Position indicator and position detection system

Abstract

To provide a position indicator allowing a user to favorably operate an indication position in a three-dimensional space.SOLUTION: There is provided a position indicator for indicating a position in a three-dimensional space. The position indicator includes a rod-like housing, a position indication part provided at one end in an axial center direction of the rod-like housing, and a grip part held by the palm of a user in a state where the side of the position indication part of the rod-like housing is held by a first finger and a second finger different from the first finger of the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a position indicator and a position detection system suitable for use, for example, in three-dimensional drawing (3D drawing). [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a drawing system that creates animation images and the like by drawing by continuously specifying positions with an electronic pen on a coordinate input device called a digitizer. In this case, an operator performs a position specifying operation to generate a drawn image with the tip of the electronic pen in contact with an input surface of a tablet device incorporating a digitizer, or in a state where the tip is not in contact with the input surface of the tablet device but is placed in an upper area where the position can be detected (hover state). The digitizer detects the position specified by the electronic pen, generates a drawn image as a result of the detection, and displays it on a display screen. The operator performs drawing while checking the drawn image displayed on the display screen.

[0003] Recently, drawing systems and applications have appeared that enable a drawn image displayed on a two-dimensional display screen to be visually expressed as a three-dimensional image. In such cases, drawing systems and applications often use a motion sensor to detect motion operations (gestures) such as scraping, indenting, or inflating of a drawn image generated by a digitizer, which is made by the motion of an operator's hand or finger, and perform three-dimensional drawing expression processing based on the detected motion operations (gestures).

[0004] Meanwhile, there is provided a user interface that allows both the above-mentioned position input and operation input such as gestures. For example, Patent Document 1 (U.S. Patent No. 9,367,169) discloses a touch controller that uses a device equipped with a touch sensor that detects the touch of an operator's finger and a motion sensor that detects the movement, and is configured to switch the touch sensor from a hover event detection mode to a gesture event detection mode in response to a signal from the motion sensor. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 9,367,169 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in Patent Document 1, the hover event detection mode and the gesture event detection mode are switched in a hover area, which is a spatial area within a limited distance range from the input surface of the touch sensor, and the operator needs to maintain a hover state on the touch sensor and perform a gesture. Therefore, since the operator needs to perform a gesture in a limited spatial area, there is a problem that it is difficult to work for 3D drawing. In addition, Patent Document 1 assumes operation with the operator's finger, so there is also a problem that it is difficult to perform more detailed instruction operations. In addition, in Patent Document 1, the hover event detection mode and the gesture event detection mode are switched according to a signal from a motion sensor, so there is a problem that the tilt of the device must be changed each time to switch.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a position indicator and a position detection system that can solve the above problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, A position indicator that indicates a position in a three-dimensional space, A rod-shaped housing; a position indicator provided at one end of the rod-shaped housing in an axial direction; a grip portion that is held by a palm of a user in a state in which the position indication portion side of the rod-shaped housing is gripped by a first finger of the user and a second finger different from the first finger; The present invention provides a position indicator having a

[0009] In addition, in order to solve the above problems, A position detection system including a position indicator that indicates a position in a three-dimensional space, a spatial position detection unit, and a computer, The position indicator is A rod-shaped housing; a position indicator provided at one end of the rod-shaped housing in an axial direction; a grip portion that is held by a palm of a user in a state in which the position indication portion side of the rod-shaped housing is gripped by a first finger of the user and a second finger different from the first finger; a tracker for causing the spatial position detection unit to detect a position in the three-dimensional space; having The spatial position detection unit includes: a position detection unit that detects a position of the tracker; The computer includes: a circuit for calculating a position indicated by the position indication unit in the three-dimensional space based on the position of the tracker detected by the spatial position detection unit; The present invention provides a position detection system comprising:

[0010] The position indicator having the above-described configuration has a grip portion that is held by the palm of a user in a state in which the user grasps the position indication portion side of a rod-shaped housing with a first finger of the user and a second finger different from the first finger.

[0011] The position detection system includes a position indicator, a spatial position detection unit, and a computer. The spatial position detection unit detects the position of the tracker of the position indicator, and the computer calculates the position indicated by the position indication section in three-dimensional space based on the position of the tracker detected by the spatial position detection unit.

[0012] With this configuration, in the above-mentioned position detection system, the operator can perform an input operation on the 3D drawn image by specifying a position in the three-dimensional space using the position indicator. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a position detection system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a first embodiment of a position detection system according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a spatial coordinate system in the first embodiment of the position indication system according to the present invention. [Figure 4] 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining switching of coordinate systems for detecting the position of an electronic pen in the position indication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 5] 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a position indicator according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a first embodiment of a position indicator according to the present invention; [Figure 7] 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a first embodiment of a position indicator according to the present invention; [Figure 8] 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining another configuration example of the first embodiment of the position indicator according to the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a second embodiment of a position indicator according to the present invention. [Figure 10]FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a second embodiment of a position detection system according to the present invention. [Figure 11] 11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining a configuration example of another embodiment of a position indicator according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, several embodiments of the position detection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] [First embodiment] The position detection system of the first embodiment of the present invention is an example of a spatial position detection system configuration in which the display unit is configured as a head-mounted display and the 3D rendering space is a virtual reality (including VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), etc., hereinafter abbreviated as VR) space.

[0016] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a spatial position detection system according to the first embodiment, in which a VR space is a 3D rendering space, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the functions of each part of the spatial position detection system according to the first embodiment.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 1, the spatial position detection system of the first embodiment is configured to include a three-dimensional position indicator, a digitizer 20, a spatial position detection unit 30, a spatial drawing information generating device 40, and a head mounted display (hereinafter referred to as HMD) 50. As shown in Fig. 2, in this example, the spatial drawing information generating device 40 has the functions of an input information processing unit 41 and a display image generating unit 42, and is configured, for example, by a personal computer. The input information processing unit 41 has the functions of a spatial position detection device. Note that, as shown in Fig. 2, in this specification, each of the processing functions executed by a program of the personal computer is shown as each "circuit" block for convenience of explanation.

[0018] In the spatial position detection system of the first embodiment, a spatial drawing information generating device 40 including an input information processing unit 41 and a display image generating unit 42 is used, but the spatial position detection system of the present invention may be configured to include a three-dimensional position indicator, a digitizer 20, a spatial position detection unit 30, and an input information processing unit 41, with the display image generating unit 42 being provided separately.

[0019] The three-dimensional position indicator 10 has the function of indicating the position of the tip of one end of the rod-shaped portion in the axial direction as the indicated position on the input surface of the digitizer 20, and also as the indicated position in three-dimensional space detected by the spatial position detection function of the input information processing unit 41 using the spatial position detection unit 30.

[0020] 1, in this example, the rod-shaped portion of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is configured with an insertable and removable electronic pen 11. In this example, a tip 11a (hereinafter referred to as pen tip 11a) of a core body protruding from an opening at one end in the axial direction of a cylindrical housing of the electronic pen 11 becomes the tip of one end side in the axial direction of the rod-shaped portion. In this first embodiment, an electromagnetic induction type electronic pen is used as an example of the electronic pen 11, but it is not limited to the electromagnetic induction type and may be an electrostatic coupling type electronic pen.

[0021] It is to be noted that the electronic pen 11 may not be detachably inserted into the three-dimensional position indicator 10 but may be integral with or fixed to the three-dimensional position indicator 10. In other words, the rod-shaped portion may be integral with or fixed to the three-dimensional position indicator 10. A detailed description of a configuration example of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 will be given later.

[0022] In this example, the digitizer 20 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped housing 21, the surface of which serves as an input surface 21S for position indication by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10. The digitizer 20 also has a position detection sensor unit 22 and a position detection circuit 23 (see FIG. 2).

[0023] Although not shown, the position detection sensor unit 22 is configured by arranging a plurality of loop coils in the horizontal direction (X-axis direction) and the vertical direction (Y-axis direction) of the housing of the digitizer 20. Although not shown, the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 has a resonance circuit (not shown) consisting of a coil and a capacitor on the pen tip 11a side, and signals are exchanged between the electronic pen 11 and the position detection sensor unit 22 of the digitizer 20 by electromagnetic induction coupling between the loop coil of the position detection sensor unit 22 of the digitizer 20 and the resonance circuit of the electronic pen 11. In this example, the digitizer 20 is of an electromagnetic induction type in accordance with the electronic pen 11, but in the case of an electrostatic coupling type, interaction with the electronic pen is performed by electrostatic coupling.

[0024] The position detection circuit 23 of the digitizer 20 supplies a signal to the electronic pen 11 through the loop coil of the position detection sensor unit 22, and also receives a signal returned from the electronic pen 11 through the loop coil, and based on the received signal, detects a position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 in the detection area of ​​the position detection sensor unit 22. In this embodiment, the digitizer 20 is configured to detect the position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 as the indicated position of the electronic pen 11.

[0025] In the digitizer 20 of this example, a plurality of loop coils of the sensor section 22 are arranged so as to cover almost the entire area of ​​the input surface 21S.

[0026] In this embodiment, the position detection area in which the digitizer 20 can detect the pointing position of the electronic pen 11 includes not only the planar area when the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is in contact with the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20, but also a spatial area (hover area in the hover state of the electronic pen 11) in which the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is not in contact with the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 and is separated from the input surface 21S in a direction perpendicular to the input surface 21S (the Z-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis directions) but in which the pointing position of the electronic pen 11 can be detected through the transmission and reception of signals by electromagnetic coupling.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the detection space area of ​​the indicated position of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the digitizer 20, and also shows the detection space area (three-dimensional space area) of the detection target object (referred to as an object) including the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the spatial position detection unit 30 described later.

[0028] For example, in FIG. 1, when position P0 of the upper left corner of input surface 21S of digitizer 20 is defined as the coordinates of the origin in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction ((X, Y, Z) = (0, 0, 0)), the position detection area DT in which the pointing position of electronic pen 11 on digitizer 20 can be detected is the planar area of ​​input surface 21S shown with diagonal lines in FIG. 3 and the spatial area of ​​a rectangular parallelepiped above input surface 21S.

[0029] That is, as shown in Fig. 3, if the length of the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 in the X-axis direction is Lx, the length of the input surface 21S in the Y-axis direction is Ly, and the critical height position in the Z-axis direction at which the hover state can be detected is Lz, then the area surrounded by the eight coordinate point positions of P0 (0,0,0), P1 (Lx,0,0), P2 (Lx,Ly,0), P3 (0,Ly,0), P4 (0,0,Lz), P5 (Lx,0,Lz), P6 (Lx,Ly,Lz), and P7 (0,Ly,Lz) is the position detection area DT of the digitizer 20. In this digitizer 20, information on the pointing position of the electronic pen 11 detected in the position detection area DT is supplied to the input information processing unit 41 of the spatial drawing information generating device 40.

[0030] In this example, the spatial position detection unit 30 is configured to set a three-dimensional spatial region in which the digitizer 20 exists, and to detect the position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in that three-dimensional spatial region as well as to detect the position of the digitizer 20.

[0031] 3, the spatial position detection unit 30 is configured to search for an object existing in a spatial region including the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 as a search region. In this embodiment, the objects detected by the spatial position detection unit 30 are the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the digitizer 20. In the following description, for convenience, the three-dimensional spatial region (search region) set by the spatial position detection unit 30 will be referred to as a motion detection spatial region MD.

[0032] In this embodiment, the spatial position detection unit 30 detects the position of an object through optical interaction with the object, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is composed of two light-emitting tracking devices 31A, 31B and an optical position notification unit (hereinafter referred to as a tracker) attached to the object.

[0033] The tracker is equipped with a light receiving sensor that detects infrared laser light from the light emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B, and a light emitting unit consisting of, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that notifies the light emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B when the light receiving sensor detects the reception of infrared laser light. A plurality of light receiving sensors are provided on each tracker so that the tracker can receive laser light from any direction.

[0034] In this embodiment, the objects to which the trackers are attached are the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the digitizer 20. That is, in this example, in order to be able to notify the spatial position and orientation (orientation of the input surface 21S) of the digitizer 20 in the motion detection space region MD, the trackers 24A and 24B are attached to the upper left corner and lower right corner of the housing of the digitizer 20, which has a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape. As described above, since the use of the trackers makes it possible to detect not only the position but also the orientation, only one tracker may be attached to the digitizer 20.

[0035] In order to notify the spatial position and orientation of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the motion detection space region MD, in this example, a tracker 12 is attached to the rear end side of the electronic pen 11, opposite the pen tip 11a side in the axial direction of the electronic pen 11. The tracker 12 constitutes a spatial position indicator unit of the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0036] In this example, the tracker is also provided with, for example, a 9-axis sensor for detecting movement and direction (orientation). The light receiving output of the light receiving sensor and the output of the 9-axis sensor are supplied from each of the trackers to the space drawing information generating device 40 by wire, wirelessly, or via an object to which the tracker is attached. In this case, the information from the trackers 12, 24A, and 24B each includes its own identification information.

[0037] In the space drawing information generating device 40, the posture and movement in three-dimensional space of the object to which the tracker is attached is detected from the light receiving outputs of the multiple light receiving sensors and / or the output of the 9-axis sensor of the tracker. Note that, in order to detect the posture and movement in three-dimensional space of the object to which the tracker is attached, it is sufficient that the tracker is provided with either multiple light receiving sensors or a 9-axis sensor.

[0038] The two light emitting tracking devices 31A, 31B have the same configuration and each includes a laser emitting unit of infrared laser light, a search means for searching the motion detection space region MD with the emitted infrared laser light, and a light position detection means for detecting the light emission of the light emitting unit of the tracker 12, 24A, 24B that receives the infrared laser light.

[0039] In this case, for example, the light emitting tracking device 31A scans the motion detection space area MD in the horizontal direction with an infrared laser light, and searches for the horizontal scanning position by sequentially moving it vertically at a predetermined pitch τX. Also, the light emitting tracking device 31B scans the motion detection space area MD in the vertical direction with an infrared laser light, and searches for the vertical scanning position by sequentially moving it horizontally at a predetermined pitch τY.

[0040] Each of the trackers 12, 24A, and 24B monitors the reception of infrared laser light with a light receiving sensor, and turns on a light emitting unit consisting of an LED when it detects the reception of infrared laser light.

[0041] The light-emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B detect the position of the object to which the tracker 12, 24A, or 24B is attached in the motion detection space region MD by detecting the light emitted by the light-emitting part of the tracker 12, 24A, or 24B. The light-emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B are configured to detect the time elapsed from the time of the infrared laser emission when the light-emitting part of the tracker 12, 24A, or 24B is detected. In this case, each of the trackers 12, 24A, or 24B emits light differently according to its own identification information.

[0042] This enables the spatial position detection unit 30 to detect the position of the trackers 12, 24A, 24B attached to the object within the motion detection spatial region MD (i.e., the position of the object) with an accuracy according to the specified pitch τX and the specified pitch τY.

[0043] The two light-emitting tracking devices 31A, 31B are connected to the spatial drawing information generating device 40 by wire or wirelessly, and notify the spatial position information of the detected trackers 12, 24A, 24B in the motion detection spatial region MD to the spatial drawing information generating device 40. In this case, the information from the two light-emitting tracking devices 31A, 31B each includes its own identification information.

[0044] In this example, the spatial position information of the trackers 12, 24A, 24B detected by the two light-emitting tracking devices 31A, 31B in the motion detection space region MD is supplied to a spatial position detection circuit 410 of the input information processing unit 41 of the spatial drawing information generating device 40, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0045] As described above, the light receiving outputs of the light receiving sensors in the trackers 12, 24A, and 24B and the detection output of the 9-axis sensor are also supplied to the spatial position detection circuit 410 of the input information processing unit 41 of the spatial drawing information generating device 40.

[0046] In this example, the spatial position detection circuit 410 includes a position indicator detection circuit 4101, an indication position calculation circuit 4102, a digitizer detection circuit 4103, and also includes an operation information detection circuit 4104 that detects operation information of an operation unit provided in the three-dimensional position indicator 10, as described later. The operation information detected by the operation information detection circuit 4104 is supplied from the three-dimensional position indicator 10 to the spatial position detection circuit 410 of the spatial drawing information generating device 40, together with the light receiving output of the light receiving sensor and the output of the nine-axis sensor.

[0047] The position indicator detection circuit 4101 detects the position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the motion detection space region MD based on position information detected by the light emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B through optical interaction of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 with the tracker 12, and detects the attitude of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 including the direction in which the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is pointing in the motion detection space region MD based on the light receiving output of the light receiving sensor from the tracker 12 and the detection output of the nine-axis sensor. In this case, the attitude of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 includes the axial direction of the electronic pen 11 as a rod-shaped part and the rotational direction position (rotation angle) centered on this axial direction.

[0048] Information on the position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and information on the attitude of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 including the direction of orientation detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 are supplied to a pointed position calculation circuit 4102. Here, the pointed position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11, and is different from the position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101. As will be described later, in the three-dimensional position indicator 10, the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is attached and configured to have a specific positional relationship and directional relationship with the position and direction of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410.

[0049] The pointing position calculation circuit 4102 stores correction information in a correction memory 4102M to detect the pointing position by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 from the position information and directional information of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 based on the above-mentioned specific positional relationship and directional relationship.

[0050] The pointed-position calculation circuit 4102 calculates and outputs the pointed-position by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 from the position information and direction information of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 and the correction information stored in the correction memory 4102M. The pointed-position calculation circuit 4102 also calculates the direction of the axial center direction of the electronic pen 11 (tilt of the electronic pen 11) based on the attitude information of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101, and calculates the rotation and movement of the electronic pen 11 to output as attitude information of the electronic pen 11.

[0051] The digitizer detection circuit 4103 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 detects the position of the digitizer 20 in the motion detection space region MD based on the position information detected by the light-emitting tracking devices 31A and 31B through optical interaction with the trackers 24A and 24B. The digitizer detection circuit 4103 also detects the orientation of the digitizer 20, including the direction in which the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 is facing in the motion detection space region MD, based on the light-receiving outputs of the light-receiving sensors from the trackers 24A and 24B and the detection output of the 9-axis sensor, and outputs the detected orientation information together with the position information.

[0052] Moreover, the operation information detection circuit 4104 detects operation information of the operation section of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and outputs it.

[0053] The input information processing unit 41 generates information to be supplied to the display image generating unit 42 from information on the pointed position by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the position detection area DT detected by the digitizer 20 as described above, information on the position (pointed position) of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 in the motion detection space area MD detected by the above-mentioned spatial position detection circuit 410, information on the attitude of the electronic pen 11, information on the attitude of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, and operation information. Then, the input information processing unit 41 supplies the generated information to the display image generating unit 42.

[0054] In this embodiment, the display image generating unit 42 includes a drawn image generating circuit 421 for generating a 3D drawn image, and a VR image generating circuit 422 for generating a VR image to be displayed on the HMD 50, as shown in Fig. 2. Hereinafter, processing related to the generation of a 3D drawn image in the drawn image generating circuit 421 will be referred to as 3D drawing-related processing. Also, processing related to the generation of a VR image in the VR image generating circuit 422 will be referred to as VR image-related processing. In this embodiment, on the HMD 50, a 3D drawn image drawn in a motion detection space region MD including a position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 is displayed as a virtual display image, and a virtual display image of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the digitizer 20 is displayed.

[0055] The drawn image generating circuit 421 generates a 3D drawn image based on the position indication by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and information on the attitude of the electronic pen 11, and performs processing such as deformation, rotation, and movement of the 3D drawn image based on a gesture performed by the operator of the three-dimensional position indicator 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the display image generating unit 42 is provided with a gesture detection processing circuit 423 for detecting a gesture performed by the operator of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, and the gesture detection result in this gesture detection processing circuit 423 is supplied to the drawn image generating circuit 421. The gesture detection processing circuit 423 detects a gesture performed by the operator of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from a change in position and a change in attitude of the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0056] The VR image generating circuit 422 of the display image generating unit 42 generates a VR image to be displayed on the HMD 50. In this embodiment, the VR images include a VR image of the electronic pen 11, a VR image of the digitizer 20, and a VR image of a 3D drawn image generated by the drawn image generating circuit 421. Note that a VR image of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 including the electronic pen 11 may also be generated.

[0057] The input information processing unit 41 generates information for drawing system processing and information for VR image system processing as described above from information from the digitizer 20 and information from the spatial position detection unit 30, and supplies it to the display image generation unit 42.

[0058] In this case, when the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is present in the position detection area DT, the input information processing unit 41 supplies information of the position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the digitizer 20, which can detect the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 with higher accuracy than the spatial position detection unit 30, to the VR image generation circuit 422 of the display image generation unit 42.

[0059] Furthermore, when the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 exists in a space other than the position detection region DT, the input information processing unit 41 supplies information on the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected using the spatial position detection unit 30 to the VR image generating circuit 422 of the display image generating unit 42. That is, the input information processing unit 41 switches the information on the indicated position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 depending on whether the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 exists in the position detection region DT or the motion detection space region MD, and supplies the information to the display image generating unit 42.

[0060] In this embodiment, as described above, the input information processing unit 41 supplies attitude information including the tilt and rotation of the electronic pen 11 calculated by the indication position calculation circuit 4102 from the attitude information of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected using the spatial position detection unit 30 to the drawing image generation circuit 421 and the VR image generation circuit 422 of the display image generation unit 42, regardless of the spatial position where the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is located.

[0061] [Coordinate transformation between spatial coordinate systems to detect the indicated position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10] In this embodiment, the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 can be set independently, as shown in FIG.

[0062] As described above, in this embodiment, in each of the 3D drawing processing and the VR image processing, the spatial coordinate system information of the position detection area DT of the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinate system information of the motion detection spatial area MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 are mutually utilized. In this case, there is no problem if the two spatial coordinate systems can be made completely common, but as described above, they can be set independently of each other, so the following points must be considered.

[0063] In Fig. 3, the three axes of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space region MD are indicated using the suffix s as the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis to distinguish them from the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis of the spatial coordinate system of the detection region DT of the digitizer 20. Note that in Fig. 3, for the sake of convenience, the directions of the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis are indicated as being the same as the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, respectively, but due to relationships such as the inclination of the input surface 21S when the digitizer 20 disposed in the motion detection space region MD is installed, the directions of the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis may differ from the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, respectively.

[0064] However, in this embodiment, the digitizer 20 is disposed in the motion detection space domain MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space domain MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 is configured to include at least a part of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection space DT of the digitizer 20 as a common area. In this embodiment, the information on the position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is configured to be coordinate-converted using spatial position correction information, which will be described later, by using a common area between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection space DT and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space domain MD.

[0065] In this case, if the directions of the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis are the same as the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space region MD can be commonly treated as one spatial coordinate system by considering the difference in the origin positions of both spatial coordinate systems. That is, for example, if the offset values ​​in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction between the origin position of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT and the origin position of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space region MD are OFSx, OFSy, and OFSz, respectively, the coordinate values ​​(Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space region MD can be converted to the coordinate values ​​(X, Y, Z) of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT by calculating Xs-OFSx (=X), Ys-OFSy (=Y), and Zs-OFSz (=Z).

[0066] However, in the spatial position indication system of the first embodiment, as described above, the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis and the directions of the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis may be different between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, which are provided independently. Even if the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are the same as the directions of the Xs-axis, Ys-axis, and Zs-axis, it is difficult to accurately define the offset value of the origin position, and there is a risk that it will differ for each spatial position indication system.

[0067] This causes the coordinate positions in the two spatial coordinate systems to differ, and when switching between the two spatial coordinate systems of the position detection area DT of the digitizer 20 and the motion detection spatial area MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, for example, there is a risk that the coordinates of the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 on the display screen of the HMD 50 will jump. If this happens, a user who is trying to input a drawn image will have to re-indicate the indicated position, which is inconvenient.

[0068] Therefore, in this embodiment, by utilizing the fact that at least a part of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 is a common spatial region with the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, correction information for the deviation between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD is generated and coordinate conversion is performed. In this example, the coordinate values ​​(Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD detected using the spatial position detection unit 30 are converted into the coordinate values ​​(X, Y, Z) of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20, thereby making it possible to obtain coordinate values ​​in which the deviation between the two is corrected. The correction information for the conversion will be described next.

[0069]

number

[0070] Equation 1 is a determinant for linearly converting the coordinate values ​​(Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD detected by the spatial position detection unit 30 into the coordinate values ​​(X, Y, Z) of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20. This determinant has 3 rows and 3 columns, and its components are expressed as a ij This is expressed as (i,j=1, 2, 3).

[0071] In this first embodiment, at least a portion of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 is a common spatial region with the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, and this is utilized to generate correction information for conversion between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD.

[0072] That is, as shown in Fig. 3, at least three points Pa, Pb, and Pc in the common spatial region of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 and the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 are specified, and the coordinate values ​​(X, Y, Z) of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 and the coordinate values ​​(Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 of each point are obtained from each device. Ideally, the coordinate values ​​obtained from these devices are the same, but unless calibration is performed, these coordinate values ​​do not usually match. In general, since the accuracy of position detection of the digitizer 20 is higher than the accuracy of position detection using the spatial position detection unit 30, it is preferable to match the coordinate values ​​of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 to the coordinate values ​​of the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20.

[0073] For each point specified within the common area, the coordinate values ​​(X, Y, Z) of the spatial coordinate system of the corresponding position detection area DT and the coordinate values ​​(Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space area MD are substituted into Equation 1 to obtain three equations. By specifying the positions of at least three points within the common area, 11 ~a 33 Since we can obtain at least nine equations for a 11 ~a33 The conversion between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection region DT and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection region MD is not limited to the above method, and the coordinate values ​​of at least three points in the common region may be learned by machine learning, calibrated by a user, or the like.

[0074] As described above, in the spatial position indication system of this embodiment, the deviation between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection area DT of the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial area MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 is corrected so that they can be treated as a single common coordinate system, and this correction process is performed in the input information processing unit 41.

[0075] For this reason, even if the information on the pointing position of the electronic pen 10 in the display image of the HMD 50 is switched between the spatial coordinate system of the position detection area DT of the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection spatial area MD of the spatial position detection unit 30, both can be treated as a single common coordinate system, so that, for example, a situation does not occur in which the pointing position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 changes.

[0076] [Switching of spatial coordinate system for detecting the indicated position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10] The spatial position indication system of the first embodiment is configured so that the motion detection space region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 has at least a part of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 as a common region.

[0077] In the spatial position indication system of this embodiment, depending on the distance between the position of the tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the input surface 21S of the sensor section 22 of the digitizer 20 within the space of the motion detection spatial region MD, the system switches between using the coordinates of the indicated position of the tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the digitizer 20, or the coordinates of the indicated position of the tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected using the spatial position detection unit 30.

[0078] In this embodiment, the separation distance (separation distance in the Z-axis direction) θth from the input surface 21S, which is the switching point, is set to be equal to or less than the critical height distance Lz in the Z-axis direction at which the digitizer 20 can detect the hover state of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10. In this example, the separation distance θth from the input surface 21S, which is the switching point, is set to be equal to the critical height distance Lz in the Z-axis direction at which the digitizer 20 can detect the hover state of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, that is, the length Lz in the Z-axis direction of the position detection area DT, as shown in FIG.

[0079] That is, in the spatial position indication system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when the distance between the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the input surface 21S is equal to or less than θth, the digitizer 20 uses information on the position indicated by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected in its position detection area DT.

[0080] In addition, in the spatial position indication system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when the distance between the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the input surface 21S is greater than θth, information on the indicated position by the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected using the spatial position detection unit 30 is used.

[0081] In this embodiment, the distance (distance in the Z-axis direction) between the position of the tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the input surface 21S of the sensor unit 22 of the digitizer 20 is detected in the input information processing unit 41 based on the signal level of the received signal from the electronic pen 11 obtained from the digitizer 20, since the signal level (signal strength) of the received signal from the electronic pen 11 at the sensor unit 22 of the digitizer 20 is a value corresponding to the distance.

[0082] [Switching process in input information processing unit 41] 2 configured to realize the above will be described below. That is, the position detection circuit 23 constituting the digitizer 20 supplies a detection output of the pointing position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 to the selection circuit 411 as one of its input signals, and also supplies it to the selection circuit 412 as one of its input signals. Note that the information supplied from the position detection circuit 23 to the selection circuits 411 and 412 includes writing pressure information applied to the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 in addition to the detection output of the pointing position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11.

[0083] The pointing position calculation circuit 4102 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 supplies the detection output of the spatial position (pointing position of the electronic pen 11) of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 to the coordinate conversion circuit 413. This coordinate conversion circuit 413 converts the element a 11 ~a 33 By performing the calculation of the above (Formula 1), the coordinate conversion circuit 413 converts the spatial coordinate system information of the motion detection spatial region MD of the spatial position detection unit 30 into the spatial coordinate system information of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20. Then, the coordinate conversion circuit 413 supplies the converted coordinate output to the selection circuits 411 and 412 as the other input signal.

[0084] In this embodiment, the position detection circuit 23 of the digitizer 20 supplies information on the signal level of the signal received from the electronic pen 10 to the selection control signal generation circuit 414. The selection control signal generation circuit 414 detects the distance between the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 from the signal level of the signal received from the electronic pen 10, and generates a selection control signal SE based on the detected distance from the input surface 21S. The generated selection control signal SE is supplied to the selection circuits 411 and 412.

[0085] The selection circuits 411 and 412 are controlled by the selection control signal SE to select the position detection output from the position detection circuit 23 of the digitizer 20 when the distance between the tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 and the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 is equal to or less than the critical height Lz in the Z-axis direction at which the digitizer 20 can detect the hover state of the electronic pen 11, and to select the output from the coordinate conversion circuit 413 when the distance is greater than the critical height Lz.

[0086] Then, information on the pointing position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the selection circuit 411 is supplied to a drawn image generation circuit 421 for 3D drawing processing and a gesture detection processing circuit 423. Also, information on the pointing position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the selection circuit 412 is supplied to a VR image generation circuit 422 for VR image processing.

[0087] Then, the information on the attitude of the electronic pen 11 from the indication position calculation circuit 4102 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 and the operation information of the operation part of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the operation information detection circuit 4104 are respectively supplied to a drawn image generation circuit 421, a gesture detection processing circuit 423, and a VR image generation circuit 422. Moreover, the position information and attitude information of the digitizer 20 from the digitizer detection circuit 4103 are respectively supplied to the drawn image generation circuit 421 and the VR image generation circuit 422. As will be described later, in the drawn image generation circuit 421, the attitude information of the digitizer 20 is used to convert the attitude information of the electronic pen 11 into information on the attitude relative to the input surface of the digitizer 20.

[0088] [Processing operation of display image generating unit 42] The drawn image generating circuit 421 has a pen drawing function of drawing a fine line drawing or the like based on the detection output of the pointing position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 from the selection circuit 411 and information on the attitude of the electronic pen 11 detected by the spatial position detection unit 30. The drawn image generating circuit 421 also has a gesture processing function of performing drawing processing based on a movement (gesture) detected by a gesture detection processing circuit 423 based on the spatial position of the electronic pen 11 detected by the spatial position detection unit 30 and information on the attitude of the electronic pen.

[0089] In this example, the drawn image generating circuit 421 and the gesture detection processing circuit 423 are supplied with a selection control signal SE from the selection control signal generating circuit 414. As a result, the drawn image generating circuit 421 operates to execute a pen drawing function when the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is within the spatial region of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20. Also, the gesture detection processing circuit 423 operates to execute gesture processing when the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is outside the spatial region of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20.

[0090] In this case, in the drawn image generating circuit 421, the inclination contained in the posture information of the electronic pen 11 is reflected in the thickness of the drawn line, etc., but when the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is within the position detection area DT, the inclination must be the inclination relative to the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20.

[0091] However, since the information on the posture of the electronic pen 11 from the indication position calculation circuit 4102 is detected using the spatial position detection unit 30, if the surface direction of the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 is deviated from the surface direction of the XY plane in the motion detection space area MD in the spatial position detection unit 30, it does not indicate the inclination of the digitizer 20 with respect to the input surface 21S.

[0092] Therefore, the drawn image generation circuit 421 of this embodiment has a processing function of correcting the inclination of the electronic pen 11 detected in the coordinate system of the motion detection space domain MD of the spatial position detection circuit 410 to a relative inclination with respect to the input surface of the digitizer 20, using the posture information of the digitizer 20 from the digitizer position detection circuit 4103.

[0093] In addition, the hand-drawn image generating circuit 421 and the gesture detection processing circuit 423 also perform processing based on the operation information of the operation unit of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the operation information detection circuit 4104 .

[0094] The VR image generating circuit 422 of the display image generating unit 42 generates a VR image of the electronic pen 11 using the information on the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 and the information on the attitude of the electronic pen 11 from the selection circuit 412. This VR image of the electronic pen 11 is generated so that the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is displayed at the detected indication position.

[0095] In this case, the information on the indicated position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 from the spatial position detection circuit 410 is coordinate-converted by the coordinate conversion circuit 413 so that it becomes the same indicated position information on the digitizer 20. Therefore, the information on the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the selection circuit 412 does not change when it is switched by the selection circuit 412 by the selection control signal SE, so that there is no display deviation such as a jump in the display position of the VR image of the electronic pen 11.

[0096] In this embodiment, the VR image generating circuit 422 generates a VR image of the digitizer 20 based on the information on the position and orientation of the digitizer 20 from the digitizer detection circuit 4103, and displays it in the motion detection space area MD. The VR image generating circuit 422 further receives operation information of the operation part of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 from the operation information detection circuit 4104, and VR displays, for example, a menu for 3D drawing or a VR image of an operation button. The drawing image generating circuit 421 recognizes the positions of the VR images of these menus and the VR images of the operation buttons in the motion detection space area MD, and can detect whether the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 has pointed to these VR image positions (similar to clicking) and perform the corresponding processing.

[0097] Then, the 3D drawing image information generated by the drawing image generation circuit 421 as described above is supplied to the VR image generation circuit 422 and converted into a VR image, and together with the above-mentioned VR image, is supplied to the HMD 50 via the display drive circuit 424 and displayed.

[0098] [Example of the configuration of the 3D position indicator 10] Next, a configuration example of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5 to Fig. 7. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 of this embodiment. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the components of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 of this embodiment and their assembly.

[0099] The three-dimensional position indicator 10 of this embodiment is composed of an electronic pen 11 shown in Fig. 6(A) and a holder 13 constituting a holding part held by a user. A tracker 12 constituting a spatial position indicator part is attached to the holder 13.

[0100] In this example, as shown in Fig. 6(B), the tip of the core of the electronic pen 11 protrudes as the pen tip 11a from one opening side in the axial direction of the cylindrical rod-shaped housing 110. Although not shown, a coil wound around a ferrite core is disposed near the pen tip 11a in the hollow part of the cylindrical housing 110 of the electronic pen 11, as is well known, and a capacitor that is connected in parallel with the coil and forms a resonance circuit is disposed on a printed circuit board disposed in the hollow part. In this example, the electronic pen 11 is provided with a side switch 11s exposed from the housing 110 so as to be operable by the user, the side switch 11s controlling the on / off of the capacitor for changing the frequency of the resonance circuit.

[0101] The holder 13 includes a grip portion 131 that is covered by the palm of the user's hand when the user holds the three-dimensional position indicator 10 , an electronic pen attachment portion 132 , and a tracker attachment portion 133 .

[0102] The electronic pen attachment portion 132 has a cylindrical shape and includes a tubular recessed portion 132a into which the electronic pen 11 is inserted in the axial direction from the rear end portion 11b opposite to the pen tip 11a side and engaged with the holder 13. The tubular recessed portion 132a has a length in the axial direction such that, when the electronic pen 11 is inserted and attached, the electronic pen 11 is held in an operable state with the pen tip 11a side exposed and the side switch 11s exposed to the outside.

[0103] In this example, as shown in FIG. 6(A), the electronic pen 11 is provided with a ring-shaped groove 11c on the rear end portion 11b side in the axial direction, and the cylindrical hole portion 132a is formed with a ring-shaped protrusion 132b that fits into the ring-shaped groove 11c of the electronic pen 11 to engage the electronic pen 11 within the cylindrical hole portion 132a.

[0104] In this example, a step 11d is formed on the rear end 11b side of the electronic pen 11, and when this step 11d abuts against the end of the cylindrical recessed hole 132a, the ring-shaped recessed groove 11c of the electronic pen 11 and the ring-shaped protrusion 132b in the cylindrical recessed hole 132a are fitted together, so that the electronic pen 11 is locked in the cylindrical recessed hole 132a of the electronic pen mounting part 132. The configuration for locking the electronic pen 11 in the cylindrical recessed hole 132a of the electronic pen mounting part 132 is not limited to the configuration in this example in which the ring-shaped recessed groove 11c and the ring-shaped protrusion 132b are provided, and any configuration may be used as long as the electronic pen 11 can be locked in the cylindrical recessed hole 132a of the electronic pen mounting part 132 when the step 11d on the rear end 11b side of the electronic pen 11 abuts against the end of the cylindrical recessed hole 132a.

[0105] The grip section 131 extends from the peripheral side surface of the cylindrical electronic pen attachment section 132 in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and is configured in a shape that is easy for a user to grip. The grip section 131 is provided with operation buttons 131a and 131b at a location that can be operated with the index finger or the like when the user grips it, and is also provided with an operation section 131c that can be rotated and pressed with the pad of the user's thumb. The example of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is for a left-handed user, and the circular operation section 131c is attached so that it can be operated with the thumb of the left hand when the grip section 131 is gripped with the left hand.

[0106] The tracker mounting part 133 is attached to the circumferential side surface of the cylindrical electronic pen mounting part 132 so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction from an angular position on the opposite side that is 180 degrees different from the angular position where the grip part 131 is formed. The above-mentioned tracker 12 is provided for this tracker mounting part 133. Therefore, when a user holds the grip part 131 in the palm of his / her hand, the tracker 12 attached to the tracker mounting part 133 is on the upper side of the back of the hand and is not covered by the hand.

[0107] In this example, the tracker 12 is shaped to have three protrusions on the top surface (flat surface) 12a of a disk-shaped member, as shown in Fig. 5. In this tracker 12, a plurality of light receiving sensors 121 are provided on the three protrusions and the disk-shaped member so that the tracker 12 can receive the infrared laser light from any direction, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6(B) and (C). In addition, one of the three protrusions of the tracker 12 is provided with an LED 122 as a light emitting element for notifying by emitting light when an infrared laser light is received by any of the light receiving sensors 121. The nine-axis sensor is provided inside the tracker 12.

[0108] Although not shown in the figures, when the tracker 12 and the spatial drawing information generation device 40 are connected via a wired connection, the tracker 12 is provided with a connector to which a cable for connecting to the spatial drawing information generation device 40 is connected, and when they are connected wirelessly, a communication means is provided inside the tracker 12.

[0109] 6(B) and (C), in this example, the tracker 12 is attached in a state where the surface direction of the upper surface 12a of the disc-shaped member (the direction in which the surface including the upper surface 12a faces) is perpendicular to the extension direction of the tracker mounting part 133 and parallel to the axial direction of the cylindrical electronic pen mounting part 132. The LED 122 is attached in the extension direction of the tracker mounting part 133.

[0110] As described above, by using the spatial position detection unit 30, the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 detects the position Pt of the LED 122 provided on the tracker 12 as the position of the tracker 12 in the spatial coordinate system of the motion detection space domain MD. Also, as described above, in this example, the position indicator detection circuit 4101 detects the surface direction of the upper surface 12a of the tracker 12 (the direction in which the plane including the upper surface is facing) as the orientation (direction) of the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0111] 5, the position Pt of the tracker 12 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 is different from the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 attached to the holder 13. However, the position Pt (position of the LED 122) of the tracker 12 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 and the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 attached to the holder 13 have a specific positional relationship in the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0112] Here, the three-dimensional coordinate system that defines the mechanical configuration of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is configured as shown in Fig. 5, with the position Pt of the tracker 12 as the origin, a direction parallel to the upper surface 12a of the tracker 12 and parallel to the axial direction of the cylindrical electronic pen attachment part 132 as the coordinate axis Zt, a direction parallel to the upper surface 12a of the tracker 12 and perpendicular to the axial direction of the cylindrical electronic pen attachment part 132 as the coordinate axis Yt, and a direction perpendicular to the upper surface 12a of the tracker 12 (direction perpendicular to the coordinate axes Zt and Yt) as the coordinate axis Xt. Since it is configured in this way, the position Pt of the tracker 12 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 and the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 attached to the holder 13 have a positional relationship as shown in Fig. 7.

[0113] That is, in the space of coordinate axes Xt, Yt, and Zt, the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 attached to the holder 13 is shifted by −Δx in the coordinate axis Xt direction with respect to the position Pt of the tracker 12, and by +Δz in the coordinate axis Zt direction, and further, the shift Δy in the coordinate axis Yt direction is 0 (Δy=0). Therefore, by using these values ​​as a correction value COR(=(−Δx, Δy(=0), +Δz)), the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 can be calculated from the position Pt of the tracker 12.

[0114] In this embodiment, since the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is mechanically configured as described above, the displacement amount Δx in the Xt axis direction and the displacement amount Δz in the Zt axis direction can be defined as mechanical dimensional values ​​of the three-dimensional position indicator 10. That is, Δx is obtained as the dimension from the position of the LED 122 to the central axis position of the electronic pen mounting part 132, and Δz is obtained as the dimension from the intersection position of the position of the LED 122 and the central axis position of the electronic pen mounting part 132 to the tip of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11.

[0115] In this case, it must be considered that the position Pt of the tracker 12 detected by the spatial position detection circuit 410 using the spatial position detection unit 30 is the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) in the spatial position detection circuit 410, and the directions of the coordinate axes do not necessarily match those of the three-dimensional coordinate system (Xt, Yt, Zt) that defines the mechanical configuration of the above-mentioned three-dimensional position indicator 10. This is because the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is used while being pointed in any direction by the user.

[0116] However, in this embodiment, the orientation of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101, i.e., the direction in which the top surface 12a of the tracker 12 faces (the direction perpendicular to the top surface 12a), is detected by the spatial position detection circuit 410 using the spatial position detection unit 30. Then, if the direction in which the top surface 12a of the tracker 12 faces can be detected, the directions of the coordinate axes of the three-dimensional coordinate system (Xt, Yt, Zt) that defines the mechanical configuration of the above-mentioned three-dimensional position indicator 10 can be identified in the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) in the spatial position detection circuit 410.

[0117] In this way, when the direction of each coordinate axis of the three-dimensional coordinate system (Xt, Yt, Zt) that defines the mechanical configuration of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 can be identified in the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) in the spatial position detection circuit 410, the indicated position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 in the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) of the spatial position detection circuit 410 can be calculated from the position Pt of the tracker 12 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 by using the correction value COR.

[0118] Considering the above, the correction value COR (=(-Δx, Δy (=0), +Δz)) is stored in the correction memory 4102M included in the pointed position calculation circuit 4102 of the spatial position detection circuit 410. Then, the pointed position calculation circuit 4102 calculates the pointed position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 from the position Pt of the tracker 12 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 as described above, using the orientation of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101 and the correction value COR stored in the correction memory 4102M.

[0119] 5 and 6, the positional relationship between the tracker 12, the electronic pen attachment part 132, and the electronic pen 11 is configured as described above so that the correction value COR can be easily set from the mechanical dimensional values ​​of the three-dimensional position indicator 10. However, the tracker 12 may be attached to the holder 13 in any state.

[0120] In that case, the correction value COR can be calculated as follows and stored in the correction memory 4102M.

[0121] That is, the orientation of the tracker 12 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is adjusted within the space of the motion detection space region MD so that the direction of each coordinate axis of the three-dimensional coordinate system (Xt, Yt, Zt) that defines the mechanical configuration of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 coincides with the direction of each coordinate axis of the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) detected by the spatial position detection circuit 410 using the spatial position detection unit 30.

[0122] Then, the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is detected by using the digitizer 20, and the detected coordinate values ​​are converted into coordinate values ​​of the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) detected by the spatial position detection circuit 410 using the spatial position detection unit 30. This conversion is the inverse conversion of the conversion shown in Equation 1. In addition, the position Pt of the tracker 12 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is detected as a coordinate value of the spatial coordinate system (Xs, Ys, Zs) detected by the spatial position detection circuit 410.

[0123] Then, the deviation (Δx, Δy, Δz) between the coordinate value of the detected position Pt of the tracker 12 and the coordinate value of the position Pp of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is calculated, and the calculated deviation (Δx, Δy, Δz) is stored in the correction memory 4102M as a correction value COR.

[0124] The process of storing the correction value COR in the correction memory 4102M may be performed when the spatial position detection system is constructed, or may be performed later by the user as appropriate.

[0125] As described above, in the spatial position detection system of the above embodiment, when the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is used to draw on the digitizer 20 and perform gesture operations or the like in the space defined by the spatial position detection unit 30, the indicated position can always be the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, thereby achieving the effect that the user can perform consistent operation tasks from drawing to gestures.

[0126] In the first embodiment described above, the spatial coordinates of the detection area of ​​the digitizer 20 and the spatial coordinates of the detection area of ​​the spatial position detection unit 30 can be treated as common coordinates, so that no coordinate shift occurs when switching between the output from the digitizer 20 and the output from the spatial position detection unit 30 in 3D drawing system processing.

[0127] Therefore, the operator can seamlessly switch between fine drawing and gesture operations by simply moving the electronic pen 10 spatially over the digitizer 20 without being aware of switching between the digitizer 20 and the spatial position detection unit 30.

[0128] Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, in the VR image processing, the position detection output of the digitizer 20, which has higher accuracy and faster response speed than the detection output of the spatial position detection unit 30, can be used in the spatial region of the position detection region DT of the digitizer 20 as position information of the electronic pen 11 (position information of the pen tip 11a) for generating a VR image of the electronic pen 11 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, so that a VR image that responds appropriately to the operation of the electronic pen 11 by the actual user can be obtained.

[0129] In addition, since the above-mentioned spatial drawing information generating device 40 is configured by a computer, it goes without saying that each circuit portion of the input information processing unit 41 and the display image generating unit 42 can be configured as a software functional unit executed by a software program.

[0130] In the above-described first embodiment, the correction memory 4102M of the indication position calculation circuit 4102 is configured to store information on the correction values ​​(Δx, Δy, Δz) in advance at the time of shipment from the factory, etc. However, the correction memory 4102M may be configured to transmit information on the correction values ​​from the three-dimensional position indicator 10 as a buffer memory.

[0131] In that case, as shown in Fig. 8, for example, the three-dimensional position indicator 10 is configured to transmit information on the light receiving output of the light receiving sensor of the tracker 12, output information of the nine-axis sensor, operation information of the operation buttons 131a and 131b, as well as information on the correction values ​​(Δx, Δy, Δz) to the spatial position detection circuit 410. Then, the indication position calculation circuit 4102 of the spatial position detection circuit 410 detects the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 as the indication position of the three-dimensional position indicator 10 using the correction values ​​held in a correction memory 4102M as a buffer memory. In Fig. 8, "ID" means identification information of the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0132] With this configuration, the spatial position detection system can use a three-dimensional position indicator with different amounts of deviation between the position of the tracker 12 and the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11. It is also possible to attach a plurality of types of electronic pens with different lengths in the axial direction to the three-dimensional position indicator 10. In this case, however, the three-dimensional position indicator 10 stores correction values ​​corresponding to the electronic pens with different lengths in the axial direction, and the user can select and set which correction value to use by operating the operating means according to the attached electronic pen.

[0133] In the above-described three-dimensional position indicator 10 of the first embodiment, the electronic pen 11 is insertable and detachable, but the electronic pen 11 may be fixed to the holder 13. In addition, instead of using the electronic pen 11 as the rod-shaped portion, the rod-shaped portion may be configured integrally with the holder 13 by disposing the functional portion of the electronic pen 11, that is, a coil wound around a ferrite core and a capacitor connected in parallel to the coil to configure a resonant circuit, inside the rod-shaped portion.

[0134] [Second embodiment] The second embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment described above, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted.

[0135] In the three-dimensional position indicator 10 of the first embodiment described above, the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 is always set as the position indicated by the three-dimensional position indicator 10. However, when the electronic pen 11 is not attached to the holder 13, the position of the tracker 12 may be set as the indicated position and used for other purposes.

[0136] That is, in the three-dimensional position indicator 10A of the second embodiment, when the electronic pen 11 is attached to the holder 13A, the position of the pen tip 11a of the attached electronic pen 11 is used as the pointed position, as in the first embodiment, but when the electronic pen 11 is not attached to the holder 13A, the position of the tracker 12 is used as the pointed position as is.

[0137] Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the main parts of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A of the second embodiment. Fig. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a part of the grip part 131, the electronic pen mounting part 132, and the tracker mounting part 133 of the holder 13A of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A of the second embodiment.

[0138] In the second embodiment, the holder 13A of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A is provided with an attachment detection means for detecting whether or not the electronic pen 11 is attached. In this example, an attachment detection output of the attachment detection means for the electronic pen 11 is notified to a spatial position detection circuit 410A (see FIG. 10) of the spatial drawing information generation device 40A in the second embodiment together with a light receiving output of a light receiving sensor through a tracker 12. Of course, the attachment detection output of the electronic pen 11 from the attachment detection means may be notified to the spatial position detection circuit 410A of the spatial drawing information generation device 40A independently, not through the tracker 12.

[0139] In this example, the attachment detection means is a switch member 134 equipped with a presser 134a that can be elastically displaced in the direction of the arrow AR, as shown in Fig. 9. When the presser 134a is not pressed and protrudes outside the housing of the switch member 134, the switch member 134 is in, for example, a switched-off state, and when the presser 134a is pressed and pushed into the housing of the switch member 134, the switch member 134 is in a switched-on state.

[0140] 9, when the electronic pen 11 is inserted into the cylindrical recessed hole 132Aa of the electronic pen attachment part 132A, the housing of the electronic pen 11 presses the presser 134a of the switch member 134, changing the switch state of the switch member 134 (from switch-off to switch-on in this example). The switch state of the switch member 134 is supplied to the spatial position detection circuit 410A of the spatial drawing information generating device 40A through the tracker 12 as an attachment detection output of the electronic pen 11.

[0141] Fig. 10 shows an example of the configuration of the spatial drawing information generating device 40A in the second embodiment, particularly the spatial position detection circuit 410A. In the example of Fig. 10, the same parts as those in the spatial drawing information generating device 40 and the spatial position detection circuit 410 in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0142] In the spatial position detection circuit 410A of the second embodiment, in addition to the position indicator detection circuit 4101, the indicated position calculation circuit 4102, the digitizer detection circuit 4103, and the operation information detection circuit 4104 described above, an electronic pen attachment detection circuit 4105 and a switch circuit 4106 are provided.

[0143] The electronic pen attachment detection circuit 4105 receives and analyzes the attachment detection output of the electronic pen 11 from the three-dimensional position indicator 10A, detects whether the electronic pen 11 is attached to the electronic pen attachment section 132, and outputs an attachment detection output DP as the detection result.

[0144] One input end T of the switch circuit 4106 is supplied with information TI on the position of the tracker 12 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A detected by the position indicator detection circuit 4101, and the other input end P is supplied with information PI on the position of the pen tip 11a of the attached electronic pen 11 calculated by the indication position calculation circuit 4102.

[0145] The switch circuit 4106 is supplied with a mounting detection output DP of the electronic pen mounting detection circuit 4105 as a switching control signal. When the electronic pen 11 is not mounted on the three-dimensional position indicator 10A, the switch circuit 4106 is switched to one input end T side by the mounting detection output DP to output information TI of the position of the tracker 12 as output information, and when the electronic pen 11 is mounted on the three-dimensional position indicator 10A, the switch circuit 4106 is switched to the other input end P side to output information PI of the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 as output information. The output information of the switch circuit 4106 is supplied to the coordinate conversion circuit 413.

[0146] The attachment detection output DP of the electronic pen attachment detection circuit 4105 is supplied to the VR image generation circuit 422A. When the VR image generation circuit 422A determines that the electronic pen 11 is attached to the three-dimensional position indicator 10A based on the attachment detection output DP, the VR image of the electronic pen 11 is generated in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above and displayed on the HMD 50. When the VR image generation circuit 422A determines that the electronic pen 11 is not attached to the three-dimensional position indicator 10A based on the attachment detection output DP, in this second embodiment, the VR image of the electronic pen 11 is not generated, but a VR image of the tracker 12 or a predetermined mark, for example, is generated at the position of the detected tracker 12 and displayed on the HMD 50.

[0147] As described above, in the second embodiment, the operation is the same as that of the first embodiment only when the electronic pen 11 is attached to the three-dimensional position indicator 10A. When the electronic pen 11 is not attached to the three-dimensional position indicator 10A, it becomes possible to use it for other purposes using the tracker position.

[0148] In the above example, a switch member 134 is provided as an attachment detection means for automatically detecting when the electronic pen 11 is attached to the electronic pen attachment portion 132A of the holder 13 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A, but the attachment detection means is not limited to the switch member 134.

[0149] In addition, in the above-mentioned second embodiment, an attachment detection means is provided to automatically detect when the electronic pen 11 is attached to the electronic pen attachment portion 132A of the holder 13 of the three-dimensional position indicator 10A. However, instead of using the attachment detection means, the attachment of the electronic pen 11 may be notified to the spatial position detection circuit 410A of the spatial drawing information generating device 40A by a user's operation.

[0150] In addition, in the case of an example in which the user notifies the attachment of the electronic pen 11 to the three-dimensional position indicator 10 by operating the operating section of the three-dimensional position indicator 10, even if the electronic pen 11 is not actually attached, the VR image generation circuit 422A can generate a VR image of the electronic pen 11 and display it on the HMD 50, as if the electronic pen 11 were virtually attached to the three-dimensional position indicator 10.

[0151] [Modifications of the above embodiment] In the three-dimensional position indicator 10 of the embodiment described above, the holder 13 is configured to include a grip portion 131. However, as shown in Figures 11(A), (B), and (C), a three-dimensional position indicator 10B may be configured to include a holder 13B consisting of an electronic pen mounting portion 132 and a tracker mounting portion 133 without including the grip portion 131. As shown by the same reference numerals in Figures 11(A), (B), and (C), the three-dimensional position indicator 10B has the same configuration as the three-dimensional position indicator 10 described using Figures 5 and 6, except for the change in the configuration of the holder.

[0152] In the case of this three-dimensional position indicator 10B, the operation buttons 131a and 131b shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 may be provided on the electronic pen mounting part 132. Also in the three-dimensional position indicator 10B, the electronic pen 11 may be fixed to the holder 13B, and instead of using the electronic pen 11 as the rod-shaped part, the rod-shaped part may be configured integrally with the holder 13B by disposing a functional part of the electronic pen 11 inside the rod-shaped part. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the configuration of the three-dimensional position indicator 10B shown in Fig. 11 is also applicable to the second embodiment.

[0153] In the above embodiment, the spatial position detection unit 30 is configured to include a light emitting tracking device that emits infrared laser light and a tracker, but it goes without saying that the configuration is not limited to this. For example, it may be configured to use other non-visible light sensors, visible light sensors, or a combination of these.

[0154] Also, a battery may be provided in the electronic pen, and a radio wave transmission / reception means may be provided, so that radio waves are transmitted from an external source to the electronic pen and the spatial position of the electronic pen is detected by receiving the radio waves from the electronic pen. Also, a method using magnetic resonance or ultrasonic waves may be used. Also, a method may be used in which an object (electronic pen or tablet) whose spatial position is to be detected is photographed by one or more cameras, and the spatial position of the object is detected using the photographed image.

[0155] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a VR image of the digitizer 20 is generated and configured so that the operator can recognize the position of the digitizer 20 on the display screen of the HMD 50. However, the HMD may of course be configured to be AR (augmented reality) compatible so that the digitizer 20 can be viewed directly.

[0156] In addition, in the description of the above embodiment, gestures based on the movement of the electronic pen are detected in the spatial area outside the position detection area DT of the digitizer, but even in the outer spatial area, it is also possible to detect the position indicated by the tip of the electronic pen, rather than the movement of the electronic pen, and use that for drawing.

[0157] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the distance between the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 and the input surface of the digitizer 20 is detected based on the reception level of the signal between the sensor section 22 of the digitizer 20 and the electronic pen 11, but the method of detecting the distance between the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 and the input surface of the digitizer 20 is not limited to this.

[0158] For example, the spatial position detection unit 30 can detect the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 10 and the position of the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20, so that the separation distance between the position of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 and the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20 can be detected from the detected positions of the pen tip 11a of the electronic pen 11 and the input surface 21S of the digitizer 20, and a selection control signal for the selection circuit 401 can be generated.

[0159] Furthermore, the means for displaying a three-dimensional image is not limited to the HMD, but may be a 3D display, an AI (Aerial Imaging) plate, or even a hologram technique. A display such as an LCD may be provided on the digitizer 20, and 3D display may be performed on the display. These display means may be used together with the HMD to allow a person other than the person wearing the HMD to view the drawn image displayed on the HMD.

[0160] In addition, the coordinate conversion is performed by converting the coordinate values ​​of the tip of the electronic pen detected by the spatial position detection unit 30 into coordinate values ​​in the coordinate system of the digitizer 20, but conversely, the coordinate values ​​of the tip of the electronic pen detected by the digitizer 20 may be converted into coordinate values ​​in the coordinate system of the spatial position detection unit 30.

[0161] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the electronic pen and digitizer are of the electromagnetic induction type, but this is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to use electronic pens and digitizers of electrostatic types (including active electrostatic coupling types and passive electrostatic coupling types) or other types.

[0162] Furthermore, the digitizer in the above-described embodiment may be a portable mobile phone terminal, commonly known as a smartphone, or a personal computer equipped with a digitizer.

[0163] In the above description, a case has been described in which 3D drawing is performed using a spatial position designation system, but the drawn image that is the subject of the present invention may be a 2D drawn image or a 2.5D drawn image. [Explanation of symbols]

[0164] 10...3D position indicator, 11...electronic pen, 11a...pen tip of electronic pen 11, 12...tracker, 13...holder, 20...digitizer, 22...position detection sensor, 23...position detection circuit, 24A, 24B...tracker, 30...spatial position detection unit, 31A, 31B...light-emitting tracking device, 40...spatial drawing information generation device, 41...input information processing unit, 42...display image generation unit, 50...HMD, 131...grip unit, 132...electronic pen mounting unit, 133...tracker mounting unit, 410...spatial position detection circuit, 413...coordinate conversion circuit, 421...drawing image generation circuit, 422...VR image generation circuit

Claims

1. A position indicator that indicates a position in a three-dimensional space, A rod-shaped housing; a position indicator provided at one end of the rod-shaped housing in an axial direction; a grip portion that is held by a palm of a user in a state in which the position indication portion side of the rod-shaped housing is gripped by a first finger of the user and a second finger different from the first finger; A position indicator comprising:

2. The grip portion is gripped by the palm of the user, and the operation unit is provided at a position operable by the first finger or the second finger, the operation unit being provided on the position indication unit side of the rod-shaped housing.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

3. The apparatus further includes a communication unit that communicates with an external device in response to an operation of the operation unit by the user.

3. The position indicator according to claim 2.

4. the grip portion has an operation portion operated by the user, The apparatus further includes a communication unit that communicates with an external device in response to an operation of the operation unit by the user.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

5. The grip portion is provided at a position extending in a direction intersecting the axial direction of the rod-shaped housing.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

6. the position indicator is a position indicator that indicates a position on an input surface of a position detection sensor, The position indication unit is coupled to the position detection sensor by electromagnetic induction.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

7. the position indicator is a position indicator that indicates a position on an input surface of a position detection sensor, The position indication unit is coupled to the position detection sensor by electrostatic coupling.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1.

8. The position indicator is a position indicator for inputting a position into a VR (Virtual Reality) space.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

9. The rod-shaped housing is integral with the grip portion.

2. The position indicator according to claim 1 .

10. A position detection system including a position indicator that indicates a position in a three-dimensional space, a spatial position detection unit, and a computer, The position indicator is A rod-shaped housing; a position indicator provided at one end of the rod-shaped housing in an axial direction; a grip portion that is held by a palm of a user in a state in which the position indication portion side of the rod-shaped housing is gripped by a first finger of the user and a second finger different from the first finger; a tracker for causing the spatial position detection unit to detect a position in the three-dimensional space; having The spatial position detection unit includes: a position detection unit that detects a position of the tracker; The computer includes: a circuit for calculating a position indicated by the position indicating unit in the three-dimensional space based on the position of the tracker detected by the spatial position detection unit; A position detection system comprising:

11. The position detection system is a system having a position detection sensor, The computer includes: The present invention further includes a circuit for performing coordinate conversion so as to match one of the coordinate system in the three-dimensional space and the coordinate system on the input surface of the position detection sensor with the other. The position detection system according to claim 10 .

12. the position detection system further comprises a display for displaying a trajectory of positions indicated by the position indicator; The image including the trajectory of the indicated position displayed on the display is a VR (Virtual Reality) image. The position detection system according to claim 10 .

Images