U.S. patent application number 11/519222 was filed with the patent office on 2007-06-07 for input device and method for shooting games.
This patent application is currently assigned to Industrial Technology Research Institute. Invention is credited to Shyang-Jye Chang, Zhi-Wei Lian, Shun-Nan Liou, Ming-Jye Tsai.
Application Number | 20070129152 11/519222 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38119511 |
Filed Date | 2007-06-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070129152 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tsai; Ming-Jye ; et
al. |
June 7, 2007 |
Input device and method for shooting games
Abstract
An input device and method for shooting games, which comprises
at least an inertial sensing module, for detecting the aiming
gesture of an user and issuing a gesture signal according to the
detection; a switch unit, capable of issuing an on/off signal for
simulating a shooting; a signal processing unit, capable of
receiving the gesture signal and the on/off signal and converting
those received signals into a target control signal and other
control signals in respective; and a wireless transmission module;
wherein, the target control signal and other control signals are
transmitted to an electronic device interactive to the input device
for controlling the aiming and shooting of a target displayed on
the interactive electronic device.
Inventors: |
Tsai; Ming-Jye; (Xinpu Town,
TW) ; Chang; Shyang-Jye; (Xindian City, TW) ;
Liou; Shun-Nan; (Kaohsiung City, TW) ; Lian;
Zhi-Wei; (Xindian City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BRUCE H. TROXELL;SUITE 1404
5205 LEESBURG PIKE
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22041
US
|
Assignee: |
Industrial Technology Research
Institute
|
Family ID: |
38119511 |
Appl. No.: |
11/519222 |
Filed: |
September 12, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/49 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 13/24 20140902;
A63F 2009/2488 20130101; A63F 9/0291 20130101; A63F 13/04 20130101;
A63F 2300/1031 20130101; A63F 13/211 20140902; A63F 13/235
20140902; A63F 13/219 20140901; A63F 13/837 20140902; A63F 2300/105
20130101; A63F 13/06 20130101; F41A 33/02 20130101; A63F 13/213
20140902 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/049 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/02 20060101
A63F009/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 1, 2005 |
TW |
094142288 |
Claims
1. An input device for a shooting game, comprising: an inertial
sensing module, for detecting a gesture movement of a user while
generating a gesture signal accordingly; a switch unit, for
generating an on/off signal; a control unit, connected to the
inertial sensing module and the switch, for receiving and
processing the gesture signal and the on/off signal and processing
those received signals into an aiming signal; and a wireless
transmission module, connected to the control unit, for
transmitting the aiming signal to an interactive device.
2. The input device of claim 1, wherein the inertial sensing module
further comprises an accelerometer for sensing rotation in free
space.
3. The input device of claim 2, wherein the accelerometer is
capable of executing a differential method to compute angular
accelerations while integrating the same to obtain angular
velocities as it is used to detect the gesture movement of the
user.
4. The input device of claim 1, wherein the control unit further
comprises a signal processing unit, capable of converting and
encoding a control signal generated by the control unit into the
aiming signal while transmitting the aiming signal back to the
control unit.
5. The input device of claim 4, wherein the control unit and the
signal processing unit can be integrated into a chip.
6. The input device of claim 1, wherein the input device further
comprises a casing for the switch unit to be fitted thereon while
exposing the switch unit outside the casing to be operable
externally.
7. The input device of claim 6, wherein the outlook of the casing
can be formed into a shape similar to a gun.
8. The input device of claim 6, wherein the outlook of the casing
can be formed into a shape similar to a computer mouse.
9. The input device of claim 6, wherein the outlook of the casing
can be formed into a shape similar to a remote control.
10. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device is
a television set.
11. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device is
a computer.
12. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device is
a video game platform.
13. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device
further comprises a displaying device and the displaying device is
a computer monitor.
14. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device
further comprises a displaying device and the displaying device is
a television monitor.
15. The input device of claim 1, wherein the interactive device
further comprises a displaying device and the displaying device is
a projector.
16. An input method for a shooting game, comprising steps of: (a)
detecting a gesture movement of an user and thus issuing a gesture
signal according to the detection; (b) enabling a switch unit to
issue an on/off signal; (c) fetching the gesture signal and the
on/off signal for processing those received signals into an aiming
signal; and (d) transmitting the aiming signal to an interactive
device.
17. The input method of claim 16, wherein the gesture signal
further comprises: a first-axis acceleration signal measured with
respect to a first axis of a space; a second-axis acceleration
signal measured with respect to a second axis of the space; a
first-axis rotation signal measured with respect to the first axis
of the space; a second-axis rotation signal measured with respect
to the second axis of the space; and a third-axis rotation signal
measured with respect to a third axis of the space.
18. The input method of claim 17, wherein the first-axis
acceleration signal further comprises: a first acceleration signal
and a second acceleration signal.
19. The input method of claim 18, further comprising a step of:
performing a differential operation upon the first acceleration
signal and the second acceleration signal for obtaining the
third-axis rotation signal.
20. The input method of claim 16, wherein the transmission of step
(d) is performed by a wireless transmission means.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an input device and method
for a shooting game, and more particularly, to an input device and
method capable of utilizing gesture signals detected by inertial
sensing modules for controlling the aiming and shooting of a target
displayed on any type of displaying device of a shooting game.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The "light gun" is so named because it uses light as its
method of detecting where on screen you are targeting, which is is
typically modeled on a ballistic weapon (usually a pistol) and is
used for targeting objects on a shooting video game. With force
feedback, the light gun can also simulate the recoil of the weapon.
The name leads one to believe that the gun itself emits a beam of
light, but in fact all light guns actually receive light through a
photoreceptor diode in the gun barrel. The diode uses light
reception to do its targeting, in conjunction with a timed
mechanism between the trigger of the gun and some rather smart
graphics programming.
[0003] The trick to the implimation of a light gun upon a shooting
game lies in the nature of the cathode ray tube (CRT) inside the
video monitor, that each frame of a conventional CRT TV is composed
of a plurality scan lines. Generally, one frame of a common CRT TV
is composed of 512 scan line whereas the CRT TV is capable of
displaying 30 frames per second, that is, the transmission
frequency adpoted by television stations is 512.times.30/sec. As
seen in FIG. 1, the screen S is drawn by a scanning electron beam
that travels across the screen S starting at the top until it hits
the end, and then moves down to update the next line. This is done
repeatedly until the entire screen S is drawn, and appears
instantaneous to the human eye as it is done very quickly. As the
light gun G of FIG. 1 is equipped with a photosensor D and a timer
T and when the player pulls the trigger of the light gun G while
aiming at the point A, the game brightens the entire screen S for a
split second, and the timer T times how long it takes the electron
beam to excite the phosphor at the point A the gun G is pointed at
as the excitation is detected by the photosensor D. The computer
controlling the light gun G then calculates the targeted position
based on the monitor's horizontal refresh rate (the fixed amount of
time it takes the beam to get from the left to right side of the
screen).
[0004] Comparing with other patents relating to light gun, most
R.O.C. patents emphosize on the improvement over the light gun's
outlook and circuit design as those shown in TW Pat. No. 90106273,
TW Pat. No. 86120085, and TW Pat. No. 85302961, etc. As to light
gun related patents of other countries, most of those are related
to the application of light gun in trapshooting video games or
shooting simulation. For instance, a pointing device for
controlling the position of a cursor on the display of a computer
is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,421, entitled "Gyroscope
Pointer and Method", which adopts a gyroscope to detect the
rotation movement of a hand holding the device in free space and
then converts the angular speed detected by the gyroscope into the
moving of the cursor on the display of the computer. However, the
aforesaid patent is short in competitiveness since the cost of
gyroscope can be very expensive. Moreover, in U.S. Pat. No.
6,545,661, entitled "Video Game System Having a Control Unit with
an Accelerometer for Controlling a Video Game", a control unit with
an accelerometer is provided, whereas the accelerometer is used for
sensing the tilt of the control unit with respect to an axis so as
to control the movement of a game character on the video display
accordingly. However, since the tilt sensed by the accelerometer is
not quite match to the actual aiming position of a user, the
accuracy of aiming is not as expected.
[0005] From the above description, it is noted that conventional
light gun can only be used in video monitor using cathode ray tube.
There are no patents relating to light gun can enable light guns to
be implemented on other types of video monitors. However, as the
advance of technology, CRT monitors are gradually being replaced by
LCDs, plasma displays or rear projectors that are not applicable to
conventional light guns as the image formation principle adopted by
those new generation monitors are not the same as that of CRT
monitor. Not to mention that it is not a easy job to play a
shooting game on CRT monitor using a light gun since additional
peripheral devices are required to be installed before the light
gun can be integrated to function with the CRt monitor.
Furthermore, as the conventional light gun will enable the game to
brighten the entire screen for a split second, i.e. to display a
all whit frame, it is prone to cause eye fatigue and eventually
damage the eyesight of a user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In view of the disadvantages of prior art, the primary
object of the present invention is to provide an input device and
method for a shooting game capable of utilizing an inertial sensing
modules to control the movement of a front sight displayed on all
types of displaying devices.
[0007] It is another object of the invention to provide an input
device and method for a shooting game, which employs accelerations
and gestures of hand movements of a user obtained by a means of
acceleration detection and a calculation algorithm to control the
movement of a front sight displayed on a displaying device so that
the user can effortlessly and directly aim at a target of the
shooting game by controlling the front sight to focus thereon.
[0008] Yet, another object of the invention to provide an input
device and method for a shooting game, that is inexpensive and
pleasing to the eye since it can be integrated with a computer
mouse with no need of other additional peripheral devices.
[0009] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides
an input device for a shooting game, comprising: [0010] an inertial
sensing module, for detecting a gesture movement of a user while
generating a gesture signal accordingly; [0011] a switch unit, for
generating an on/off signal; [0012] a control unit, connected to
the inertial sensing module and the switch for receiving and
processing the gesture signal of the inertial sensing module and
the on/off signal of the switch while processing those received
signals into an aiming signal; and [0013] a wireless transmission
module, connected to the control unit, for transmitting the aiming
signal.
[0014] Preferably, the inertial sensing module further comprises an
accelerometer for sensing rotation in free space.
[0015] Preferably, the accelerometer, capable of executing a
differential method to compute angular accelerations while
integrating the same to obtain angular velocities, is used to
detect the gesture of the user.
[0016] Preferably, the control unit further comprises a signal
processing unit, capable of converting and encoding a control
signal generated by the control unit into the aiming signal while
transmitting the aiming signal back to the control unit.
[0017] Preferably, the control unit and the signal processing unit
can be integrated into a chip.
[0018] Preferably, the input device further comprises a casing for
the switch unit to be fitted thereon while exposing the switch unit
outside the casing to be operable externally.
[0019] Preferably, the outlook of the casing can be formed into a
shape similar to a gun, a computer mouse or a remote control.
[0020] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides
an input method for a shooting game, comprising steps of: [0021]
(a) detecting a gesture movement of an user and thus issuing a
gesture signal according to the detection; [0022] (b) enabling a
switch unit to issue an on/off signal; [0023] (c) fetching the
gesture signal and the on/off signal for processing those received
signals into an aiming signal; and [0024] (d) transmitting the
aiming signal to an interactive device.
[0025] Preferably, the gesture signal is comprised of: a first-axis
acceleration signal measured with respect to a first axis of a
space; a second-axis acceleration signal measured with respect to a
second axis of the space; a first-axis rotation signal measured
with respect to the first axis of the space; a second-axis rotation
signal measured with respect to the second axis of the space; and a
third-axis rotation signal measured with respect to a third axis of
the space. Moreover, the first-axis acceleration signal further
comprises a first acceleration signal and a second acceleration
signal, whereas the third-axis rotation signal can be obtained by
performing a differential operation upon the first acceleration
signal and the second acceleration signal.
[0026] Preferably, the transmission of step (d) is performed by a
wireless transmission means.
[0027] Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of
example the principles of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the operation
principle of a conventional light gun.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an input device for a shooting
game according to the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 2A is a schematic view of an inertial sensing module
according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0031] FIG. 2B is a 3-D Cartesian coordinates defining three
angular velocities respectively for each coordinate, i.e. Wx, Wy,
and Wz, for an inertial sensing module of the invention.
[0032] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an input method for
shooting game according to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
[0033] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an input method for
shooting game according to another preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
[0034] FIG. 5A shows an input device according to a first preferred
embodiment of the invention.
[0035] FIG. 5B shows an input device according to a second
preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0036] FIG. 5C shows an input device according to a third preferred
embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0037] For your esteemed members of reviewing committee to further
understand and recognize the fulfilled functions and structural
characteristics of the invention, several preferable embodiments
cooperating with detailed description are presented as the
follows.
[0038] For clarification, the input device for shooting game
revealed in the present invention is designed to operate with an
interactive device, which can be a television set, a computer or a
video game platform. In addition, the displaying device adopted by
the interactive device can be a computer monitor, a television
monitor or a projector, etc. In a preferred embodiment of the
invention, the input device of the invention is housed in a
gun-shaped casing and is configured to operate corresponding to a
shooting game of an interactive device. When the player pulls the
trigger, a target displayed on the displaying device of the
interactive device was aimed and shot. Please refer to FIG. 2,
which is a block diagram of an input device for a shooting game
according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the input device 10
of the invention is comprised of an inertial sensing module 11, a
switch unit 12, a control unit 13, a signal processing unit 131,
and a wireless transmission module 14.
[0039] For enabling the inertial sensing module 11 to detect a
gesture of a user to generate a gesture signal accordingly and as
the gesture of the user operating the input device 10 can be
represented as a three-dimensional movement defined by a 3-D
Cartesian coordinates, i.e. X axis, Y axis and Z axis coordinates,
as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the inertial sensing module 11 is
comprised of two X-axis accelerometers X1, X2 for detecting
horizontal movements and a Y-axis accelerometer Y for detecting
vertical movements. Thereby, the accelerations .alpha..sub.x1,
.alpha..sub.x2 detected respectively by the two accelerometers X1,
X2 are differentiated and then integrated to calculate and obtain
an angular velocity .omega..sub.z, which can be utilized
cooperating with the accelerations .alpha..sub.y and the angular
velocity .omega..sub.x, detected by the accelerometer Y, and
accelerations .alpha..sub.x and the angular velocity .omega..sub.y,
detected by the accelerometer X1, or X2, for simulating the
shooting gestures of the user in free space.
[0040] The switch unit 12 is used for generating an on/off signal
to be recognized by the shooting game as a firing of a shot. In a
preferred aspect as the input device 10 is housed in a gun-shaped
casing, the switch unit 12 is the trigger part of the gun-shaped
casing. However, the arrangement of the switch unit 12 is not
limited thereby, it can be a press-button, or a joystick, that is
selected depending of the shape of the casing. The control unit 13
is used for receiving and processing the gesture signal and the
on/off signal and processing those received signal into a control
signal. The signal processing unit 131 is enabled to converting and
encoding the control signal generated by the control unit 13 into
an aiming signal suitable for the interactive device to receive
while transmitting the aiming signal back to the control unit 13.
It is noted that the control unit 13 and the signal processing unit
131 can be integrated into a chip, so that the overall size of the
input device 10 can be reduced. Moreover, the wireless transmission
module 14 is used for transmitting the aiming signal to the
interactive device.
[0041] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a flow chart illustrating
an input method for shooting game according to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 3, by the
input device disclosed above, an input method for shooting games 20
can be provided, which comprises steps of: [0042] step 21:
utilizing an inertial sensing module 11 for detecting a gesture
movement of an user and issuing a gesture signal according to the
detection; [0043] step 22: enabling a switch unit 12 to issue an
on/off signal; [0044] step 23: enabling a control unit 13 to fetch
the gesture signal and the on/off signal and then transmit a
control signal corresponding to those received signals to a signal
processing unit 131; [0045] step 24: enabling the signal processing
unit 131 to converting and encoding the control signal generated by
the control unit 13 into an aiming signal while transmitting the
aiming signal back to the control unit 13; and [0046] step 25:
utilizing a wireless transmission module 14 to transmit the aiming
signal to an interactive device.
[0047] In another preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4 as the
control unit 13 and the signal processing unit 131 is integrated
into a chip, another input method for shooting game 200 is
provided, which comprises steps of: [0048] step 210: utilizing an
inertial sensing module 11 for detecting a gesture movement of an
user and issuing a gesture signal according to the detection;
[0049] step 220: enabling a switch unit 12 to issue an on/off
signal; [0050] step 230: enabling a control unit 13 to fetch the
gesture signal and the on/off signal and then processing those
received signals into an aiming signal suitable for an interactive
device to receive; and [0051] step 240: utilizing a wireless
transmission module 14 to transmit the aiming signal to the
interactive device.
[0052] Please refer to FIG. 5A.about.FIG. 5C, which respectively
shows input devices according to three different preferred
embodiments of the invention. In FIG. 5A, the input device 100 is
housed in a gun-shaped casing 150, which is comprised of an
inertial sensing module 110, a switch unit 120, a control unit 130,
a signal processing unit 131, and a wireless transmission module
140. In FIG. 5B, the input device 102 is housed in a computer mouse
152, which is comprised of an inertial sensing module 112, a switch
unit of press-keys 122, a control unit 132 integrated with a signal
processing unit, and a wireless transmission module 142. In FIG.
5C, the input device 104 is housed in a remote control 154, which
is comprised of an inertial sensing module 114, a switch unit 124
of press-keys, a control unit 134 integrated with a signal
processing unit, and a wireless transmission module 144. It is
noted that all those switch units 120, 122, 124 are designed to be
fitted on the corresponding casing while exposing the switch unit
outside the casing to be operable externally. Moreover, except from
the aforesaid embodiments, the casing can be formed as a bow, a
hand-thrown weapon of the dart type, or a device of ball batting
type, etc., which is further matched with audio/video unit for
providing audio and video effects that are known to those skilled
in the art and is not described further herein.
[0053] To sum up, the input device and method for shooting games of
the invention is capable of utilizing an inertial sensing modules
to control the movement of a front sight displayed on all types of
displaying devices that it is not limited by CRT monitors as the
conventional light gun does. In addition, it employs accelerations
and gestures of hand movements of a user obtained by a means of
acceleration detection and a calculation algorithm to control the
movement of a front sight displayed on a displaying device so that
the user can effortlessly and directly aim at a target of the
shooting game by controlling the front sight to focus thereon.
Moreover, it is inexpensive and pleasing to the eye since it can be
integrated with a computer mouse with no need of other additional
peripheral devices.
[0054] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set
forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed
embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof
may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended
claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart
from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *