JP5460134B2 - Game device using face recognition function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game apparatus that recognizes the movement of a player's face and moves the player's own character in response to the movement of the player's face.

2. Description of the Related Art A game machine using a technique for sensing a player's face and covering the sensing with a 2D character is put into practical use.
For the sensing of the face, a CCD camera is mainly set, and a tool for recognizing the face by detecting the positional relationship between the eyes and the mouth from the photographed face is used.
There is a gun shooting game in which the action of the human body is taken using the sensor and an “avoidance” action reflected in the image is performed.

As such a game machine, “The Metropolitan Police Department” (trademark of Konami) is known.
Further, Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a gun game in which a sensor is used to warp with a body in a screen or to “avoid” an opponent's bullet while hiding behind a shadow.
This is because a plurality of players shoot each other directly to compete for the shooting arm and to make the enemy character perform a complicated movement.
The player's video shot by the CCD camera installed on the screen is displayed on the opponent player's screen, and each player triggers the pointing device with the aim of the opponent player's image displayed on the screen while moving in his play field. To operate.

  On the screen, an image of the obstacle is synthesized in addition to the image of the player. The player moves within the shooting range of the CCD camera, and if the player moves out of this range, the video of the player disappears from the opponent screen.

JP 2001-104642 A

According to Patent Document 1, the opponent's bullet cannot be avoided unless the player gets out of the screen or moves so as to be hidden behind the object. This causes a time lag in the game progress process in order to move the entire body. Also, it is necessary to move the entire body up, down, left and right for the avoidance operation. Further, since the player moves the entire body, it is necessary to make a large game space for the player to move, and there is a disadvantage that the game housing area is enlarged.
Furthermore, since the player always moves the entire body and is more fatigued than in a normal game, a large number of replays cannot be expected.

  An object of the present invention is to capture a player standing in front of a screen with a camera, display the player's own character in the third person viewpoint instead of the player's image on the screen, and move the player's own face only with the movement of the player's face. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus using a face recognition function that allows a player to move the player's own character in the screen without overaction by making the movement of the character operable.

In order to achieve the object, claim 1 of the present invention displays the enemy character in the depth portion of the monitor screen and displays the enemy character in the front portion, thereby displaying the enemy character and the subject character on the same monitor screen. A game apparatus for defeating an enemy by moving the player character and shooting the enemy character with the player character , which is installed in a game machine casing and operates a camera for shooting the player and an attack device held by the player recognizing the face recognition unit and attacks means Ru added attacks against enemy face of the player captured by the camera by, after recognizing the face of the player by the face recognition unit, a character displayed on the monitor select, and associating selection means the player and character, correspondence of the player to the character selected by the selection means, The position and shape formed by the player's eye, nose and mouth information on the selected character's face by overlaying the eye, nose and mouth face information detected by the layer on the selected character's eyes, nose and mouth, respectively. A face association processing means for synthesizing the eyes, nose and mouth of the character, an attack control means for attacking the enemy character by the character selected by the selection means when the player attacks the enemy character with the attack means, and a player And a movement control means for moving the player's own character synthesized with the eyes, nose and mouth selected in conjunction with the moved face in the same direction when the face is moved, and linked with the movement of the player's face. The present invention is characterized in that the own character associated with the eyes, nose or mouth is moved and the enemy device can be attacked by the attack device .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the enemy character is displayed in the depth portion of the monitor screen, and the player character is displayed on the front portion, thereby moving the player character on the same monitor screen displaying the enemy character and the player character. A game device in which a character defeats an enemy by shooting an enemy character, which is installed in a game machine housing and shoots a player, a gun controller for shooting an enemy, and a shoot taken by the camera recognizing the face recognition means the face of the player, after recognizing the face of the player by the face recognition unit, and select the character displayed on the monitor, and associating selection means the player and character were selected by the selection means The association of the player with the character is based on the eye of the character selected by the player's detected eye, nose and mouth face information, , By superimposing respective mouths, eyes of the player in the face of the selected character, the nose, position formed from the information of the mouth, eye shape of the character, the nose, the face correspondence processing means for synthesizing the mouth, the player The attack control means that the character selected by the selection means attacks the enemy character when shooting the enemy with the gun controller, and the eye and nose selected in conjunction with the moved face when the player moves the face , A movement control means for moving the own character with the mouth synthesized in the same direction, moving the own character associated with the eyes, nose or mouth in conjunction with the movement of the face of the player, and using the gun controller to move the enemy character Is made possible to attack .
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, the gun controller has a built-in vibrator, and when the player character is hit by an attack from an enemy character, the player character is displayed with a shot and a signal is sent to the vibrator. Is sent to cause the gun controller to vibrate.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the movement of the face of the player according to the first or second aspect of the invention is such that when the player moves the face upward, the selected character is moved upward on the monitor screen. Moves the selected character downward on the monitor screen when the player moves the face downward, and moves the selected character to the right on the monitor screen when the player moves the face to the right. When the player moves his / her face in the left direction, the selected character is moved in the left direction on the monitor screen.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the movement of the selected character is stopped when the face of the player moves outside the range where the camera can be photographed by the camera according to the first, second or fourth aspect of the present invention. .

According to the above configuration, it is possible to handle only the movement of the upper body, not the over action using the whole body, by detecting only the parts of the face with the face detection function compared to the conventional technology in which the whole body is detected by the sensor. Since the action does not become large, space can be saved as compared with the conventional game case.
In addition, in a gun game, it is easy to specify attack determination and impact detection by making the viewpoint where one's own character exists in the screen rather than the viewpoint that directly reflects the player's movement. easy.

It is a front view which shows the external appearance of the game device using the face recognition function by this invention. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the play condition in the game device using the face recognition function by this invention. It is a figure which shows the gun game screen displayed on a monitor. It is a figure for demonstrating the procedure of operation and a process with respect to a gun game, and has shown the movement condition of the own character with respect to a face movement from a player's face recognition. It is a figure for demonstrating the procedure of operation and a process with respect to a gun game, and the case where a player shoots with a gun controller and the case where it receives from an enemy character are shown. It is a figure for demonstrating the area | region which can recognize a face. It is a block diagram which shows embodiment of the circuit of the game device using the face recognition function by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation and operation | movement of a game device using the face recognition function by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the motion of the character with respect to the motion of the player's face in a camera imaging | photography range. It is a figure for demonstrating the movement of the character with respect to the movement of a player's face up and down, right and left.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an appearance of a game apparatus using a face recognition function according to the present invention, which is applied to a gun game.
A monitor 1 for displaying a game screen for causing the opponent player character and the player player character to appear is arranged in the center of the gun game machine 10 casing. A CCD camera 2 for projecting a player is arranged on the upper part of the monitor 1. A start button 4 for starting a game and a coin insertion portion 8 are arranged at the front of the monitor 1. A gun rack 5 is provided on the lower right side of the gun game machine 10 housing, and a gun controller 3 attached to a cable end connected to a circuit of the gun game machine 10 is housed therein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining a play situation on the game device using the face recognition function according to the present invention.
The player 7 stands in front of the CCD camera 2 and holds the gun controller 3 facing the monitor 1. Even when the game is started, the player can advance the game only by moving the face 7a, not the whole body, left and right or up and down. The enemy character displayed on the monitor 1 is aimed at the gun controller 3, and a bullet is fired by turning on the shooting switch of the gun controller 3. When shooting is turned on, the aim 17 appears on the screen when the enemy character is aimed (see FIG. 3). Aiming occurs when the gun controller's launch port is pointed at the screen and a switch is operated to turn on the aiming.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a gun game screen displayed on the monitor.
A player information display 21 indicating the player's character is displayed in front of the screen, and an own device life display 22 indicating the physical strength of the own device is displayed next thereto. When hit by an enemy attack, your life bar will decrease. The three round bodies projected in the approximate center of the screen are the barrier bases 20 for hiding the aircraft. Corresponding to this, three enemy barrier positions 15 in which the enemy character 16 is hidden are displayed at the upper center of the screen.
The player character 19 is shown on the screen in a backward direction and can be hidden in the barrier base 20 by the player moving his neck. The aiming character 17 is emitted from the player character 19. The aim 17 is a laser site operated by a dedicated gun controller. On the other hand, the enemy character 16 fires an enemy bullet 18 while hiding between the enemy barrier positions 15.

Near the top of the screen is an opponent display 12 showing Kentaro (the opponent can arbitrarily name his character) as an enemy, and an opponent life display 13 showing the enemy's physical strength is displayed next to it. It is displayed. A time display 14 for counting down indicating the remaining time is shown in the upper right corner of the screen, and the remaining time is 90 seconds.
One player is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, and a score display 11 showing the score in this game is displayed. 256200 points have been earned. When the opponent is not a computer but another gun game machine, the same display as in FIG. 3 is also displayed on the monitor of the opponent game machine. In this case, the positions of the enemy character and the player character are displayed in opposite directions.

FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining the procedure of the operation / processing for the gun game, and shows the movement state of the player character from the face recognition of the player to the face movement.
The player 7 enters the shooting range of the CCD camera 2 installed on the upper part of the housing of the gun game machine 10, and the CCD camera 2 images the face of the player (FIG. 4A (a)). The CPU of the gun game machine forms a recognition frame 31 for recognizing the face photographed by the CCD camera 2, in which a portion that becomes the eye 33 of the player's face display 41, a portion that becomes the nose 34, and a mouth 35 Is detected and compared with the face display sample image held as a database in the memory part of the circuit, and as a result of comparison, it is detected that the eyes, nose and mouth are in a similar positional relationship within a predetermined range. Recognizing the face, the relative position information of the eyes, nose and mouth, shape information and the like are stored in the memory portion of the circuit. FIG. 4A (b) shows a state where the face of the player photographed by the CCD camera 2 is captured in the recognition frame. The face to be recognized is specified by the player shooting the face of the player with the gun controller, and the recognition frame is formed.

  Next, the detected face information including the eyes, nose, and mouth is superimposed on the face of the character 36 selected by the player as the player. That is, the character eye 37, the character nose 38, and the character mouth 39 having the positions and shapes formed from the information of the eyes, nose, and mouth of the player are combined with the face of the selected character (FIG. 4A (c)). If the player's face moves as a result of this processing, the CPU performs processing so that the player's own character 36 that combines the eyes, nose and mouth on the screen moves in the same direction by a corresponding distance. FIG. 4A (d) shows a state in which the player character 36 moves like the character movement locus display 42a in accordance with the movement locus display 41a of the player's face display 41. FIG.

FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining the procedure of operation / processing for a gun game, and shows a case where a player shoots with a gun controller and a case where a player is hit by an enemy character.
In FIG. 4B (a), the player holds the gun controller 3, and when the shooting switch of the gun controller 3 is turned on, the gun controller 3 generates an impact when it is shot (indicated by an impact display 43 as an impact has occurred). ) By this operation, the bullet 47 is fired from the character port 39 of the own character 36 on the screen.

  As shown in FIG. 4B (b), when the player's own character 36 hits an enemy bullet, a character shot display 45 shaped like a spark running on the screen is displayed. In conjunction with this, a signal is sent to the vibrator incorporated in the gun controller 3, and the gun controller 3 vibrates (indicated by the bullet display 44 as being hit). Thereby, the player can feel that the enemy bullet has hit by the display on the screen and the vibration of the gun controller 3.

FIG. 4C is a diagram for explaining a region where a face can be recognized.
The vertical and horizontal ranges of the shooting range of the CCD camera 2 are in the vicinity of the face, and the shooting distance is up to a predetermined position. FIG. 4C (a) shows the face 71 in the face display area 46. The player's own character moves with the movement of and the game progresses. FIG. 4C (b) shows a state in which the player looks back to the outside of a predetermined distance and is out of the face display area 46. When the movement out of the face display area 46 of the CCD camera 2 is made, the movement of the own character in the screen stops.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a game device using the face recognition function according to the present invention.
When a coin is inserted from the coin insertion unit 8, the coin is detected, and the information is transmitted to the CPU 51 via the coin related device 53 and the input / output control unit 56. Setting values such as the number of coins inserted, that is, the number of coins and the number of plays are stored in the backup memory 54.
When the start button 4 is pressed, game start information is sent to the CPU 51 via the input / output control unit 56. When the CPU 51 receives the play start information, the CPU 51 controls the camera control unit 57 to take an image of the player's face from the CCD camera 2 and perform processing for recognizing the face information.

When signals are input from the shooting switch 3 a and the aiming switch 3 b provided in the gun controller 3, the gun control unit 55 sends an input signal to the CPU 51 via the input / output control unit 56. When vibration information is sent from the CPU 51, the vibrator 3c is operated to vibrate the gun controller 3.
The CPU 51 performs face recognition / character selection processing for recognizing the face and obtaining the information and selecting its own character in response to the switch-on signals of the shooting switch 3a and the aiming switch 3b from the gun controller. Thereafter, the gun game proceeds according to the game mode selected by the player. For example, when the other game machine is an opponent, the communication unit 62 is controlled, and whether or not a player of a gun game machine in another store or a player of a gun game machine in the same store is waiting for an opponent through the network. And determine opponents according to the information. If the opponent is determined, the game can be played with the determined opponent.

The ROM 61 stores a control program for controlling the entire gun game machine housing, a gun game program for executing a gun game, a face recognition program for detecting a face position and recognizing a face, and data necessary for the game machine. .
The RAM 59 is used as a work area for calculation and processing performed by the game control unit 51a and the like, and temporarily stores information generated by the processing.
The CPU 51 implements the functions of the game control unit 51a, gun game execution unit 51b, face recognition unit 51c, and face position detection unit 51d by reading the control program, gun game program, and face recognition program from the ROM 61.

The game control unit 51a performs monitoring such as coin insertion in a standby state before the start of the game, control of lighting and flashing of an unillustrated electric decoration, control after the game ends, and the like. In addition, after the coin is inserted, the gun game execution unit 51b receives control from the game control unit 51a, performs face recognition by the face position detection unit 51d and the face recognition unit 51c, selects its own character, and determines an opponent. After that, control to display the gun game screen is performed to advance the game.
The face position detection unit 51d captures the player's face with the CCD camera 2 and detects the positions of the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face. The face recognition unit 51c recognizes that the image is a face by referring to the sample image with respect to the position information of the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation and operation of the game apparatus using the face recognition function according to the present invention.
A title screen is displayed on the monitor 1, and a display to the effect that coins are inserted to start a game is displayed on the screen (step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 001). The CPU 51 monitors whether or not the player has inserted a coin and pressed the start button (S002).
When a coin is inserted, coin insertion information is sent via the coin-related device 53 and the input / output control unit 56. When the start button 4 is further pressed, the information is also sent via the input / output control unit 56. come. Under the control of the camera control unit 57, the CPU 51 captures the player from the CCD camera 2 and displays a camera authentication screen (S003). The player shoots the gun controller 3 aiming at the image shown on the screen in order to recognize his / her corresponding face by looking at this screen. Does the CPU 51 determine whether or not the player has shot aiming at the image on the screen (may be whether or not the aim is set)? (S004). That is, the player waits for an operation for specifying a face to be authenticated. As a result, the CPU 51 performs processing for face authentication, and determines whether or not face authentication has been completed (S005).

If face authentication cannot be performed, “screen cannot be recognized” is displayed on the monitor 1, and examples that may be applicable are arranged on the screen (S006). Then, “I will perform authentication once again” is displayed (S007), and the camera authentication screen is displayed again in S003.
If the face authentication is successful, a screen for selecting a character is displayed (S008). Character selection is performed by aiming at one of the screens on which many types of characters are arranged with a gun controller.
When the player aims at one of many types of characters, the character to be selected can be specified from the screen position where the aim is aligned.

  The CPU 51 monitors whether or not a favorite character is selected and determined (S009). There is a time limit for selection, and when the time limit has passed, a default character predetermined by the CPU 51 is selected. If the character selection is determined, a screen for selecting a game mode is displayed (S010). Either match or single, select by aiming the gun controller. When the single mode is selected, the game is started with the CPU character (S013, S014). On the other hand, when the battle mode is selected, “Waiting for opponent” is displayed on the monitor 1 (S011).

The CPU 51 displays a waiting display on the monitor 1 and accesses the server device via the network 63 to search for a player who is waiting for an opponent in the same manner at a gun game device in another store. The same search is made for gun game machines in the same store.
Then, it is determined whether an opponent has been found (S012). If no opponent is found even after searching for an opponent for a predetermined time, a battle with the CPU character is made (S013).
When the opponent is found, the gun game screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed and the gun game is started (S014). If the enemy ’s physical strength is set to “0” before the enemy ’s physical strength becomes “0” after a one-on-one battle of 1 to 1 in time, the player wins.
The CPU 51 will monitor whether or not the game is settled (S015).

When winning (S016), it is determined whether or not 10 wins have been made (winning with 10 wins) (S018). When defeated (S017), the player is further asked by screen display whether or not to continue the game (S023). When the player selects continue with the aim of the gun controller, the player returns to S014 to play the gun game again. When not continuing, it returns to the title screen display of S001.
In S018, if 10 wins have not been won, the player is caused to determine whether or not to go to the next round (S019). When the player selects the next round with the aim of the gun controller, the monitor 1 displays "I will look for the next opponent" (S020), and returns to the opponent search step of S011. If not going to the next round, the screen returns to the title screen display of S001.
When 10 wins are reached, the game is over and a praise message is displayed (S021). Then, the game is over (S022), and the screen returns to the title screen display of S001.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the movement of the character with respect to the movement of the face of the player in the camera shooting range.
6 is a process after the start of the gun game in S014 in FIG. 6. When the player's image is repeatedly captured by the CCD camera and the movement of the player's face is detected within the time limit, the process of reflecting the movement of the character is performed.
It is assumed that the position where the player's face is detected is a fixed position (S101). The CPU 51 determines whether it is within the time limit (S102). If the time limit is exceeded, the movement process by the player's image capture ends. If it is within the time limit, it is determined whether or not the face has been moved (S103). This can be known by comparing the position of the face captured last time with the position of the face captured this time.

  If a motion is detected, it is determined whether or not the motion is a facial motion that protrudes from the sensor (camera shooting range) (S104). If the movement does not protrude from the shooting range of the camera, the own character in the screen is moved to the same position with the moved face (S104). On the other hand, when the player's face disappears in the shooting range of the camera, the movement of the player's own character is stopped and a warning is displayed on the screen, assuming that the face protrudes (S105). The warning is displayed on the screen or urged to return to the original home position by using sound. As a result, it is determined whether or not the player has moved back to the shooting range of the camera (S106). If it is determined that the character has returned, the player character in the screen is moved to the same position as the position returned to the shooting range of the camera (S107). Such a movement sequence of the player character is repeatedly executed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the character with respect to the movement of the player's face in the vertical and horizontal directions.
If the player's face is stopped and the face moves up, the player character moves up. Similarly, if the face moves to the right, down, and left, the own character moves to the right, down, and left, respectively. The character can be moved vertically and horizontally by the movement of the face of the player.

Although the above embodiment demonstrated the example applied to the gun game machine, it can apply similarly also to the game machine with operation other than a gun game. That is, the type of game is not limited as long as the game involves a process of moving the selected character or item on the screen by moving the player's face by photographing the player's face with the camera.
In addition, the present invention can be applied regardless of whether the character for controlling movement in the embodiment is 2D display or 3D display.
In addition, although an example in which a gun controller shooting switch or aiming switch is used as a switch operated by the player for face recognition or character selection has been described, for example, an operation panel is provided without using switches provided in the gun controller. Switches may be used.

  It is a game device such as a gun game installed at an event venue or a game center.

1 Monitor
2 CCD camera
3 Gun controller 4 Start button
5 Gun rack
6 Coin box
7 Player 8 Coin insertion part 11 Score display 12 Opponent display 13 Opponent life display 14 Time display 15 Enemy barrier position 16 Enemy character 17 Aim 18 Enemy bullet 19 Self-machine character 20 Barrier position 21 Player information display 22 Self-machine life display 46 face display area 51 CPU
53 Coin Related Device 54 Backup Memory 55 Gun Control Unit 56 Input / Output Control Unit 57 Camera Control Unit 58 Image Processing Unit 59 RAM
61 ROM
62 Communication Department

Claims (5)

By displaying the enemy character in the depth portion of the monitor screen and displaying the own character in the front portion, the own character is moved on the same monitor screen displaying the enemy character and the own character, and the own character shoots the enemy character a game apparatus to defeat the enemy by,
A camera installed in the game machine housing and shooting the player;
And attacks means Ru added attacks against enemy by operating the offensive devices player to grip,
Face recognition means for recognizing a player's face photographed by the camera;
A selection means for selecting a character displayed on the monitor after recognizing the face of the player by the face recognition means, and associating the player with the character;
The player is associated with the character selected by the selection means by superimposing the face information of the eyes, nose and mouth detected by the player on the eyes, nose and mouth of the selected character. A face matching processing means for synthesizing the eyes, nose and mouth of the character having the position and shape formed from the information on the eyes, nose and mouth of
Attack control means for causing the character selected by the selection means to attack the enemy character when the player attacks the enemy character with the attack means ;
Movement control means for moving the player's own character, which is composed of the eyes, nose and mouth selected in conjunction with the moved face, in the same direction when the player moves the face;
Equipped with a,
A game apparatus using a face recognition function, wherein an own character associated with an eye, nose or mouth is moved in conjunction with a movement of a player's face and an enemy character can be attacked by the attacking device. By displaying the enemy character in the depth portion of the monitor screen and displaying the own character in the front portion, the own character is moved on the same monitor screen displaying the enemy character and the own character, and the own character shoots the enemy character a game apparatus to defeat the enemy by,
A camera installed in the game machine housing and shooting the player;
A gun controller to shoot at enemies,
Face recognition means for recognizing a player's face photographed by the camera;
A selection means for selecting a character displayed on the monitor after recognizing the face of the player by the face recognition means, and associating the player with the character;
The player is associated with the character selected by the selection means by superimposing the face information of the eyes, nose and mouth detected by the player on the eyes, nose and mouth of the selected character. A face matching processing means for synthesizing the eyes, nose and mouth of the character having the position and shape formed from the information on the eyes, nose and mouth of
Attack control means for causing the character selected by the selection means to attack the enemy character when a player shoots an enemy with the gun controller;
Movement control means for moving the player's own character, which is composed of the eyes, nose and mouth selected in conjunction with the moved face, in the same direction when the player moves the face;
Equipped with a,
A game apparatus using a face recognition function, wherein an own character associated with an eye, nose or mouth is moved in conjunction with a movement of a player's face and an enemy character can be attacked by the gun controller . The gun controller has a built-in vibrator,
3. The face recognition function according to claim 2, wherein when the player character is hit by an attack from an enemy character, the player character displays a shot and a signal is sent to the vibrator to cause the gun controller to vibrate. Game device using The movement of the player's face is such that when the player moves the face upward, the selected character is moved upward on the monitor screen,
When the player moves his face downward, the selected character is moved down the monitor screen,
When the player moves his face to the right, the selected character is moved to the right on the monitor screen,
When the player moves the face to the left, Gate beam apparatus using a face recognition function according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the moving the selected character to the left of the monitor screen. 5. The game apparatus using a face recognition function according to claim 1 , wherein the movement of the selected character is stopped when the face of the player moves out of a range in which the player can be photographed by the camera.

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