Tactile presentation control device and program

Abstract

One aspect of the present invention comprises: a first processing unit that generates and displays, on a display device, a first avatar image and a second avatar image representing, in a virtual space, a first body part and a second body part of at least one user in a real space, and a third avatar image which becomes a contact partner in the virtual space; a second processing unit that acquires motion information indicating the movement and position of each of the body parts when the first body part of the user is brought into contact with the second body part; and a third processing unit that, in accordance with the motion information, replaces the first avatar image with the third avatar image in a process of giving guidance such that the position of the third avatar image and the position of the first avatar image approach each other, and performs control so as to bring the position of the second avatar image and the position of the third avatar image into contact with each other in a state where the first body part and the second body part are in contact with each other.

Description

Tactile presentation control device and program

[0001] One aspect of the present invention relates to a tactile presentation control device, method, and program used to present to a user, for example, a tactile sensation when the user touches a contact object located in a remote location.

[0002] For example, when realizing physical contact between users, such as a high-five, it is difficult to present the sensation of physical contact to the users if the users are in distant locations.

[0003] In view of this, a conventional method has been proposed in which a transparent plate is placed in front of a user and vibrates when the user touches the plate at the timing of high-fiving, thereby presenting the sensation of contact (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Also proposed is a method in which the sensation of high-fiving is presented to the user by presenting the sound of clapping hands in synchronization with the timing of the user high-fiving the contact target (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0004] Komazaki, T. and Watanabe, J., "Remote High-Fives Using Haptic Transmission: Examination of Communication Between Athletes' Families and Viewing with Hearing Impaired People," TVRSJ Vol. 27 No. 1 pp. 2-5, 2022, Internet <URL: https: / / www.jstage.jst.go.jp / article / tvrsj / 27 / 1 / 27_2 / _article / -char / ja / > Sawada, Y., Takahashi, S., and Tanaka, J., "A System for Sharing the Excitement of Watching Live Sports on TV," Proceedings of the 76th National Convention of the Information Processing Society of Japan, Vol. 2014, No. 1, pp. 251-252, 2014, Internet <URL: https: / / ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp / ej / ?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&item_id=106269&item_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=8>

[0005] However, the method described in Non-Patent Document 1 requires special equipment, such as a transparent plate with a vibration function, making the system configuration large-scale. Also, the method described in Non-Patent Document 2 does not require large-scale equipment, but cannot be applied to hearing-impaired users.

[0006] This invention was made in light of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a technology that can present a more realistic sense of touch to hearing-impaired people without requiring any special equipment.

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of a tactile presentation control device according to the present invention includes a first processing unit that generates a first avatar image and a second avatar image that represent in a virtual space a first body part and a second body part of at least one user in real space, and a third avatar image that will be a contact partner in the virtual space, and displays them on a display device; a second processing unit that acquires motion information that represents the movement and position of each body part of the user when the first body part is brought into contact with the second body part; and a third processing unit that replaces the first avatar image with the third avatar image in a process of guiding the positions of the third avatar image and the first avatar image to approach each other in accordance with the motion information, and controls the position of the second avatar image to come into contact with the position of the third avatar image while the first body part and the second body part are in contact with each other.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, for example, when a user moves one of his or her hands in real space to perform a contact action such as a high-five with a contact target avatar in virtual space, during the process in which the hand of the other avatar and one of the user's avatars are guided to approach each other in accordance with the movement of the user's hand, the movement of one hand of the user's avatar is replaced by the movement of the other avatar's hand, and the movement of the avatar image is controlled so that the other hand of the user's avatar touches the hand of the other avatar at the timing when the users' hands touch each other. In other words, during the process in which the user contacts the other avatar in virtual space, a visual effect is presented in which the movement of a part of the user's body in real space is transferred to the movement of the contact target avatar in virtual space.

[0009] Therefore, when a user makes a body part contact action with themselves or another person in real space, the visual effect of the avatar image replacing the body part in the virtual space makes it possible to enjoy the sensation of touching the avatar. Moreover, because all processing is realized by image processing, there is no need to prepare special equipment such as a transparent plate with a vibrating function, which simplifies the system configuration and reduces costs. Furthermore, because the sensation of contact is expressed by a visual effect generated by image processing, it can also be used by users with hearing impairments.

[0010] That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology that can present a more realistic tactile sensation to hearing-impaired people without requiring any special equipment.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote tactile presentation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a tactile presentation control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the tactile presentation control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of a tactile presentation control process executed by a control unit of the tactile presentation control device shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of a synchronization process included in the tactile presentation control process shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of display information of a virtual space generated by the tactile presentation control process shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of display information of a virtual space generated by the tactile presentation control process shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of display information of a virtual space generated by the tactile presentation control process shown in FIG. 4.

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] [One Embodiment] (Configuration Example) (1) System FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote tactile presentation system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] A tactile presentation system according to one embodiment includes a tactile presentation control device CS. A user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) HM. The tactile presentation system transmits and receives information data between the tactile presentation control device CS and the head-mounted display HM via a network NW, allowing the user to perceive the sensation of touching in real space through the movement of an avatar in the virtual space while viewing an image in a virtual space such as the metaverse.

[0015] The head-mounted display HM is an integrated device that includes a display device DP, a camera CM, and a communication terminal TM. The display device DP displays an image representing a virtual space transmitted from the haptic presentation control device CS. The camera CM is, for example, an RGB camera or a depth camera, and outputs image data representing the movement and position of specific parts of the user's body, such as the hands and arms.

[0016] The communication terminal TM transmits the image data output from the camera CM to the tactile presentation control device CS, and also receives image data representing the virtual space transmitted from the tactile presentation control device CS and displays it on the display device DP.

[0017] As a means for detecting the movement of the user's hand or arm, a sensor that emits and receives infrared light may be used instead of the camera CM. In this case, the sensor may be built into the head-mounted display HM or may be externally attached. Furthermore, a motion sensor such as an acceleration sensor attached to the user's hand or arm may be used instead of the camera. Furthermore, as the communication terminal TM, in addition to a device built into the head-mounted display, the communication function of, for example, a smartphone, smart glasses, a smart watch, or a tablet device may be used.

[0018] (2) Tactile Presentation Control Device CS The tactile presentation control device CS is provided in, for example, a server computer installed on the cloud or the web. Note that the tactile presentation control device CS may also be provided in, for example, a personal computer used by a system administrator or a user.

[0019] 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing an example of the hardware configuration and software configuration of the tactile presentation control device CS, respectively.

[0020] The tactile presentation control device CS has a control unit 1 that uses a hardware processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), and this control unit 1 is connected via a bus 5 to a storage unit having a program storage unit 2 and a data storage unit 3, and a communication interface (hereinafter, interface will be referred to as I / F) unit 4.

[0021] The communication I / F unit 4 uses a communication protocol defined in the network NW to transmit and receive video data and the like to and from a communication terminal TM provided on the user's head-mounted display HM.

[0022] The program storage unit 2 is configured by combining, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as a solid-state drive (SSD) as a storage medium that can be written to and read from at any time, and a nonvolatile memory such as a read-only memory (ROM), and stores middleware such as an operating system (OS), as well as application programs required to execute various controls according to an embodiment. Hereinafter, the OS and each application program will be collectively referred to as the program.

[0023] The data storage unit 3 is, for example, a combination of a non-volatile memory such as an SSD that can be written to and read from at any time as a storage medium, and a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and its storage area includes an action information storage unit 31 and a character information storage unit 32.

[0024] The motion information storage unit 31 has a buffer function and is used to temporarily store motion information representing the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms detected from the video data transmitted from the head-mounted display HM.

[0025] The character information storage unit 32 stores character information required to generate an image representing a user avatar that moves in response to the movement of the user's body parts and an image representing a partner avatar that is to be contacted.

[0026] The control unit 1 includes, as processing functions necessary for implementing one embodiment of the present invention, a motion information acquisition processing unit 11, a processing process determination processing unit 12, a position setting processing unit 13, an avatar motion control processing unit 14, a tactile reinforcement processing unit 15, and a display processing unit 16.

[0027] The processing units 11 to 16 are all realized by causing a hardware processor in the control unit 1 to execute an application program stored in the program storage unit 2. Note that some or all of the processing units 11 to 16 may be realized using hardware such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0028] The motion information acquisition processing unit 11 receives video data of the camera CM transmitted from the communication terminal TM provided on the user's head-mounted display HM via the communication I / F unit 4, detects motion information indicating the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms from the received video data, and temporarily stores the detected motion information in the motion information storage unit 31. Note that if the camera CM or the communication terminal TM has a function for detecting motion information indicating the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms from the video data, the motion information acquisition processing unit 11 stores the received motion information in the motion information storage unit 31 as is.

[0029] The processing step determination processing unit 12 determines which step of processing to perform in the tactile sensation presentation control processing based on the acquired motion information indicating the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms. Specifically, the processing step determination processing unit 12 performs the following processes: determining whether the positions of the user avatars representing both hands of the user are within the display screen of the head-mounted display HM; determining whether the positional relationship between the display positions of the user avatars representing both hands of the user and the display position of the other avatar to be contacted in the virtual space has been initially set to a predetermined positional relationship; and determining whether the user avatar and the other avatar have come into contact with each other.

[0030] The position setting processing unit 13 initially sets the drawing position of the other avatar to be contacted based on the position information of the user's hands included in the above-mentioned motion information.

[0031] In the process of guiding the left hand of the other avatar, which is to be contacted in the virtual space, to approach the left hand of the user avatar in accordance with the movement of, for example, the user's left hand included in the movement information, the avatar movement control processing unit 14 performs predetermined image processing on the user avatar to reduce the impression of the user avatar's left hand, thereby replacing the user avatar's left hand with the hand of the other avatar. Specifically, in accordance with the movement of the user's left hand, the avatar movement control processing unit 14 performs image processing such as gradually increasing the transparency of the image of the user avatar's left hand over a predetermined time until it is erased, while guiding the position of the other avatar's left hand to approach the position of the user avatar's left hand.

[0032] The tactile reinforcement processing unit 15 predicts a state in which the right hand of the user avatar and the left hand of the other avatar will come into contact with each other based on motion information representing the movements of the user's left and right hands, and applies image processing to the other avatar in synchronization with the predicted timing of contact to reinforce the sense of contact using a visual method.

[0033] The display processing unit 16 transmits display data including an image of the user avatar and an image of the other person's avatar, which are generated by the position setting processing unit 13, the avatar action control processing unit 14, and the tactile reinforcement processing unit 15, from the communication I / F unit 4 to the head-mounted display HM.

[0034] (Example of Operation) Next, an example of operation of the tactile presentation control device CS configured as above will be described.

[0035] Here, we will explain the example of a case where a user performs a touch operation in real space by touching both hands together, and in response to this touch operation, a state is presented in which the user is performing a touch operation between their own avatar and the other avatar that is the contact target in virtual space.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing contents of the tactile presentation control executed by the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS.

[0037] (1) Obtaining user operation information When a user wears a head-mounted display HM in real space and performs an operation to, for example, participate in the Metaverse, the communication terminal TM of the head-mounted display HM starts remote communication with the tactile presentation control device CS.

[0038] In response to this, when the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS detects the start of the above-mentioned remote communication in step S1, under the control of the motion information acquisition processing unit 11, in step S2, it executes the process of acquiring motion information representing the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms as follows:

[0039] That is, when the user moves his or her hand or arm, the movement is continuously captured by the camera CM of the head-mounted display HM, and the resulting image data is transmitted in real time from the communication terminal TM to the tactile presentation control device CS.

[0040] In response to this, the motion information acquisition processing unit 11 of the tactile presentation control device CS receives the video data transmitted from the communication terminal TM via the communication I / F unit 4, and detects motion information indicating the movements and positions of the user's hands and arms based on the received video data.The detected motion information is then temporarily stored in a motion information storage unit 31 having a buffer function in chronological order.The motion information detection process is continuously performed at a predetermined sampling period while remote communication is being performed.

[0041] (2) Initial setting of avatar position When the user's movement information is acquired, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS, under the control of the processing process determination processing unit 12, determines in step S3 based on the acquired movement information whether the user's hands, which are the target body parts, are included in the image, that is, whether the user's hands are in a position that can be seen on the screen of the display device DP.

[0042] As a result of this determination, if both hands of the user are included in the video, in step S4, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS, under the control of the position setting processing unit 13, initializes the display position of the image of the other avatar in the virtual space to a position where the other avatar can contact the avatar images of both hands of the user, according to the positions of the hands included in the motion information.

[0043] Specifically, taking into consideration the arm length of the other avatar in the virtual space, the full-body image of the other avatar and the images of both hands of the user avatar are adjusted so as to be positioned so as to enable a visually natural contact action. Display data including the images of the other avatar and the user avatar whose positions have been initially set is transmitted from the communication I / F unit 4 to the communication terminal TM of the head-mounted display HM under the control of the display processing unit 16, and is displayed on the display device DP.

[0044] Therefore, on the display device DP of the head mounted display HM, images HDuR, HDuL of both hands of the user avatar representing both hands of the user and an image AVt representing the upper body of the other avatar are displayed in a positional relationship that allows them to come into contact with each other through natural movements, as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

[0045] At this stage, the images HDuR and HDuL of the user avatar's hands are in a controllable state so that their display positions change in accordance with the movement of the user's hands, while the image AVt of the other avatar maintains a state in which it can move independently without following the movement of the user's hands. The images HDuR and HDuL of the user avatar's hands may be in accordance with the shape of actual hands, or may be deformed.

[0046] (3) Synchronization Processing In step S5, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS determines whether synchronization processing for the user avatar and the other avatar to make contact has become possible under the control of the processing process determination processing unit 12. Specifically, based on the position information of the user's hands included in the action information, the processing process determination processing unit 12 determines whether the images HDuR and HDuL of the user avatar's hands are in a state where the palms are facing toward the user himself / herself, as shown in Fig. 6, and whether the left hand of the other avatar's image AVt is within reach of the left hand of the user avatar.

[0047] When it is determined that synchronization processing is possible, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS then, under the control of the avatar action control processing unit 14, executes image processing in step S6 to visually represent a state in which, for example, a high-five operation is being performed between the user avatar and the other avatar, in response to a touch operation in which the user brings both hands into contact with each other.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of the avatar movement control processing executed by the avatar movement control processing unit 14.

[0049] First, in step S61, the avatar movement control processing unit 14 reads movement information of the user's left hand in real space from the movement information storage unit 31. Next, in step S62, based on the read movement information, the avatar movement control processing unit 14 controls the positions of the avatar images so that the image HDtL representing the other avatar's left hand in virtual space gradually approaches the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand in accordance with the movement of the user's left hand.

[0050] At the same time, in step S63, the avatar action control processing unit 14 gradually increases the transparency of the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand over a predetermined period of time, and controls the transparency to reach its maximum, i.e., to disappear, when the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand and the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand overlap.

[0051] Specifically, the transparency of the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand is gradually increased over three seconds, and when it overlaps with the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand, the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand disappears. If the image of the user avatar includes an arm, the transparency of the image of the arm is also changed.

[0052] By controlling the avatar's movements, the movement of the user's left hand in the real world is gradually replaced by the movement of the left hand of the other avatar that is the touch target in the virtual space. In other words, the user is presented with a visual effect as if the movement of the user's left hand in the real world has been transferred to the movement of the other avatar's left hand in the virtual space.

[0053] On the other hand, based on the motion information representing the movement of the user's right hand in the real world, the image HDuR of the user's right hand in the virtual space is controlled to move closer to the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand.

[0054] FIG. 7 shows an example of the operating state at that time, in which the image of the user avatar's left hand has completely disappeared, and the image of the user avatar's right hand HDuR is approaching the image of the other avatar's left hand HDtL that is the contact target.

[0055] When the user brings both hands closer together in real space, the avatar movement control processing unit 14 moves the image HDuR of the user avatar's right hand in virtual space closer to the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand, in accordance with the movement and position of the right hand included in the user's movement information. If the user's left hand is moving at this time, the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand also moves closer to the image HDuR of the user avatar's right hand, in accordance with the movement and position of the left hand.

[0056] (4) Reinforcement of Tactile Sensation In step S7, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS, under the control of the processing process determination processing unit 12, determines whether the image HDuR of the user avatar's right hand and the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand are in contact with each other in the virtual space, i.e., whether touching has occurred, based on the movements and positions of both hands included in the user's motion information. If this determination determines that touching has occurred, then in step S8, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS, under the control of the tactile reinforcement processing unit 15, executes a process to visually reinforce the tactile sensation of the touched state as follows:

[0057] That is, the tactile sense reinforcement processing unit 15 changes the facial expression of the other avatar, for example, to an image that looks like a big smile, so that the user can visually sense that the image HDtL of the other avatar's left hand and the image HDuR of the user's right hand in the virtual space have touched. Figure 8 shows an example of this.

[0058] As a means for reinforcing the sense of contact, for example, a sound like clapping of hands may be generated from earphones connected to the head mounted display HM, or a means for vibrating a vibrator if the user is holding it in his / her hand may be used. Furthermore, the sense of contact may be reinforced by combining a plurality of the above visual, auditory, and tactile means.

[0059] (5) Monitoring the End of Touch Operation After the tactile sensation reinforcement process is performed, the control unit 1 of the tactile presentation control device CS finally determines in step S9 whether an operation to end the remote communication has been performed. If the result of this determination is that the remote communication is still ongoing, the process returns to step S2, and thereafter the series of tactile presentation control processes in steps S2 to S9 are repeatedly executed. Then, when an operation to end the remote communication is detected, the control unit 1 returns to the standby state.

[0060] (Effect) As described above, in one embodiment, an image of a user avatar in a virtual space that reflects the user's hand movements in real space and an image of a counterpart avatar that is to be contacted in the virtual space are generated and displayed on the display device DP of the head-mounted display HM. When these images are displayed on the display device DP of the head-mounted display HM, motion information including the movements and positions of the user's hands is acquired, and in accordance with the acquired motion information, the positional relationship between the images of the user avatar's hands and the image of the counterpart avatar is first initialized to positions that allow contact between them. Next, in accordance with the movement and position of the user's left hand in the motion information, the position of the image HDtL of the counterpart avatar's left hand is brought closer to the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand, and in the process, the transparency of the image HDuL of the user avatar's left hand is controlled to gradually increase over, for example, three seconds, and then erased. Then, the timing when the image HDuR of the right hand of the user avatar and the image HDtL of the left hand of the other avatar will come into contact with each other is predicted from the movements and positions of both hands of the user, and visual processing is performed in synchronization with the predicted timing to reinforce the sense of contact for the other avatar.

[0061] Therefore, when a user in real space makes a contact action, such as a high-five, with an image of a counterpart avatar in virtual space through their own user avatar, the movement of the user avatar's left hand is replaced by the movement of the counterpart avatar's left hand. In other words, a visual effect is presented in which the movement of the user's left hand in real space is transferred to the movement of the left hand of the counterpart avatar in virtual space. Then, when the user touches both of their hands together, a state in which the user avatar's right hand is touching the counterpart avatar's left hand in virtual space is presented in response to that action.

[0062] Therefore, when a user touches both hands together in real space, it is possible to present in virtual space a state in which the user avatar is high-fiving the other avatar that is the contact target. In other words, it is possible to visually present the sensation of a high-five through the avatar. Furthermore, because all processing is achieved through image processing, there is no need to prepare special equipment such as a transparent plate with a vibrating function, which simplifies the system configuration and reduces costs. Furthermore, because the sensation of touch is expressed through a visual effect, it can also be used by users with hearing impairments.

[0063] Furthermore, the timing when the user's right hand will come into contact with the other avatar's left hand is predicted based on the movement and position of the user's hands, and a visual change occurs in the other avatar's facial expression in synchronization with the predicted timing of contact, effectively reinforcing the sensation felt by the user at the time of contact.

[0064] [Other Embodiments] (1) In one embodiment, a case where users touch with both hands has been described as an example. However, this is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a case where a touch operation is performed with, for example, the left hand of a first user and the right hand of a second user.

[0065] In this case, the tactile presentation control device CS acquires, for example, motion information representing the movement and position of a first user's left hand and motion information representing the movement and position of a second user's right hand. Then, in accordance with the acquired left hand movement of the first user, the image of the left hand of an avatar corresponding to the first user in the virtual space is gradually made transparent and erased, thereby replacing the left hand movement of the first user with the left hand movement of the avatar in the virtual space. Then, in accordance with the left hand movement of the first user and the right hand movement of the second user, the tactile presentation control device CS generates and presents an image of the left hand of the avatar in the virtual space touching the right hand of the avatar of the second user.

[0066] In this way, when a first user touches a second user, the tactile sensation of the touch operation can be expressed through a visual effect in the virtual space through the user's own avatar. In this case, too, it is advisable to apply visual image processing to the avatar image to reinforce the tactile sensation when the first user's hand and the second user's hand touch.

[0067] (2) In one embodiment, in the process of guiding the left hand of a contact target avatar in virtual space to approach the left hand of the user avatar, an example has been described in which the transparency of the image of the user avatar's left hand is gradually increased over a predetermined time period until it is erased, as a method for reducing the impression of the user avatar's left hand. However, the present invention is not limited to the above example, and other methods may also be used, such as changing the outline of the user avatar so that it gradually becomes less noticeable, or changing the color of the user avatar so that it gradually becomes lighter or less noticeable.

[0068] (3) In one embodiment, a high-five operation has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to other operations such as shaking hands and hugging. Various modifications can be made to specific examples of the means for reinforcing the tactile sensation, the type of display device for displaying the virtual space image, the type of information processing device that constitutes the tactile presentation control device, the functional configuration of the tactile presentation control device, the control processing procedures and processing contents, and the like, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0069] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the above description is merely an example of the present invention in every respect. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In other words, when implementing the present invention, specific configurations according to the embodiments may be appropriately adopted.

[0070] In short, this invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

[0071] CS...Haptic presentation control device HM...Head mounted display DP...Display device CM...Camera TM...Communication terminal 1...Control unit 2...Program storage unit 3...Data storage unit 4...Communication I / F unit 5...Bus 11...Motion information acquisition processing unit 12...Processing course determination processing unit 13...Position setting processing unit 14...Avatar movement control processing unit 15...Haptic reinforcement processing unit 16...Display processing unit 31...Motion information storage unit 32...Character information storage unit

Claims

1. A tactile presentation control device comprising: a first processing unit that generates a first avatar image and a second avatar image that represent in a virtual space a first body part and a second body part of at least one user in real space, and a third avatar image that will be in contact with the user in the virtual space, and displays them on a display device; a second processing unit that acquires motion information that represents the movement and position of each of the user's first and second body parts when the first and second body parts are brought into contact with each other; and a third processing unit that replaces the first avatar image with the third avatar image in a process of guiding the positions of the third avatar image and the first avatar image to approach each other in accordance with the motion information, and controls the position of the second avatar image to come into contact with the position of the third avatar image while the first and second body parts are in contact with each other.

2. The tactile presentation control device according to claim 1, wherein the third processing unit erases the first avatar image by controlling the impression level of the first avatar image to gradually decrease over a predetermined time in the process of guiding the position of the third avatar image and the position of the first avatar image to approach each other in accordance with the action information.

3. A tactile presentation control device as described in claim 1, further comprising a fourth processing unit that generates reinforcing information to reinforce the sense of touch using at least one of vision, hearing, and touch when the first body part comes into contact with the second body part, and presents the reinforcing information to the user.

4. A program that causes a processor provided in a tactile presentation control device to execute at least one of the processes executed by the first to fourth processing units provided in the tactile presentation control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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