Position calculation system, position calculation device, storage medium storing position calculation program, and position calculation method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10150033-B2
Application number	US-201113209756-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 15, 2011
Priority date	Aug 20, 2010
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

An example position calculation system calculates a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device. In the position calculation system, the position in the virtual space is calculated based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on a predetermined input surface of the controller device. More specifically, the position calculation system may calculate, as the position in the virtual space, a position on a surface which is determined in accordance with the attitude of the controller device in the virtual space, based on the input position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A position calculation system for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, comprising:
a processing system having at least one processor and configured to at least:
calculate the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

2. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , comprising the controller device and an information processing device, wherein:
the controller device is configured to:
detect an input position on the input surface;
output data for calculating the attitude; and
transmit outputted data to the information processing device; and

the information processing device configured to:
calculate the attitude of the controller device based on data outputted from the controller device; and
calculate the position in the virtual space based on the attitude and the input position.

3. The position calculation system according to claim 2 , wherein the controller device includes an inertial sensor.

4. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller device further comprises a display device, having at least the touch sensitive display surface, for displaying an image representing the virtual space.

5. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the processing system further configured to calculate, as the position in the virtual space, a position on the virtual surface which is determined in accordance with the attitude of the controller device in the virtual space, based on the input position.

6. The position calculation system according to claim 5 , wherein the processing system further configured to set the virtual surface so that the attitude of the virtual surface changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device.

7. The position calculation system according to claim 5 , wherein:
the controller device comprises:
a display device configured to display an image representing a virtual space including an area of the virtual surface; and
a touch panel provided on a screen of the display device,

the position on the virtual surface, which is calculated based on the input position, is calculated so that the input position on the touch panel and the position on the virtual surface coincide with each other on the screen.

8. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the processing system further configured to perform a predetermined process using the position in the virtual space associated with the input position as an input.

9. The position calculation system according to claim 8 , wherein the processing system further configured to identify one of a plurality of areas set in the virtual space that includes the position in the virtual space associated with the input position, and cause a predetermined sound output device to output a sound associated with the identified area.

10. The position calculation system according to claim 9 , wherein:
the plurality of areas are arranged in a generally arc shape;
the virtual surface is set in the virtual space so that the virtual surface moves along the plurality of areas in accordance with a change in the attitude of the controller device; and
a position on the virtual surface is calculated based on the input position.

11. The position calculation system according to claim 8 , wherein the processing system further configured to:
set the predetermined object in the virtual space;
generate an image representing the virtual space including the predetermined object as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device; and
perform the predetermined process when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of the predetermined object.

12. The position calculation system according to claim 11 , wherein the processing system further configured to:
generate, as an image to be displayed on a display device of the controller device, an image representing a partial region of the object so that the region changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device; and
generate, as an image to be displayed on another display device separate from the display device of the controller device, an image representing a larger region of the object than the partial region.

13. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the processing system further configured to:
place, in the virtual space, an object whose attitude is controlled so as to correspond to the attitude of the controller device; and
generate, as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device, an image representing the virtual space including the object.

14. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the controller device includes a display device for displaying keys arranged in the virtual space; and
when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of one of the keys, a predetermined sound output device outputs a sound associated with the key corresponding to the position.

15. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the virtual surface in the virtual space being movable along a first, a second, and a third axis based on the attitude of the controller device.

16. The position calculation system according to claim 1 , wherein the position in the virtual space along a first axis and a second axis is determined based on the input position on the input surface of the touch sensitive display surface of the controller device, and the position in the virtual space along a third axis is determined based on the attitude of the controller device.

17. A position calculation method for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, comprising:
calculating the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

18. The position calculation method according to claim 17 , wherein the position calculation method is carried out in a system including the controller device and an information processing device, the method further comprising:
detecting the input position on the input surface;
transmitting data of the input position and data for calculating the attitude to the information processing device;
calculating the attitude of the controller device based on the data for calculating the attitude; and
calculating the position in the virtual space based on the attitude and the input position.

19. The position calculation method according to claim 17 , further comprising displaying an image representing the virtual space on a display device of the controller device.

20. The position calculation method according to claim 17 , further comprising calculating, as the position in the virtua

Assignees

• Ohta Keizo
• Ito Jun
• Nintendo Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohta Keizo
• Ito Jun

Classifications

• A63F2300/1075

  using a touch screen · CPC title

• A63F2300/6669

  using a plurality of virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character change rooms · CPC title

• A63F13/428 Primary

  involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes · CPC title

• A63F2300/301

  using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller · CPC title

• A63F13/22

  Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment · CPC title