Game record recording system, game record recording device, and game record recording program

Abstract

To provide a shogi (Japanese chess) record recording system using an existing shogi game clock for measuring an allotted time.SOLUTION: A shogi record recording system for recording a shogi record includes: a piece recognition section; a match image acquisition section; a shogi game clock extraction section; a board surface extraction section; a turn identification section; an allotted time identification section; a consumption time calculation section; a move identification section; and a shogi record storage section. The piece recognition section recognizes a piece used for a shogi game. The shogi game image acquisition section acquires a shogi game image for keeping a board surface photographed by a camera and a shogi game clock. The shogi game clock extraction section extracts a shogi game clock section from the shogi game image. The board surface extraction section extracts a board surface section from the shogi game image. The turn identification section identifies a change in a turn by identifying the turn. The allotted time identification section identifies a player's allotted time when identifying a change in the turn. The consumption time calculation section calculates the player's consumption time on the basis of the allotted time. The move identification section identifies the player's move on the basis of the board surface section and data of a piece recognized by the piece recognition section. The shogi record storage section stores a shogi record including a turn, an allotted time, a consumption time, and a move.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a game record recording system, a game record recording device, and a game record recording program for recording game records in games such as shogi, go, and chess. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various systems have been proposed for automatically recording game records in games such as shogi, go, and chess so that players can concentrate on the game.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a game record recording system comprising a dedicated game clock that counts the time each player has, a camera that takes an image of the board as the pieces are moved, a count interruption detection means that detects the point at which the count of the time allowed after a piece is moved when a game button switch on the game clock is pressed, and a computer at the game venue that takes an image of the board with the camera when it receives a notification that the game button switch has been pressed and the count has been interrupted, captures the image of the board, and detects the movements of the pieces from the captured image to record the game record. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-104510 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in order to use the game record recording system described in Patent Document 1, a dedicated game clock with a function to notify the PC at the game venue must be prepared separately, and existing game clocks cannot be used, which makes the preparations leading up to the game extremely cumbersome.

[0006] In view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide a game record recording system, a game record recording device, and a game record recording program that allow an existing game clock to be used to measure time.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides (1) a game record recording system for recording a game record, characterized in that it comprises a piece recognition unit, a game image acquisition unit, a game clock extraction unit, a board extraction unit, a move identification unit, a time limit identification unit, a time spent calculation unit, a move identification unit, and a game record storage unit. The piece recognition unit recognizes the pieces used in a game. The game image acquisition unit acquires game images captured by a camera, the game board and the game clock included. The game clock extraction unit extracts the game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit. The board extraction unit extracts the board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit. The move identification unit identifies moves and identifies changes in moves based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit. When the move identification unit identifies a change in move, the time limit identification unit identifies the time limit of each player based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit.The consumed time calculation unit calculates the consumed time of each player based on the time limit identified by the time limit identification unit.The move identification unit identifies a move of each player based on the board portion extracted by the board extraction unit and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit.The game record storage unit stores a game record including the move identified by the move identification unit, the time limit identified by the time limit identification unit, the consumed time calculated by the consumed time calculation unit, and the move identified by the move identification unit.

[0008] (2) The game image acquisition unit acquires an initial game image captured by the camera, the initial game image including the board and the game clock before the game, and the board extraction unit determines an initial position of the board from the initial game image captured by the game image acquisition unit, and extracts the initial position of the board from the initial game image captured by the game image acquisition unit. Watch lottery The game record recording system described in (1) is characterized in that the output unit determines the initial position of the game clock from the initial game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit.

[0009] (3) The game clock extraction unit converts the game clock portion that is shown at an angle in the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit into a front-on image, and the board surface extraction unit converts the game board portion that is shown at an angle in the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit into a front-on image.

[0010] (4) A game record recording system according to any one of (1) to (3), characterized in that the camera is a camera equipped on a smartphone.

[0011] (5) A game record recording device for recording a game record, comprising a piece recognition unit, a game image acquisition unit, a game clock extraction unit, a board extraction unit, a move identification unit, a time limit identification unit, a time spent calculation unit, a move identification unit, and a game record storage unit. The piece recognition unit recognizes the pieces used in a game. The game image acquisition unit acquires game images captured by a camera, the game board and the game clock included. The game clock extraction unit extracts the game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit. The board extraction unit extracts the board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit. The move identification unit identifies moves and identifies changes in moves based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit. When the move identification unit identifies a change in move, the time limit identification unit identifies the time limit of each player based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit.The consumed time calculation unit calculates the consumed time of each player based on the time limit identified by the time limit identification unit.The move identification unit identifies a move of each player based on the board portion extracted by the board extraction unit and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit.The game record storage unit stores a game record including the move identified by the move identification unit, the time limit identified by the time limit identification unit, the consumed time calculated by the consumed time calculation unit, and the move identified by the move identification unit.

[0012] (6) A game record recording program for recording a game record, characterized in that the program causes a computer to execute a piece recognition means, a game image acquisition means, a game clock extraction means, a board extraction means, a move identification means, a time identification means, a time spent calculation means, a move identification means, and a game record storage means. The piece recognition means recognizes the pieces used in a game. The game image acquisition means acquires a game image captured by a camera, the game image including the board and the game clock. The game clock extraction means extracts the game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition means. The board extraction means extracts the board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition means. The move identification means identifies a move based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction means, and identifies a change in the move. When the move identification means identifies a change in move, the time reserved for each player is identified based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction means.The time spent calculation means calculates the time spent by each player based on the time reserved for each player identified by the time reserved identification means.The move identification means identifies a move by each player based on the board portion extracted by the board extraction means and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition means.The game record storage means stores a game record including the move identified by the move identification means, the time reserved for each player identified by the time reserved identification means, the time spent calculated by the time spent calculation means, and the move identified by the move identification means. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, the time limit can be measured using an existing game clock, which reduces the complexity of preparations required before a game begins. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a smartphone 2. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the game record recording system 7. [Figure 4] This is an example of the installation of a smartphone 2 that takes pictures of the board and the game clock. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the game board and the game clock photographed from an upper oblique direction by the smartphone 2 shown in FIG. [Figure 6] Here is an example of piece movement on the board. [Figure 7] Another example of piece movement on the board is shown below. [Figure 8] 13 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of processing performed in the game record recording system 7. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart of the game record recording process performed in the game record recording system 7. [Figure 10] 1 shows an example of a computer that executes a game record recording program for the game record recording system of this embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the following embodiment, the present invention is applied to shogi. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information processing system according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 has a smartphone 2, a gateway 3, a database 4, a server 5, and a data distribution server 6. The gateway 3, the database 4, the server 5, and the data distribution server 6 are connected via a network A. The smartphone 2 and the gateway 3 are connected by wireless communication.

[0016] As the network A, any type of communication network, whether wired or wireless, such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a VPN (Virtual Private Network), can be used. As wireless communication used to connect the smartphone 2 and the gateway 3, wireless communication such as 5G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) can be used, as well as short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0017] The smartphone 2 includes a camera 21 and a game record recording system 7. Based on game images (images of the game board and game clock) captured by the camera 21, the game record recording system 7 records the game record.

[0018] The gateway 3 connects the smartphone 2 to the network A. The gateway 3 receives game record data and game data recorded by the game record recording system 7 from the smartphone 2, and transmits them to the database 4 via the network A. The game data is data related to the game input by the user, such as the name of the game, the names of the players who will play first and second, the initial time limit, the location of the game, and the handicaps.

[0019] The database 4 stores the game record data and game data sent from the smartphone 2, as well as member data registered in the game record recording system 7 and piece data used in previous games. Linking the game record data, game data, and member data in the database 4 makes it easy to search for a list of game record data for a specific member, for example.

[0020] The server 5 is a server device that manages the game record recording system 7 provided in each smartphone 2. The database 4 may be provided in the server 5, or may be provided as a device separate from the server 5.

[0021] The data distribution server 6 is a server device that reads game record data and game data stored in the database 4 and distributes the game records recorded by the game record recording system 7. The data distribution server 6 may be incorporated in the server 5, or may be configured as a computer or the like different from the server 5.

[0022] Players can efficiently improve their shogi skills by checking their own and other players' game records distributed from the data distribution server 6. Also, beginners to shogi can learn the basic rules of shogi by viewing other players' game records, and can get a feel for the atmosphere of a game based on the moves and time spent.

[0023] (Hardware configuration) Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the smartphone 2. Referring to Fig. 2, the smartphone 2 has a camera 21, as well as a wireless unit 22, a secondary storage device 23, a primary storage device 24, and a processor 25.

[0024] The wireless unit 22 is a communication interface for performing wireless communication with the gateway 3 via an antenna 22a provided in the smartphone 2. The method of wireless communication has been described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0025] The secondary storage device 23 and the primary storage device 24 are storage devices that store various data (including game image data captured by the camera 21) and programs. The processor 25 reads out a program for executing each process described below from the secondary storage device 23, expands it in the primary storage device 24, and executes the read program.

[0026] (Functional configuration) Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the game record recording system 7. Referring to Fig. 3, the game record recording system 7 has a game data acquisition unit 701, a game image acquisition unit 702, a game clock extraction unit 703, a board state extraction unit 704, a piece recognition unit 706, a move identification unit 707, a time limit identification unit 708, a time spent calculation unit 709, a move identification unit 710, a memory unit 711, and a transmission / reception unit 723. The memory unit 711 has a game data DB 712, a game image DB 713, a game clock DB 714, a board state DB 715, a piece data DB 717, and a game record storage unit 718. The game record storage unit 718 has a move DB 719, a time limit DB 720, a time spent DB 721, and a move DB 722. The transmitting / receiving unit 723 corresponds to the wireless unit 22 and the antenna 22a in the hardware configuration. The memory unit 711 is stored in the secondary storage device 23 or the primary storage device 24. The game data acquiring unit 701, the game image acquiring unit 702, the game clock extracting unit 703, the board state extracting unit 704, the piece recognizing unit 706, the turn identifying unit 707, the time limit identifying unit 708, the time spent calculating unit 709, and the move identifying unit 710 are examples of electronic circuits that the processor 25 has, or examples of processes executed by the processor 25.

[0027] The game data acquisition unit 701 acquires game data input by the players and stores it in the game data DB 712 provided in the storage unit 711. The game data has already been explained, so an explanation will be omitted here. The game data stored in the game data DB 712 is sent from the transmission / reception unit 723 via the network A to the database 4 and stored therein.

[0028] The game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board and the game clock with the camera 21 at predetermined time intervals, and acquires the captured game images (images containing the board and the game clock). The time intervals at which the camera 21 photographs are not particularly limited, but may be set to any time interval between 30 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds, for example, so long as the time interval is short enough to identify a change in turn. The game image acquisition unit 702 stores each acquired game image in the game image DB 713 provided in the storage unit 711. The game images acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 may be still images captured by the camera 21, or may be still images captured as part of a moving image captured by the camera 21.

[0029] The game clock extraction unit 703 reads out each game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 and stored in the game image DB 713, extracts the game clock portion for each game image, and stores it in the game clock DB 714 in the storage unit 711. The method of extracting the game clock portion by the game clock extraction unit 703 will be described later.

[0030] The board state extraction unit 704 reads out each game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 and stored in the game image DB 713, extracts a board portion for each game image, and stores the extracted portion in a board state DB 715 in the storage unit 711. The method of extracting the board portion by the board state extraction unit 704 will be described later.

[0031] The piece recognition unit 706 is a processing unit that recognizes the pieces to be used in a game. If the piece to be used in a game is already stored as piece data in the database 4, for example, if it is the same piece as a piece used in a previous game, the piece recognition unit 706 reads the piece data from the database 4 via the transmission / reception unit 723 and recognizes the read piece data as the piece to be used in the game. The piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 is stored in the piece data DB 717 in the storage unit 711. On the other hand, when the piece to be used in the game is a new piece, the board on which the piece is arranged is used, which has been photographed in advance by the camera 21, extracted by the board extraction unit 704, and stored in the board DB 715 of the storage unit 711. The piece recognition unit 706 recognizes the piece as a piece to be used in the game by identifying the piece from the board stored in the board DB 715. As a method of identifying the piece in the piece recognition unit 706, for example, a method using machine learning in artificial intelligence can be adopted, but this is not limited thereto, and various identification methods can be adopted. The piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 is stored in the piece data DB 717 of the storage unit 711. The piece data stored in the piece data DB 717 is sent to the database 4 via the transmission / reception unit 723 and stored therein. Note that, as the image used for recognizing the piece by the piece recognition unit 706, an image of each piece photographed separately may be used.

[0032] The move number identifying unit 707 reads the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extracting unit 703 and stored in the game clock DB 714, identifies the move numbers of the players, and identifies changes in the move numbers. The move number identifying method in the move number identifying unit 707 will be described later. The move number data identified by the move number identifying unit 707 is stored in the move number DB 719 in the game record storing unit 718.

[0033] The time limit identifying unit 708 reads the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extracting unit 703 and stored in the game clock DB 714, and identifies the time limit of the players. The method of identifying the time limit in the time limit identifying unit 708 will be described later. The data on the time limit identified by the time limit identifying unit 708 is stored in the time limit DB 720 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0034] The consumed time calculation unit 709 reads the remaining time data identified by the remaining time identification unit 708 and stored in the remaining time DB 720, and calculates the time (consumed time) until a move is made based on the remaining time data. That is, the consumed time calculation unit 709 calculates the difference between the remaining time when a player makes a previous move and the remaining time when the player makes a next move as the consumed time. The consumed time data calculated by the consumed time calculation unit 709 is stored in the consumed time DB 721 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0035] The move identification unit 710 reads the board portion extracted by the board extraction unit 704 and stored in the board DB 715 and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 and stored in the piece data DB 717, and identifies the moves made by the players from the board portion. The method of identifying moves in the move identification unit 710 will be described later. Data on the moves identified by the move identification unit 710 is stored in the move DB 722 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0036] The game record storage unit 718 synchronously stores the move stored in the move DB 719, the time stored in the time limit DB 720, the time spent in the time spent DB 721, and the moves stored in the move DB 722. As a result, data (game record data) including the move data, time limit data, time spent data, and move data, all of which are synchronized, is created in the game record storage unit 718. The created game record data is sent from the transmission / reception unit 723 to the database 4 via network A and stored therein.

[0037] (Regarding extraction of the game board and game clock) A configuration for extracting the board and the game clock from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 will be described below. FIG. 4 shows an example of the installation of the smartphone 2 for photographing the board and the game clock. Referring to FIG. 4, the smartphone 2 is held by a holder 13 at the tip of an arm 12 attached to a desk 11. The holder 13 is formed so as to be rotatable in three dimensions by a ball part 14, and the angle of the smartphone 2 can be adjusted by adjusting the angle of the holder 13. The angle of the smartphone 2 is adjusted so that the board 8 and the game clock 10 are within the photographable range of the camera 21 (shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4).

[0038] Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the board and the game clock photographed from an upper oblique direction by the smartphone 2 shown in Fig. 4. The game clock 10 includes a pair of LEDs 101a, 101b, a pair of time display units 102a, 102b, and a pair of start buttons 103a, 103b. The LEDs 101a, 101b indicate a turn by turning on / off. For example, when the LED 101a is on and the LED 101b is off, it indicates that it is the turn of the player on the left side in Fig. 5. The time display units 102a, 102b display the time of each player, and in this embodiment, a digital format (a format in which the time is displayed in digital numbers) is adopted. When the player whose turn it is currently (the player on the left side of Figure 5) finishes his / her move and presses the "Make a move" button 103a, LED 101a goes out and the time limit display unit 102a stops, LED 101b comes on and the time limit display unit 102b starts up, and the turn changes to the player on the right side of Figure 5.

[0039] The move identification unit 707 recognizes the portion of the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit 703 that corresponds to the pair of LEDs 101a, 101b, and reads the on / off state of the LEDs 101a, 101b. The move is identified based on the on / off state of the LEDs 101a, 101b that it has read. This identification process is performed for each game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit 703, thereby identifying a change in the move.

[0040] The game time identification unit 708 recognizes the portion of the game clock extracted by the game clock extraction unit 703 that corresponds to the pair of game time display units 102a, 102b, reads the game time displayed in the game time display units 102a, 102b, and identifies the game time of the player whose turn it is.

[0041] Further, the move identification unit 710 reads out the board parts extracted by the board extraction unit 704 and stored in the board DB 715 and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 and stored in the piece data DB 717, and detects the state of all squares on the board 8 (presence or absence of pieces, type of piece). This square state detection process is performed on the board parts before and after the turn change, to detect changes in the state of squares on the board parts and identify the move. The square state detection process may be performed on each board part extracted by the board extraction unit 704. Here, the method of identifying a move in the move identification unit 710 will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. Fig. 6 shows an example of piece movement on the board. Fig. 7 shows another example of piece movement on the board.

[0042] First, referring to FIG. 6, in (A) showing before the change in the square state, a "Bishop" is placed in square "4-4", but in (B) showing after the change in the square state, the "Bishop" in square "4-4" is gone and a "Horse" is placed in square "2-2". Therefore, the move identification unit 710 recognizes that the "Bishop" has moved from square "4-4" to square "2-2" and "Promoted", and determines the move as "Bishop Promote to 2-2". In this way, when the square state changes by two squares ("4-4" and "2-2" in FIG. 6), the move identification unit 710 can recognize that "the action of moving a piece has been performed". The piece is identified by the move identification unit 710 reading the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 and stored in the piece data DB 717 and comparing it with the piece data.

[0043] Next, referring to FIG. 7, in (D) showing the change in the square state after the change, a "gold" has been placed in square "2-2", in comparison with (C) showing the change in the square state. Therefore, the move identification unit 710 identifies that a "gold" piece in hand has been placed in square "2-2", and determines the move to be "2-2 gold". In this way, when the state of the squares changes by one square ("2-2" in the figure), the move identification unit 710 can identify that "the action of placing a piece in hand has been performed". The method of identifying pieces has been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0044] In this way, according to the present invention, the identification of the time limit and the calculation of the consumed time are performed based on the game clock portion extracted from the game image captured by the camera 21 in the game image capture unit 702. Therefore, there is no need to prepare a dedicated game clock separately as in Patent Document 1, and the time limit can be measured using an existing game clock. This reduces the complexity of the preparations leading up to the game.

[0045] According to the game record recording system described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when a player presses a game button switch provided on a game clock, (1) the count of the player's time is interrupted, and the count interruption detection means detects the time when the count is interrupted, and (2) the game venue's computer is notified that the game button switch has been pressed. Then, the game venue's computer, which has received the notification, takes an image of the board with a camera and imports it. That is, in the game record recording system described in Patent Document 1, the count of the time is interrupted "when the game button switch is pressed," while the image of the board is taken "when the game venue's computer is notified that the game button switch has been pressed." Therefore, there is a time lag between the time when the count of the time is interrupted and the time when the image of the board is taken with the camera. Therefore, the game record corresponding to the player's time cannot be recorded accurately, and the game record may be inaccurate.

[0046] In contrast, in the present invention, the game image acquisition unit 702 acquires a game image (an image containing the board and game clock) captured by the camera 21. The game clock portion is then extracted from the game image to identify the turn and time limit, and the board portion is extracted to identify the move. That is, in the present invention, the board at the time limit is captured in an image showing the game clock for identifying the player's time limit. Therefore, the player's time limit and the game record naturally correspond, and the game record corresponding to the player's time limit can be recorded with high accuracy.

[0047] In addition, when actually playing shogi, the move is confirmed the moment the hand is released from the moved piece, so there is no time lag between moving the piece and the move being confirmed. According to the present invention, as described above, the time held by the players and the game record inevitably correspond, so that the situation of actually playing shogi can be recorded more faithfully.

[0048] 4, in this embodiment, the camera 21 of the smartphone 2 is held by the holding part 13 of the arm 12 and captures the board 8 and the game clock 10 from an upward oblique direction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in the game image captured by the camera 21, the game clock 10 and the board 8 are captured obliquely.

[0049] Therefore, it is preferable that the game clock extraction unit 703 has a conversion function for converting the game clock part shown at an angle in the game image (FIG. 5) into a front-facing image. By converting the game clock part into a front-facing image, the on / off state of the LEDs 101a and 101b becomes easier to read, making it easier to identify the turn in the turn identification unit 707, and the allotted time displayed on the allotted time display units 102a and 102b becomes easier to read, making it easier to identify the allotted time in the allotted time identification unit 708. As a conversion method into a front-facing image in the game clock extraction unit 703, in this embodiment, a method is adopted in which the vertices of the game clock part shown at an angle in the game image are identified and converted into a front-facing image using affine transformation or projective transformation, but the conversion method into a front-facing image is not limited to this, and various known conversion methods can be adopted.

[0050] Moreover, it is preferable that the board state extraction unit 704 has a conversion function for converting the board state portion shown at an angle in the game image (FIG. 5) into a front-view image shown from directly above. By converting the board state portion into a front-view image, the arrangement of the pieces becomes easier to read, and therefore the move identification unit 710 can easily identify the move. As a method of conversion into a front-view image in the board state extraction unit 704, in this embodiment, a method is adopted in which vertices of the board state portion shown at an angle in the game image are identified and converted into a front-view image using affine transformation or projective transformation, but the method of conversion into a front-view image is not limited to this, and various known conversion methods can be adopted.

[0051] Preferably, before the start of a game, the game clock extraction unit 703 and the board extraction unit 704 predetermine the initial positions of the board portion and the game clock portion in the game image (FIG. 5). Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, in the game image (FIG. 5) captured by the camera 21, the game clock extraction unit 703 identifies the apex of the game clock 10 and predetermines the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 so as to pass through the apex, while the board extraction unit 704 identifies the apex of the board 8 and predetermines the initial position T2 of the board 8 so as to pass through the apex. Since the positions of the board 8 and the game clock 10 do not basically change during a game, by predetermining the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 and the initial position T2 of the board 8, the game clock portion and the board portion in the game image during the game can be extracted with high accuracy based on the initial positions T1 and T2. This makes it possible to more accurately identify the turn, time limit, and moves, compared to a configuration in which the initial positions of the board and game clock in the game image (Figure 5) are not predefined.

[0052] (Processing flow) The flow of processing performed in the game record recording system 7 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the overall flow of processing performed in the game record recording system 7. With reference to FIG. 8, when a game starts, first, the piece recognition unit 706 of the game record recording system 7 recognizes the pieces to be used in the game. If data of the pieces to be used in the game exists in the database 4 (S10 Yes), the piece recognition unit 706 reads the piece data from the database 4 via the network A (S20), and recognizes the read piece data as a piece to be used in the game (S60). The piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 is saved in the piece data DB 717 in the storage unit 711.

[0053] On the other hand, if the data of the pieces to be used in the game does not exist in the database 4 (S10 No), first, the game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board on which the pieces are placed with the camera 21 and acquires the photographed board image (S30). The board image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 is stored in the game image DB 713. The board extraction unit 704 reads the board image stored in the game image DB 713 and extracts a board portion from the board image (S40). The extracted board portion is stored in the board DB 715 in the storage unit 711. The piece recognition unit 706 identifies a piece from the board stored in the board DB 715 (S50) and recognizes the piece as a piece to be used in the game (S60). The piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 is stored in the piece data DB 717 in the storage unit 711. The frame data stored in the frame data DB 717 is sent from the transmitting / receiving unit 723 via the network A and stored in the database 4.

[0054] Next, the game data acquisition unit 701 acquires the game data input by the user, and stores it in the game data DB 712 provided in the storage unit 711 (S70). The game data stored in the game data DB 712 is sent from the transmission / reception unit 723 via the network A to the database 4 and stored therein.

[0055] Next, the game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board 8 and the game clock 10 before the game with the camera 21, and acquires the photographed initial game image (an image including the board and the game clock before the game) (S75). The initial game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 is stored in the game image DB 713.

[0056] The board surface extraction unit 704 identifies the vertices of the board surface 8 from the initial game image read from the game image DB 713, and determines the initial position T2 of the board surface 8 so as to pass through the vertices (S80). By determining the initial position T2 of the board surface 8 before the game (S80 Yes), the board surface portion in the game image during the game can be extracted with high accuracy based on the initial position T2. ​​On the other hand, if the board surface extraction unit 704 cannot determine the initial position T2 of the board surface 8 (S80 No), the angle of the smartphone 2 or the holding unit 13 is adjusted by the user, and the photographable range of the camera 21 is adjusted so that the board surface extraction unit 704 can identify the vertices of the board surface 8 (S90). Thereafter, the game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board surface 8 and the game clock 10 before the game with the camera 21, acquires the initial game image again, and stores it in the game image DB 713 (S75). Then, the board extraction unit 704 redefines the initial position T2 of the board 8 from the initial game image read from the game image DB 713 (S80).

[0057] After the board extraction unit 704 determines the initial position T2 (S80), the game clock extraction unit 703 identifies the apex of the game clock 10 from the initial game image read from the game image DB 713, and determines the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 so as to pass through the apex (S100). By determining the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 before the game (S100 Yes), the game clock part in the game image during the game can be extracted with high accuracy based on the initial position T1. On the other hand, if the game clock extraction unit 703 cannot determine the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 (S100 No), the user adjusts the position of the game clock 10 so that the game clock extraction unit 703 can identify the apex of the game clock 10 (S110). After that, the game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board 8 and the game clock 10 before the game with the camera 21, acquires an initial game image again, and stores it in the game image DB 713 (S75). Then, the board extraction unit 704 redefines the initial position T2 of the board 8 from the initial game image read from the game image DB 713 (S80). If the initial position T2 of the board 8 is defined (S80 Yes), the game clock extraction unit 703 redefines the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 from the initial game image read from the game image DB 713 (S100). According to this flow, even if the game clock extraction unit 703 cannot define the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 (S100 No), the initial position T2 of the board 8 has already been defined (S80). Therefore, it is possible to omit the step of adjusting the position of the game clock 10 by the user (S110) and the step of re-defining the initial position T2 of the board 8 (S80) which is a step subsequent to the re-acquisition of the initial game image by the game image acquisition unit 702 (S75).

[0058] Thereafter, when the user issues a command to start recording (S120), the game record data of the game is recorded by the game record recording system 7 (S130). When the user issues a command to end recording (S150), the game record data recorded by the game record recording system 7 is sent from the transmitting / receiving unit 723 via the network A to the database 4 and stored therein (S160).

[0059] A detailed flow of recording a game record performed by the game record recording system 7 will be described below. Fig. 9 is a flowchart of the game record recording process performed by the game record recording system 7. First, the game image acquisition unit 702 photographs the board 8 and the game clock 10 with the camera 21 and acquires a game image (an image containing the board 8 and the game clock 10) (S131). The game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 is stored in the game image DB 713.

[0060] The game clock extraction unit 703 reads out the game image stored in the game image DB 713, and extracts the game clock portion in the game image (S132). The extracted game clock portion is stored in the game clock DB 714 in the storage unit 711.

[0061] The move identification unit 707 reads the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit 703 and stored in the game clock DB 714, and identifies the move (S133). The method of identifying the move by the move identification unit 707 has been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted. The data of the move identified by the move identification unit 707 is stored in the move DB 719 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0062] Based on the turn identified in S133, the turn identification unit 707 identifies whether the turn has changed (S134). If it is identified that the turn has not changed (S134 No), after a predetermined time has elapsed, the game image acquisition unit 702 again captures the board 8 and the game clock 10 with the camera 21 to acquire a game image (S131). The game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 is stored in the game image DB 713. Then, the game clock extraction unit 703 reads the game image stored in the game image DB 713 and extracts the game clock portion again (S132). On the other hand, if it is identified that the turn has changed (S134 Yes), the time limit identification unit 708 reads the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit 703 in S132 and stored in the game clock DB 714, and identifies the time limit of the player whose turn it was (assumed to be player X) (S135). The method of identifying the remaining time in the remaining time identifying unit 708 has been described above, and therefore will not be described here. The data on the remaining time identified by the remaining time identifying unit 708 is stored in the remaining time DB 720 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0063] The time consumption calculation unit 709 reads the time consumption data stored in the time consumption DB 720, and calculates the difference between the time consumption when player X finished the previous move and the time consumption when player X finished the current move as the consumed time (S136). The consumed time calculated by the time consumption calculation unit 709 is stored in the time consumption DB 721 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0064] Next, the board state extraction unit 704 reads the game image acquired in S131 and stored in the game image DB 713, and extracts a board portion from the game image (S137). The extracted board portion is stored in the board state DB 715 in the storage unit 711.

[0065] Next, the move identification unit 710 reads the board surface portion extracted by the board surface extraction unit 704 and stored in the board surface DB 715 (S137) and the piece data recognized by the piece recognition unit 706 and stored in the piece data DB 717 (S60), and identifies the move made by player X (S138). The method of identifying moves by the move identification unit 710 has been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted. The moves identified by the move identification unit 710 are stored in the move DB 722 of the game record storage unit 718.

[0066] If the game is not over (S139 No), after a predetermined time has elapsed, the game image acquisition unit 702 again photographs the board 8 and the game clock 10 with the camera 21 to acquire game images (S131), stores the images in the game image DB 713, and the flow of S132 to S138 is repeated. On the other hand, if the game ends when the outcome of the game is decided (S139 Yes), data including the turn data, time data, time used data, and move data, each of which is synchronized, is obtained as game record data.

[0067] [Game record recording program] Each function constituting the above-mentioned game record recording system can be realized by a program, and a computer program prepared in advance to realize each function is stored in a secondary storage device, and the control unit reads the program stored in the secondary storage device into a primary storage device, and the control unit executes the program read into the primary storage device, thereby operating the function of each unit. Therefore, an example of a computer that executes a game record recording program having the same function as the above-mentioned game record recording system will be described below with reference to FIG. 10.

[0068] Fig. 10 shows an example of a computer that executes a game record recording program related to the game record recording system of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 10, the computer 1000 has an operation unit 1100, a speaker 1200, a camera 1300, a display 1400, and a communication unit 1500. Furthermore, the computer 1000 has a CPU (control unit) 1600, an HDD (secondary storage device) 1700, and a RAM (primary storage device) 1800. Each of these units is connected via a bus 1900.

[0069] A game record recording program that performs the same functions as the functional units shown in the above-described embodiment is stored in advance in the HDD 1700, as shown in Fig. 10. This game record recording program may be integrated or separated as appropriate, like the components of the functional units of the game record recording system 7 shown in Fig. 3. In other words, it is not necessary for all data to be stored in the HDD 1700 at all times, and it is sufficient that only data necessary for processing is stored in the HDD 1700.

[0070] Then, CPU 1600 reads the game record recording program from HDD 1700 and loads it in RAM 1800. This causes the game record recording program to function as a game record recording process. This game record recording process loads various data read from HDD 1700 in an area allocated to it on RAM 1800 as appropriate, and executes various processes based on the loaded various data. Note that the game record recording process includes processes executed by the functional units shown in FIG. 3, for example, the processes shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Also, it is not necessary for all of the processing units virtually realized on CPU 1600 to always operate on CPU 1600, and it is sufficient that only the processing units necessary for processing are virtually realized.

[0071] It is not necessary to store the game record recording program in the HDD 1700 from the beginning. Each program may be stored in a "computer-readable recording medium" and the computer 1000 may acquire and execute each program from the "computer-readable recording medium". Examples of the "computer-readable recording medium" include optical disks such as CD-ROMs, phase-change optical disks such as DVD-RAMs, magneto-optical disks such as MO (Magneto Optical) and MD (Mini Disk), magnetic disks such as floppy (registered trademark) disks and removable hard disks, and memory cards such as Compact Flash (registered trademark), Smart Media, SD memory cards, and memory sticks. In addition, hardware devices such as integrated circuits (IC chips, etc.) specially designed and configured for the purpose of the present invention are also included as recording media. Furthermore, each program may be stored in another computer or server device connected to the computer 1000 via a public line, the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, etc. In that case, the computer 1000 may acquire and execute each program from the other computer or server device.

[0072] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to Shogi, but the application of the present invention is not limited to Shogi, and it can also be applied to other games such as Go and Chess.

[0073] (Modification) In the above-described embodiment, the smartphone 2 includes a game record recording system 7 having a game data acquisition unit 701, a game image acquisition unit 702, a game clock extraction unit 703, a board state extraction unit 704, a piece recognition unit 706, a turn identification unit 707, a time limit identification unit 708, a time spent calculation unit 709, a move identification unit 710, and a storage unit 711. With this configuration, the smartphone 2 functions as a game record recording device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other mobile terminals (tablets, wearable devices, etc.) or personal computers may be used as the game record recording device. The server 5 may also be configured to include at least some of the game data acquisition unit 701, the game image acquisition unit 702, the game clock extraction unit 703, the board state extraction unit 704, the piece recognition unit 706, the turn identification unit 707, the time limit identification unit 708, the time spent calculation unit 709, the move identification unit 710, and the storage unit 711. In this way, the smartphone 2 and the server 5 function as a game record recording system 7.

[0074] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the game clock 10 displays the move of the game by turning on / off the LEDs 101a, 101b. However, the display format of the move is not limited to this, and for example, a game clock may be used that displays the move by the move buttons 103a, 103b popping up upward. In this case, the move identification unit 707 can identify the move by identifying the move buttons popping up upward and identify the move by the difference in height between the pair of move buttons.

[0075] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the game clock 10 employs a digital format (format showing the remaining time in digital numbers) for the time display sections 102a and 102b. However, the display format of the time display section is not limited to this, and an analog format (format showing the remaining time with hour and minute hands) can be employed for the time display section. In this case, the time identification section 708 can identify the remaining time by recognizing the hour and minute hands and converting them into time.

[0076] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 and the initial position T2 of the board 8 are determined in advance, and then the game clock extraction unit 703 extracts the game clock part and the board extraction unit 704 extracts the board part (see FIG. 8). However, after the initial position T1 of the game clock 10 and the initial position T2 of the board 8 are determined in advance, if the game clock 10 moves from the initial position T1 or the board 8 moves from the initial position T2, the initial positions of the game clock 10 or the board 8 may be redefined. With this configuration, even if the game clock 10 or the board 8 shifts due to an unexpected accident or the like, the new position after the shift is set as the initial position, so that the game clock extraction unit 703 can extract the game clock part and the board extraction unit 704 can extract the board part in subsequent games with high accuracy. The redefinition of the initial position of the game clock 10 or the board 8 may be performed after the position of the game clock 10 or the board 8 has been corrected by the user, or may be performed after the capture range of the camera 21 has been adjusted by the user.

[0077] (Modification) In the above-described embodiment, the camera 21 that captures the game images is provided in the smartphone 2. However, this is not limited thereto, and the camera that captures the game images may be, for example, a camera provided in another mobile terminal (such as a tablet or a wearable device), a built-in camera that is provided in a personal computer, or a web camera that is externally attached to a personal computer.

[0078] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the game image acquisition unit 702 has a configuration in which the game board 8 and the game clock 10 are photographed by the camera 21 at predetermined time intervals and the photographed game images are acquired. However, this is not limited to this, and a functional unit that photographs the game board 8 and the game clock 10 by the camera 21 at predetermined time intervals may be provided independent of the game image acquisition unit 702. In this case, the functional unit photographs a game image containing the game board 8 and the game clock 10 by the camera 21, and the game image is acquired by the game image acquisition unit 702 and stored in the game image DB 713. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 2 Smartphone 7 Game record recording system 8 Game board 10 Game clock 21 Camera 702 Game image acquisition unit 703 Game clock extraction unit 704 Game board extraction unit 706 Piece recognition unit 707 Turn identification unit 708 Time limit identification unit 709 Time consumption calculation unit 710 Move identification unit 718 Game record storage unit T1 Initial position of game clock T2 Initial position of game board

Claims

1. A game record recording system for recording a game record, a piece recognition unit for recognizing pieces to be used in a game; a game image acquisition unit that acquires game images including a game board and a game clock captured by a camera; a game clock extraction unit that extracts a game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit; a game board extraction unit that extracts a game board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit; a turn identification unit that identifies a turn based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit and identifies a change in turn; a time limit identification unit which, when it is identified by the turn identification unit that a turn has changed, identifies the time limit of a player based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit; a time consumption calculation unit that calculates a player's time consumption based on the time consumption identified by the time consumption identification unit; a move identification unit which identifies moves made by players based on the board portion extracted by said board extraction unit and the data of pieces recognized by said piece recognition unit; a game record storage unit that stores a game record including the move identified by the move identification unit, the time identified by the time identification unit, the time consumed calculated by the time consumption calculation unit, and the move identified by the move identification unit; A game record recording system comprising:

2. The game image acquisition unit acquires an initial game image including a board and a game clock before the game, the initial game image being captured by the camera, The board state extraction unit determines an initial position of the board state from the initial game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit, The game clock extraction unit determines an initial position of the game clock from the initial game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit. A game record recording system as claimed in claim 1.

3. The game clock extraction unit converts the game clock portion that is obliquely shown in the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit into a front-on image that is shown from the front, The board surface extraction unit converts the portion of the board surface that is obliquely shown in the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit into a frontal image that is shown from directly above. A game record recording system as claimed in claim 1.

4. The camera is a camera provided in a smartphone.

4. A game record recording system according to claim 1, wherein:

5. A game record recording device for recording a game record, a piece recognition unit for recognizing pieces to be used in a game; a game image acquisition unit that acquires game images including a game board and a game clock captured by a camera; a game clock extraction unit that extracts a game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit; a game board extraction unit that extracts a game board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition unit; a turn identification unit that identifies a turn based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit and identifies a change in turn; a time limit identification unit which, when it is identified by the turn identification unit that a turn has changed, identifies the time limit of a player based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction unit; a time consumption calculation unit that calculates a player's time consumption based on the time consumption identified by the time consumption identification unit; a move identification unit which identifies moves made by players based on the board portion extracted by said board extraction unit and the data of pieces recognized by said piece recognition unit; a game record storage unit that stores a game record including the move identified by the move identification unit, the time identified by the time identification unit, the time consumed calculated by the time consumption calculation unit, and the move identified by the move identification unit; A game record recording device comprising:

6. A game record recording program for recording a game record, On the computer, A piece recognition means for recognizing pieces to be used in a game; a game image acquisition means for acquiring a game image including a game board and a game clock photographed by a camera; a game clock extraction means for extracting a game clock portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition means; a game board extraction means for extracting a game board portion from the game image acquired by the game image acquisition means; a move identification means for identifying a move based on the game clock portion extracted by the game clock extraction means and identifying a change in the move; a time limit identifying means for identifying the time limit of a player based on the game clock portion extracted by said game clock extracting means when said game number identifying means identifies a change in the turn; a time consumption calculation means for calculating a time consumed by a player based on the time consumption identified by said time consumption identification means; move identification means for identifying moves made by players based on the board portion extracted by said board extraction means and the data of pieces recognized by said piece recognition means; a game record storage means for storing a game record including the move identified by the move identification means, the time limit identified by the time limit identification means, the time consumption calculated by the time consumption calculation means, and the move identified by the move identification means; A game record recording program characterized by executing the above.

Images