WO2010076819A1

WO2010076819A1 - A portable electronic apparatus for acquiring an image and using such image in a video game context

Info

Publication number: WO2010076819A1
Application number: PCT/IT2008/000807
Authority: WO
Inventors: Annamaria Di Feo
Original assignee: Giochi Preziosi SpA
Current assignee: Giochi Preziosi SpA
Priority date: 2008-12-30
Filing date: 2008-12-30
Publication date: 2010-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 2011-06-30

Abstract

The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus (1) which comprises a frame (2) having a first side (2a) and a second side (2b) at the larger opposed surfaces, which are connected by a peripheral wall (2c), said frame (2) having such as size as to be held in at least one user's hand, a display screen (3) on said first side (2a), a plurality of pushbuttons (4) on the first side (2a), said second side (2b) and/or said peripheral wall (2c), a camera (5) associated with said frame (2), said camera (5) being operable by pressing at least one pushbutton (4a) of said plurality of pushbuttons (4), a mass storage device (6) located within said frame (2) and used to store a code of a video game program, a processor (7) located within said frame (2) and in signal communication with said mass storage device (6), said camera (5) and said display screen (3), said code of said video game program being adapted to be implemented by said processor (7). The characterizing feature is that a code of an image processing program (11) is stored in said mass storage device (6) and that said code of said image processing program (11) is designed to be implemented by said processor (7), the latter being adapted to a) confirm that said at least one pushbutton (4a) has been pressed; b) determine the time (T) during which said pushbutton (4a) is held depressed and whether such time (T) is longer than a predetermined time value; c) operate said camera (5) for taking a picture, and d) execute said code of said image processing program (11), wherein this includes the steps of: dl) selecting a portion (19) of the picture that has been taken, d2) combining the selected portion (19) with a default graphical representation (18) for generating a composite image (21) and e) incorporating said composite image (21) into the context of said video game program for said composite image (21) to be also displayed on said display screen (3) during execution.

Description

A portable electronic apparatus for acquiring an image and using such image in a video game context

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus for acquiring an image and using such image in a video game context, as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

As used herein, the term portable electronic apparatus is intended to designated an apparatus that can be easily held and carried in a user's hands, which has substantially the size of a common palmtop. Also, as used herein, the term video game program or video game is intended to designate an electronic game which is programmed to simulate various contexts such as role-playing games and the like to be displayed on a screen, resulting from events caused by one or more players through controls imparted by such players.

Portable electronic apparatus are known, which include: - a display screen, such as a LCD,

- one or more pushbuttons,

- a camera,

- a mass storage device for storing a code of a video game program,

- a processor in signal communication with the mass storage device, the camera and the display screen to supervise the operation of the apparatus as well as the interoperability of the elements that form the apparatus, and adapted to implement the code of the video game program, to allow user interaction with the video game.

These apparatus, such as the one disclosed in US 6,811,492, allow users/players to enjoy a video game experience at any time and in any place.

Nonetheless, the story that develops during the game is based on characters that often fail to give full satisfaction to the user/player because they do not allow him/her to identify with them.

This is caused by limitations in character customization by the user/player. For example, the character may be assigned a sex, a name and a few more exterior and/or skill parameters.

Any other desired characteristics that the user/player might want to assign to the character cannot be customized, and this may involve a considerable loss of interest.

A variety of solutions have been proposed in the art for enhancing the excitement of users/players by more direct involvement in the video game, as if the user/player were "really" taking part in the video game.

Nevertheless, these solutions have always required the use of complex technological apparatus, such as personal computers, video cameras, etc. connected together in view of implementing special programs for video game character customization. Apparently such solutions are not easily transportable and do not allow video game character customization at any time and in any place.

For example, apparatus and programs of the above type are disclosed in WO 01/80057.

In view of the above prior art, the object of this invention is to provide a portable apparatus that can overcome the above mentioned problems and limitations of the prior art.

According to the present invention, this object is fulfilled by a portable electronic apparatus having all the features of claim 1.

The present invention provides a portable electronic apparatus that incorporates all characteristics and features for automated achievement of a more direct involvement of the user/player without requiring any action by the user/player.

This ensures a simpler, direct and clear enjoyment of the video game problem even for users/players that do not have the technical knowledge typically required by prior art apparatus.

Particularly, the present portable electronic apparatus uses an appropriate image processing program to change the look of a character that participates in the video game program.

A peculiar feature of the present apparatus is that it allows the user/player to customize a character that may be utilized in the context of the video game program.

Advantageously, the present portable apparatus allows acquisition of a picture of a subject, which may be the user/player or an object whatever or even a subject other than the user/player (such as a friend or an animal) and selection of a portion of the above picture to combine it with a background graphical representation.

In one preferred embodiment, the portion of the picture may be the face of the user/player and the background graphical representation may be the avatar or body of a character that is part of the video game context.

Once the composite image has been formed as a combination of the portion of the picture and the background graphical representation, to conform to the preferences of the user/player, such composite image may be utilized in the video game without requiring any action by the user/player.

Advantageously, with the present apparatus, the user/player may be involved in the game, still without requiring any action and/or manual intervention, by creating characters having the face of the user/player.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one practical embodiment, which is illustrated without limitation in the annexed drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows various views of a portable electronic apparatus of the present invention;

- Figure 2 is a principle block diagram used in the apparatus of Figure 1 ; - Figure 3 is a flow chart of the operation of a program code used in the apparatus of Figure 1 , according to the present invention;

- Figures 4A to 4E are illustrations of a possible embodiment of the process flow of Figure 3, according to the present invention.

Referring to the accompanying figures, numeral 1 generally designates a portable electronic apparatus.

Particularly, the portable electronic apparatus 1 comprises:

- a frame 2 having a first side 2a and a second side 2b at the larger opposed surfaces which are connected by a peripheral wall 2c,

- a display screen 3, for instance located at the first side 2a, - a plurality of pushbuttons 4, for instance located at the first side 2a,

- a camera 5 associated with the frame 2, for instance located at the first side 2a, - a mass storage device 6 located within the frame 2 wherein a code of a video game program or video game is preferably permanently stored,

- a processor 7 located within the frame 2, which is in signal communication with the mass storage device 6, the camera 5 and the display screen 3. The processor 7 supervises the operation of the portable apparatus 1 and ensures proper interoperability of the elements that form the portable apparatus, and is adapted to implement the code of the video game program, to allow user interaction with the video game through the plurality of pushbuttons 4.

Alternatively, the plurality of pushbuttons 4 may be at least partially located at the first side 2a, the second side 2b and/or the peripheral wall 2c.

It should be noted that the frame 2 of the present-portable apparatus 1 is required to have such a size as to be held in at least one hand of a user/player. Particularly, the frame 2 may have a width "L" of not more than 10 cm, a length "1" of not more than 20 cm and a thickness "s" of not more than 3 cm. In one embodiment of the portable apparatus 1, the camera 5 is integrated with the frame 2 and preferably located on the first side 2a, i.e. the side with the display screen 3.

Alternatively, the camera 5 might be also located on the second side 2b. The camera 5 is, for example, a CMOS sensor camera capable of acquiring images and convert them into a digital format.

The portable apparatus 1 also optionally comprises a speaker 8 located at the second side 2b or, alternatively, at the first side 2a.

The speaker 8 is controlled by the processor 7 and can emit signals audible by the user/player in response to predetermined events. Furthermore, the portable electronic apparatus 1 includes at least one housing

(not shown), for instance located within the lateral wall 2c, for removably receiving an external mass storage unit 9, 10.

When such external mass storage unit 9, 10 is received within the housing, it is in signal communication with the processor 7, to allow recovery (and/or storage) of digital data, such as video files, music files, etc. and display them on the screen ' 3 and/or play them through the speaker 8.

For this purpose, the housing is designed to receive digital SD-cards or flash memories or the like.

The screen 3 is, for instance a TFT liquid crystal display.

The processor 7 is adapted to implement the code of the video game program to display the sequence of images that represent the development of the video game program on the screen 3.

For example, the video game program may be a video game whose story develops in response to user/player selections, or the video game program may be embodied as a sequence of predetermined scenes, such as a short film.

For the purposes hereof, the video game code shall be intended to be known and will not be described hereafter in detail.

Particularly, the processor 7 will be adapted to:

- confirm that at least one pushbutton 4a of the plurality of pushbuttons 4 has been pressed and

- determine the time T during which said pushbutton 4a has been depressed. If such time T is longer than a predetermined time value, i.e. longer than 0.5 seconds, then the processor 7 will operate the camera 5 to take a picture and process it using a code of an image processing program 11 (see Figure 3).

For this purpose, the processor 7 is, for instance, a 32 bit RISC_based processor: Advantageously, this code of the image processing program 11 is permanently stored in the storage 6 of the device 1.

In other words, the code of the processing program 11 is executed by the processor 7 as soon as the at least one pushbutton 4a is found to be held depressed for a time longer than the preset time T. Once the processor 7 has confirmed the fulfillment of such condition, with no action by the user/player it can automatically:

- take a picture of a subject, step 12;

- select a portion 19 of the subject represented by the picture, step 13 and

- combine the selected portion 19 with a default background graphical representation 18 to generate a composite image (see Figure 4E), step 14 and

- run the video game program with the composite image 21 incorporated in the context of such video game program, step 28. Due to this feature, as the video game program is being run, i.e. while the user/player plays on the portable apparatus 1, the composite image 21 is not only displayed on the display screen 3 of the device 1 but also part of the video game.

In other words, once the composite image 21 has been generated, it is incorporated into the video game like any other character participating in the video game.

For example, referring to Figure 4E, the portable apparatus 1 is shown with the display screen 2 displaying a particular video game screen 22, in which the composite image 21 is incorporated according to a particular embodiment. Concerning the picture taking step 12, once the at least one pushbutton 4a has been held depressed for a time longer than T, the camera 5 is operated to display the subject as viewed by the camera lens on the display screen 3 of the apparatus 1.

Furthermore, also referring to Figure 4A, the background graphical representation 18 appears to include a background 18a with an overlapped image 18b representing a video game character.

Particularly, when the subject appears on the display screen 3, in order to allow selection of the relevant portion 19 of the subject, the background 18a shall cover the whole display screen area 3 excepting a free portion 18c.

Such portion 18c will show what the camera lens 5 is viewing at the moment, and allow the user to select the portion 19 to be used for customizing the image 18b.

It shall be also noted that the image 18b coincides with the video game object that the user/player wants to customize for enhanced involvement.

The free portion 18c is advantageously located proximate the image 18b. Particularly, such free portion 18c completes the representation of the image 18b.

Therefore, the free portion 18c shall have such conformation or shape as to allow the user/player to frame the portion 19 of the subject and, since the free portion 18c is placed proximate the image 18b, the portion 19 will complete the image 18b to create an additional composite image 20. To select the portion 19 and take the picture of the subject as viewed by the lens of the camera 5, the user/player shall press the pushbutton 4a with a greater pressure than the one required for operating the camera 5. As particularly shown in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C and without prejudice to the general scope of the invention, but only for simplicity, hereinafter:

- the background image 18a will be the representation of a photographic studio, - the image 18b will be the body of an avatar that is part of the video game, to be customized by the user/player,

- the free portion 18c has the shape of the face of the image 18b.

Thus, also referring to Figure 4B, a composite image 20 is obtained, which is not the composite image 21 yet. The composite image 20 is not usable in the video game, because there is no dimensional correspondence between the portion 19 acquired by the camera and the image 18b that is part of the video game.

The composite image 21 can be obtained by first converting the selected portion 19 into a format adapted to enhance human eye sensitivity to the green portion of the visible spectrum and then a portion 20a can be selected from the image 20 (see Figure 4C), which comprises the portion 19 of the subject whose picture has been taken.

Particularly, conversion occurs, for instance, through the format RGB565, which is used by the camera 5, to the format RGB555.

The selection step includes the definition of a first point of origin or zero reference point 24 of the graphical representation 18 and a second point of origin or reference point 25 from which the portion 20a is selected.

The graphical representation 18 has a predetermined area equal to S and also the portion 20a has a surface area S' known beforehand, with S' being smaller than

S, which means that the portion 20a is included in the background representation 18. Therefore, the reference point 25 is found to be within the surface area S containing the representation 18.

Therefore, the portion 19 selected by the user during the acquisition step may be cut out from the image 20. Thus, assuming that:

- the background representation 18 has an area S of 320x240, - the first reference point 24 is the point at the top left corner of the representation 18, whose coordinates are (0,0),

- the second point 26 has coordinates (124,69) and - the portion 20a is selected to have an area S' of 68x90, then, the portion 19 of interest to the user/player for customizing the video game image 18b may be selected.

Dimensional compatibility between the portion 19 and the image 18b will be ensured by generating a scaled image 29 from the previously selected portion 20a.

Such portion 20a shall be adapted to the size of the image 18b.

Particularly, the portion 10a is designed to be reduced by a predetermined reduction ratio to generate the scaled image 29.

Such reduction ratio is selected during development of the code 11 for the specific video game application and is a function of the size of the image 18b.

Once the size of the portion 20a has been adapted, also referring to Figure 4D, the step of combining the selected portion 19 with the image 18b further includes:

- identification of another point of origin or reference point 26 of the image 18b,

- placing the scaled image 29 on a point 27, known beforehand, of the image 18b.

Therefore, once the portion 19 has been obtained, the code 11 will be adapted to cause such portion 19 to overlap the image 18b to generate the composite image 21.

It shall be noted that the subject of the picture that has been taken may be the user/player of the portable apparatus 1 or a friend, an inanimate object or an animal.

Whenever the user/player wants to assign his/her own face to a video game character, then the user/player shall simply hold the pushbutton 4a depressed for a time longer than T, take a position in which his/her own face appears in the free portion 18c and press with greater force such pushbutton 4a to acquire the portion

19.

The code 11 will be used by the processor 7, no action being required of the user/player, to execute all the steps required to obtain the composite image 21 which, in this special case, is the result of the combination between the face of the user/player and the body of an avatar. Advantageously, with the present portable apparatus 1, the user/player may be involved in the game, still without requiring any action and/or manual intervention, by creating characters having the face of the user/player.

Similar composite images may be obtained by acquiring portions of subjects such as animals, inanimate objects, etc.

Furthermore, during implementation of the code of the image processing program 11, the processor 7 will:

- add at least one accessory to the composite image 21, step 16, to further customize the composite image obtained during the step 14 as desired and preferred by the user/player, to generate a processed composite image 23.

Particularly, the at least one accessory is selected by the user/player among a plurality of predetermined accessories.

For example, the accessories to be used 'for forming the processed composite image 23 include hats, glasses, beard, whiskers and the like. Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the embodiment as described hereinbefore to meet incidental and specific needs, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A portable electronic apparatus (1) comprising:

- a frame (2) having a first side (2a) and a second side (2b) at the larger opposed surfaces which are connected by a peripheral wall (2c), said frame (2) having such as size as to be held in at least one user's hand,

- a display screen (3), located at said first side (2a),

- a plurality of pushbuttons (4) on the first side (2a), said second side (2b) and/or said peripheral wall (2c), - a camera (5) associated with said frame (2), said camera (5) being operable by pressing at least one pushbutton (4a) of said plurality of pushbuttons

(4),

- a mass storage device (6) located within said frame (2) and used to store a code of a video game program, - a processor (7) located within said frame (2), which is in signal communication with said mass storage device (6), said camera (5) and said display screen (3),

- said code of said video game program being adapted to be implemented by said processor (7), characterized in that a code of an image processing program (11) is stored in said mass storage device (6) and that said code of said image processing program (11) is designed to be implemented by said processor (7), the latter being adapted to a) confirming that said at least one pushbutton (4a) has been pressed; b) determining the time (T) during which said pushbutton (4a) is held depressed and whether such time (T) is longer than a predetermined time value; c) operating said camera (5) for taking a picture, and d) executing said code of said image processing program (11), wherein this comprises the steps of: dl) selecting a portion (19) of the picture that has been taken, d2) combining the selected portion (19) with a default background graphical representation (18) to generate a composite image (21), and e) incorporating said composite image (21) into the context of said video game program for said composite image (21) to be also displayed on said display screen (3) during execution.

2. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image processing program includes the steps of: d3) processing said composite image (21) by placing at least one accessory in overlapped relationship onto said composite image, to generate a processed composite image to be incorporated into said video game program.

3. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one accessory is selected by said user among a plurality of predetermined accessories, such as hats, glasses, beard, whiskers.

4. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step dl further comprises conversion of the photographic format of the picture that has been taken into a format adapted to enhance the green portion of the visible spectrum.

5. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said conversion occurs from RGB565 format to RGB555 format.

6. An electronic portable apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 4, wherein said background graphical representation (18) comprises a background (18a) with an overlapped image representative of a video game character, said step dl comprising the generation of an additional composite image (20) in which said background image (18a) and said overlapped image (18b) representative of a video game character completed by the selected portion (19) appear.

7. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein an image portion (20a) comprising said selected portion (19) is cut out from said additional composite image (20).

8. A portable electric apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein in said step d2 the size of said image portion (20a) cut out from said composite image (20) is adapted to the size of said image (18b) representative of a video game character to generate a scaled image (29), said adaptation step being carried out with a predetermined reduction ratio.

9. A portable apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a speaker (8) located at said first side (2a) or said second side (2b).

10. A portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least one housing located within said lateral wall (2c), for removably receiving an external mass storage unit (9, 10), said external mass storage unit (9, 10) being in signal connection with said processor (7) as soon as it is received within said housing.