JPH1173092A - Virtual pet feeding device, virtual pet feeding method and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reproduce characteristics of a real pet in a virtual pet so as to enable an operator to have sufficient affection for the virtual pet. SOLUTION: A face image data analyzing unit 16 extracts each face part from the face image data of an operator picked by a camera, and measures feature variables of each face part so as to input it to a control unit 11. The control unit 11 reads the image data of each face part from a face part database 18b based on the feature variables of each face part, and forms a face shape data of a virtual pet, and while decides a display condition of the virtual pet based on the history of the feeding data stored in a feeding data memory unit 17 and a raising scenario stored in a raising scenario memory unit 20, and reads out the display image data corresponding to the decided display condition from a display image database 18a, and synthesizes the face shape data and display image data, and supplies in to a display unit 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accepts input of breeding data relating to breeding work such as feeding, exercise, and administration of chemicals, and displays a growing state and an operating state based on the input breeding data. The present invention relates to a virtual pet breeding device, a method, and a program recording medium that determine a virtual pet in a determined display state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, virtual pet breeding apparatuses for breeding virtual pets on computer devices have been widely used as electronic toys. Here, the virtual pet is image data in which a real pet animal such as a dog or a cat, or an imaginary pet animal is formed into a graphic, and a result of simulated breeding and growing based on the breeding data is displayed. Is what you do. Therefore,
The virtual pet breeding device is an input operation for breeding data, and
This is a device for simulating the breeding work of pet animals by visually checking the display state of the virtual pet. For this reason, the conventional virtual pet breeding device accepts input operation of breeding data regarding pet breeding work such as feeding, exercise and cleaning, and administration of chemicals, for example. The growing state and the operating state of the virtual pet displayed on the screen are changed accordingly.

[0003]

However, the conventional virtual pet breeding device displays a single or a plurality of virtual pets prepared in advance, so that the shape of the virtual pet is changed according to the operator. The characteristics of a real pet that cannot be changed and resemble the owner cannot be realized in a virtual pet. For this reason, in the conventional virtual pet breeding device, it cannot be differentiated from the virtual pet displayed on other virtual pet breeding devices, and the operator cannot have a sufficient attachment to the virtual pet. .

Further, in a conventional virtual pet breeding apparatus, 1
Since only the virtual pets of the generation are displayed, there is a drawback that the shape of the displayed virtual pet and the content of the breeding operation are scarcely changed.

An object of the present invention is to create a virtual pet shape based on the analysis result of the operator's face image data, thereby displaying a virtual pet having a different shape for each operator, and resembling the owner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual pet breeding apparatus, a method, and a program recording medium that allow a virtual pet to reproduce characteristics of a real pet and that allow an operator to have a sufficient attachment to the virtual pet.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to display a plurality of generations of virtual pets by creating a shape of the virtual pet based on the analysis result of a plurality of face image data, so that it can be changed. An object of the present invention is to provide a virtual pet breeding apparatus, method, and program recording medium capable of realizing rich virtual pet shapes and breeding operations.

[0007]

According to the first, third and fifth aspects of the present invention, input of breeding data relating to breeding work of a virtual pet is received, and the virtual pet is displayed in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data. Virtual pet breeding device,
The method and the program storage medium are characterized by receiving input of face image data, analyzing the input face image data, and further creating a virtual pet shape based on the analysis result of the face image data. .

[0008] In the first, third and fifth aspects of the present invention, the shape of the virtual pet is created based on the analysis result of the input face image data. Therefore, the shape of the virtual pet displayed differs according to the input face image data, and the virtual pet reproducing the characteristics of the real pet is displayed.

The inventions described in claims 2, 4 and 6 are characterized in that a single virtual pet shape is created based on the analysis result of a plurality of input face image data.

According to the second, fourth and sixth aspects of the present invention, by inputting a plurality of face image data, a virtual pet having a shape obtained by combining the features of the plurality of face image data is displayed. Therefore, a virtual pet having a variety of shapes is displayed.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a virtual pet breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The virtual pet breeding device 1 has a thin, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape large enough to be held by one or both hands of an operator, and has a display 2, a speaker 3, a power switch 4, a cursor key 5, a setting key 6, a cancel key, and a front. A key 7 and a camera 8 are arranged.

The display 2 is constituted by, for example, an LCD and displays a face image data input screen, breeding data input screen, and a virtual pet display screen.
The speaker 3 utters the voice of the virtual pet. The power switch 4 is a switch for switching on / off the power stored inside. The cursor key 5 receives a switching operation of a screen to be displayed on the display 2 and a moving operation of a cursor indicating breeding data selected from a plurality of breeding data included in the breeding data input screen.

In addition, the virtual pet is always displayed on the display 2, and a plurality of keys related to the imaging process by the camera 8 and the input of the breeding data are displayed on a part of the screen displaying the virtual pet. Either one may be selected by operating the cursor key 5.

The setting key 6 accepts a setting input of breeding data where the cursor is located on the display 2 displaying the input screen of breeding data. This setting key 6
When the input screen of the face image data is displayed on the display 2, it functions as a shutter button of the camera 8. The cancel key 7 accepts the cancellation of the setting input of the breeding data related to the operation of the setting key 6. The camera 8 is, for example,
When the setting key 6 is operated in a state where a face image data input screen is displayed on the display 2, the CCD camera captures an image facing the front of the virtual pet breeding device 1.

A touch panel is arranged on the surface of the display 2 in place of the cursor key 5, the setting key 6, and the cancel key 7, and a plurality of keys are displayed on the display 2 so as to face the pressed position of the touch panel on the display 2. It may be determined that the key displayed in the portion has been operated.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the virtual pet breeding apparatus. The virtual pet breeding device 1 includes a display unit 12, a voice generation unit 13, a breeding data input unit 14, a face image data input unit 15, a face image data analysis unit 16, a breeding data storage unit 17, an image database 18,
It is configured by connecting a shape data storage unit 19 and a growth scenario storage unit 20.

The display unit 12 displays an image of the input operation member and an image of the virtual pet output from the control unit 11 on the display 2. The sound generator 13 drives the speaker 3 based on the sound data output from the controller 11.
The breeding data input unit 14 inputs the breeding data set and input by operating the cursor key 5 and the setting key 6 to the control unit 11.
To enter. The face image data input unit 15 inputs the face image data captured by the camera 8 to the face image data analysis unit 16.

The face image data analysis unit 16 extracts face parts such as contours, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears from the face image data input from the face image data input unit 15, and extracts the face parts for each face part. Shape, contour size, eye size, eye aspect ratio, eye angle, eye spacing, nose size, mouth size, and eye, nose, mouth and ear positions in the contour The feature amount is measured and input to the control unit 11 as feature amount data. The breeding data storage unit 17 stores the breeding data input unit 14
Is stored cumulatively. The image database 18 stores image data for each display state of the virtual pet to be displayed on the display 2 and a plurality of image data for each facial component of the virtual pet. The shape data storage unit 19 stores the image data of the face of the virtual pet created by the control unit 11 as face shape data. The growth scenario storage unit 20 stores a growth state process composed of a plurality of growth events from birth to death of the virtual pet.

The image database 18 is, as described above,
The image data for each display state of the virtual pet and the image data for each facial part of the virtual pet are stored. For this reason, the image database 18 includes a display image database 18a that stores image data of the display state of the virtual pet, and a face parts database 18b that stores image data of the face parts of the virtual pet. The display image database 18a is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), image data of a virtual pet in a display state corresponding to each of a plurality of growth events indicating a growth state is stored. The control unit 11 includes a rearing data input from the rearing data input unit 14 and a rearing data storage unit 17.
Is read from the display image database 18a based on the history of the breeding data stored in the storage device 20 and the growth scenario stored in the growth scenario storage unit 20. Note that some of the image data includes voice data for generating a cry of the virtual pet via the speaker 3.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the face part database 18b stores a plurality of pieces of image data having different feature amounts for each face part such as the outline, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears of the face of the virtual pet. doing. The control unit 11 selects the face part image data of the virtual pet from the face part database 18b based on the feature amount data input from the face image data analysis unit 16. For example, as for the eyes, as shown in FIG. 4A, the face image data analysis unit 16 outputs the eye width x, the eye height y, and the eye height in the face image data input from the face image data input unit 15. The height h from the position of the chin to the center of the eye, the distance d between the eyes, and the angle θ between the center line of the eye and the horizontal line are measured, and these data are input to the control unit 11 as eye feature data. .

As shown in FIG. 4B, a tilt rule and a round rule for selecting image data of the virtual pet's eyes based on the feature data of the eyes are stored in the control unit 11 in advance. . Here, θ1, θ shown in FIG.
2, a and b are preset thresholds. Control unit 1
1 is to determine the inclination of the eye by applying the angle θ between the center line of the eye and the horizontal line to the inclination rule, and to apply the width x and the height y of the eye to the rounding rule. Determine the roundness of the eyes. More specifically, the face part database 18b stores a group of image data of the eyes of the virtual pet as a combination of the inclination and roundness of the eyes, as shown in FIG. 4C. The control unit 11 converts the image data corresponding to the combination of the inclination and the roundness of the eyes determined according to the inclination rule and the roundness rule from the image data group stored in the state shown in FIG. Select as data.

The control unit 11 previously stores an eye size rule as a deformation rule, and applies the eye width x and the eye height y of the eye feature data to the eye size rule. Determine the size of the eyes. The control unit 11 enlarges or reduces the image data of the eyes of the virtual pet selected from the image data group based on the determined eye size.

Further, the control unit 11 previously stores an eye height rule and an eye interval rule as arrangement rules, and the height from the position of the chin to the center of the eye in the eye characteristic amount data. h is applied to the eye height rule to determine the eye height, and the interval d between the eyes is applied to the eye interval rule to determine the eye interval. The control unit 11 arranges the image data of the eyes of the deformed virtual pet in the image data of the outline of the face of the virtual pet based on the determined eye height and eye interval.

The control unit 11 executes the above-described image data selection, deformation and arrangement processing for each face part, thereby creating a virtual pet face shape reflecting the characteristics of the input face image data. However, the deformation and arrangement processing of the image data does not necessarily need to be performed for all face parts. The control unit 11 uses the created virtual pet face image as face shape data as the shape data storage unit 19.
To be stored.

When displaying the virtual pet on the display 2, the control section 11 reads out the face shape data from the shape data storage section 19 and displays the display image database 18a.
Is synthesized with the image data of the display state of the virtual pet read out from. As a result, a virtual pet having a face similar to the face image captured by the camera 8 is displayed on the display 2.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the control unit of the virtual pet breeding apparatus. When the power switch 4 is turned on, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the face shape data of the virtual pet is stored in the shape data storage unit 19 (s1). Starts input processing of face image data (s2). At the start of this face image data input process,
For example, a display that prompts the camera 8 to capture an operator's face image may be performed. The control unit 11 waits for the operation of the setting key 6 having the shutter button function of the camera 8 (s3). When the setting key 6 is operated, the control unit 11 drives the camera 8 via the face image data input unit 15 to operate the camera 8. The face image of the person is captured (s4).

When the imaging of the face image is completed, the control unit 11 measures the feature amount of each face part of the captured face image data via the face image data analysis unit 16 (s5), and Then, image data of each face part is selected from the face part database 18b of the image database 18 (s6). As described above, the control unit 11 refers to the previously stored selection rule when selecting the image data of each face part. Further, the control unit 11 refers to the transformation rule and the arrangement rule stored in advance to perform the transformation processing and the arrangement processing of the image data of each selected face part, and creates the face shape data of the virtual pet (s7). Control unit 11
Stores the created face shape data of the virtual pet in the shape data storage unit 19 (s8).

If the face shape data is already stored in the shape data storage unit 19 in s1, or if the input processing of breeding data is selected while waiting for the operation of the setting key 6 in s3 (s9), the control is performed. The unit 11 starts input processing of breeding data (s10). In the input processing of the breeding data, the virtual pet is displayed on the display 2 in a display state determined based on the history of the breeding data input so far and a preset growth scenario, and is displayed on the display 2. This is a process for changing the display state of the virtual pet being used according to the breeding data related to the current input.

That is, the control unit 11 controls the breeding data storage unit 1
7 and the growth scenario storage unit 20, the history of the breeding data and the growth event are read (s11), and the image data of the display state of the virtual pet is read from the display image database 18a of the image database 18 based on these data (s11). s12). The control unit 11 reads the face shape data of the virtual pet from the shape data storage unit 19 (s13), combines the face shape data of the virtual pet with the image data in the display state (s14), and combines the combined image data of the entire virtual pet. Is displayed on the screen of the display 2 via the display unit 12 (s15). Display image database 18a
If the image data read from the display image database 18 includes the audio data, the Data generation unit 1
3 to generate the sound of the virtual pet via the speaker 3.

If the input processing of breeding data is selected in s9, the shape data storage unit 19 has not yet stored face shape data. Therefore,
When the process proceeds from s9 to s10 and thereafter, standard face shape data prepared in advance in s13 can be read. The display image database 18
a, standard face shape data is added to each of the image data of the display state of the virtual pet stored in the a. If the face shape data is stored in the shape data storage unit 19, the standard face shape The data may be replaced with face shape data read from the shape data storage unit 19.

Thereafter, the control section 11 waits for input of breeding data, selection of face image data input processing, or turning off of the power switch 4 (s16 to s18). When breeding data is input via the breeding data input unit 14, the control unit 11 stores the input breeding data in the breeding data storage unit 1.
7 is cumulatively stored (s19), and image data of a display state to be displayed next is read from the display image database 18a based on the input breeding data (s2).
0). Further, the control unit 11 reads the face shape data of the virtual pet from the shape data storage unit 19 (s21), combines the face shape data of the virtual pet with the image data in the display state (s22), and displays the combined image data. It is displayed on the screen of the display 2 via the section 12 (s23). At this time, if the image data read from the display image database 18a includes audio data, the control unit 11
The audio data read out in the same manner as in the processing of step 5
Supply 3

When the operator selects the input processing of the face image data in s17, the control section 11 proceeds to s2, and when the operator operates the setting key 6 in s3, s4 to s8.
To create the face shape data of the virtual pet reflecting the feature amount of the newly captured face image data. When the face shape data of the virtual pet is created by the processes of s2 to s8 via s17, the face shape data is already stored in the shape data storage unit 19. Thus, the shape data storage unit 19 can updateably store only a single piece of face shape data relating to the latest creation. Further, a plurality of face shape data is stored together with the identification data in the shape data storage unit 19, and only a single face shape data specified by the identification data input by the operator after the power is turned on is used for the subsequent processing, A single virtual pet breeding device may be made available to multiple operators.

At s18, the operator sets the power switch 4
Is turned off, the control unit 11 stops displaying the virtual pet on the display 2 (s24), and enters the standby mode of the automatic display process. In the automatic display processing standby mode, the control unit 11 determines whether the power switch 4 is turned on (s25) and whether the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet matches the execution time of the growth event included in the growth scenario. It is determined whether or not the virtual pet is automatically displayed (s27), and whether or not the virtual pet is automatically displayed (s27). If the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet matches the execution time of the growth event, or When displaying pets automatically, the image data in the corresponding display state is displayed in the display image database 1.
8a (s28), and reads out the face shape data of the virtual pet from the shape data storage unit 19 (s2).
9), the face shape data of the virtual pet is combined with the image data in the display state and displayed on the screen of the display 2 (s3).
0, s31).

That is, even when the power switch 4 is turned off, the control unit 11 operates by the backup power supply (not shown).
The processes of 24-31 are executed, and the born virtual pet grows based on the growth scenario stored in the growth scenario storage unit 20. Some of the plurality of growth events that form the growth scenario are growth events that require input of breeding data by the operator, and are determined in advance to be automatically displayed even when the power is turned off. When it is time to perform a growth event that requires input of breeding data while the power is off, the control unit 11 displays the virtual pet in a predetermined display state on the display 2 via the display unit 12 and sounds the virtual pet's cry. It occurs through the speaker 3.

Further, while the power is off, the control unit 11
For example, a process is periodically performed to select whether or not a growth event such as a bait request or a disease is to occur irregularly.
In this process, when it is determined that any growth event is to be generated, the control unit 11 combines the face shape data with the image data of the corresponding display state, and
2 and display the virtual pet on the display 2 via the display unit 12.

In the process shown in FIG.
The processing of s31 can be omitted. When the processes of s24 to s31 are not performed, the virtual pet is displayed on the display 2 only when the power switch 4 is turned on.

Further, s12 shown in FIG. 5 or s12 shown in FIG.
When determining the display state of the image data to be read from the display image database 18a in the process of 20, any one of a plurality of selectable growing states is irregularly selected to give the virtual pet display state a contingency. You may do so.

By the above processing, the camera 8 captures the face image of the operator, and the face of the virtual pet displayed on the display 2 resembles the face image of the captured operator.
The characteristics of a real pet that resembles the owner can be reproduced in the virtual pet. In addition, it is possible to personalize the face of the virtual pet for each operator to differentiate it from the virtual pets of other operators, and to improve the companionship of the virtual pet,
The operator does not get bored.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a main part of a processing procedure of the control unit of the virtual pet breeding apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 11 of the virtual pet breeding apparatus according to this embodiment includes a face image data analysis unit 1
By determining the compatibility of the face image data of the two persons inputted from 6 and generating face shape data of one virtual pet based on the feature amount measured from the face image data of the two persons having the compatibility, The growth events constituting the growth scenario of the virtual pet include “marriage” and “childbirth”.

For this reason, the control section 11 waits for the input of the face image data of the two persons from the face image data input section 15 (s 41), and the face image data of the two persons is transmitted via the camera 8. When input, the feature amount of each face part of each face image data is measured via the face image data analysis unit 16 (s42). Next, the control unit 11 determines the compatibility of the face image data of the two persons (s43). This compatibility determination is performed, for example, by comparing the measured values of the feature amounts of the respective face image data for each of the plurality of face parts, and for more than a majority of the face parts, the measured value of one face image data is compared to the other. If the measured value of the face image data is 80% or more, it is determined that the degree of coincidence between the compared two face image data is high.

As a result, if the degree of coincidence of the compared two face image data is high, it is determined that the compatibility is good (s4).
4), the control unit 11 calculates an average value of both the measured values (s
45) Based on the obtained average value, image data of each face part is read from the face part database 18b to create face shape data (s46). If the degree of coincidence of the compared two face image data is low, it is determined that the face image data is incompatible, and one or both face image data related to the comparison are deleted (s4).
7). By the above processing, the face shape data of a single virtual pet can be created from the image data of two persons with high matching degree, and the "marriage" and "childbirth"
And the like, and the growth scenario of the virtual pet can be composed of growth events of a plurality of generations, and the contents of the growth scenario can be diversified.

In the determination of compatibility, the lower the degree of coincidence between the feature quantity measured from one face image data and the feature quantity measured from the other face image data, the better the compatibility may be determined. .

In addition, for example, the color of clothes can be extracted as a feature amount from the image portion of the clothes included in the input face image data, and the feature amount of the clothes can be included in the compatibility determination element.

Further, priorities of the face parts are added to the image data stored in the face part database 18b, and the face parts of the face parts selected for each of the two face image data determined to have good compatibility are added. Of the image data, the face shape data of the virtual pet may be created using the image data of the face part having the higher priority.

In addition, one of the two face image data to be compared is stored in advance as the face image data of the main operator of the virtual pet breeding apparatus, and only the other face image data is newly imaged. It may be.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the present invention is applied to a virtual pet breeding apparatus dedicated to virtual pet breeding work, but the processing shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is executed. The present invention can be similarly implemented in a general-purpose personal computer or the like by recording a program for recording on a recording medium such as a CDROM. In this case, it is necessary to equip the personal computer with a camera for capturing the operator's face image.

In the above-described embodiment, the face image data input unit 15 inputs the face image data picked up by the camera 8 to the control unit 11. However, the virtual pet breeding device of the present invention is connected to the control unit 11 via the communication means. May be arranged in a network, and face image data may be input from an external device included in the network via communication means.

[0048]

According to the first, third and fifth aspects of the present invention, the shape of the virtual pet is created based on the analysis result of the input face image data, so that the shape of the virtual pet can be changed according to the input face image data. Virtual pets that are different from each other in shape and that resemble the owner of the virtual pet can be displayed. It is possible to improve the companionship and make the operator have a sufficient attachment to the virtual pet.

According to the second, fourth and sixth aspects of the present invention, by displaying a virtual pet having a shape obtained by combining the features of a plurality of face image data, the growth status of the virtual pet can be changed to "marriage" or "childbirth". Can be included, and a virtual pet having a variety of shapes can be displayed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a virtual pet breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the virtual pet breeding device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage state of image data in an image database provided in the virtual pet breeding apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of measuring a feature amount of face image data and a method of selecting face part image data in a control unit of the virtual pet breeding apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit of the virtual pet breeding device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit of the virtual pet breeding device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a control unit of the virtual pet breeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Virtual pet breeding device 2-Display 8-Camera 11-Control unit 12-Display unit 14-Culture data input unit 15-Face image data input unit 16-Face image data analysis unit 17-Culture data storage unit 18-Image database 18a-display image database 18b-face parts database 19-shape data storage

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A virtual pet breeding device that receives input of breeding data related to breeding work of a virtual pet and displays the virtual pet in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data. An input unit, a face image data analysis unit that analyzes the face image data input from the face image data input unit, and a shape creation unit that creates a virtual pet shape based on the analysis result in the face image data analysis unit. A virtual pet breeding device characterized by being provided. 2. The virtual pet breeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shape creation unit creates a shape of a single virtual pet based on an analysis result of a plurality of face image data in the face image data analysis unit. 3. A virtual pet breeding device that receives input of breeding data relating to breeding work of a virtual pet and displays the virtual pet in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data. A virtual pet breeding method characterized by analyzing input face image data and creating a virtual pet shape based on the analysis result of the face image data. 4. A single virtual pet shape is created based on an analysis result of a plurality of input face image data.
The virtual pet breeding method according to 1. 5. A virtual pet breeding program record which records a program including a process of receiving input of breeding data relating to breeding work of a virtual pet and a process of displaying a virtual pet in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data. In the medium, a first process for receiving an input of face image data, a second process for analyzing the input face image data, and a third process for creating a virtual pet shape based on the analysis result of the face image data A virtual pet breeding program recording medium characterized by recording a program including: 6. A virtual pet breeding program according to claim 5, wherein said third processing is a program for generating a single virtual pet shape based on an analysis result of a plurality of face image data. Program recording medium.