WO2016163183A1

WO2016163183A1 - Head-mounted display system and computer program for presenting real space surrounding environment of user in immersive virtual space

Info

Publication number: WO2016163183A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/056686
Authority: WO
Inventors: 栗原秀行
Original assignee: 株式会社コロプラ
Priority date: 2015-04-08
Filing date: 2016-03-03
Publication date: 2016-10-13
Also published as: JP2016198180A; JP5869712B1

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is, when a user is wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) and is immersed in a three-dimensional virtual space, to present, within the three-dimensional virtual space, information of a surrounding environment in real space, such that the user may sense a surrounding real space environment. This HMD system comprises: an HMD which a user wears, which displays a virtual space image which is generated on the basis of virtual space information, and which immerses the user in a virtual space; a realtime camera which generates an image of the user's real space surroundings; and a computer which is connected to the HMD and the realtime camera, said computer being configured to acquire the image of the surroundings from the realtime camera, use the acquired image of the surroundings to sense the surrounding real space environment, and output information relating to the surrounding environment to the HMD in association with the virtual space information.

Description

Head-mounted display system and computer program for presenting a user's surrounding environment in an immersive virtual space

According to the present invention, in a situation where a user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) on the head and is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space, information related to the surrounding environment of the real space is displayed on the HMD in association with the three-dimensional virtual space. The present invention relates to a head mounted display system including a computer to be controlled by the computer, and a computer program for causing the computer to function.

There is known an HMD that is mounted on the user's head and can present an immersive three-dimensional virtual space image to the user by a display or the like disposed in front of the eyes. In particular, with an HMD as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a 360-degree panoramic image can be displayed in a three-dimensional virtual space. Such an HMD typically includes various sensors (for example, an angle sensor or an angle sensor) and measures posture data of the HMD main body. In particular, it is possible to change the line-of-sight direction of the panoramic image according to information on the rotation angle of the head. That is, when the user wearing the HMD rotates his / her head, it is possible to change the viewing direction of the panoramic image of 360 degrees. Such an HMD increases a sense of immersion in the video world and improves entertainment properties for the user.

JP 2013-258614 A

However, the user can understand the environment around him / herself in real space as the user feels more immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space by wearing a non-transparent HMD that completely covers the user's field of view. Disappear. For example, even if there is another person close to the user wearing the HMD, the user often does not notice the presence.

Suppose each screen example shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a three-dimensional virtual space in which the user is immersed. For example, FIG. 1A shows a screen used in a virtual multi-display application in which a plurality of virtual televisions are arranged in a predetermined view area in a three-dimensional virtual space. FIG. 1B is a screen used in an action-type RPG game application in which a user character moves around in a three-dimensional virtual space plane and battles an enemy character.

The present invention presents information on the surrounding environment in the three-dimensional virtual space so that the user can detect the surrounding environment in the real space when the user is wearing the HMD and is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space. The purpose is to inform the user.

In order to solve the above problems, a head-mounted display (HMD) system according to the present invention displays a virtual space image generated based on virtual space information and immerses the user in the virtual space. An HMD that generates a peripheral image of a real space of the user, and a computer connected to the HMD and the real-time camera, and acquires the peripheral image from the real-time camera and uses the acquired peripheral image And a computer configured to detect the surrounding environment of the real space and output information related to the surrounding environment to the HMD in association with the virtual space information.

In the HMD system, the detection of the surrounding environment using the surrounding image includes detection by human face recognition on the surrounding image, and the output of information on the surrounding environment includes notification of the number of people in the surrounding environment. . Further, the output of information related to the surrounding environment includes displaying the real space video from the real time camera on the HMD as a part of the virtual space image by displaying the video on the virtual display provided in the virtual space. In addition, the output of information related to the surrounding environment includes superimposing the character image on the virtual space image so that the character corresponding to the person is placed in the virtual space.

In the computer program for presenting a user's surrounding environment in an immersive virtual space according to the present invention, a real-time camera and a head-mounted display (HMD) are connected to the computer. A peripheral image acquisition unit that acquires a peripheral image of the real space, an environment detection unit that detects the peripheral environment of the real space using the acquired peripheral image, and outputs information about the detected peripheral environment to the HMD in association with the virtual space information The above-mentioned computer is made to function as an output unit.

According to the present invention, a real-time camera for photographing a surrounding environment in a real space is presented as a surrounding environment detection sensor, particularly a human detection sensor by presenting information on the surrounding environment in the real space in a three-dimensional virtual space. It is possible for a user who is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space to detect a change in his / her surrounding environment without removing the HMD.

FIG. 1 is an example of a display screen implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an HMD system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary orthogonal coordinate system in a real space defined around the head of the user wearing the HMD shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of detection points virtually provided on the HMD, which are detected by the position tracking camera. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for presenting a user's surrounding environment in real space in an immersive virtual space according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram relating to the control circuit unit in the HMD system shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is an exemplary process flow diagram for detecting the surrounding environment of a user according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an exemplary process flow diagram for detecting the surrounding environment of a user according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a screen example of the first embodiment relating to the presentation of the user's surrounding environment in the real space with respect to the immersive virtual space. FIG. 10 is a screen example of the second embodiment regarding the presentation of the user's surrounding environment in the real space with respect to the immersive virtual space. FIG. 11 is a screen example of the second embodiment relating to presentation of the user's surrounding environment in the real space with respect to the immersive virtual space. FIG. 12 is a screen example of the second embodiment regarding the presentation of the user's surrounding environment in the real space with respect to the immersive virtual space.

Hereinafter, a head-mounted display system and a computer program for presenting a user's surrounding environment in an immersive virtual space according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 2 is an overall schematic diagram of an HMD system 100 using a head-mounted display (hereinafter referred to as “HMD”) in order to execute a computer program according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, the HMD system 100 includes an HMD main body 110, a computer (control circuit unit) 120, a position tracking camera 130, and a real-time camera 140.

The HMD 110 includes a display 112 and a sensor 114. The display 112 is a non-transmissive display device configured to completely cover the user's field of view, and the user observes only the image displayed on the display 112. Since the user wearing the non-transmissive HMD 110 loses all of the outside field of view, the display mode is such that the user is completely immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space displayed on the display 112 by the application executed in the control circuit unit 120. .

The sensor 114 included in the HMD 110 is fixed near the display 112. The sensor 114 includes a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, and / or a tilt (angle, gyro) sensor, and detects various movements of the HMD 110 (display 112) mounted on the user's head through one or more of them. Can do. Especially in the case of an angle sensor, as shown in FIG. 4, according to the movement of the HMD 110, the angle around the three axes of the HMD 110 is detected over time, and the time change of the angle (tilt) around each axis is determined. Can do.

Therefore, the angle information data that can be detected by the tilt sensor will be specifically described with reference to FIG. As illustrated, XYZ coordinates are defined around the head of the user wearing the HMD. The vertical direction in which the user stands upright is the Y axis, the direction orthogonal to the Y axis and connecting the center of the display 112 and the user is the Z axis, and the axis in the direction orthogonal to the Y axis and the Z axis is the X axis. In the tilt sensor, an angle around each axis, specifically, a yaw angle indicating rotation about the Y axis, a pitch angle indicating rotation about the X axis, and a roll angle indicating rotation about the Z axis Is detected, and the motion detection unit 220 determines angle (tilt) information data as view information based on the change over time.

2, the computer (control circuit unit) 120 included in the HMD system 100 is connected to the position tracking camera 130 and the real-time camera 140. And it functions as a control circuit device for immersing the user wearing the HMD into the three-dimensional virtual space and performing an operation based on the three-dimensional virtual space. As illustrated, the control circuit unit 120 may be configured as hardware different from the HMD 110. The hardware can be a computer such as a personal computer or a server computer via a network. That is, although not shown, any computer including a CPU, a main memory, an auxiliary memory, a transmission / reception unit, a display unit, and an input unit connected to each other by a bus can be used. Alternatively, the control circuit unit 120 may be mounted inside the HMD 110 as a visual field adjustment device. In this case, the control circuit unit 120 can implement all or part of the functions of the visual field adjustment device. When only a part is implemented, the remaining functions may be implemented on the HMD 110 side or on a server computer (not shown) side via a network.

Furthermore, the position tracking camera 130 provided in the HMD system 100 is communicably connected to the control circuit unit 120 and has a position tracking function of the HMD 110. The position tracking camera 130 is realized using an infrared sensor and / or a plurality of optical cameras. The HMD system 100 includes a position tracking camera 130, and detects the position of the HMD of the user's head, thereby determining the position of the HMD in the real space and the virtual space position of the virtual camera / immersive user in the three-dimensional virtual space. It is possible to identify and associate accurately.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the position tracking camera 130 is virtually provided on the HMD 110, and the real space positions of a plurality of detection points that detect infrared rays are used as the user's movements. Corresponding detection over time. Then, based on the temporal change in the real space position detected by the position tracking camera 130, the position of the HMD in the real space and the virtual camera / immersive user virtual space in the three-dimensional virtual space according to the movement of the HMD 110. The position can be accurately associated and specified. In the embodiment of the present invention, the position tracking camera 130 is an optional component. When the position tracking camera 130 is not used, the user is always arranged at the center (origin) in the three-dimensional virtual space.

2 again, the real-time camera 140 provided in the HMD system 100 captures and generates a real-time peripheral image of the user's real space, and stores the generated image in real time or at regular intervals. The real-time camera may be a stereo camera that can record information in the depth direction by simultaneously photographing the surrounding environment from a plurality of different directions. The real-time camera 140 has an interface such as USB or IEEE1394, and can transfer real-time images to the connection destination computer 120. In particular, a network camera, particularly a web camera, having a network interface and being locally / globally accessible via wired / wireless communication is preferable.

Now, with reference to FIG. 5 and subsequent drawings, each information processing for presenting the surrounding environment of the user in the real space in the immersive virtual space according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for displaying information related to the surrounding environment of the real space on the HMD in association with the three-dimensional virtual space in order to present the surrounding environment of the user in the real space in the immersive virtual space.

As shown in the figure, the real-time camera 140 is installed on the upper part of the display of the computer 120, and the user 1 is placed with the HMD 110 attached so as to face it. The three-dimensional image displayed on the user's HMD is simultaneously displayed on the display of the computer 120 as a two-dimensional image. Then, another two people (2, 3) are present at a close distance of the user 1 so as to look into the display of the computer 120. At this stage, since the HMD user 1 is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space, the HMD user 1 cannot observe the state of the real space and has not yet noticed the existence of the people 2 and 3.

The HMD system according to the embodiment of the present invention notifies the HMD user 1 of the existence of the persons 2 and 3 by displaying information on the persons 2 and 3 in association with the three-dimensional virtual space on the HMD. More specifically, first, (i) the computer acquires an image of the real-time camera 140 in which the people 2 and 3 are reflected, and detects the people 2 and 3 from the images using a face recognition program. Next, (ii) according to the number of detected persons, for example, by displaying characters in a three-dimensional virtual space, the HMD user 1 is notified of the presence of two persons. As the face recognition / detection function in the face recognition program in (i) above, those known to those skilled in the art may be used, and description thereof is omitted here. Even if the face recognition is used, the HMD user 1 is not detected as a human face because the upper half of the face is hidden by the HMD.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration of main functions of components related to the control circuit unit 120 of FIG. 2 in order to implement information processing for presenting the surrounding environment of the user in the real space in the immersive virtual space according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. The control circuit unit 120 mainly receives an input from the sensor 114/130, processes the input together with the peripheral image acquired from the real-time camera 140, and outputs the input to the HMD (display) 112. The control circuit unit 120 mainly includes a motion detection unit 210, a visual field determination unit 220, a visual field image generation unit 230, a peripheral image acquisition unit 250, an environment detection unit 260, and a spatial image superimposition unit 270. And it is comprised so that various information may be processed by interacting with various tables, such as the space information storage part 280 which stored virtual space information.

The motion detection unit 210 determines various types of motion data of the HMD 110 worn on the user's head based on the input of motion information measured by the sensor 114/130. In the embodiment of the present invention, in particular, position information detected over time is determined by inclination (angle) information detected over time by an inclination sensor (gyro sensor) 114 included in the HMD. In the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the use of the position tracking camera 130 is arbitrary, and when not used, the user is always arranged at the center (origin) in the three-dimensional virtual space. Will do.

In the field of view determination unit 220, the position and direction of the virtual camera arranged in the three-dimensional virtual space based on the three-dimensional virtual space information stored in the spatial information storage unit 280 and the tilt information detected by the motion detection unit 210. And a field of view from the virtual camera is determined. Further, in order to display the three-dimensional virtual space image on the HMD, the view image generation unit 230 generates a partial view image of a 360-degree panorama for the view area determined by the view determination unit 220 using the virtual space information. can do. It is to be noted that the field-of-view image can be displayed on the HMD like a three-dimensional image by generating two two-dimensional images for the left eye and for the right eye and superimposing these two in the HMD. .

On the other hand, the peripheral image acquisition unit 250 captures peripheral images continuously captured by the real-time camera 140 into the storage unit. Then, the environment detection unit 260 detects the surrounding environment in the real space, particularly “changes” in the surrounding environment, using the respective surrounding images acquired by the surrounding image acquisition unit 250. More specifically, it is possible to detect the presence of a human face, particularly the increase or decrease in the number of people, from a peripheral image using a face recognition program. It should be understood that the execution of the face recognition program may be executed not as a function implemented on the control circuit unit 120 side but as a function implemented on the real-time camera 140 side.

The spatial image superimposing unit (output unit) 270 outputs information related to the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit 260 to the HMD (display) 112 in association with the virtual space information stored in the spatial information storage unit 300. In outputting information about the surrounding environment, the number of detected people, that is, the number of people in the surrounding environment is notified in the three-dimensional virtual space, and / or the detected person is used as a three-dimensional character in the three-dimensional virtual space. Including superimposing these images on the spatial image and displaying them on the HMD 112 so as to arrange them.

However, the output of information related to the surrounding environment to the HMD is not limited to these. For example, when a real-time camera 140 that can acquire depth information such as a plurality of stereo cameras is adopted, the position information of the person to be detected can also be acquired. By using it, the positional relationship between the HMD user and the person in the three-dimensional virtual space can be included as information about the surrounding environment.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a processing flow for presenting the surrounding environment of the user in the real space in the immersive virtual space according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. This information processing mainly includes the interaction between the HMD 110 and the computer (control circuit unit) 120 (FIG. 7), and the interaction between the real-time camera 140, the HMD 110, and the computer (control circuit unit) 120. It is understood that this is implemented through (FIG. 8). FIG. 7 shows a processing flow in which the user changes the field of view in the immersive three-dimensional virtual space together with the user's HMD tilting operation as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). . On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows a processing flow in which information related to the detected surrounding environment of the real space is displayed on the HMD in association with the three-dimensional virtual space.

In FIG. 7, first, the HMD 110 constantly detects the movement of the user's head using the sensors 114/130 as in step S10-1. In response to this, the control circuit unit 120 determines the tilt information and position information of the HMD 110 by the motion detection unit 210. In step S20-1, the motion detection unit 210 determines the position of the virtual camera arranged in the three-dimensional virtual space based on the position information. In step S20-2, the motion detection unit 210 also determines the position of the virtual camera. The direction of the virtual camera is determined based on the tilt information. As described above, in the present embodiment, the position tracking camera 130 is not an essential component, and if it is not provided, step S20-1 is omitted and the position information need not be determined. .

Subsequently, in step S20-3, the visual field determination unit 220 determines the visual field region from the virtual camera in the three-dimensional virtual space based on the position and orientation of the virtual camera and the predetermined viewing angle of the virtual camera. In step S20-4, the visual field image generation unit 230 generates a visual field image for the determined visual field region for display on the HMD 112. Next, the process proceeds to step S10-2, and the field-of-view image generated in step S20-4 is displayed on the display 112 of the HMD.

Steps S10-1, S20-1 to S20-4, and then S10-2 are a series of basic processing routines, and these steps are basically repeatedly processed during execution of the application. As a normal operation mode, a user who is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space can view the field of view of the three-dimensional virtual space from various positions and directions through the operation of tilting his / her head. On the other hand, along with such a basic processing routine, the peripheral image acquisition unit 250 of the control circuit unit 120 regularly acquires a peripheral image from the real-time camera 140 in order to detect a person in the peripheral environment. FIG. 8 shows a processing flow for displaying the information related to the detected surrounding environment of the real space on the HMD in association with the three-dimensional virtual space.

In step S30-1, peripheral images are continuously generated through continuous camera shooting by the real-time camera 140. Accordingly, in step S20-5, a peripheral image is acquired by the peripheral image acquisition unit 250 of the control circuit unit 120, and in step S20-6, the peripheral environment is acquired using the peripheral image acquired by the environment detection unit 260. Is detected. In particular, it detects changes in the surrounding environment. Specifically, the face recognition function for the image is used to detect the people and the number of people present in the vicinity. In particular, when the number of people increases or decreases, it can be determined that the surrounding environment has changed, and it is advantageous to notify the user of the change.

If a person is detected by the environment detection unit 260 in step S20-7, the process continues to step S20-8. In step S20-8, the spatial image superimposing unit 270 generates information based on the surrounding environment and / or a corresponding image, and associates the information and / or image with the virtual space information stored in the virtual space information storage unit 300. In step S10-3, the information is displayed on the HMD 110. It should be understood that the information based on the surrounding environment includes, but is not limited to, the number of persons and character information.

The display on the HMD 110 in step S10-3 will be described below using some examples shown in FIGS. Here, as a specific display mode, FIG. 9 shows the first embodiment, and FIGS. 10 to 12 show the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a screen displayed by the virtual multi-display application shown in FIG. And it is an example in the case of one person specified by face recognition. As shown in the figure, a message “There is one viewer.” Is displayed in the three-dimensional virtual space here (upper center of the screen). At the same time, in FIG. 9, the real space video from the real time camera is displayed as it is in the central portion that is the virtual main display, and is displayed on the HMD as a part of the virtual space image. That is, the situation where one person exists behind the HMD user and the face is photographed / detected by the real-time camera is displayed as it is in the three-dimensional virtual space and displayed on the HMD. In the first embodiment, in this way, a user who is immersed in the three-dimensional virtual space can detect a change in the surrounding environment such as the presence of a person in the vicinity of the user even when the HMD is worn without being removed. Become. That is, in this embodiment, a real-time camera can be applied as a human detection sensor.

10 to 12, when a person is detected using a real-time camera, the character image is superimposed on the virtual space image and displayed on the HMD so that the character corresponding to the person is placed in the three-dimensional virtual space. This is a second embodiment configured as described above. When a human face is detected in real space by a real-time camera, the area of the detected human face on the surrounding image (for example, the right / left, upper right / lower right / upper left / lower left area, etc. on the image) ) Or at the same time. In the three-dimensional virtual space, the “bear” character corresponding to the person moves from the direction corresponding to the area (for example, left / right, upper right / lower right / upper left / lower left). The character image is superimposed on the virtual space image so as to be reflected and displayed on the HMD. In the example of FIG. 10, since there is a person in the left direction as viewed from the real-time camera as shown in FIG. 9, the “bear” character corresponding to the person moves from left to right (arrow). It is better to display it on the HMD so that it is reflected.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are examples of displaying two “Kuma” characters reflected while moving in this way on the HMD, and the HMD user is in the vicinity of two people in the vicinity of himself / herself. Changes in the environment can be detected with the HMD attached. 11 shows a front view of the “Kuma” character, and FIG. 12 shows a rear view.

As described above, the embodiment of presenting the surrounding environment of the user in the real space in the immersive virtual space according to the present invention has been described together with some examples, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications of the embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

100 HMD system 110 HMD
112 Display 114 Tilt sensor (gyro sensor)
120 Computer (Control circuit part)
130 Position tracking camera 140 Real-time camera 210 Motion detection unit 220 View determination unit 230 View image generation unit 250 Peripheral image acquisition unit 260 Environment detection unit 270 Spatial image superimposition (output) unit 280 Spatial information storage unit

Claims

A head mounted display (HMD) worn by the user, displaying a virtual space image generated based on the virtual space information, and immersing the user in the virtual space;
A real-time camera that generates a peripheral image of the user's real space;
A computer connected to the HMD and the real-time camera,
The peripheral image is acquired from the real-time camera, the peripheral environment of the real space is detected using the acquired peripheral image, and information related to the peripheral environment is output to the HMD in association with the virtual space information. And a computer
The detection of the surrounding environment using the peripheral image includes detection of a person with respect to the peripheral image,
Output of information related to the surrounding environment, in accordance with a change in the surrounding environment of the real space due to the detection of the person, notifying the number of people detected for the surrounding environment in the virtual space; and At the same time, the real space video from the real time camera is displayed on the HMD as a part of the virtual space image by displaying it on a specific one of a plurality of virtual displays provided in the virtual space. An HMD system configured to include:
The HMD system according to claim 1, wherein the human detection includes detection by face recognition.
The HMD system according to claim 1, wherein the output of information related to the surrounding environment includes superimposing a character image on the virtual space image so that a character corresponding to the person is placed in the virtual space.
The HMD system according to claim 3,
Detecting the surrounding environment includes identifying an area of the person's face on the surrounding image;
An HMD system that superimposes the character image on the virtual space image so that an output of information related to the surrounding environment is reflected while the character moves from a direction corresponding to the specified area in the virtual space.
A computer program for presenting a user's surrounding environment in an immersive virtual space, with a real-time camera and a head-mounted display (HMD) connected to the computer,
A peripheral image acquisition unit that acquires a peripheral image of the real space of the user from the real-time camera;
An environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the real space using the acquired surrounding image;
Causing the computer to function as an output unit that outputs the information about the detected surrounding environment to the HMD in association with the virtual space information;
The detection of the surrounding environment using the peripheral image includes detection of a person with respect to the peripheral image,
Output of information related to the surrounding environment, in accordance with a change in the surrounding environment of the real space due to the detection of the person, notifying the number of people detected for the surrounding environment in the virtual space; and At the same time, the real space video from the real time camera is displayed on the HMD as a part of the virtual space image by displaying it on a specific one of a plurality of virtual displays provided in the virtual space. A computer program configured to include:
The computer program according to claim 5, wherein the detection of the person includes detection by face recognition.
The computer program according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the output of information related to the surrounding environment includes superimposing a character image on the virtual space image so that a character corresponding to the person is placed in the virtual space.