to a game operation and a display for displaying the video signal supplied from the image processing section. The image processing unit is a CPU, RO
M and RAM etc., for example, sequentially read out the image information and control information stored in the ROM pack,
A background image serving as a screen background is displayed on the display, and a corresponding character (object image) is displayed as a moving image on the screen background in response to a game operation, and a sound effect corresponding to the movement is pronounced.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional image control device, it is general to display and control the object image according to the operation of the operation pad,
It is often unsuitable for games that simulate virtual reality. That is, in order to pursue a virtual reality, it is necessary to perform image control in a form that matches the actual action. For example, in a simulation game in which a pitching scene is displayed on the screen and the player batting based on this display screen, the "bat" becomes the operator instead of the operation pad, and the position or movement of this "bat" is changed. It is required to control the image according to the above.

When performing such image control, a method of detecting the position and movement of the operator by a well-known chroma key detection process is effective. In this case, the chroma key detection process is to extract the “bat (operator)” colored in a specific color from the captured image using the chroma key, and to detect the position and movement of the operator (bat) held by the player on the screen. To detect as. When the detected position of the manipulator and the "ball image (object image)" displayed on the screen overlap at a predetermined timing, the "ball image (object image)" and the "bat (manipulator)" Is regarded as a collision, and display control of a “ball image (object image)” flying in response to a hitting operation is performed.

By the way, in the device for simulating the batting operation as described above, in the pitching scene,
The display position and size of the "ball image" are controlled as if they were flying toward the player (batter), but the "ball image" of gradually increasing shape is displayed on the screen. Even if we simulate "a state where a ball is flying", there is another problem that the virtual reality of "flying to the batter's hand" is lacking.

Therefore, in consideration of the actual batting operation, the batter does not judge the ball thrown by the pitcher until the moment of hitting, and in many cases, the ball path is directly viewed from the time the ball is released by the pitcher, When the ball approaches a certain distance, he catches the ball with an indirect field of view, measures the timing of the meat, and hits it. Therefore, even in a device that simulates a batting motion, display control is performed so that the ball appears to approach from a pitching time to a certain distance in accordance with such an actual hitting mode, and the indirect visual field thereafter. If you model the virtual space that captures the ball with
It becomes possible to create a virtual reality as if you meet a ball flying to the batter's hand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image control device capable of creating a virtual reality feeling as if the player is hitting with a hand.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention described in claim 1, a chroma key image of a specific color is extracted from a captured image, and the position and size of the chroma key image in the captured image are extracted. Of the operation information generating means for converting the three-dimensional position of the manipulator virtually arranged in the virtual space and its operation amount, and the movement of the object image which is the collision target of the manipulator virtually arranged in the virtual space. Collision determination means for converting the trajectory into a three-dimensional position in the virtual space and determining whether or not the three-dimensional position of the object image and the three-dimensional position of the operator collide, and the object image according to the movement trajectory. On the other hand, when the collision determination means determines a collision, a movement locus corresponding to the operation amount of the manipulator is generated, and a collision is made with the manipulator according to the movement locus. It is characterized by comprising display control means for outputting a display signal for an object image screen after.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2,
A chroma key image representing an operator of a specific color is extracted from the captured image, and a feature point detecting means for detecting the position and size of the chroma key image in the captured image, and a chroma key image detected by the feature point detecting means. A manipulator information generating means for converting a position and a size into a three-dimensional position of the manipulator virtually arranged in the virtual space and an operation amount thereof, and a movement locus of an object image which is a collision target of the manipulator. , The object information generating means for converting into a three-dimensional position in the virtual space, and the three-dimensional position of the operator and the three-dimensional position of the object image in the virtual space collide under preset collision conditions. Collision determining means for determining whether or not the three-dimensional position of the object image is a display space or a non-display space defined in the virtual space. Discriminated, when the object image exists in the display space, an object image is displayed on a screen in accordance with the movement trajectory corresponding to the display space, whereas,
When the collision determination means makes a collision determination in the non-display space, a movement locus is generated according to the operation amount of the manipulator, and an object image after colliding with the manipulator is displayed on the screen according to the movement locus. And a display control means for outputting a display signal.

According to the invention of claim 3 among the embodiment dependent on the invention of claim 2, the feature point detecting means detects the barycentric position and the area of the extracted chromakey image. It is characterized by Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, the manipulator information generating means maps the position of the chroma key image detected by the feature point detecting means onto the xy plane of the virtual space, and the xy coordinate value (x, y)
The z-coordinate value is determined according to the size of the chroma key image to generate the three-dimensional position (x, y, z) of the operator. Further, in the invention according to a fifth aspect, the manipulator information generation means calculates the swing speed of the manipulator from the area change of the chroma key image and detects the peak value of the swing speed. Claim 6
In the invention described in (3), the collision determining means is configured to perform collision in the virtual space according to a collision determination parameter including a collision possible area defined corresponding to a three-dimensional position of the operator and a swing timing range of the operator. And whether there is a collision between the object image and the object image.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the operation information generating means extracts a chroma key image of a specific color from the picked-up image, and the position and size of the chroma key image in the picked-up image of the operator virtually arranged in the virtual space. The three-dimensional position and its operation amount are converted into a three-dimensional position of the object image, and the collision determination means converts the movement trajectory of the object image, which is the collision target of the operator, into the three-dimensional position in the virtual space. And the three-dimensional position of the operator collides with each other. Then, while the display control means displays the object image on the screen according to the movement trajectory, when the collision determination means determines a collision, a movement trajectory corresponding to the operation amount of the operator is generated, and according to the movement trajectory. Since a display signal for displaying the object image on the screen after the collision with the manipulator is output, for example, the pitched ball muscle (trajectory) is simulated in the virtual space as in the embodiment described later. As a result, it is possible to create a virtual reality of hitting a ball flying to the batter's hand.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. Outline of Embodiments FIG. 1 is an external view showing an overall configuration of an image control apparatus according to the present invention, and shows an example applied to a baseball game simulating a batting operation. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image pickup unit including a solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD, which picks up an image of a player B located in a batter box (not shown). Here, the player B performs a batting operation using, for example, a bat BAT colored in “blue” for detecting a chroma key.

Reference numeral 2 is a main body of the apparatus, and a chroma key image (bat BAT) of this specific color is obtained from an actual image of the player B.
Image), and the position or movement of the bat BAT is detected as a position on the screen. Then, when a collision between the detected position of the operator and the “ball image (object image)” displayed on the screen is determined by the operation described below,
Display control of a “hit ball image (object image)” flying in response to the hitting operation is performed. Further, the device body 2 synthesizes the background image that is the background scene of the game and the object image that is moved and displayed on the background image, and displays the synthesized image on the display 3.

The object image that is moved and displayed on the background image is display-controlled in correspondence with the position, area and center of gravity of the bat BAT image, the details of which will be described later. On the display 3, based on the display control result of the device body 2, for example, a throwing motion of a pitcher on a background scene, a ball flying motion corresponding to the throwing, or a ball hitting motion corresponding to a batting operation is displayed as a moving image. It is supposed to be done.

Next, the features of the present invention in such an overall configuration will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, in the actual striking motion, the batter does not judge the ball thrown by the pitcher until the moment of hitting, but determines the ball path from the time of pitching with a direct field of view and from the point of time when the ball approaches a certain distance with an indirect field of view. I catch the ball, time the meat, and hit it. Therefore,
In the image control device according to the present invention, focusing on these points,
By displaying on the screen as if the ball was approaching from the pitching time to a certain distance, and modeling the virtual space that captures the ball with the indirect view after that, it is possible to meet the ball flying to the batter's hand. It creates a virtual reality of doing.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a space SP1 is displayed on the screen so that the player B looks like the ball is approaching from a pitching time to a certain distance,
A virtual space that captures the ball with an indirect visual field thereafter is defined as "a space SP2 in which the ball is not displayed on the screen", and a space SP3 in which an operator (bat BAT) can exist in this space SP2. In other words, by modeling the above-mentioned spaces SP1 to SP3 with the three-dimensional coordinates (x, y, z) of the "ball" that is virtually thrown and the "bat BAT" that is hit by the player B, It is characterized by creating a virtual reality of meeting a ball flying to the batter's hand, and the configuration and operation of an embodiment embodying such a feature will be sequentially described below.

B. Configuration of Embodiment Next, the electrical configuration of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In these figures, the same elements as those in each part of the overall configuration shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. (1) Configuration of Image Capturing Unit 1 The image capturing unit 1 includes components 10 to 1 as shown in FIG.
It consists of three. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes an oscillator circuit, which generates and outputs an 8 times oversampling signal 8f _SC . An image pickup signal processing unit 11 supplies the 8 × oversampling signal 8f _SC to the clock driver 12 in the next stage and also converts the image pickup signal SS output from the CCD 13 into sampling image data D _S.
The configuration will be described later. Clock driver 12
Generates various timing signals such as a horizontal driving signal, a vertical driving signal, a horizontal / vertical synchronizing signal and a blanking signal based on the 8 times oversampling signal 8f _SC supplied from the oscillation circuit 10, while the above horizontal driving signal is generated. Image pickup drive signal corresponding to the signal and the vertical drive signal to generate a CCD
Supply to 13. The CCD 13 generates an image pickup signal SS according to this image pickup drive signal.

The image pickup signal processing section 11 conditions the image pickup signal SS supplied from the CCD 13 and then A
The _S / D conversion is performed to generate the sampled image data D _S , and its schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 11a is a sampling circuit,
The image pickup signal SS is sampled and held according to the 4 × oversampling signal 4f _SC supplied from the clock driver 12 and output to the next stage. Reference numeral 11b is an AGC (automatic gain control) circuit for converting the sampled image pickup signal SS into a predetermined level and outputting it. Reference numeral 11c is a γ correction circuit which corrects the gamma characteristic of the image pickup signal SS to γ = 1 / 2.2 and outputs it. Reference numeral 11d denotes an A / D conversion circuit that converts the gamma-corrected image pickup signal SS into 8-bit length sampling image data D _S and outputs the sampled image data D _S. The sampling image data D _S is the video signal processing unit 2 described later.
0 is supplied. Reference numeral 11e is a D that converts the composite video signal D _CV supplied from the video signal processing unit 20 into an analog video signal S _V and outputs the analog video signal S _V to the display 3 described above.
A / A conversion circuit.

(2) Structure of the device body 2 As shown in FIG. 3, the device body 2 is roughly divided into a feature point detection section 50, a collision determination section 60 and a control section 70. Will be described in detail. Configuration of Feature Point Detecting Section 50 First, the feature point detecting section 50 performs chroma key detection on the image pickup signal SS supplied from the image pickup section 1 to extract the position, area and barycentric position of the bat BAT image. And a parameter memory 42 for temporarily storing the characteristic parameters generated by the chroma key detection processing unit 41, that is, the position, area and center of gravity position of the BAT BAT image. Further, the chroma key detection processing unit 41, as shown in FIG.
The image processing unit 30 and the position detection processing unit 40 are included, and each of these units will be described in detail below.

(A) Configuration of Video Signal Processing Unit 20 In FIG. 4, the video signal processing unit 20 includes
Sampling image data D supplied_SFor color difference
Conversion processing and chroma key detection processing have been performed, and the results will be described later.
It is supplied to the position detection processing unit 40. Also, this processing unit
Reference numeral 20 denotes an image processing unit supplied from an image processing unit 30 described later.
Physical data D_SPComposite video signal D C_VConvert to and before
It is supplied to the D / A conversion circuit 11e (see FIG. 5) described above.
The image processing data D_SPAnd the background
The image and the background image is moved and displayed
Forming a CG image by combining with an object image
Is.

Here, the configuration of the video signal processing unit 20 which embodies the above processes will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 20a denotes a color separation filter which converts the sampling image data D _S into the signal Ye (yellow) and the signal Cy.
(Cyan) and signal G (green) are color-separated and output to the next stage. Reference numeral 20b is a contour correction circuit that adjusts the image quality by performing brightness modulation before and after the change point in the video signal. 20c is a white balance circuit for each signal Y
e, Cy, and G are set to specified levels and output. 20d
Is a separation filter composed of a bandpass filter, which converts each signal Ye and Cy into a signal R (red) and a signal B.
(Blue) is sorted and output. Reference numeral 20e designates signals R, G and B representing the three primary colors, a luminance signal Y and a color difference signal B each having a length of 8 bits.
This is a matrix circuit for converting into -Y and RY.

Reference numeral 20f is a chroma key signal generating circuit,
RY given from a CPU 71 (see FIG. 3) described later
The chroma key detection signal CR of "H" level indicating that the chroma key is detected when the color difference signals BY and RY fall within the threshold setting area corresponding to the threshold and the BY threshold, respectively.
Output O. In this embodiment, the RY threshold value and the BY threshold value are set to correspond to “blue”.
Reference numeral 20g denotes a luminance signal Y of 8-bit length, color difference signals BY and RY output from the matrix circuit 20e, a luminance signal Y'of 4-bit length, and a color difference signal B-of 2-bit length.
It is a color difference conversion circuit for converting into Y ′ and RY ′.

Reference numeral 20h is a matrix circuit for converting image processing data D _SP (RGB signals) supplied from the image processing section 30 (described later) into a luminance signal Y and color difference signals BY and RY. Reference numeral 20i denotes a selector, which selects either the output of the matrix circuit 20e or the output of the matrix circuit 20h according to a select signal SL supplied from a position detection processing unit 40 described later and supplies the selected output to the next stage. Two
0j is a modulator. Modulator 20j the luminance signal Y, the color difference signal B-Y, the digital composite video signal by superimposing the various synchronization signals to the R-Y (horizontal / vertical synchronization signals and blanking signals) D _CV supplied through the selector 20i To generate.

According to the above configuration, the video signal processing section 20
Is the sampling image data D supplied from the imaging unit 1.
_S is a luminance signal Y ′, 2-bit color difference signals BY ′, R
While converting into −Y ′, a chroma key detection signal CRO is generated and supplied to the image processing unit 30 (described later) side. In addition, the processing unit 20 receives either the image processing data D _SP (RGB signal) input from the image processing unit 30 side or the sampling image data D _S supplied from the imaging unit 1 according to the select signal SL. The selected data is converted into a composite video signal D _CV and output. The select signal SL is the position detection processing unit 40 described later.
Is a signal supplied from.

(B) Configuration of Image Processing Unit 30 Next, the configuration of the image processing unit 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing unit 30 includes a video display processor (hereinafter abbreviated as VDP) 31 and a VRAM 32. The basic function of VDP31 is VRAM
The background image data D _BG and the object image data D _OB stored in 32 are read according to a control signal SC supplied from the control unit 70 (described later) side,
This is to generate the image processing data D _SP representing the dot display color for each scanning line. Hereinafter, the configuration of the image processing unit 30 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 31a denotes a CPU interface circuit, which is a constituent element 3 according to a control signal SC supplied via a bus of a CPU 71 which constitutes a control unit 70.
Various control instructions are given to 1b to 31d. Control signal SC
Is formed from various commands for controlling the display of the background image and the object image, and the background image data D _BG and the object image data D _OB which are DMA-transferred to the VRAM 32. 31b is VRAM
A VRAM 3 which is a control circuit and corresponds to a control signal supplied from the components 31a, 31c and 31d.
Exchange data with 2.

That is, when the control signal SC for DMA transfer is received from the CPU interface circuit 31a, the background image data D _BG or the object image data D _OB DMA-transferred via the circuit 31a is sent. Store in a predetermined storage area. When an instruction to read the background image data D _BG is received from the background control circuit 31c, the corresponding data D _BG is read and returned to the circuit 31c side. Similarly, when an instruction to read the object image data D _OB is received from the object control circuit 31d, the corresponding data D _OB is read and returned to the circuit 31d side.

Background control circuit 31c
Specifies the display position for the background image data D _BG read via the VRAM control circuit 31b based on the background display control command given from the control unit 70 side via the circuit 31a, It is supplied to the color difference data processing circuit 31e. In addition, the circuit 31c is configured so that the luminance signal Y ′, the color difference signals BY ′, RY ′ supplied from the video signal processing unit 20 described above, that is, the sampling image for one frame imaged by the imaging unit 1 Are stored in the VRAM 32 via the VRAM control circuit 31b. That is, the captured image can be used as the background image data D _BG .

The object control circuit 31d is
The object table data T _OB given from the control unit 70 side via the circuit 31a is stored in the object table RA.
Write to M31f. Object table data T _OB
Is coordinate data that specifies the display position of the object image data D _{OB on} the display screen. In addition, the circuit 31d responds to the VR according to the object display control command.
Object image data D _OB read from AM32
On the other hand, the display position is obtained by referring to the object table data T _OB, and the object image data D _OB for one scanning line is temporarily stored in the line buffer RAM 31g. The object image data D _OB temporarily stored in the line buffer RAM 31g is updated every scan. The object image data D _OB read from the RAM 31g is supplied to the color difference data processing circuit 31e.

The color difference data processing circuit 31e outputs the 8-bit image data D _BG and D _OB supplied from the background control circuit 31c and the object control circuit 31d to each 4 by referring to a known color lookup table RAM 31h. The image processing data D _SP formed from the R signal, G signal, and B signal of bit length is converted and output. Further, this color difference data processing circuit 31e
Is the image processing data D _SP (RGB signal) described above,
The signal YSBG and the signal YSOBJ are generated.

The signal YSBG and the signal YSOBJ represent whether the currently output image processing data D _SP corresponds to the background image data D _BG or the object image data D _OB. It is a signal. For example, when the currently output image processing data D _SP corresponds to the background image data D _BG , the signal YSBG becomes “H (high)” and the signal YSOBJ becomes “L (low)”. On the other hand, on the contrary, if the image processing data D _SP corresponds to the object image data D _OB , the signal YSBG is “L”.
And the signal YSOBJ becomes "H".

As described above, in the image processing unit 30, the background image data D _BG and the object image data D _OB DMA-transferred from the control unit 70 side are stored in the VRAM 3.
2 and stores the VRAM 3 in accordance with a control signal SC (various display control commands) supplied from the CPU 71.
2. The image data D _BG or the image data D _OB is read from 2, and the image processing data D _SP representing the dot display color for each scanning line is generated and the signal YSBG representing the display attribute of the image processing data D _SP and YSOBJ
Is output.

(C) Configuration of Position Detection Processing Unit 40 The position detection processing unit 40 is composed of a gate array formed by arranging a plurality of logic elements and a line buffer, and under the instruction of the control unit 70 described later. The logical position of the chroma key image included in the sampled image data D _S , and the area and barycentric position of the chroma key image are logically calculated based on a predetermined logic. The chroma key detection signal CRO supplied from the video signal processing unit 20 is sequentially temporarily stored in a line buffer (not shown) for one scanning line to perform chroma key detection.
At the time when one screen is completed, based on the above logical operation, the characteristic parameter including the coordinate position of the chroma key image, the area of the chroma key image and the position of the center of gravity is determined, and this is set in the characteristic parameter memory 42 in the subsequent stage.

The position detection processing section 40 generates the above-mentioned select signal SL based on the signals YSBG and YSOBJ supplied from the above-mentioned image processing section 30 and supplies it to the video signal processing section 20, and the sampling image data D _S ( The degree of overlap between the actual image) and the image processing data D _SP (CG image), that is, the priority order (front-back relationship) of the image displayed on the screen is controlled. Further, the processing unit 40 supplies a register control signal S _REG to the image pickup signal processing unit 11, the video signal processing unit 20 and the VDP 31 described above under the instruction of the control unit 70 to control the data set / reset of each unit register. To do.

Next, the register configuration of the characteristic parameter memory 42 will be described with reference to FIG. This memory 4
2 temporarily stores characteristic parameters such as the coordinate position of the chroma key image supplied from the position detection processing unit 40 having the above-described configuration, the area of the chroma key image and the position of the center of gravity, and these parameters are the areas described below. E
1 to E8. In FIG. 8, E1 is an initial screen area for temporarily storing data of an initial screen formed of 96 dots in the horizontal direction (scanning line) and 96 lines in the vertical direction. The data of the initial screen refers to the chroma key detection result existing in the scene captured before the start of the game. If there is an object of chroma key detection color (for example, blue) in the scene, the bat BA
There is a risk of misidentifying it as a part of T (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the data temporarily stored in the initial screen area E1 is used when the dot position detected by the chroma key is not mistaken for the bat BAT (see FIG. 1) when the dot position is set as the dead zone.

E2 is 96 dots in the horizontal direction and 96 dots in the vertical direction.
This is a processing screen area formed by lines, and the bat BAT image (or adjustment panel image CP) that is chroma key detected in the actual image and the object image (ball image in this embodiment) in the CG image are updated every frame. Remembered. E3 to E4 are the upper end coordinate area and the lower end coordinate area for temporarily storing the upper end / lower end positions of the bat BAT image on the processing screen updated for each frame. E
Reference numerals 5 to E6 are a left end coordinate area and a right end coordinate area for temporarily storing the left end / right end positions of the bat BAT image (or the adjustment panel image CP) on the processing screen updated for each frame. E7 is a barycentric coordinate area in which the barycentric position calculated based on the area (described later) of the bat BAT image that is chroma key detected in the actual image is stored as the coordinate position on the processing screen.

E8 is an area area in which the area of the bat BAT image subjected to chroma key detection in the actual image is stored.
The area set in the area area E8 is represented by the number of blocks. The block referred to here is composed of 6 dots in the horizontal direction and 2 lines in the vertical direction on the processing screen.
Indicates a 2-dot area. When chroma key detection of "6 dots" or more is detected in the block formed from the 12 dot area, the block is regarded as the area of the bat BAT image.

Structure of Collision Judgment Unit 60 Next, the structure of the collision judgment unit 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 again. The collision determination unit 60 determines the collision between the bat BAT image extracted by the feature point detection unit 50 with the chroma key and the object image (ball image), and includes the components 61 to 64. A manipulator coordinate memory 61 stores the three-dimensional coordinate position of the bat BAT generated corresponding to the above-mentioned characteristic parameters. This three-dimensional coordinate position is 3 in the space SP3 (see FIG. 2) described above.
It is expressed as a dimensional coordinate, and the barycentric position stored in the storage area E7 (see FIG. 8) of the characteristic parameter memory 42 is set to 3 depending on the area value stored in the storage area E8 (see FIG. 8). It is converted to dimensional coordinates.
That is, the coordinates in the xy plane correspond to the “center of gravity position”, and the z-axis coordinate (distance) is defined according to the size of the area of the bat BAT image. The coordinate conversion based on such characteristic parameters is performed by the processing of the CPU 71, and the result is written in the manipulator coordinate memory 61.

Reference numeral 62 is a collision determination parameter memory,
The collision determination condition between the “ball” and the “bat” in the virtual space SP2 (see FIG. 2) is stored. The collision determination condition is a parameter that represents a collision range defined corresponding to the three-dimensional coordinate position of the bat BAT stored in the manipulator coordinate memory 61 and a range of the meet timing of the bat BAT. Bat BAT at a predetermined meet timing within the collision range specified by this parameter
When the player swings, it judges that the "ball" is hit with the "bat". In the parameter memory 62, for example, prior to the start of the game, a parameter representing a collision determination condition according to the skill level of the player B is written. Therefore, it is possible to widen the collision range and the meet timing range for beginners and set it so that “meet” can be facilitated, or it is possible for the expert to narrow the range and make the game difficult. Become.

An object coordinate memory 63 stores the object image in the virtual space SP2, that is, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the "ball image". As described above, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the "ball image" is for simulating a ball flying to the batter's hand, and defines the ball path of the "ball image" in the virtual space SP2. It is a coordinate value. The three-dimensional coordinate value stored in the memory 63 changes corresponding to the type of sphere such as “curve” and “shoot”. Therefore, after displaying the object image (“ball”) on the display 3 in such a form that the ball can be seen to be close to a certain distance from the pitching time, the indirect visual field of the batter captures it in accordance with the actual batting operation. This memory 6
This is a virtual simulation with the three-dimensional coordinate values stored in 3. This makes it possible to create a virtual reality of meeting a ball flying to the batter's hand.

Reference numeral 64 indicates a "ball" and a "bat" by reading out the parameters stored in these memories 61 to 63 as needed.
It is a collision determining means in the virtual space for determining the presence or absence of a collision with and generating an interrupt signal IR when the collision is determined. The determination means 64 is composed of, for example, a gate array,
Collision is determined by hardware logical operation. Instead of this, a dedicated microprocessor is provided to detect a collision by software processing, or a CPU 7 described later is used.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which such processing is executed in 1. In the collision determination unit 60 having the above configuration, each memory 6
The above-mentioned parameters are sequentially DMA-transferred to the CPUs 1 to 63 from the CPU 71, while the determining unit 64 determines the collision at any time according to the parameters read from the memories 61 to 63, and the collision range defined by the determination parameters. When the bat BAT is swung at a predetermined meet timing inside, it is considered to have collided, and an interrupt signal IR is generated.

Configuration of Control Unit 70 Next, the configuration of the control unit 70 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 again. The control unit 70 includes components 71 to 74. The CPU 71 performs key scanning on various operating elements arranged on an operating panel (not shown) of the apparatus main body 2, detects operating element signals generated according to the setting operation of these operating elements, and controls each part of the apparatus. The details of the operation will be described later. The CPU 71 has an internal timer and manages the progress of the game based on the timer counter value counted by the timer. In addition, the CPU 71
Includes a well-known DMA controller so that various data necessary for image control operation (background image data D _BG and object image data D _OB ) are DMA-transferred to the above-mentioned image processing unit 30 (see FIG. 7). It is configured.

Reference numeral 72 denotes a work RAM, which is the CPU 7
As a work area 1, various calculation results and flag values are temporarily stored. 73 is an OS that manages the operation of the CPU 71
(Operating system) A program memory in which programs and application programs are stored. In this embodiment, as described above, the application program for simulating the batting operation is stored. Reference numeral 74 is based on a voice synthesis instruction signal supplied from the CPU 71 side, and various sound effects corresponding to the game operation, for example, “striking sound” at the time of a meet, “mitt catching sound” or “judgment call (strike / ball) of an umpire. ) ”And the like are voice-synthesized and sounded.

C. Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
Hereinafter, first, the operation of the position detection processing unit 40 described above will be described, and then the control unit 70 according to the gist of the present invention.
The operation of the (CPU 71) will be described. (1) Operation of Position Detection Processing Unit 40 Here, the operation of the position detection processing unit 40 configured by the gate array will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. In the processing unit 40, the coordinate position of the chroma key image (bat BAT image) included in the sampling image data D _S , the area and the barycentric position of the chroma key image are obtained by the next processing operation according to the instruction of the control unit 70. To be

Operation of Main Routine First, when the apparatus main body 2 is powered on and the control signal SC representing the system reset is supplied from the CPU 71 side to the position detection processing unit 40, the position detection processing unit 40 causes the position detection processing unit 40 to perform the above-mentioned control signal. Based on SC, the microprogram set inside is loaded, the main routine shown in FIG. 9 is started, and step SA1 is executed. In step SA1,
While resetting its own internal register or performing initialization to set an initial value, the imaging signal processing unit 1
1. Register control signal S for instructing the video signal processing unit 20 and VDP 31 to set registers respectively
Supply _REG , and proceed to the next step SA2.

At step SA2, "initial screen map"
Is created. Where, for example,
When the "initial screen map" is not created, the determination result is "NO", and the process proceeds to the next step SA3. This “initial screen map” means that the bat BAT (see FIG. 1) is displayed in the screen imaged by the imaging unit 1 prior to the start of the game.
It is used to confirm whether or not there is an object of the same color as that of the reference). Then, in step SA3, the chroma key detection results for a plurality of frames are overlaid and stored in the initial screen area E1 (see FIG. 8) of the characteristic parameter memory 42 described above, and the chroma key detection blocks existing in the initial screen are stored. Create an "initial screen map" to consider the "dead zone".

When the "initial screen map" is created in this way, the position detection processing unit 40 proceeds to the next step S
The process proceeds to A4. When the "initial screen map" is prepared in advance, the result of the determination in step SA2 is "YES", and the process proceeds to step SA4. At step SA4, the values of the registers X and Y are reset to zero. A value corresponding to screen coordinates formed by 96 dots in the horizontal direction and 96 lines in the vertical direction is sequentially set in the registers X and Y according to the processing content.

Next, in step SA5, the position detection processing section 40 performs chroma key detection for each block on the chroma key detection signal CRO temporarily stored in the internal line buffer (not shown). Chromakey detection in block units means that the chromakey detection signal CRO read out from the line buffer is divided into blocks each consisting of 6 dots in the horizontal direction and 2 lines in the vertical direction, and the chromakey detection signal CRO at the “H” level is “6 dots” per block. When the block exists, the attribute of the block is regarded as “with chroma key”. The result of such chromakey detection is
It is stored as a block attribute in the above-mentioned processing screen area E2 (see FIG. 8), and this becomes a “processing screen map”.

Next, the position detection processing unit 40 advances the processing to step SA6, increments the value of the register X by 1 and advances the value, and subsequently, in step SA7, the value of the advanced register X is "96". That is, it is determined whether or not the processing for one scanning line is completed. Here, when the value of the register X has not reached "96", the determination result becomes "NO" and the above steps SA5 to SA6 are repeated until the processing for one scanning line is completed. On the other hand, 1
When the processing for the scanning lines is completed, step SA
The determination result of 7 is "YES", the process proceeds to step SA8, the value of the register X is reset to zero again, and the value of the register Y is incremented by 1 to update the scanning line in the vertical direction.

Then, in step SA9, the processing section 40 determines whether or not the value of the register Y is "96". Here, when the value of the register Y has not reached "96", the determination result is "NO", and steps SA5 to SA8 described above are repeated. Then, it is assumed that scanning for one frame (one screen) is completed. Then, the determination result of step SA9 becomes “YES”, and the processing unit 40 advances the processing to the next step SA10. In step SA10, a coordinate detection process of calculating the left edge / right edge coordinates and the upper edge / lower edge coordinates of the chroma key image (butt BAT image) is executed based on the block detected in the chroma key in step SA5, and the chroma key image ( The left edge / right edge coordinates and the upper edge / lower edge coordinates of the bat BAT image) are stored in the feature parameter memory 4
2 storage areas E3 to E6 (see FIG. 8), while obtaining the area of the number of blocks detected by the chroma key,
This is stored in the storage area E10. When the chroma key detection of the bat BAT image is performed as described above, the processing unit 40
Advances the processing to step SA11 to obtain the position of the center of gravity of the bat BAT image. Then, after step SA11, the processing is returned to step SA4, and the above-described operation is sequentially repeated to extract the chroma key image for each frame.

Operation of Initial Screen Map Creating Routine Next, the operation of the initial screen map creating routine will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, when the initial screen map is not created, the position detection processing unit 40 advances the processing to step SA3, executes the initial screen map creation routine shown in FIG. 10, and advances the processing to step SB1. In step SB1, the sampling number n set in the internal register is read. The sampling number n is the chroma key detection signal CRO supplied from the image pickup unit 1.
It shows how many frames are taken in. Next, when proceeding to step SB2, the values of the registers X and Y are reset to zero, and then proceeding to the next step SB3. Step S
At B3, of the chroma key detection signal CRO fetched in the line buffer, 6 dots in the X direction (horizontal direction), Y
Two lines in the direction (vertical direction), that is, one block is read.

Next, in step SB4, it is judged whether or not there is a "H" level chroma key detection signal CRO of "6 dots" or more in the read one block. If "6 dots" or more does not exist, the determination result is "no chroma key" and the determination result is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SB5. In step SB5, the block attribute is set to "0" and the process proceeds to the next step SB7. On the other hand, if there are more than 6 dots,
It is determined that "chroma key is present", the determination result is "YES", and the process proceeds to step SB6. In step SB6, the block attribute is set to "1", and the next step SB
Processing proceeds to 7. In step SB7, it is determined whether or not it is the first frame. Here, if it is the first sampled frame, the determination result is "YES", and the process proceeds to step SB8.

In step SB8, the position detection processing section 40 stores the determined block attribute in the initial screen area E1 according to the values of the current registers X and Y. Then, after that, the process proceeds to Step SB9, the value of the register X is incremented by 1, and the number of the designated block is incremented. Next, in step SB10, it is determined whether or not the number of the stepped designated block is "96", that is, one scanning (horizontal) line is completed. Here, if not completed, the determination result is “NO”, and step SB
Proceed to 11. In step SB11, it is determined whether the value of the register Y is "96", that is, whether one frame has been completed. Here, if the processing for one frame is not completed, the determination result is “NO”, and the process returns to step SB3 described above. As a result, steps SB3 to SB6 are repeated and the next block attribute is determined.

Then, for example, it is assumed that the determination of the block attribute for one scanning (horizontal) line is completed. Then, the determination result of step SB10 becomes "YES", and the processing unit 40 advances the process to step SB13. In step SB13, the register X is reset to zero, and the value of the register Y is incremented by 1 to update the scan line. Then, after this, again, step SB11
Block determination from step SB3 onward is performed via. Next, when the determination of the block attribute for one frame is completed, the above-mentioned determination result of step SB11 becomes "YES", and the process proceeds to step SB12. In step SB12, it is determined whether the sampling number n has reached the set number.

If the set number of times has not been reached, the determination result is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SB14. In step SB14, the number of times of sampling n is incremented, and the above-mentioned step SB2 and subsequent steps are executed again. In this way, the first initial screen map is created,
In the process of creating the initial screen map for the second time, step S
When proceeding to B7, the determination result here becomes "NO", and the routine proceeds to step SB15. In step SB15, the corresponding block attribute stored previously is read from the initial screen area E1 according to the values of the registers X and Y. Then, in step SB16, the logical sum of the previous block attribute and the currently determined block attribute is obtained. Then, in step SB8, this logical sum is stored as a new block attribute in the initial screen area E1 based on the values of the registers X and Y. Then, when the logical sum of a predetermined number of frames is generated, the determination result of step SB12 described above is "YES".
Then, this routine is ended, and the processing of the position detection processing unit 40 returns to the main routine described above.

Operation of Processing Screen Map Creation Routine When the initial screen map is created, the position detection processing section 40 executes the processing screen map creation routine shown in FIG. 11 through step SA5 and advances the processing to step SC1.
In step SC1, one block consisting of 6 dots in the X direction (horizontal direction) and 2 lines in the Y direction (vertical direction) is read from the chroma key detection signal CRO written in the line buffer. Next, in step SC2, it is determined whether or not there is a "H" level chroma key detection signal CRO of "6 dots" or more in the read one block. If "6 dots" or more does not exist, the determination result is "no chroma key" and the result is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SC3. In step SC3, the block attribute is set to "0" and the process proceeds to the next step SC4. In step SC4, the determined block attribute is stored in the processing screen area E2 (see FIG. 8) based on the values of the registers X and Y.

On the other hand, when the result of the determination in step SC2 is "YES", that is, when there is a "H" level chroma key detection signal CRO of "6 dots" or more in one block, the processing section 40 Step SC5
Proceed to. In step SC5, it is determined whether or not the reject switch SR has been turned on. The reject switch SR is a switch arranged on the operation panel of the apparatus main body 2, and is for setting whether or not to provide a "dead zone" according to the switch operation. Here, when the switch SR is turned on, the chroma key detection block stored in the initial screen map is regarded as a “dead zone”.

That is, in step SC5,
When the reject switch SR is set to ON, the determination result is "YES", and the next step SC6
Proceed to. At step SC6, the block attribute corresponding to the values of the registers X and Y is read from the initial screen area E1. Next, in step SC7, it is determined whether the block attribute read from the initial screen area E1 is "1". Here, when the block attribute is “1”, the determination result is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SC3 described above, and the block attribute is changed to “0”,
Then, the changed block attribute is written in the processing screen area E2 in accordance with the values of the registers X and Y via step SC4. As a result, the chroma key detection block stored in the initial screen map is set to the "dead zone".

When the reject switch SR is not set to ON, that is, when the "dead zone" is not set, the determination result of step SC5 is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SC8. In step SC8, the attribute of the corresponding block is set to "1" based on the result determined in step SC2 described above, and then the block attribute is set in accordance with the values of the registers X and Y via step SC4. Write in the processing screen area E2.

Operation of Coordinate Detection Routine Next, the operation of the coordinate detection routine will be described with reference to FIG. The position detection processing unit 40 executes step SA10.
The coordinate detection routine is executed via (see FIG. 9), and the process proceeds to step SE1. In step SE1, the registers X and Y, the registers X ′ and Y ′, and the register S are reset to zero and initialized. Note that the register S stores the area of the bat BAT image obtained by accumulating the number of blocks by the operation described later. The values stored in the registers X'and Y'will be described later.

Subsequently, in step SE2, the processing section 40 causes the processing screen area E2 of the characteristic parameter memory 42 to be processed.
The block attributes corresponding to the values of the registers X and Y are read from and the process proceeds to step SE3. Step SE3
Then, it is determined whether or not the read block attribute is “1”, that is, the bat BAT image detected by the chroma key. Here, if the block attribute is not "1", the determination result is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SE4. At step SE4, the value of the register X is incremented by 1 to advance. Then, when the process proceeds to step SE5, the value of the stepped register X is "96", that is, 1
It is determined whether or not the block attributes for horizontal (scanning) lines have been read. Here, if the reading for one horizontal line is not completed, the determination result is "NO", and the process is returned to the step SE2 again.

Then, for example, it is assumed that the block attribute read in step SE2 is "1".
Then, the determination result of the next step SE3 is "YE
S ”, and the process proceeds to step SE6. In step SE6, it is determined whether the value of register X is larger than the value of register X '. The previously detected X coordinate is set in the register X ', and the right end / left end coordinates are updated according to the result of comparison between this coordinate value and the present coordinate value. That is, when the determination result here is "NO", the flow proceeds to step SE7, the value of the register X is stored in the leftmost coordinate area E5 (see FIG. 8), and the bat BAT is stored.
Update the left edge coordinates of the image. On the other hand, when the determination result of step SE6 is "YES", the process proceeds to step SE8, the value of the register X is stored in the right end coordinate area E6 (see FIG. 8), and the right end coordinate of the bat BAT image is updated.

Next, in step SE9, the processing section 40 determines whether or not the value of the register Y is larger than the value of the register Y '. Here, in the register Y ', similarly to the register X', the previously detected Y coordinate is set, and the upper end / lower end coordinates are updated according to the comparison result of this coordinate value and the present coordinate value. I have to. That is,
When the result of the determination is "NO", the flow proceeds to step SE10 and the value of the register Y is set to the upper end coordinate area E3 (see FIG. 8).
And the upper end coordinates of the BAT BAT image are updated. On the other hand, if the determination result of step SE9 is “YES”,
In step SE11, the value of the register Y is stored in the lower end coordinate area E4 (see FIG. 8) to update the lower end coordinate of the bat BAT image.

Then, in step SE12, the value of the register S is incremented by 1 to increase the area by 1 block. Then, in step SE13, the values of the registers X and Y are rewritten into the registers X'and Y ', respectively. Thus, the processing of steps SE2 to SE13 is 1
When the horizontal line is completed, the determination result of the above-mentioned step SE5 becomes "YES", and the process proceeds to step SE14,
The value of register X is reset to zero and register Y
Increments the value of. Next, in step SE15, it is determined whether the value of the register Y is "96", that is, whether or not the coordinates of one frame have been detected. Then, when the coordinate detection for one frame is not completed, the above-mentioned step SE2 and subsequent steps are repeated. On the other hand, when the coordinate detection for one frame is completed, the process is returned from this routine to the above-mentioned main routine (see FIG. 9).

Operation of Center of Gravity Calculation Routine When the coordinate detection routine detects the left edge / right edge coordinates and the upper edge / lower edge coordinates of the chroma key-detected bat BAT image, the position detection processing section 40 causes the position detection processing unit 40 to execute step SA1.
The center of gravity calculation routine shown in FIG. 13 is executed via 2, and the process proceeds to step SF1. First, in step SF1, the registers XG and YG are reset to zero. The registers XG and YG store the barycentric coordinates of the bat BAT image calculated based on the blocks detected by the chroma key. Next, in step SF2, the registers X and Y are initialized, and subsequently, in step SF3, the block attributes corresponding to the values of the registers X and Y are read from the processing screen area E2 of the characteristic parameter memory 42.

Next, in step SF4, the processing unit 4
0 determines whether or not the read block attribute is "1", that is, the bat BAT image subjected to the chroma key detection. Here, when the block attribute is not "1", the determination result is "NO", and the process proceeds to step SF5. At step SF5, the value of the register X is incremented by 1 to advance. Then, in step SF6, it is determined whether or not the value of the register X is "96", that is, the block attribute for one horizontal (scanning) line is read. Here, when the reading for one horizontal line is not completed, the determination result is “NO”, and the process is returned to the step SF3 again.

Then, for example, assume that the next read block attribute is "1". Then, step SF
The determination result of 4 is "YES", and the processing unit 40 advances the processing to step SF7. In step SF7, the block in which the chroma key is detected is regarded as a mass point, and the center of gravity is calculated by sequentially accumulating the ratio of the coordinates (X, Y) of this block and the area S. The area S is stored in the register S in the coordinate detection routine described above. Next, in step SF8, the barycentric coordinates are updated according to the barycenter calculation result in step SF7, and subsequently, in step SF5, the value of the register X is incremented.

Here, assuming that the reading for one horizontal line is completed, the determination result of step SF6 is "YES".
In step SF9, the value of register X is reset to zero and the value of register Y is incremented by one.
Next, in step SF10, it is determined whether or not the value of the register Y is "96", that is, whether the gravity center calculation for one frame has been performed. When the calculation of the center of gravity for one frame is not completed, the determination result is “NO”,
The processing from step SF3 onward is repeated. on the other hand,
When the calculation of the center of gravity for one frame is completed, the determination result becomes "YES", the routine is ended and the process returns to the main routine (see FIG. 9).

As described above, in the position detection processing section 40, the bat BAT image included in the sampling image data D _S supplied from the image pickup section 1 side is converted into the chroma key detection signal CRO.
Is registered as a processing screen map for each frame. Then, based on the block attributes read from the processing screen map, the left end / right end coordinates and the upper end / lower end coordinates of the bat BAT image on the processing screen are obtained, and the area and center of gravity position are calculated, and these parameters are stored in the characteristic parameter memory 42. Set to.

(2) Operation of Control Unit 70 (CPU 71) Next, the operation of the CPU 71 which simulates virtual batting based on the characteristic parameters generated by the position detection processing unit 40 described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. In the CPU 71, "task 0" and "task 1" are processed in parallel in a multi-task monitor environment, and the collision determining means 6 in the virtual space described above is also processed.
4 (see FIG. 3), the "interrupt task" is executed by interruption in accordance with the interrupt signal IR. In the following, first
After the "task 0 routine" that is the main task is described, the "task 1 routine" in which the task is switched according to a predetermined event will be described. It should be noted that the task switching may be performed, for example, by alternately switching between "task 0" and "task 1" at regular intervals, or by the BIOS I / O.
Switch while waiting. When the interrupt signal IR is generated, the "interrupt task" is processed in priority to this task switching.

Operation of Task 0 Routine When the apparatus main body 2 is turned on, the CPU 71 reads out and loads the operation system program stored in the program memory 73 to activate the real-time monitor, and at the same time reads the application program from the memory 73. It is expanded in the work RAM 52. As a result, the task 0 routine shown in FIG. 14 is executed, and C
The process of PU71 progresses to step SG1. Step SG
1, the parameter set in the characteristic parameter memory 42 by the position detection processing unit 40 described above, that is, the bat B
The barycentric coordinate position of the AT image and its area are read out.

Subsequently, proceeding to step SG2, three-dimensional coordinates of the "bat" are generated based on the barycentric coordinate position of the bat BAT image read from the characteristic parameter memory 42 and its area. That is, the coordinates in the xy plane are determined by the read barycentric coordinate position, and the three-dimensional coordinate position of the “bat” is obtained by converting this into the z-axis coordinate (distance) according to the size of the area of the BAT BAT image. , And writes this in the manipulator coordinate memory 61 (see FIG. 3). Then, in step SG3, the swing speed and swing peak of the “bat” are calculated based on the area change rate of the bat BAT image,
The parameters related to these "bat" operations are the work RA
After writing to M72, the process is returned to step SG1 again. In addition, the area change rate of the bat BAT image here refers to a change amount between the previously extracted area value and the currently extracted area value, and the swing speed is derived based on this change amount or the speed is the maximum. Then, the swing peak is derived.

As described above, in the task 0 routine, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the “bat” in the virtual space SP3 is obtained according to the barycentric position and the area value of the bat BAT image read from the characteristic parameter memory 42, while swinging. The velocity and its peak are sequentially derived. The three-dimensional coordinate position of the “bat” thus obtained is used as the collision determination means 6 in the virtual space.
4 (see FIG. 3), it is treated as a condition parameter for the collision determination. On the other hand, the swing speed and the swing peak of the “bat” are used as parameters when simulating the batting mode corresponding to the batting operation in the interrupt task routine described later, and the intended purpose will be described later. .

Operation of Task 1 Routine Next, the operation of the task 1 routine will be described with reference to FIG. In the task 1 routine, the virtual space SP2
(Refer to FIG. 2) In addition to setting the collision determination condition between the "ball" and the "bat", the ball type (trajectory) of the virtually thrown "ball" is determined and determined according to the determined ball type (trajectory). Simulate the process of throwing a "ball (object image)". That is, in the virtual space SP1, the player B
The display control is performed so that the “ball (object image)” appears to be approaching to the (batter) side, and in the virtual space SP2 thereafter, the “ball (object image)” is associated with the state that the ball is flying to the batter. ) ”Is hidden. Then, when the "ball" reaches the catcher position, the sound effect control for instructing the voice synthesis of the "ball catching sound" and the umpire "judgment call" is also performed. Hereinafter, these operations will be described in detail.

It is assumed that, for example, the CPU 71 is waiting for I / O while processing the above-described task 0 routine. Then, task switching is performed, the task 1 routine shown in FIG. 15 is activated, and the CPU 71 advances the process to step SH1. In step SH1, a collision determination parameter according to the operation level set on the panel surface (not shown) of the apparatus body 2 is generated, and this is written in the collision determination parameter memory 62. What is a judgment parameter?
It is formed of a collision possible area defined corresponding to the three-dimensional coordinate position of the bat BAT and a range of the meet timing of the bat BAT.

Next, at step SH2, the ball type of the "ball" virtually pitched, for example, a ball selected from a plurality of ball types such as "curve" and "slider" is selected. The data representing the seed is registered in a predetermined area of the work RAM 73. In this way, when the collision determination parameter and the pitching parameter are determined, the CPU 71 proceeds to the next step SH3, and the ball coordinate data (three-dimensional coordinate [x
(T), y (t), z (t)]) and writes this in the object coordinate memory 63 (see FIG. 3).

When the CPU 71 proceeds to step SH4, it determines whether or not the "ball image (object image)" exists in the virtual space SP1. This determination is based on the timer count value t for managing the progress of the game and the z coordinate value z of the ball coordinate data associated with the count value t.
(T) and based on. Here, when it is determined that the “ball image (object image)” exists in the virtual space SP1, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to the next step SH5. In step SH5, ball coordinate data [x (t), corresponding to the current timer count value t
[y (t), z (t)] is read out, and a "ball image of a size corresponding to the z coordinate value z (t) of the ball coordinate data is placed at the screen coordinate position obtained by mapping and transforming this onto the xy plane. (Object image) ”is instructed to the image processing unit 30.

Note that the image processing section 30 includes the display 3
DM under the control of the CPU 71 in synchronization with the vertical blanking period of
A The background image data D _BG and the object image data D _OB that have been transferred are sequentially read from the VRAM 32, converted into image processing data D _SP representing a dot display color for each scanning line, and displayed on the display 3. As a result, the display 3 displays a "ball image (object image)" of which the shape is gradually increased so that the batter appears to approach.

On the other hand, "ball image (object image)"
When the virtual space SP1 exceeds the virtual space SP1 and enters the virtual space SP2, the determination result of the step SH4 becomes "NO", and the process proceeds to step SH6. Going to step SH6,
The CPU 71 determines whether or not the current “ball” position, that is, the z coordinate value z (t) of the ball coordinate data has reached the catcher position. Here, if the catcher position has not been reached, the determination result is "NO", and the operation after step SH3 is repeated again to continue simulating the pitching state. On the other hand, when the z coordinate value z (t) of the ball coordinate data reaches the catcher position, the determination result of the above step SH6 is "YE.
S ”, and the process proceeds to step SH7.

In step SH7, as the "ball" reaches the catcher position placed in the virtual space SP2, the sound output means is generated to generate a sound effect when the "ball" is caught in the catcher mitt. 74 "Catch sound"
Instruct to pronounce. Then, after this, the CPU 71
Advances the processing to step SH8 to determine whether the pitching course is "strike" based on the x coordinate value x (t) and the y coordinate value y (t) of the ball coordinate data at the time when the "ball" reaches the catcher position. Alternatively, it is determined whether it is a “ball”. In this determination, when the player B misses the "ball" without hitting the ball, the player B is uniquely determined to be "strike". Then, the voice output unit 74 is instructed to perform voice synthesis so that this determination result is actually pronounced as an "umpire determination call". After this,
The CPU 71 returns the processing to step SH2, sets the next pitching parameter, and repeats the above-mentioned processing again,
Simulates the pitching state from the time of pitching until the catcher catches the ball until the "bat" collides with the "ball".

Operation of Interrupt Task Routine Next, with reference to FIG. 16, the operation of the interrupt task routine that is activated when a virtual "ball" is met by the bat swing of the player B will be described. As described above, in the task 0, the “bat” position, the swing speed and the swing peak in the virtual space SP3 are generated based on the chroma key-detected bat BAT image, while the task 1 sets the collision determination condition and The display control of the "ball image" that is virtually pitched in the trajectory according to the set pitching parameter is performed. In the state where these tasks 0 and 1 are alternately executed according to the task switching, It is assumed that the player B operates the bat swing.

Here, the determination condition defined by the collision determination parameter for this swing operation, that is, the collision area defined corresponding to the three-dimensional coordinate position of the bat BAT, and the timing range in which the bat BAT is swing operated are defined. If satisfied, the collision determination means 64 in the virtual space (see FIG.
Determines that the “bat” and the “ball” have collided with each other, and generates an interrupt signal IR. Interrupt signal IR is C
When supplied to the PU 71, the CPU 71 executes the interrupt task routine shown in FIG. 16 and advances the process to step SJ1.

In step SJ1, the operation of the task 1 routine described above is forcibly aborted, and the next step SJ
The process proceeds to 2. In step SJ2, the collision coordinate position (x _c , y _c , where the “bat” and the “ball” collide)
z _c ), and the swing speed and swing peak information of the “bat” at the time of collision occurrence are read from the work RAM 72. The collision coordinate position (x _c , y _c , z _c ) is obtained from the object coordinate position at the time of collision. What is swing peak information?
The swing speed detected at the time of collision is information indicating whether or not the swing peak matches the swing peak, and when the swing speed does not match the peak, whether or not the swing speed is before the peak. The hitting mode of the hit ball, that is, "just meat", "flowing meat" and "pulling meat" is identified.

Then, in step SJ3, the CPU
Reference numeral 71 instructs the sound output means to generate a hitting sound so as to produce a sound effect representing a collision between the “bat” and the “ball”, while displaying the corresponding hitting object image data D _OB in order to display the “hit ball” on the screen. It is read from the program memory 73 and DMA-transferred to the VRAM 32 side. When the "hit ball" is ready to be displayed on the screen in this way, the CPU 71 proceeds to the next step SJ4 to determine the batting mode based on the swing speed and the swing peak information described above, and to determine the hit state according to the center of gravity position of the "bat" at the time of the collision. Is calculated, and a hit ball trajectory parameter representing a hit ball trajectory according to the determined hit condition and hitting mode is calculated. Therefore, for example, when the swing speed is equal to or higher than a certain level, the “bat” and the “ball” collide with each other when the swing peak is exceeded, and moreover, the center of gravity position of the “bat” and the ball center match, The trajectory is a ball that is "pulled" in the left direction.

Next, in step SJ5, three-dimensional hitting ball coordinate data corresponding to the calculated hitting ball trajectory parameter is generated, and the hitting ball trajectory is displayed on the display 3 according to the hitting ball coordinate data. Then, step SJ6
If it is determined that the display of the hit ball trajectory corresponding to the hit ball coordinate data has been completed, the result of the judgment is "NO" and the above step SJ5 is repeated, while the hit ball trajectory is repeated. If the display of is completed, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to the next step SJ7,
The task 1 routine described above is restarted from the time of forced abort, and the game is repeated again.

As described above, in this embodiment, after the object image (“ball”) is displayed on the display 3 in such a form that the ball can be seen as approaching from the pitching time to a certain distance, The ball muscle (trajectory) captured by the batter's indirect visual field is virtually simulated with three-dimensional coordinate values in accordance with the batting operation of, so that the virtual reality of meeting a ball flying to the batter's hand is provided. It becomes possible to create.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the collision determination parameter memory 62 stores the collision determination condition according to the skill level of the player B, so that the beginner can set the collision range and the meet timing range. It is possible to enjoy the game depending on the level of the user, for example, by setting it wide to make the "meet" easy, or conversely, the expert can narrow the range to make the game difficult. Further, in this embodiment, a hitting ball is screened with a hitting trajectory in consideration of the hitting mode determined based on the bat swing speed and swing peak information at the time of meeting and the hitting condition between the "bat" and the "ball" at the time of meeting. Since it is displayed, it is possible to simulate a more realistic striking operation.

In the embodiment described above, the virtual space SP1 in which the "ball image" to be thrown is displayed on the screen,
This is divided into a virtual space SP2 that is hidden, but the size of these spaces is not fixed, and it is possible to adjust and change so that the player B can get the most realistic feeling. There is. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the invention is applied to the image control device that simulates a batting operation is disclosed, but the gist of the present invention is not limited to the device, and for example, “tennis”, “golf”, etc. Needless to say, it can be applied to various simulation games that incorporate the movement behavior of the player.

[0090]

According to the present invention, the operation information generating means extracts a chroma key image of a specific color from the picked-up image, and the position and size of the chroma key image in the picked-up image are virtually arranged in the virtual space. 3D position and its operation amount, and the collision determination means converts the movement trajectory of the object image to be a collision target into a 3D position in the virtual space, and the 3D position of this object image and the operation. It is determined whether or not the child's three-dimensional position collides. Then, while the display control means displays the object image on the screen according to the movement trajectory, when the collision determination means determines a collision, a movement trajectory corresponding to the operation amount of the operator is generated, and according to the movement trajectory. Since the display signal for displaying the object image after colliding with the operation element is output on the screen, for example, in the game where the batting operation is performed as in the above-described embodiment, the pitched ball muscle (trajectory) is in the virtual space. Since it is simulated, it is possible to create the virtual reality of hitting a ball flying to the batter's hand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an overall configuration of an image control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup unit 1 and a chroma key detection processing unit 41 in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup signal processing unit 11 in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video signal processing unit 20 in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing unit 30 in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a memory map showing a configuration of a characteristic parameter memory according to the embodiment.

9 is a flowchart showing an operation of a main routine in the position detection processing section 40. FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing the operation of an initial screen map creation routine in the position detection processing unit 40. FIG.

11 is a flowchart showing an operation of a processing screen map creation routine in the position detection processing unit 40. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of a coordinate detection processing routine in the position detection processing section 40.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of a centroid calculation processing routine in the position detection processing section 40.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the task 0 routine in the CPU 71.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the task 1 routine in the CPU 71.

16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the interrupt task routine in the CPU 51. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image pick-up part 2 Device main body 3 Display 40 Position detection process part (operation information generation means) 50 Characteristic point detection part (operation information generation means) 60 Collision determination part (collision determination means) 70 Control part 71 CPU (operation information generation means, Collision determination means, display control means)

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location G06T 7/00 G06F 15/62 415

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A chroma key image of a specific color is extracted from a captured image, and the position and size of the chroma key image in the captured image are calculated as a three-dimensional position of an operator virtually arranged in a virtual space and its operation amount. And the operation information generating means for converting the operation information generating means into the virtual space, and the movement locus of the object image that is the collision target of the operator virtually arranged in the virtual space.
Collision determining means for converting the three-dimensional position into a three-dimensional position and determining whether or not the three-dimensional position of the object and the three-dimensional position of the manipulator collide with each other; When the means determines a collision, a display control for generating a movement locus corresponding to the operation amount of the manipulator and outputting a display signal for displaying the object image after colliding with the manipulator on the screen according to the movement locus. And an image control device. 2. A feature point detecting means for extracting a chroma key image representing an operator of a specific color from a captured image and detecting the position and size of the chroma key image in the captured image, and the feature point detecting means. Operator information generation means for converting the position and size of the generated chroma key image into the three-dimensional position of the operator virtually arranged in the virtual space and the operation amount thereof, and an object which is a collision target of the operator. Object information generating means for converting a moving locus of an image into a three-dimensional position in the virtual space, and a collision in which the three-dimensional position of the operator and the three-dimensional position of the object image in the virtual space are preset. Collision determination means for determining whether or not a collision occurs under the conditions, and whether the three-dimensional position of the object image is a display space defined in virtual space or not. If the object image exists in the display space, the object image is displayed on the screen in accordance with the movement trajectory corresponding to the display space, while the collision determination means in the non-display space. When it determines that a collision has occurred, a display control unit that generates a movement locus according to the operation amount of the manipulator and outputs a display signal for displaying the object image after colliding with the manipulator on the screen according to the movement locus. An image control device characterized by: 3. The image control device according to claim 2, wherein the feature point detecting means detects a barycentric position and an area of the extracted chroma key image. 4. The manipulator information generating means maps the position of the chroma key image detected by the feature point detecting means onto an xy plane of a virtual space to obtain xy coordinate values (x, y),
3. The image control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the three-dimensional position (x, y, z) of the operator is generated by determining the z coordinate value according to the size of the chroma key image. 5. The image control according to claim 2, wherein the manipulator information generation means calculates the swing speed of the manipulator from the area change of the chroma key image and detects the peak value of the swing speed. apparatus. 6. The manipulator in the virtual space according to a collision judgment parameter including a collision possible area defined corresponding to a three-dimensional position of the manipulator and a swing timing range of the manipulator. The image control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not there is a collision with the object image.