JPS63121389A - Stereoscopic picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To expand a displayed visibility angle by detecting the motion of a human eye ball and the motion of a human head, deciding a visual field direction, extracting the picture of an area in a sight line direction, and displaying it. CONSTITUTION:When the eye ball of a right eye 61 is faced to the center position 230 of the visual field, a photodiode array 110 detects a light from an LED light source 100 reflected by the eye ball, a detecting part 120 decides the direction of the right eye 61 according to the detection signal, and gives it to a sight line deciding part 160. Further, each of the detecting elements 172, 174, 176 of the detecting part 170 gives the detection signal to correspond to the direction of the head part 42 to the deciding part 160. The deciding part 160 synthesizes the directions of the eye ball and the head part, and decides a sight line direction, and gives it to a picture position detection circuit 150. The circuit 150 detects an area 210 surrounding the position 230 in the sight line direction, and gives it to a stereoscopic picture selection circuits 140, 141, then a signal, shown by the area 210 between picture signals 142, 143, is extracted, and is given to a monitor 20 for a left eye and the monitor 10 for the right eye. Then, the directions of the eye ball and of the head part being changed successively, the picture in the sight line direction is continuously displayed being scrolled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field J] This invention utilizes CRT monitors and C-spray monitors provided for the left eye and right eye, respectively, to display natural images and computer graphics. The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display device that displays images.

[Prior Art] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a conventional stereoscopic image display device. First, referring to FIG. 8, the configuration and operation of a conventional stereoscopic image display device will be described. CRT display monitor 10 for right eye and CRT for left eye
The display monitors 20 are arranged at regular intervals so that their display surfaces face each other, and there is a three-dimensional &! ! 30 are placed. The right eye CRT display monitor 10 receives a right eye image 13 from an image signal supply circuit 131 from a VTR, an image processing device, etc.
3 is supplied. Also, CRT 5 for left eye? -r The spray monitor 20 is supplied with VT from the image signal supply circuit 130.
A left eye image signal 132 from an image processing device or the like is supplied.

The right-eye CRT display monitor 10 displays the real image 11 based on the right-eye image signal 133, and the left-eye CRT display monitor 20 displays the real image 21 based on the left-eye image signal 132. These real images 11.21 are solid 1
The imaginary a 40 reflected by the stereoscopic mirror 30 can be viewed by the right eye 61 and the left eye 60 as a stereoscopic image. Note that the real image 11 displayed on the right eye CRT display monitor 10 and the real image 21 displayed on the left eye CRT display monitor 20 are the left eye 60.
And shielding plates 50, 51 and 52 are arranged to shield the right eye 61 from entering their field of view.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional stereoscopic image display device configured as described above, the left eye image signal 132 and the right eye image signal 133
display images with parallax of the human eye. However, in this scale-based stereoscopic image display device, the field of view in which stereoscopic images can be viewed is limited to that of the right-eye CRT.
However, there is a drawback that the display screen size is limited by the display screen size of the display monitor 10 and the left-eye CRT display monitor 2o. Therefore, in order to widen the field of view, a CRT display monitor with a large display screen is required, which has the disadvantage that it is difficult to miniaturize the monitor.

Therefore, the main objective of the present invention is to detect the movement of the human head and the movement of the line of sight, and thereby select and display images in the direction of the line of sight, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stereoscopic image display 5A device with a wide viewing angle for displaying stereoscopic images.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is a stereoscopic image display device that displays stereoscopic images using CRT display monitors numbered for left and right eyes, respectively. an image signal generating means for generating an image signal for individually displaying images with parallax of the eyes on left and right CRT display monitors; a first detection means for detecting;
a second detection means for detecting the movement of the human eyeball; a line-of-sight direction determining means for determining the line-of-sight direction of the eye based on the detection output of the first detection means and the detection output of the second detection means; iii* Among the images represented by the image signals generated from the signal generating means, the ! a selection means for selecting an area in the IAi direction; an image signal extraction means for extracting an image signal of the selected area from the image signal generated from the image signal generation means and providing it to the left and right CRT display monitors; and virtual image display means for displaying a three-dimensional image as a virtual image based on the respective images displayed on the left and right CRT display monitors based on the image signal obtained from the image. The system detects the movement of the human eyeballs and head to determine the direction of the line of sight, extracts an image of the area in the direction of the line of sight, and displays it on a CRT display monitor, making it possible to widen the display viewing angle. can.

[Embodiments of the invention] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in Fig. 1, the CRT for the right eye
Display monitor 10° CRT display monitor for left eye 20. The stereoscopic mirror 30 and the image signal supply circuits 130 and 131 are constructed in the same manner as described in FIG. 8 above.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, an LED light source 100, a photodiode array 110, an eyeball detection section 120 as a first detection means, a stereoscopic image selection circuit 140,
141, one image position detection circuit 150, and line of sight determination unit 16
0 and a head detection section 170 as second detection means. The LED light source 100 projects light onto the eyeball of the right eye 61, and the photodiode array 11
0 detects the light from the LED light source 100 reflected by the eyeball. The eyeball detection section 120 detects the movement of the eyeball based on the output of the photodiode array 110, and provides the detected and output signal to the line of sight discrimination section 160.

The head detection unit 170 detects the movement of the head of a person viewing a stereoscopic image, and the detection signal is sent to the line of sight discrimination unit 16.
Give to 0.

The line of sight determination unit 160 determines the line of sight direction of a person viewing a stereoscopic image based on the movement of the eyeballs detected by the eyeball detection unit 120 and the movement of the head detected by the head detection unit 170. The line-of-sight direction discrimination signal determined by the line-of-sight discriminator 160 is sent to the image position detection circuit 15.
given to 0.

mf! The A position detection circuit 150 detects the area to which the line of sight is determined by the line of sight discrimination unit 160, and sends the area detection signal to the stereoscopic image 12I selection circuit 140.
, 141. The left eye image signal @142 is given to the stereoscopic image selection circuit 140, and the stereoscopic image a selection circuit 141
A right eye signal 143 is given to the right eye. These image signals 142 and 143 display images with parallax between the left and right eyes, respectively, and have a larger number of pixels and are wider than the image signals 132 and 133 shown in FIG. 8 above. It displays an image with a field of view.

The α-body image selection circuit 140 extracts an image signal corresponding to the area detected by the image position detection circuit 150 from the image represented by the image signal 142, and supplies the image signal to rgJ path 1.
Supply to 30. Similarly, the stereoscopic image selection circuit 141
extracts the image signal of the area detected by the image position detection circuit 150 from the image represented by the image signal 143 and supplies it to the image signal supply circuit 131.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a head detection section that detects head movements shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example.
li! It is.

In FIG. 2, a helmet 171 is worn on the head of a person viewing a stereoscopic image, and a detection element 172 is attached to the top of the helmet 171. This detection element 172 is connected to another detection element 174 via an arm 173, and this connection element 174 is further connected to a detection element 176 attached to a wall surface via an arm 175.

The detection elements 172, 174, and 176 are composed of resistors, for example, and when the @ section moves in the x, y, and z directions, the dermatome moves IM on the resistor, and the X
, V*Z 7J directions are detected.

As another example of the head detection section 170, as shown in FIG. 3, the head may be imaged by a television camera 177, and the imaged output may be image-processed to detect the movement of the head. .

4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining a method of detecting the direction of the head by the head detection section shown in FIG. 1,
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the direction of the line of sight from the movement of the head and the movement of the eyeballs detected by the eyeball detection section and the head detection section.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, when a person is facing forward, the direction 40 in which the body 44 is facing and the direction 40 in which the head 42 is facing are shown.
and the direction 41 in which they are facing, and are perpendicular to the direction 43 parallel to the head 42, respectively. Fifth
As shown in the figure, when the head 42 is turned to the right, the head 42
The direction 41 of the body 44 and the direction 40 of the body 44 are at an angle 45.
This angle 45 is detected by the head detection section 170.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the direction 46 of the eyeball detected by the eyeball detection section 120 forms an angle 47 with respect to the direction 41 of the head 42 detected by the lEi section detection section 170. . The direction of the line of sight, which is a combination of the direction 41 of the head 42 and the direction 46 of the eyeballs, forms an angle 48 with respect to the direction 40 of the body 44, that is, the front direction. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6, if an image at a position shifted by an angle rx48 with respect to the front direction 4o is displayed, an image in the g2 line direction can be displayed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an image memory area for displaying a stereoscopic image.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, a specific operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Center position 230 of the visual field of the eyeball of the right eye 61 shown in FIG.
When the photodiode array 110 is directed toward the eye, the photodiode array 110 detects light reflected from the eyeball from the LED 3111; source 100;
The detection signal is given to the eyeball detection section 120. The eyeball detection unit 120 determines the direction in which the right eye 61 is facing in accordance with the detection signal from the photodiode array 110. A signal representing the direction in which the eyeball is facing, detected by the eyeball detection section 120, is given to the line of sight discrimination section 160.

On the other hand, each detection element 172° 174J of the head detection unit 170
3 and 176 output a detection signal according to the direction of the head 42σ and provide it to the line of sight determination unit 160. As shown in FIG. 6 in the museum's description, the line of sight determination unit 160 combines the direction of the eyeballs and the direction of the head to determine the direction of the line of sight, and sends the discrimination signal to the image position detection circuit 150. give. If the line of sight direction is toward the center position 230, the image position detection circuit 150 detects the area 210 surrounding the center position 230,
The detection signal is given to stereoscopic image selection circuits 140 and 141.

The stereoscopic image selection circuits 140 and 141 receive image signals 142 and 1
43, the image shown in the area 210 (Ij is exposed to oil, and the left eye C
It is applied to the RT display monitor 20 and the CRT display monitor 10 for the right eye. As a result, the right-eye CRT display monitor 10j3 and the left-eye CRT display monitor 20' display an image surrounded by the area 210.

Next, if the line-of-sight direction that is a combination of the direction of the eyeballs and the direction of the head is in the direction of arrow 340 in FIG. Based on this, the line of sight direction is determined. and,
The image position detection circuit 150 detects the area 21 that has moved in the direction of the arrow 340 based on the discrimination output of the line of sight discrimination section rR120.
Detect the image position of 0. Stereo image selection circuit 140,1
41 is based on the detection signal of the image position detection port 150,
The image signal of the area 210 that has moved in the direction of the arrow 340 is extracted and sent to the left eye CRT, C spray monitor 20 and right eye CRT via the image signal supply circuits 130 and 131.
to the display monitor 10. Therefore, the right-eye CRT display monitor 10 and the left-eye CRT display monitor 20 display an image of the area 210 that has moved in the direction of the arrow 340.

Note that if the direction J3 of the eyeballs and the direction of the head are sequentially changed □, the images from the area 210 including the initial line of sight direction to the area where the line of sight is finally directed are continuously scrolled and displayed. That will happen.

In addition, the direction in which the eyeballs are facing and the direction in which the head is facing are omitted.
40 directions! ,' but also within the region 200, the arrow 3
10, 320, 330 and diagonal directions, it is also possible to display images in any direction.

Furthermore, based on the direction the eyeball is facing and the direction the 00 part is facing, <? Even if the JAi direction moves in all directions, the area of the image corresponding to the viewing direction can be continuously followed.

Therefore, if the area 200 is configured in the same way as the range to which the line of sight is directed, the field of view will not be restricted no matter what direction the line of sight moves.

J3, in the embodiment shown in FIG. The fjj movement of the eyeball may be detected using a camera or the like, and the present invention can be realized using any other method of detecting the movement of the eyeball.

Furthermore, even if the image signal supplied to the stereoscopic image selection circuits 140 and 141 is a moving image of scene A in terms of time, it can be displayed in the same way.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the direction of the line of sight is determined by detecting the movement of the human eyeballs and the movement of the head, and the direction of the line of sight is detected in the i region of the image signal. ii The image signal is extracted and applied to the left and right CRT display monitors to display a 3D image, so the display viewing angle can be expanded without the 3D image display area being obstructed as in the past. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the head detection means shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the head detection section. FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining a method for detecting the orientation of the head by the head detection section. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the line of sight direction based on the direction of the eyeball and the direction of the head detected by the eyeball detection section and the head detection section. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of displaying an image toward which the line of sight is directed. FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional stereoscopic image display device. In the figure, 10 is a CRT display monitor for the right eye;
21.21 is a real image, 20 is a CRT display monitor for the left eye, 30 is a stereo mirror, 40 is a virtual image, 50.51.52 is a shielding plate, 60 is a left eye, 61 is a right eye, 100 is an LED light source, 110 is a photodiode array , 120 is an eyeball detection section, 130 and 131 are 1iIi image signal supply circuits, 140
．． 141 is a three-dimensional image selection circuit, 142 and 143 are image signals, 150 is an image position detection circuit, 160 is an 82-line discrimination section, and 170 is a head detection section. Patent applicant: A.T.R. Haku Co., Ltd. Figure 4
Ya 5 Diagram 6 Condolence Diagram

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A stereoscopic image display device that displays a stereoscopic image using CRT display monitors provided respectively for the left eye and for the right eye, each of which displays an image with parallax for the left and right eyes. image signal generating means for generating an image signal to be individually displayed on a CRT display monitor; a second detection means for detecting the movement of the eyeball; a line-of-sight direction determining means for determining the line-of-sight direction of the eye based on the detection output of the first detection unit and the detection output of the second detection unit; Selection means for selecting an area in the line of sight direction of the image represented by the image signal generated by the image signal generating means, in accordance with the line of sight direction of the eye determined by the direction determining means; an image signal extracting means for extracting an image signal of the area selected by the selecting means from the image signal generated from the means and applying it to the left and right CRT display monitors; and an image signal extracted by the image signal extracting means. Based on the respective images displayed on the left and right CRT display monitors,
Equipped with virtual image display means for displaying a three-dimensional image as a virtual image,
Stereoscopic image display device. (2) The image signal extracting means is configured to extract the image signal every time the line of sight direction of the eye changes continuously and the discriminating means discriminates the change.
Claim 1, wherein image signals from a determined line-of-sight direction area to a next determined line-of-sight direction area are continuously extracted and scroll-displayed on the left and right CRT display monitors. The stereoscopic image display device described above. (3) The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, further comprising a shielding means for shielding the real images displayed on the left and right CRT display monitors from directly entering the field of view of the left and right eyes. .