JP2003033561A - Dice device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which can provide a computer with the number on a cast dice by using a dice which can be cast anywhere. SOLUTION: The dice device 10 indicates the 'number' (number on a cast dice) and transmits it via radio waves. The radio waves are received by a number outputting device 12 and is converted into a signal of the number represented by the radio waves. The signal of the number is converted into a signal suitable for a computer 14 and then is outputted to the computer 14. Accordingly, the dice device 10 can be cast wherever it can send the radio waves to the number outputting device 12. In consequence, there are few restrictions on the place where the dice device 10 is cast and the dice device 10 can be treated in almost the same way as a traditional dice.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to dice. In particular, the present invention relates to a dice that can be rolled by a human and can automatically supply the results of the dice to a computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Dice are widely used in games and the like.

Classically, the dice have the shape of a regular hexahedron, and each face is provided with a number from 1 to 6. When a person rolls such a dice, the number attached to the upward surface becomes the so-called dice number. This number is often referred to as the "roll".

In recent years, games played on a computer have been widely enjoyed, and various mechanisms for supplying a die roll to such a computer have been proposed.

In the simplest case, it is conceivable to generate a pseudo random number programmatically on a computer and use it as the result of the dice.

On the other hand, if the results are completely controlled only by the program, there is little room for human intervention, which is uninteresting. Therefore, there is also a method in which predetermined numbers are displayed one after another at high speed, and a result is decided at the timing when a human pushes a button.

However, in the game of Sugoroku etc., many people think that the more interesting the game is, the more humans roll the dice with their "hands".

Therefore, various methods have recently been proposed in which a person actually rolls the dice and automatically supplies the result to the computer.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-53908 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-164267, electric power absorbers having different absorption frequencies are provided on the respective surfaces of the dice, and a coil for radiating radio waves is placed on a board on which the dice are shaken. And the like are shown. Then, it is shown that which side of the dice faces upward is detected based on the degree of absorption of the radio wave emitted from the coil.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-177056.
Shows a structure in which so-called identification tags are provided on each side of the dice, and a coil or the like for receiving radio waves is provided on a board on which the dice are shaken. Then, it is shown that which side of the dice faces upward is detected based on the identification number of the radio wave received by the coil.

[0011]

In the inventions described in the above-mentioned publications, it is necessary to equip a board on which the dice are shaken with means for detecting the result of the dice. As a result, there is a problem that the place to roll the dice is limited.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a system capable of automatically supplying the result of a dice to a computer while using a dice having no restrictions on the place to be shaken. Is to provide.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a dice device showing a predetermined eye when a user shakes it, and a detecting means for detecting the eye shown by the dice device. And a transmitting unit that transmits the eye detected by the detecting unit.

According to this structure, the place where the dice are rolled is not restricted. Moreover, since the eyes shown by the dice are transmitted to the outside, the eyes shown by the dice can be known at a place away from the dice.

The present invention is also a dice device characterized in that the detection means detects the spatial orientation of the dice device.

With such a structure, as in the case of the conventional dice, the number of the rolled dice, for example, the number of the upper faces, can be used as an index of the dice.

The present invention is also a dice device characterized in that the transmitting means transmits the detected eye by radio waves.

With such a configuration, the eyes of the dice can be known within the range where the radio waves reach.

Further, the present invention includes a power generation means for converting the shaked kinetic energy into electric energy when the present dice device is shaken, and the transmission means is the electric power obtained by the power generation means. It is a dice device characterized by transmitting using energy.

According to such a configuration, the transmission operation can be executed by using the kinetic energy for shaking the dice, so that it is not necessary to replace the battery or the like.

The present invention is also a dice device characterized in that it includes an identifier storage means for storing the identifier of the dice device, and the transmitting means transmits the detected eye together with the identifier.

Since each dice device can be identified by the identifier, even if a plurality of dice are used at the same time, they can be distinguished from each other.

The present invention also includes a receiving means for receiving the eyes transmitted by the transmitting means in the dice device described above,
An output device that outputs the received information about the eye, and is a die roll output device.

With such a configuration, it is possible to receive the eyes transmitted by the dice device and supply the information about the eyes to an external computer or the like.

The present invention also provides a dice device and a roll output device for outputting the rolls transmitted by the dice device.
In the dice system including, the dice device, a detection means for detecting the eyes shown by the dice device,
And a transmitting means for transmitting the eye detected by the detecting means, wherein the eye output device receives the eye transmitted by the transmitting means, and an output means for outputting the received information about the eye. It is a dice system characterized by including and.

This is a system in which the above-mentioned dice device and a roll-out output device are combined, and its operation is the same as that of the above-mentioned dice device and roll-out output device.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a conceptual configuration diagram of a dice device 10 and its peripheral devices according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in this figure, the dice device 10 transmits the indicated "eyes" (rolls) by radio waves. The radio wave output device 12 receives the radio wave and converts the radio wave into a signal of the output eye represented by the radio wave. The output signal is the computer 14
It is converted into a signal for directing and then output to the computer 14.

As described above, in the first embodiment,
The result of the dice device 10 is transmitted by radio waves and is received by the result output device 12 before the computer 14
Is being supplied to. Therefore, the dice device 10 may be shaken anywhere as long as the radio waves reach the result output device 12. As a result, there are almost no restrictions on where to roll the dice device 10, and it is possible to handle the dice device 10 in much the same way as a classic dice.

Each configuration will be described in detail below.

1. Dice device 10 The dice device 10 has a physical shape similar to that of a conventional dice. That is, the outer shape is a regular hexahedron shape, and a person shakes this with his or her "hand" to make the dice stand out. The number of eyes is the same as that of the conventional dice, and is the number written on the surface facing upward when the dice device 10 stands still.

A detailed conceptual diagram of the structure of the dice device 10 is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the dice device 10 includes a sensor 20 that detects the orientation of the dice device 10 in a three-dimensional space, and a transmission unit 22 that transmits the orientation detected by the sensor 20 by radio waves. Furthermore, the battery 24 which supplies electric power to these is provided.

1.1 Sensor 20 The sensor 20 may be of any type as long as it can detect the orientation of the dice device 10 in space.

1.1.1 Sensor Utilizing Spherical Semiconductor For example, Ball Semiconductor (US)
ductor Inc.) is developing a technology for forming a semiconductor integrated circuit on a spherical surface. As compared with the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit formed on a two-dimensional plane, a spherical semiconductor integrated circuit is considered to be able to provide a highly integrated circuit because the circuit can be configured three-dimensionally.

Ball Semiconductor, Inc. of the United States has a diameter of 1 mm.
We are prototyping a three-dimensional inclinometer using the spherical semiconductor of.
This three-dimensional inclinometer is created as follows.

First, polycrystalline silicon is laminated on the surface of a silicon sphere having a diameter of 1 mm to form an electrode portion and a shell (skin layer). This electrode portion is composed of three pairs of electrodes (three pairs to correspond to three dimensions) and one common electrode. Finally, by etching the polycrystalline silicon, it is possible to form a state in which the spherical semiconductor floats inside the space surrounded by the electrode portions. The distance between the spherical semiconductor and the electrode is a few μm. When the inclination of the inclinometer changes, the spherical semiconductor rolls freely inside the shell (skin layer), so that the capacitance between the electrode and the spherical semiconductor changes.
By detecting this change, the inclination of 360 degrees can be detected.

Also in this embodiment, it is possible to detect the inclination (that is, the direction) of the dice device 10 by using this spherical semiconductor.

When using this spherical semiconductor sensor, it is preferable to provide this sensor at the center of the dice device 10. This is because if they are provided at eccentric positions, the position of the center of gravity of the dice device 10 may deviate from the center position.

1.1.2 Use three rotation angle sensors
In order to obtain the orientation in the three-dimensional space, a sensor for obtaining the orientation around the X axis, a sensor for obtaining the orientation around the Y axis, and Z
The orientation of the dice device 10 in the three-dimensional space can be known by aligning the sensors for obtaining the azimuth around the axis. When using three sensors, the dice device 10
It is desirable that the three sensors are arranged at equal intervals with respect to the center position of the dice device 10 so that the center of gravity of the dice device becomes the center position.

1.2 Transmitting Means 22 The transmitting means 22 converts the direction detected by the sensor 20 into “eyes” and transmits this number to the outside by radio waves. Such transmitting means 22 can be easily configured by using the conventional wireless technology. Although the sensor 20 and the transmitting unit 22 are separately configured in FIG. 2, the transmitting unit 22 may be provided on the semiconductor integrated circuit forming the sensor 20.

For example, Yamatake Co., Ltd. is developing a wireless temperature sensor using a spherical semiconductor from Ball Semiconductor. A conceptual diagram of this temperature sensor is shown in FIG. The wireless temperature sensor 100 is configured by forming a temperature sensing circuit 102, a control logic circuit 104, a wireless transmission circuit 106, and a coil 108 on the surface of a spherical semiconductor having a diameter of 1 mm. The measured temperature data is wirelessly exchanged with the external transmission / reception unit 110. The power supply for driving the circuit receives the electric wave sent from the transmission / reception unit by the coil 108 to generate it.

As shown in the wireless temperature sensor 100, it is sufficiently possible to construct not only the sensor 20 but also the transmitting means 22 on the spherical semiconductor. A coil that serves as an antenna for transmitting radio waves can also be provided on the spherical semiconductor.

The transmitting means 22 determines that the "eye" detected by the sensor 20 is the "eye" indicated by the dice device 10 only when the "eye" detected by the sensor 20 is the same "eye" for a predetermined period or longer. Is also preferably transmitted to the outside. This is because the "eyes" have not been decided while the dice are being rolled, and it is considered that there is not much point in transmitting the "eyes" in the intermediate stage of the undecided stage. Further, it is considered that if the radio wave is transmitted in such an intermediate stage, the battery 24 is wastefully consumed.

Of course, the judgment that the same "eye" is continuously displayed for a predetermined period or longer may be executed by the computer 14 which receives the supply of the "eye" instead of the dice device 10. Absent. When the computer 14 side executes the operation, the dice device 10 simply performs an operation of transmitting the eye indicated by the dice device 10.

1.3 Battery 24 The battery 24 supplies electric power to the sensor 20 and the transmission means 22. Any battery may be used as long as it is a small battery that can be built in the dice device 10.

It is also preferable to dispose a plurality of batteries 24 in the peripheral portion of the dice device 10 in order to align the center of the dice device 10 with the center of gravity. With such an arrangement, the center of gravity and the center of the dice device 10 can be matched.

As described with reference to FIG. 3, the coil used as an antenna may be used to receive external radio waves and the battery 24 may be charged with the received power. With this configuration, it is almost unnecessary to replace the battery 24, and the configuration of the dice device 10 can be simplified.

2. The roll output device 12 includes a receiving means 30 for receiving the radio wave transmitted by the dice device 10 and a roll output means 32. The rolled-out output means 32 converts the “eyes” obtained by the receiving means 30 into an interface for the computer 14, and then outputs information regarding the eyes to the computer 14. The interface is USB (Universa
Various interfaces such as l Serial Bus) and IEEE 1394 can be adopted. Other interfaces such as a LAN may be used as long as they can be transmitted to the computer 14.

Second Embodiment It is preferable that the transmitting means 22 transmits "eyes" to the outside by infrared rays or the like as well as radio waves. In this case, the receiving means 30 and the transmitting means 22 are also constituted by infrared receiving means.

Embodiment 3 A means for converting the kinetic energy of the dice device 10 into electric power is provided, and the electric power is used for the sensor 20 and the transmitting means 2.
It is also preferable to drive 2. FIG. 4 shows a conceptual diagram of the configuration of the dice device 10a when such a configuration is adopted. As shown in this figure, the dice device 10a has a weight 40 that makes a rotational movement about a predetermined axis, a generator 42 that is driven by the rotational movement of the weight,
Is equipped with. The output power of the generator 40 is once charged in the battery 24, and the sensor 24 is supplied from the battery 24.
Power is supplied to the transmission means 22 and the transmission means 22.

The dice device 10 is originally "rolled".
Therefore, if the power of the dice device 10a is covered by utilizing the energy that is shaken,
Battery replacement is almost unnecessary, and a highly convenient dice device 10a can be obtained.

The mechanism for converting kinetic energy into electric power has been used in wrist watches and the like in recent years. Moreover, since it is used for a wristwatch or the like, a very downsized mechanism has already been put into practical use. Therefore, if such a mechanism is used for the dice device 10 as it is, the configuration as shown in FIG. 4 can be easily realized.

The dice device 10a is also provided with the sensor 20 and the transmitting means 22 similarly to the dice device 10 of FIG. 2, but the configuration thereof is omitted in FIG.

Embodiment 4 Depending on the game, a plurality of dice devices 10 are often used. To use multiple dice devices 10,
We need to be able to distinguish between them.

Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmitting means 22 is provided with an identifier storing means 22a. The identifier storage means 22a is a so-called semiconductor memory, and stores different identifiers for each dice device 10c. The transmission means 22 is a dice device 10c
When the "eye" indicated by is sent to the outside, the contents of this identifier are also sent.

The identifier and "eyes" of the dice device 10c thus transmitted are received by the receiving means 30. The received identifier and the “eye” are transmitted to the computer 14 by the eye output means 32. Since the computer 14 receives the information about the “eyes” together with the identifier of each dice device 10, it is possible to distinguish each dice device 10 and grasp the result. As a result, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain a dice device 10c that can be used for a game using a plurality of dice.

Further, even in a game in which only one dice is used, it is possible that different groups play the games next to each other. In such a case, if the dice used in the adjacent group and the radio waves are mixed, the correct "eye" cannot be sent to the computer 14. Even in such a situation, according to the fourth embodiment, since each dice device 10c is provided with an identifier and "eyes" are transmitted together with this identifier, the dice of each dice must be accurately distinguished. Is possible.

The identifier storage means 22a is preferably a non-volatile semiconductor memory, but any memory may be used as long as it can store the identifier, and the identifier can be rewritten from the outside. Good.

Embodiment 5 The dice device 10 (b, c) may have an external shape other than the conventional classical regular hexahedron. For example, positive 12
A face piece may be used to produce a number from 1 to 12, or a regular icosahedron may be used to produce a number from 1 to 20.

While the preferred embodiments 1 to 5 of the present invention have been described above, the present dice device 10 and the roll output device 1 are described.
2 can supply the roll of the dice not only to the computer 14 but also to various other digital devices. For example, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
It is also suitable to be used when supplying the roll of dice to various portable electronic devices such as the above and various game devices.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a dice device which is used for supplying eyes to a computer or the like and which has no limitation on the place of shaking.

Further, according to the present invention, since the kinetic energy of the dice is converted into electric power, it is possible to provide a device with less need for battery replacement or the like.

Further, according to the present invention, since the dice device is given an identifier, it is possible to distinguish each dice device,
Multiple dice devices can be used simultaneously.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration conceptual diagram of a dice device and its peripheral devices according to a preferred first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration conceptual diagram of a dice device.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional temperature sensor.

FIG. 4 is a structural conceptual diagram of a dice device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a structural conceptual diagram of a dice device according to a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10b, 10c Dice device 12th output device 14 Computer 20 sensors 22 Transmission means 22a identifier storage means 24 battery 30 Receiving means 32 output means 40 weights 42 generator 100 wireless temperature sensor 102 Temperature sensing circuit 104 control logic circuit 106 wireless transmission circuit 108 coils 110 transceiver unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A dice device showing a predetermined eye when shaken by a user, including: detecting means for detecting the eye shown by the dice device; and transmitting means for transmitting the eye detected by the detecting means. A dice device characterized by that. 2. The dice device according to claim 1, wherein the detection means detects a spatial orientation of the dice device. 3. The dice device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting unit transmits the detected eye by radio waves. 4. The dice device according to claim 1, further comprising: a power generation unit that converts the shaked kinetic energy into electric energy when the dice device is shaken, and the transmission unit includes the power generation unit. A dice device characterized by transmitting by using electric energy obtained by. 5. The dice device according to claim 1, wherein the identifier storage means stores an identifier of the dice device,
The dice device, wherein the transmitting means transmits the detected eye together with the identifier. 6. The dice according to claim 1, further comprising: a receiving unit that receives an eye transmitted by the transmitting unit, and an output unit that outputs the received information about the eye. Rolling output device. 7. A dice system comprising: a dice device; and a roll output device for outputting a roll transmitted by the dice device, wherein the dice device comprises a detection means for detecting an eye shown by the dice device. A receiving means for receiving the eyes transmitted by the transmitting means, and an output for outputting the received information regarding the eyes. Means and a dice system characterized by including.