JPH10326072A - Simulation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simulation device capable of having experience of a boat rowing operation easily. SOLUTION: This device displays a virtual space on a projector 38 in accordance with the operation of an operator. A tool for applying a driving force to a vehicle floating on water by a human power, for example, an operation input member 8 imitating a paddle is installed in front of a seat 2. A video concerning the river shooting of a canoe is projected on a projector 38 and the video is controlled based on an operation input quantity to be applied to the operation input member 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a simulation apparatus for displaying a virtual space as an image on an image display means such as a projector in response to an operation of an operator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a park or the like, an experience facility for rowing a boat floating on a pond by hand is sometimes prepared. However, the operation of actually rowing a boat is not easy for a woman, an elderly person, a child, and the like, and there has been a demand for a more convenient experience of rowing a boat.

[0003] In addition, it is extremely difficult to actually perform a rowing operation on a river by a canoe, even with an ordinary male adult. There has been a desire to experience such canoeing down the river.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a simulation apparatus which allows a user to easily experience a rowing operation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a simulation apparatus for displaying a virtual space as an image on an image display means in response to an operation of an operator. An operation input member simulating an instrument for manually applying propulsion to the vehicle is provided, and an image displayed on the image display means is controlled based on an operation input amount given to the operation input member. And

The "equipment for applying a propulsion force to a vehicle floating on water by input" includes, for example, a paddle which is a rowing equipment operated by an operator without being supported by the hull, or a paddle supported by the hull. An oar, which is a rowing device operated by the operator in the state, a rod used to move the ship, a foot rowing mechanism, and the like are conceivable. The operation input member can be formed by imitating those paddles, oars and the like.

According to this simulation device, the operation input section is formed by imitating a paddle, an oar, or the like, and furthermore, an image such as a vehicle moving over water is displayed by the image display means, so that the park is bothersome. You can easily experience rowing without going to a pond. Further, if an image relating to a river going down by a canoe is selected as an image, it is possible to easily experience a canoe operation that is difficult to actually perform and difficult to realize.

In the above structure, the image display means includes a scene image including the vehicle itself when the vehicle moves on the water or a scene image viewed from the vehicle when the vehicle moves on the water. Can be projected. The image display means may display a scenery image including an image of a canoe going down a river or a scenery image viewed from a canoe going down a river.

Further, in the above configuration, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the operation input member includes a rod-shaped portion extending in a lateral direction with respect to the operator, and the operator operates the operation input member by grasping the rod-shaped portion. According to this configuration, the paddle operation in canoe rowing can be imitated by the operation input member.

[0010] Further, in the above configuration, a bodily sensation providing means for applying an external force to the operator may be additionally provided. This sensation imparting means can be configured to include, for example, an air spring or the like for vertically vibrating a seat on which an operator sits.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a simulation apparatus according to the present invention. This simulation device has a seat 2 installed on a base 1, an operation unit 3 installed on the base 1, and a housing 4 installed in front of the base 1. The seat 2 is formed by, for example, forming a chair type with hard urethane, attaching a sponge thereon, and further stretching synthetic leather thereon. According to the seat 2 having this configuration, the state of floating on the water on a canoe can be reproduced with a sense of realism.
As shown in FIG. 2, one or two, and in some cases, three or more operators 7 can sit on the seat 2.

Air springs 6 are provided between the base 1 and the seat 2 at a plurality of locations corresponding to the four corners of the seat 2. These air springs 6 are connected to an air supply source (not shown) so as to selectively supply air to at least one of them. The air spring 6 to which the air has been supplied extends and moves upward in the drawing, whereby the seat 2 tilts and jumps. If the operator sits on the seat 2 that moves in this manner, the operator can experience the operation of the canoe tilting or jumping according to the flow of the river.

The operation unit 3 is provided with an operation input member 8 simulating a paddle.
And a fin 11 fixed to both ends of the rod-shaped member 9 extending in the lateral direction with respect to the operator 7 (see FIG. 2) sitting on the floor. Since the rod-shaped member 9 extends in the lateral direction with respect to the operator 7, the rod-shaped member 9 can be gripped by one operator 7, and even if there are a plurality of operators 7, each operator 7 Can grasp the bar-shaped member 9 without difficulty.

A support structure 12 for supporting the rod-shaped member 9 of the operation input member 8, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is stored in the head portion 3a of the operation section 3. The support mechanism 12 includes bearings 13a and 13b provided on the base 10.
Has a rotating shaft 14 rotatably supported about a horizontal axis L1. A rotating block 16 is attached to the tip (right end in the figure) of the rotating shaft 14 so as to be freely rotatable about a longitudinal axis L2. Curved arms 17, 17 are fixed to both ends of the rotating block 16. The bar-shaped portion 9 of the operation input member 8 is supported by the curved arms 17.

With the above structure, the rod-shaped member 9, that is, the operation input member 8 can freely rotate about the horizontal axis L1 and at the same time, freely rotate about the vertical axis L2. Therefore, by grasping the rod-shaped member 9 with both hands and rotating both hands back and forth, the rod-shaped member 9 can be rotated so as to draw a three-dimensional conical shape around the intersection S of both axes L1 and L2. This movement of the bar 9 provides a situation in which the operator 7 operates the canoe paddle.

At the rear end (left end in the figure) of the rotary shaft 14, a horizontal maintenance mechanism 18 is provided. FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the horizontal maintenance mechanism 18 taken along line XX. As shown, the horizontal maintaining mechanism 18 includes a prism 19 partially formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 14.
And a prismatic case 21 surrounding the prismatic portion 19
And an elastic body 22 sandwiched between four spaces formed between the prism portion 19 of the rotating shaft and the case 21. The elastic body 22 can be formed of, for example, rubber.

The rotating shaft 14 is held at an angular position where the elastic force generated in the elastic body 22 is balanced, and the angular position at this time matches the angular position that holds the operation input member 8 substantially horizontally in FIG. I do. The term “substantially” as used herein does not mean that the operation input member 8 is strictly horizontal, but that the operator 7 can hold it with both hands even if it is appropriately inclined. Means horizontal.

When the operator 7 holding the rod-shaped portion 9 of the operation input member 8 tilts the rod-shaped member 9 from the horizontal state around the horizontal axis L1 by an appropriate angle, the prism portion 19 rotates by the same angle and each elastic member is rotated. The body 22 is compressed, and as a result, a reaction force is generated in each elastic body 22. When the operator 7 relaxes the force, the rod-shaped member 9 is returned to a horizontal state by the reaction force of each elastic body 22 and is held at that position.

3 and 4, a rotating block 23 is provided at the center of the rotating shaft 14. As shown in FIG. The rotary block 23 is rotatable with respect to the rotary shaft 14 about a vertical axis L3 passing through the rotary shaft 14 in the vertical direction. One end of a connecting rod 24 is connected to one side of the rotating block 23, and the other end of the connecting rod 24 is connected to the bottom surface of the rotating block 16 on the operation input member 8 side. With this structure, when the operation input member 8 is operated by the operator 7 and the operation side rotation block 16 is rotated by an appropriate angle about the vertical axis L2, the rotation block 23 is correspondingly correspondingly rotated by the vertical axis L2.
Rotate the same angle around 3

On the other side of the rotating block 23, there is provided a conical guide projection 26 projecting outward, and the guide projection 26 passes through a guide hole 28 formed in a guide plate 27. The guide hole 28 has a circular shape when viewed from the direction of arrow C in FIG. When the operation input member 8 is rotated in a complex or three-dimensional manner about both the horizontal axis L1 and the vertical axis L2 by the operation of the operator 7, the guide-side rotating block 23 is three-dimensionally corresponding to the combined rotational movement. Move in space. At this time, since the circular guide hole 28 exists around the guide protrusion 26, the movement of the guide protrusion 26 is limited by the guide hole 28. This prevents the operation input member 8 from being moved more than necessary by the operator 7.

A rotation angle detector 29a is connected to the rear end (left end in FIG. 3) of the rotation shaft 14. A rotation angle detector 29b is also connected to the rotation axis L3 of the guide-side rotation block 23. When the operation input member 8 is three-dimensionally moved by the operation of the operator 7, the rotation angle of the operation input member 8 about the horizontal axis L1 is determined by a rotation angle detector 29a.
And the rotation angle about the vertical axis L2 is detected by a rotation angle detector 29b. Therefore, the three-dimensional position of the operation input member 8 can be specified by combining the output signals of the two detectors 29a and 29b.

The tip of a piston rod 31a of an air cylinder 31 as a reaction force applying means is connected to the upper surface of the end (lower end in FIG. 3) of the rotary block 16 on the operation input side. The rear end (the left end in FIG. 3) of the air cylinder 31 is supported by a bracket 32 provided on the base 10. In a normal air cylinder, an air supply source is connected to an air input port. In this embodiment, the following usage method different from such a normal usage mode is adopted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, two input / output ports 33a and 33a provided in the air cylinder 31 are provided.
In one embodiment, the port 33a is provided with a small-diameter vent pipe, that is, an orifice 34, and the two input / output ports 33a and 33b are connected to a hose 36.
Communicate with In FIG. 3, when the operation input member 8 rotates about the longitudinal axis L2 as shown by an arrow D or an arrow E, the piston rod 31a connected to the rotary block 16 corresponds to the rotation, and the arrow D shown in FIG. It moves forward and backward with respect to the main body of the air cylinder 31 as shown by 'or arrow E'.

When the piston 37 moves in any of the directions indicated by arrows D 'and E',
At the beginning of the movement of the piston 37, a large resistance is applied to the movement of the piston 37 by the action of the orifice 34. After a while after the start of the movement of the piston 37, the air escapes through the orifice 34, and there is almost no resistance to the piston 37, so that there is almost no resistance to the movement of the piston 37 and therefore the operation input member 8. This kind of resistance applying operation is very similar to actual paddle operation, as if a large resistance is applied to the paddle at the beginning when the paddle is put in the water, and the resistance decreases over time. The operator 7 is provided with the sense of having performed.

The above-described resistance applying operation using the orifice 34 can be obtained without connecting the two input / output ports 33a and 33b with the hose 36. However, if the hose 36 is not provided, a loud air exhaust noise is generated when air escapes from the orifice 34 and the port 33b, and therefore, there is a great problem in giving the simulation a sense of realism. On the other hand, two input / output ports 33a and 3
If the hose 3b communicates with the hose 36, the generation of such exhaust noise can be prevented.

In FIG. 1, an optical display unit 39 is provided on the upper part of the housing 4. The outer shape of the light display section 39 is determined by a translucent plastic cover 41, and a fluorescent tube 42 and a speaker 43 are provided in the cover 41.
Is stored. The sound generator of the speaker 43 is exposed to the outside through a hole provided in the cover 41. Speaker 43
Are stored inside the cover 41 and arranged so as to fall within the range of the light emitting region H of the fluorescent tube 42, as shown in FIG.

On the cover 41 of the light display unit 39, the device name of the present simulation device and other necessary patterns are drawn, and when the internal fluorescent tube 42 emits light, the pattern is clearly displayed to the outside by light. . Conventionally, in a simulation device generally used, an optical display unit and a speaker are often arranged separately from each other, and the space for the optical display unit is narrowed in the configuration, so that a person is not. A bold pattern that could easily attract the eye could not be provided.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the speaker 43
Is stored inside the cover 41,
Can be formed large, and as a result, an effective pattern that is easily visible can be formed using the entire surface of the cover 41 having a large area. Further, the speaker 43 can be effectively used as a part of the pattern. Further, since the light emitting area H of the fluorescent tube 42 is set wider than the position where the speaker 43 is arranged, the entire surface of the cover 41 having a large area can be illuminated evenly.

Returning to FIG. 1, a projector 38 as an image display means is provided on the upper front surface of the housing 4, and a control device 44 for controlling the projector 38 is provided inside the housing 4. . The control device 44 is configured by an electronic circuit including a computer, and includes, for example, a game calculation unit 61 and an image synthesis unit 62 as shown in FIG.

The game calculation section 61 includes a map information storage section 6
4. It is configured to include a mobile information storage unit 65 and a game space calculation unit 66. The map information storage unit 64 stores, as divided map information, information on a course for going down a canoe. That is, the course information is stored as the plane coordinates of each point and the altitude coordinates of the point. The moving body information storage unit 65 stores the current position of the operator 7 in three-dimensional coordinates. The game space calculation unit 66 reads the current position of the operator based on the contents stored in the mobile unit information storage unit 65, and further, based on the operation signal from the operation unit 3 and the terrain signal from the map information storage unit 64, Calculate the movement position. The contents stored in the moving body information storage unit 65 are stored in the projector 3 as means for displaying the simulation operation.
In the present embodiment using No. 8, it is updated every 1/60 second based on the calculation of the game calculation unit 66.

The image synthesizing unit 62 includes a three-dimensional operation unit 68, an image drawing unit 69, and an object image information storage unit 71. The object image information storage unit 71
Information necessary for creating a video of the course, for example, image information of an operator, image information corresponding to mountains, rivers, rocks, birds, etc. is stored. The three-dimensional operation unit 68 reads out corresponding image information from the object image information storage unit 71 based on the data output from the game space operation unit 66, that is, information on the operator, divided map information, and the like, and outputs the three-dimensional Is calculated, and the calculation result is output to the image drawing unit 69.

The image drawing section 69 converts the output data of the three-dimensional operation section 68 into video data which can be displayed on the projector 38, thereby forming the above-mentioned virtual space, for example, as shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the projector 38 as a two-dimensional image as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is an image 7 of a canoe moving on a river.
The scenery image of the river going down including 0 is shown. This image is displayed on the basis of a calculation process by the game space calculation unit 66.
It is updated every / 60 seconds, and is recognized as a continuously changing scenery image of a river going down for the operator. In addition,
In FIG. 8, reference numerals Q1 and Q2 indicate two operator images, reference numeral 73 indicates a river, reference numeral 74 indicates a rocky mountain,
Reference numeral 75 indicates a rock in the river, and reference numeral 76 indicates a bird.

The operation of the simulation apparatus having the above configuration will be described below. In FIG. 2, one or more operators, two operators 7 in the figure, are seated on the seat 2. Since the seat 2 is formed of a soft material, the operator 7 feels like riding on a canoe. Thereafter, when a coin is inserted into a coin insertion slot (not shown) provided at an appropriate position of the operation unit 3, a simulation operation, in this embodiment, a canoe downhill operation is started. When the simulation starts, character images Q1 and Q2 corresponding to the operator himself / herself riding the canoe image are displayed on the projector 38.

While watching the image projected on the projector 38, the operator 7 rotates the operation input member 8 by hand as if by paddling. The rotation angle position of the rotating operation input member 8 is determined by angle detectors 29a and 29b.
(See FIGS. 3 and 4), the rotation speed of the operation input member 8 is calculated based on the change in the angular position, and the canoe image 70 is generated at a speed corresponding to the rotation speed.
Is displayed toward the downstream side of the river 73. During this movement, air is selectively supplied to any or all of the air springs 6 in FIG. 1 according to a simulation program stored in the memory unit of the computer.
The seat 2 selectively and continuously inclines and moves in any of the left, right, front and rear directions, whereby the operator 7 experiences a situation in which the canoe swings according to the flow of the river.

The operator 7 operates the projector 38
The simulation is performed with the intention of reaching the downstream downstream goal point in the virtual space as fast as possible while manipulating the operation input member 8 so that the canoe image 70 projected on the rock image 75 does not collide with the rock image 75 and the like. . If the canoe image 70 collides with the rock image 75 or the like, a large amount of air is supplied to one of the air springs 6 to vibrate the seat 2 violently, so that the operator 7 can feel a large impact at the time of the collision. .

When the operator 7 moves the arrow E and the arrow D in FIG.
When the operation input member 8 is rotated left and right about the longitudinal axis L2, the piston rod 31a of the air cylinder 31 moves forward and backward with respect to the main body of the air cylinder, as shown by. When the piston rod 31a makes such reciprocating movement, a large resistance is given to the operator at the initial point of the reciprocating movement by the operation of the orifice 34 in FIG. 6, and the resistance is further reduced after a short time. It disappears quickly and realizes a situation where no resistance is applied to the operator thereafter. This is as if the paddle operated by the operator had a large load applied to the paddle at the beginning when the river water was scratched, and after a while the load disappeared, giving the operator a feeling very similar to the actual paddle rowing operation. Give.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operator operates the operation input member 8 imitating a paddle while watching the scenery image of the river going down projected on the projector 38, and thereby the canoe image in the image is displayed. 70 can be moved as desired, so that the user can easily experience canoe rowing without going to the river.

FIG. 10 shows a modification of the operation input member. The operation input member 8A shown here is formed by imitating an oar which is a rowing device of a type supported at an appropriate position on a ship. Specifically, there is provided a link 47 rotatably connected to each of a pair of disks 46a and 46b rotatable about the fixed rotation axes L4 and L5 and connecting the disks 46a and 46b to each other. The input member 8A is rotatably mounted on a fulcrum 48.

With this configuration, the operation input member 8A can reciprocate in the front-rear direction as indicated by arrows FF '.
As shown by the arrows G and J, the rotation can be swung around the fulcrum 48, whereby an operation as if paddling can be realized. The diameters of the disks 46a and 46b may or may not be the same.

FIG. 11 shows another modification of the operation input member. The operation input member 8B shown here is
It is formed by imitating a so-called oar. In particular,
A slider 49 is disposed by a roller 51 so as to be able to reciprocate with respect to a floor 52 as shown by an arrow K, and a main link 54 is rotatably supported by a fulcrum 56 on an upper portion of a support column 53 erected on the slider 49. One end of an auxiliary link 57 is rotatably connected to the left end of the main link 54, and the other end of the auxiliary link 57 is rotatably connected to a wall 58. The operation input member 8B is rotatably connected to the right end of the main link 54. When the operator performs a rowing operation using the operation input member 8B, the operation input member 8B moves in parallel with the slider 49 while being restricted by the main link 54.

FIG. 12 shows another modification of the operation input member. Although the operation input member 8C shown here does not have a portion corresponding to the fin of the oar, it does not have an oar shape in appearance, but is used as a member that functions as an oar when performing a simulation. Can be In this modification, a horizontal rail 59 is fixed to the floor 52, and a vertical rail 55 is disposed on the horizontal rail 59 so as to be reciprocally movable in parallel as indicated by an arrow M. Then, the slider 60 is disposed on the vertical rail 55 so as to be able to reciprocate as shown by the arrow N, and the operation input member 8C is attached to the slider 60 via the spherical bearing 50. According to this modification, when the operator performs a rowing operation using the operation input member 8C, the slider 60 translates in a plane including the horizontal rail 59 and the vertical rail 55.

In the above description, the simulation is performed by preparing one operation input member. However, a plurality of operation input members are prepared, and the simulation is performed using one or all of them. You can do it too. In this case, one projector may be provided for a plurality of operation input members, or one projector may be provided for each operation input member.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to those embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the invention described in the claims. For example, in the above embodiment, a virtual space is simulated assuming a case of going down a river with a canoe,
The present invention is applied to the simulation. However, as long as the simulation focuses on manually moving a vehicle floating on the water surface, the simulation focuses on any operation other than the canoeing down the river. The invention can be applied to devices.

The operation input member may be a paddle which is a rowing tool which is not mounted on the hull, an oar which is a rowing tool which is mounted on the hull, a rod or a foot rowing mechanism used for moving the boat. Such members can be made by imitating various devices. The sensation imparting means used in the present invention is not limited to an air spring for moving a seat, and various mechanisms can be adopted as long as it can apply some force to an operator in a timely manner.

[0045]

According to the simulation device of the first aspect, the operation input member is formed to imitate a rowing instrument, and further, the operation input amount input through the operation input member to the image displayed on the image display means. , The boat rowing operation can be easily experienced using the simulation device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image display means displays an image closely related to the rowing operation, so that a realistic boating operation can be experienced by simulation.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the image relating to the river going down using the canoe is displayed on the image display means, the user can easily experience the boat down operation, especially the canoeing down operation. . In particular, even those who are not used to canoeing can experience canoeing.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the operation input member is formed by using the bar-shaped member extending in the lateral direction with respect to the operator, the so-called paddle boat used when operating the canoe. The operation can be simulated. In addition, even when there are a plurality of operators, the operators can grip one operation input member without discomfort in a state where they are arranged side by side, so that a plurality of operators can jointly operate the operation input member. it can.

According to the simulation apparatus of the fifth aspect, since a plurality of operation input members are provided, a simulation can be performed by a large number of operators.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to simulate a rowing operation performed using an oar which is a rowing device of a type supported by a ship.

According to the simulation device of the seventh aspect, it is possible to simulate a rowing operation performed using a paddle which is a rowing device of a type not supported by a ship.

According to the simulation apparatus of the eighth aspect, since the operator can receive an external force in a timely manner during the simulation, the operator can use the case where the hull sways violently like a river going down using a canoe. The boating operation can be realistically simulated and displayed.

[0053]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a simulation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state where an operator rides on the simulation apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a structure for supporting an operation input member.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the structure of FIG. 3 partially broken away.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 3;

6 is a side sectional view showing a sectional structure of an air cylinder for generating a resistance force, which is a main part of the structure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a main part of the simulation apparatus of FIG. 1;

8 is a diagram showing an example of an image projected on a projector which is a main part of the simulation apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram illustrating an example of a control device used in the simulation device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modification of the operation input member.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing another modification of the operation input member.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing still another modified example of the operation input member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Seat 3 Operation part 3a Operation part head part 4 Housing 6 Air spring 7 Operator 8 Operation input member 9 Bar-shaped member 10 Base 11 Fin 12 Support structure 13a, 13b Bearing 14 Rotation axis 16 Operation side rotation block 18 Horizontal maintenance mechanism Reference Signs List 22 elastic body 23 guide-side rotating block 26 guide protrusion 27 guide plate 28 guide hole 29a, 29b rotation angle detector 31 air cylinder 31a piston rod 33a, 33b air input / output port 34 orifice 36 hose 38 projector (video display means) 39 light Display unit 41 Cover 42 Fluorescent tube 43 Speaker Q1, Q2 Operator image

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A simulation apparatus for displaying a virtual space as an image on an image display means in response to an operation of an operator, comprising an operation input member simulating an instrument for manually applying a propulsion force to a vehicle floating on water. A simulation device, comprising: controlling an image displayed on the image display means based on an operation input amount given to the operation input member. 2. The simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image display means displays a scene image including an image of the vehicle moving on the water or a scene image viewed from the vehicle moving on the water. A simulation device characterized by being performed. 3. The simulation device according to claim 1, wherein the image display means displays a scene image including an image of a canoe going down the river or a scene image viewed from the canoe going down the river. Simulation device characterized by the following. 4. The simulation device according to claim 1, wherein the operation input member has a rod-shaped portion extending in a lateral direction with respect to the operator, and the operator has the rod-shaped portion. A simulation device for operating the operation input member while grasping. 5. The simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of operation input members are provided. 6. The simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation input member is formed by imitating an oar which is a rowing instrument supported by a hull. A simulation device characterized by the above-mentioned. 7. The simulation device according to claim 1, wherein the operation input member is formed by imitating a paddle that is a rowing instrument that is not supported by the hull. A simulation device characterized by the above-mentioned. 8. The simulation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sensation imparting unit for imparting an external force to the operator.