Stimulus control apparatus and stimulus control method

Abstract

To provide a stimulus control apparatus, and the like, configured to control stimulus to a person so that the person may recognize a virtual object moving at a speed close to a speed of the virtual object which is recognized by a person wearing an output device in an expected wearing position.SOLUTION: A stimulus control apparatus outputs motion information of a virtual object to be presented to a user, to a device worn on the user. The stimulus control apparatus is configured to output corrected stimulus information obtained by correction in consideration of a difference between a reference position and an actual position of a stimulus grating, from a reference arrangement stimulus information obtained from reference arrangement information of the stimulus grating of the device and motion information of a virtual object, and actual arrangement stimulus information obtained from actual arrangement information of the stimulus grating of the device and the motion information of the virtual object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for presenting the movement of a virtual object on the skin by presenting a tactile stimulus. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 is known as a conventional technology for a system that displays the movement of a virtual object on the skin. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for displaying the movement of a virtual object on the skin by shifting the output timing of stimulation points at regular intervals in a grid of stimulation points (hereinafter also referred to as a stimulation grid) that are placed in contact with the skin. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-224691 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, the movement of a virtual object is presented under the assumption that the geometric relationship between the skin and the stimulus grid is always fixed. However, the expected wearing position of the output device containing the stimulus grid may not match the actual wearing position, causing the geometric relationship between the skin and the stimulus grid to change. In this case, in order to represent the same movement of the virtual object on the skin, it is necessary to change the output stimulation points in the stimulus grid and their output timing. As a result, the spatial spacing of the output stimulation points on the skin changes, and as a result, the speed of the virtual object perceived by the human changes.

[0005] The present invention aims to provide a stimulus control device and a stimulus control method that control the stimulus given to a human so that the human perceives a virtual object as moving at a speed close to the speed at which the human would perceive the virtual object if the output device were attached to the intended attachment position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, a stimulus control device outputs movement information of a virtual object to be presented to a user to a device worn by the user. The stimulus control device outputs corrected stimulus information that has been corrected based on reference placement stimulus information calculated from reference placement information of a stimulus grid of the device and movement information of the virtual object, and actual placement stimulus information calculated from placement information of the stimulus grid of the actual device and movement information of the virtual object, taking into account the difference between the reference placement and actual placement of the stimulus grid. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to make a person perceive that a virtual object is moving at a speed close to the speed of the virtual object that a person would perceive if the output device were attached in the intended attachment position. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining a case where a special spatiotemporal feature occurs on the skin. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the case where special spatiotemporal features change depending on the arrangement method of the discrete stimulus matrix. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a presentation device used in an experiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a first experiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 shows the results of a first experiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second experiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 shows the results of a second experiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 shows the results of a third experiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a movement presentation system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the movement presentation system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the stimulus control device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of movement information of a virtual object relative to the skin. [Figure 13] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of movement information of a virtual object relative to the skin. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of corrected stimulus output information. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data flow in the stimulation control unit. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a movement presentation system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a motion presentation system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a stimulus control device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a computer to which the present method is applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the drawings used in the following description, components having the same function and steps performing the same processing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted. In the following description, symbols such as "^" used in the text should normally be written directly above the character immediately preceding it, but due to limitations in text notation, they are written immediately after the character in question. In formulas, these symbols are written in their original positions. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, processing performed on each element of a vector or matrix is ​​assumed to apply to all elements of that vector or matrix. <Background: Motion Perception> Using haptic technology to allow a user to perceive the relative movement between the skin and a virtual object is important for grasping and manipulating virtual objects and recognizing their attributes.

[0010] To perceive the relative motion between the skin and an object, it is necessary to provide tactile cues of the movement using a tactile presentation device. Typical tactile cues include spatiotemporal cues.

[0011] The most common presentation devices for providing spatiotemporal cues are those with discrete stimulation points on a matrix. Although the density of stimulation points is increasing, when wearable devices are required, the spacing of stimulation points on the matrix is ​​still on the order of millimeters.

[0012] When the relative movement of a virtual object and the skin is represented by a discrete stimulus matrix, special spatiotemporal features are generated on the skin. For example, when representing a virtual object VO moving in the direction of the arrow on a matrix M with stimulation points SP in Figure 1, a zigzag spatiotemporal feature, which is undesirable, is generated. Note that if the virtual object VO overlaps even slightly with the center position of each stimulation point SP, a stimulus is output at that stimulation point. In the figure, black circles represent stimulation points that output a stimulus, and white circles represent stimulation points that do not output a stimulus. For example, if the pins on a pin array display, which move up and down using air pressure, are used as stimulation points, the subject places their palm on the pin display and stimulates the subject by lifting and raising the pins using air pressure.

[0013] In addition, as shown in Figure 2, special spatiotemporal features change depending on the arrangement method (rotation, expansion, translation, etc.) of the discrete stimulus matrix M.

[0014] The inventors suspected that changes in these special spatiotemporal features might affect the perception of the movement of virtual objects, especially their speed. Furthermore, if they affect perceptual characteristics, it might be necessary to design stimuli taking this effect into account.

[0015] The inventors focused on special spatiotemporal features (spatial frequency, equal spacing of stimuli) that change depending on the arrangement of the stimulus matrix, and investigated whether these features affect speed perception.

[0016] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the presentation device used in the experiment. A matrix with stimulation points SP was arranged from the tip of the index finger to the bottom of the palm. The distance between the centers of the stimulation points SP in the direction of movement and in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement (hereinafter simply referred to as the vertical direction) was set to 3 mm.

[0017] (First experiment to examine whether spatial frequency and stimulus duration contribute to perceived speed) In this experiment, eight reference stimuli were prepared. Figure 4 illustrates the first experiment. The eight reference stimuli were spaced 3 mm apart along the direction of travel (3 mm, 6 mm), the virtual object's length along the direction of travel (1.5 mm, 3 mm), and the virtual object's speed (40 mm / s, 80 mm / s). The comparison stimuli were spaced 3 mm apart along the direction of travel and 3 mm long along the direction of travel. The perceived speeds of the eight reference stimulus conditions were quantified. In this experiment, the speed of the comparison stimulus perceived as equivalent to the reference stimulus was determined using the staircase method (twenty-up-twenty-up method). The following three experimental conditions were used: (i) If any part of the virtual object overlapped the center of the stimulation point, that stimulation point was output on. (ii) The presentation distance was randomly varied to prevent participants from judging the speed based on presentation distance or time. (iii) The perceived intensity of the presented stimuli was pre-adjusted to be equivalent. The stimulus interval was 3 mm by stimulating the stimulus points one by one in the direction of travel, and 6 mm by stimulating the stimulus points alternately in the direction of travel. First, one of the reference stimuli was presented to the subject, followed by a comparison stimulus. Finally, the subject was asked whether the speed of the comparison stimulus was perceived as faster or slower than the reference stimulus. This was done for the eight reference stimuli. Figure 5 shows the results of the first experiment. There were 12 subjects. The results of the first experiment showed that a shorter stimulus interval (higher spatial frequency) resulted in a significantly faster perceived speed (approximately 1.3 times faster). Furthermore, no significant contribution was found to the length of the virtual object (stimulus duration) on the perceived speed.

[0018] (Second experiment to examine whether the even or irregular intervals between periodic stimuli contribute to perceived speed) In this experiment, four reference stimuli were prepared. Figure 6 illustrates the second experiment. The four reference stimuli were either equally or non-equally spaced, and the velocities of the virtual objects (40 mm / s, 80 mm / s). For the equally spaced stimuli, the interstimulus spacing was 6 mm. For the non-equally spaced stimuli, the interstimulus spacing was a combination of 3 mm and 9 mm. The comparison stimuli were equally spaced (6 mm). The perceived speeds of the four reference stimulus conditions were quantified. In this experiment, the speed of the comparison stimulus perceived as equivalent to the reference stimulus was determined using the staircase method (twenty-up-and-down method). The following three experimental conditions (i)–(iii), presentation order, and number of subjects were the same as in the first experiment. Figure 7 shows the results of the second experiment. The results of the second experiment indicated that whether the intervals between periodic stimuli were evenly spaced did not significantly affect speed perception. In other words, even if the intervals between stimuli constituting the periodic stimuli were not evenly spaced, it is thought that this does not significantly affect speed perception as long as the average interval of the periodic stimuli is the same.

[0019] (Experiment to examine whether periodic or aperiodic stimuli contribute to perceived speed (third experiment)) We also investigate whether the average interstimulus interval contributes when the stimulus is aperiodic, and whether the horizontal component contributes when the stimulus is aperiodic.

[0020] In this experiment, seven reference stimuli were prepared. One of the reference stimuli was periodic, with an average stimulus spacing of 6 mm and no horizontal component. The other six reference stimuli were non-periodic, with an average stimulus spacing of 4.5 mm, 6 mm, or 9 mm, and were prepared with or without horizontal components. When there was no horizontal component, only one row of stimuli was used, while when there was a horizontal component, the stimuli were randomly allocated to three rows. Figure 8 shows the results of the third experiment. The results of the third experiment showed that whether the stimuli were periodic or non-periodic, and the presence or absence of a horizontal component, did not contribute to the perceived speed, but the average stimulus spacing of the stimuli significantly contributed to the speed perception.

[0021] <Key points of this embodiment based on experimental results> Taking into consideration the results of the first, second, and third experiments, the first embodiment makes the following improvements. (i) By increasing (decreasing) the average spatial interval of stimuli, the speed of movement felt by tactile stimuli is perceived as slower (faster). (ii) By increasing (decreasing) the speed of the virtual object's movement, the speed of the movement felt by the tactile stimulation is made to appear faster (slower). (iii) By comparing the average spatial interval of stimuli based on the reference placement information of the stimulus grid on the skin with the average spatial interval of stimuli based on the actual placement information of the stimulus grid on the skin, and then using method (i) or (ii), the perceived speed of movement is the same as that in the reference placement, regardless of the actual placement.

[0022] First Embodiment FIG. 9 shows an example of the configuration of a motion presentation system according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 10 shows the processing flow thereof.

[0023] In the first embodiment, it is assumed that a single user receives motion stimulation using a local tactile stimulation device.

[0024] <Motion Presentation System> The motion presentation system includes a tactile stimulator 110, a sensor 120, and a stimulus controller 130.

[0025] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of a stimulus control device 130, which is a calculation device according to this embodiment.

[0026] <Tactile Stimulator 110> The tactile stimulation device 110 comprises stimulation pins 111 that apply mechanical stimulation, such as unevenness and vibration, to the skin of the user's hand, and a stimulation presentation surface 112 on which the stimulation pins 111 are arranged in a grid pattern and present stimulation via the multiple stimulation pins 111. The stimulation does not have to be mechanical, but may be electrical stimulation. The tactile stimulation device 110 may be grounded on a desk or floor, or may be worn on the user's body and move along with the user's body.

[0027] <Sensor 120> The sensor 120 is a detection device that detects the user's body motion and body position, and is, for example, an optical marker attached to the human body, such as the fingers, palm, or entire hand.

[0028] <Stimulus Control Device 130> The stimulus control device 130 is, for example, a personal computer (PC), and includes a storage unit 131, a processing unit 132, and a communication unit 133. In this embodiment, the stimulus control device 130 is configured to be connected to the tactile stimulation device 110 via a network, but the functions of the stimulus control device 130 may be integrated into the tactile stimulation device 110.

[0029] <Storage section 131> The storage unit 131 stores movement information of the virtual object relative to the skin, sensor information, reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin, actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin, and corrected stimulation output information. The reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin refers to predefined placement information of the stimulation pins 111 on the skin, which defines the relative geometric relationship of the stimulation presentation surface 112 of the tactile stimulation device 110 to the user's skin. For example, if the presentation surface is the palm of the hand, the coordinates of each stimulation pin 111 are defined in a two-dimensional coordinate system of the palm's skin surface. The actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin refers to placement information of the stimulation pins 111 on the skin, which defines the relative geometric relationship of the stimulation presentation surface 112 of the tactile stimulation device 110 to the user's skin. This may be manually defined by the user if the user uses their own placement method. Alternatively, the sensor 120 may detect the user's body position and posture, and the position and posture of the stimulus presentation surface 112 of the tactile stimulus device 110 may be detected, and the detected information may be integrated to automatically define the position and posture.

[0030] The sensor information is information received from the sensor 120 .

[0031] The corrected stimulation output information is defined by the stimulation control section 132C, and this information is sent to the tactile stimulation device 110 by the stimulation sending section 132D.

[0032] <Processing section 132> The processing unit 132 includes a sensor information receiving unit 132A, a movement defining unit 132B, a stimulus control unit 132C, and a stimulus transmitting unit 132D.

[0033] The sensor information receiving unit 132A receives sensor information relating to the user's body movement and body position from the sensor 120 and stores it in the storage unit 131.

[0034] The movement definition unit 132B defines the movement to be conveyed to the user. For example, a contact simulation between the skin on the body surface and the virtual object is performed based on two pieces of information: the coordinates of the user's body surface calculated based on sensor information, and the coordinates of the virtual object. The contact simulation uses, for example, the finite element method. Based on the results of the simulation, trajectory information of the movement of the virtual object is defined.

[0035] The stimulation control unit 132C defines control information (corrected stimulation output information) regarding the timing at which each stimulation pin 111 is output based on the movement definition information defined by the movement definition unit 132B, the ideal reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin, and the actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin.

[0036] The stimulus transmitting section 132D transmits the corrected stimulus output information to the tactile stimulus device 110.

[0037] 12 and 13 show examples of movement information of a virtual object relative to the skin. Movement information of a virtual object relative to the skin may be defined in a table as shown in Fig. 12, or in a mathematical model as shown in Fig. 13. In these tables and mathematical models, a specific position on the skin is set as the origin.

[0038] 14 shows an example of the corrected stimulus output information, in which an output start time t and an output duration d are defined for each output number of the stimulus pin 111.

[0039] FIG. 15 shows the data flow in the stimulation control section 132C.

[0040] The stimulus control unit 132C receives as input data reference position information D41 of the stimulus grid on the skin, movement information D42 of the virtual object relative to the skin, and actual position information D43 of the stimulus grid on the skin, and outputs corrected stimulus output information D46. Here, we will explain an example in which the speed of the object's movement relative to the skin in the movement information D42 is constant (uniform motion). Note that if the speed of the movement changes, it is assumed that the movement is divided into partial movements, and the parts are treated as having uniform speeds, and similar processing is performed.

[0041] The conversion process P41 to stimulus output information based on the reference arrangement takes as input reference arrangement information D41 of the stimulus grid on the skin and movement information D42 of the virtual object relative to the skin, and outputs stimulus output information D45 based on the reference arrangement. The stimulus output information D45 based on the reference arrangement indicates the timing at which output is to be performed at each stimulation point on the stimulus grid. Based on trajectory information of an object moving at a constant speed and the reference arrangement information of the stimulus grid, the stimulus output information D45 based on the reference arrangement is defined so that output continues at the stimulation point whenever the object shape overlaps with the stimulation point.

[0042] The conversion process P42 into stimulation output information based on the actual arrangement takes as input information D43 of the actual arrangement of the stimulation grid on the skin and information D42 of the movement of the virtual object relative to the skin, and outputs stimulation output information D44 based on the actual arrangement.

[0043] The stimulus output information correction process P43 receives stimulus output information D45 based on the reference layout and stimulus output information D44 based on the actual layout, and outputs corrected stimulus output information D46. The stimulus output information correction process P43 will now be described in detail.

[0044] Through the first to third experiments described above, the inventor discovered a natural law (physiological law) that the speed of the movement perceived by a person receiving through the skin the movement presented by the stimulation pins 111 on the stimulation grid varies depending on the average spatial interval in the direction of the stimulation. When the average spatial interval of the stimuli increases, the movement is perceived as slower, and conversely, when the average spatial interval of the stimuli decreases, the movement is perceived as faster. Under the inventor's experimental conditions, when the average spatial interval is doubled, the movement is perceived as about 1.3 times faster.

[0045] Based on this law of nature, a correction process P43 for the stimulus output information is performed. First, in this process, it is determined whether the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information based on the actual layout is larger than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information based on the reference layout. If the answer is YES, i.e., if the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information based on the actual layout is larger, the speed of movement of the virtual object will be perceived by humans as slower than in the reference layout. If the answer is NO, i.e., if the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information based on the actual layout is smaller, the speed of movement of the virtual object will be perceived as faster by humans than in the reference layout. A correction process is performed to make the perceived speed in the actual layout closer to the speed perceived in the reference layout.

[0046] (Correction method) There are two methods of correction that make the speed feel the same as the standard configuration.

[0047] One correction method is to manipulate the average spatial interval between stimuli. When the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information D44 based on the actual layout is smaller than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information D45 based on the reference layout, the average stimulus interval is increased by thinning out the stimulus points. As a result, the average spatial interval between stimuli can be made closer to that in the stimulus output information D45 based on the reference layout, and the speed perceived by humans can be made closer to that in the case of the reference layout. However, this method cannot be applied when the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information D44 based on the actual layout is larger than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the stimulus output information D45 based on the reference layout.

[0048] Another correction method is to change the moving speed of the virtual object in the virtual object movement information D42 relative to the skin, and then perform a process equivalent to the conversion process P42 to the stimulus output information D44 based on the actual arrangement to obtain corrected stimulus output information D46. For example, if the average spatial distance between stimuli in the stimulus output information D44 based on the actual arrangement is larger, the moving speed of the virtual object is reset to a high speed. Conversely, if the average spatial distance between stimuli in the stimulus output information D44 based on the actual arrangement is smaller, the moving speed of the virtual object is reset to a low speed. By performing such a correction, it is possible to approach the speed perceived in the case of the standard arrangement.

[0049] The reference placement information D41 of the stimulation grid on the skin may be defined based on a stimulation grid in which the intervals between the stimulation pins 111 are dense, or conversely, based on a stimulation grid in which the intervals between the stimulation pins 111 are sparse. However, when the information is defined based on a dense stimulation grid, the second correction method will often be used instead of the first correction method.

[0050] <Processing flow> The processing flow of the motion presentation system will be described with reference to FIG.

[0051] The movement definition unit 132B of the processing unit 132 defines the movement to be conveyed to the user (P20) and stores movement information of the virtual object relative to the skin in the storage unit 131. For example, the movement definition unit 132B performs a contact simulation between the skin on the body surface and the virtual object based on both the coordinates of the user's body surface calculated based on sensor information and the coordinates of the virtual object, and defines trajectory information of the movement of the virtual object based on the results of the simulation. In this case, the sensor 120 detects the user's body motion and body position (P10) and transmits the sensor information via the network. The movement definition unit 132B receives the sensor information via the network and the sensor information receiving unit 132A, and uses the sensor information to define movement information of the virtual object relative to the skin, which is then stored together with the sensor information in the storage unit 131.

[0052] Furthermore, the reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin is defined (P30) and stored in the storage unit 131. For example, the reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin is manually defined in advance by the user or an administrator of the motion presentation system, and is input via an input means (not shown).

[0053] The stimulation control unit 132C of the processing unit 132 receives as input the reference placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin and the movement information of the virtual object relative to the skin, and performs a conversion process to convert the information into stimulation output information based on the reference placement (P41), obtains the stimulation output information based on the reference placement, and stores it in the memory unit 131.

[0054] The actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin is defined (P40) and stored in the memory unit 131. For example, if the user has used a unique placement method, it may be defined manually by the user. Alternatively, the sensor 120 may detect the user's body position and posture (P10) and the position and posture of the stimulation presentation surface 112 of the tactile stimulation device 110 (P10), and the stimulation control unit 132C of the processing unit 132 may integrate the detected information and automatically define it.

[0055] The stimulation control unit 132C of the processing unit 132 receives as input information on the actual placement of the stimulation grid on the skin and information on the movement of the virtual object relative to the skin, and performs a conversion process to generate stimulation output information based on the actual placement (P42), obtains the stimulation output information based on the actual placement, and stores it in the memory unit 131.

[0056] The stimulation control unit 132C of the processing unit 132 receives as input the stimulation output information based on the reference arrangement and the stimulation output information based on the actual arrangement, performs correction processing on the stimulation output information as described above (P43), obtains the corrected stimulation output information, stores it in the memory unit 131, and transmits it to the tactile stimulation device 110 via the stimulation transmission unit 132D and the communication unit 133.

[0057] The tactile stimulator 110 receives the corrected stimulation output information via the network, and presents mechanical or electrical stimulation to the skin of the hand of the human user via the stimulation pin 111 (P50). <Effects> With this configuration, even if the expected and actual positions of the output device including the stimulus grating do not match, causing a change in the geometric relationship between the skin and the stimulus grating, the human can be made to perceive the virtual object as moving at a speed close to the speed the human would perceive the virtual object if the output device were worn in the expected position. Furthermore, the human perception of the speed of the movement can be controlled independently of the actual position information of the stimulus grating on the skin.

[0058] Second Embodiment The following description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0059] In the second embodiment, it is assumed that multiple users communicate via a network and each receive a movement stimulus using the tactile stimulation device 110. Even if the same movement stimulus is received, if the actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin of each user differs, the movement may be perceived as having a different speed, so the stimulation output information is corrected based on the reference placement information.

[0060] <Motion Presentation System> In the second embodiment, a case is assumed in which a single center and a plurality of users receive movement stimulation using tactile stimulation devices of their respective local movement presentation systems.

[0061] FIG. 16 shows an example of the configuration of a motion presentation system according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 17 shows the processing flow thereof.

[0062] The movement presentation system according to the second embodiment includes one data center 300 and N local movement presentation systems, each of which includes a tactile stimulation device 110-n, a sensor 120-n, and a stimulation control device 230-n. N is an integer equal to or greater than 1, where n=1, 2, ..., N. The tactile stimulation device 110-n and the sensor 120-n have the same functions as the tactile stimulation device 110 and the sensor 120 of the first embodiment.

[0063] In this embodiment, the data center 300 defines reference placement information for the stimulation grid on the skin based on the actual placement information of N users, and transfers this to each user's local device (stimulation control device 230-n).

[0064] <Data Center 300> The data center 300 includes a transmitter / receiver 310 , a location information acquisition unit 320 , and a location information storage unit 330 .

[0065] <Stimulus Control Device 230-n> FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram of a stimulus control device 230-n, which is a calculation device according to this embodiment.

[0066] The stimulus control device 230-n is, for example, a personal computer (PC), and includes a storage unit 131, a processing unit 232, and a communication unit 133. The storage unit 131 and the communication unit 133 are as described in the first embodiment.

[0067] The processing unit 232 includes a sensor information receiving unit 132A, a movement definition unit 132B, a stimulus control unit 132C, a stimulus sending unit 132D, and a placement information sending / receiving unit 232E.

[0068] <Processing flow> Specifically, first, the actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin is defined (P40), and the placement information transmitter / receiver 232E of each user's stimulation control device 230-n transmits the actual placement information of the stimulation grid on the skin to the data center 300.

[0069] The data center 300 receives actual placement information of the stimulation gratings on the skin of N people via the transmitter / receiver 310 and stores it in the placement information storage unit 330. The placement information acquisition unit 320 defines reference placement information of the stimulation gratings on the skin based on the actual placement information of the stimulation gratings on the skin of N people (P30-2) and stores it in the placement information storage unit 330. As a method of this definition, the actual placement information of the stimulation gratings on the skin of any user may be defined as the reference placement information, or the average position of the stimulation pins in the stimulation gratings on the skin may be calculated and the calculated average position may be defined as the reference placement information.

[0070] Next, the data center 300 transfers the defined reference arrangement information via the transmitting / receiving unit 310 to the local device (stimulus control device 230-n) of each user.

[0071] The arrangement information transmitting / receiving unit 232E of the stimulation control device 230-n of each user receives the defined reference arrangement information and stores it in the storage unit 131. Other processing is the same as in the first embodiment. <Effects> With the above configuration, each motion presentation system can achieve the same effects as the first embodiment.

[0072] <Hardware, programs and recording media> The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to perform the described functions. A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may also be a programmed processor that executes programs stored in memory.

[0073] In this specification, a circuitry, unit, or means is hardware that is programmed to realize or performs the described functions, which may be any hardware disclosed herein or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or perform the described functions.

[0074] If the hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of the hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0075] The various processes described above can be implemented by loading a program that executes each step of the above method into the recording unit 2020 of the computer 2000 shown in Figure 19, and operating the control unit 2010, input unit 2030, output unit 2040, display unit 2050, etc.

[0076] The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, which may be, for example, a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any other suitable recording medium.

[0077] The program may be distributed, for example, by selling, transferring, lending, etc. a portable recording medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM on which the program is recorded. Furthermore, the program may be stored in a storage device of a server computer, and then transferred from the server computer to another computer via a network, thereby distributing the program.

[0078] A computer that executes such a program may first temporarily store the program recorded on a portable recording medium or transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. Then, when executing a process, the computer reads the program stored on its own recording medium and executes the process in accordance with the read program. Alternatively, the computer may read the program directly from a portable recording medium and execute the process in accordance with the program. Furthermore, the computer may execute the process in accordance with the program each time a program is transferred from a server computer to the computer. The server computer may not transfer the program to the computer, but may instead execute the process through a so-called ASP (Application Service Provider) service, which realizes the processing function by issuing an execution instruction and obtaining the results. Furthermore, the server computer may execute the process on a terminal using a so-called SaaS (Software as a Service) service, which allows users to use part of the server computer along with the program. In this embodiment, the program includes information used for computer processing that is equivalent to a program (such as data that is not a direct instruction to the computer but has properties that define computer processing).

[0079] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the device is configured by executing a predetermined program on a computer, but at least a part of the processing contents may be realized by hardware.

[0080] <Other variations> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications. For example, the various processes described above may not only be executed in chronological order as described, but may also be executed in parallel or individually depending on the processing capabilities of the devices that execute the processes or as needed. Other modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A stimulus control device that outputs movement information of a virtual object to be presented to a user to a device worn by the user, and outputting corrected stimulus information that has been corrected by taking into consideration a difference between the reference arrangement and the actual arrangement of the stimulus grid, based on reference arrangement stimulus information obtained from reference arrangement information of the stimulus grid of the device and movement information of the virtual object, and actual arrangement stimulus information obtained from arrangement information of the stimulus grid of the actual device and movement information of the virtual object. Stimulus control device.

2. The stimulus control device of claim 1, a correction unit that corrects the actual arrangement stimulus information by thinning out stimulation points in the actual arrangement stimulus information when the average spatial interval between stimuli in the actual arrangement stimulus information is smaller than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the reference arrangement information; Stimulus control device.

3. The stimulus control device of claim 1, (i) if the average spatial interval between stimuli in the actual layout stimulus information is smaller than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the reference layout information, reset the moving speed of the virtual object to be slower, and (ii) if the average spatial interval between stimuli in the actual layout stimulus information is larger than the average spatial interval between stimuli in the reference layout information, reset the moving speed of the virtual object to be faster, and obtain the corrected stimulus information from the layout information of the stimulus grid of the actual device and the movement information of the virtual object corresponding to the reset moving speed. Stimulus control device.

4. A stimulus control method for outputting movement information of a virtual object to be presented to a user to a device worn by the user, comprising: and outputting corrected stimulus information that has been corrected by taking into consideration a difference between the reference arrangement and the actual arrangement of the stimulus grid, based on reference arrangement stimulus information obtained from reference arrangement information of the stimulus grid of the device and movement information of the virtual object, and actual arrangement stimulus information obtained from arrangement information of the stimulus grid of the actual device and movement information of the virtual object. Stimulus control methods.

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