JP2001056212A - Position detection device and head position following type three-dimensional display device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position detection device capable of detecting an observer's position precisely by simple configuration and simple processing and a head position following type three-dimensional display device provided with the same. SOLUTION: This position detection device is provided with a CCD camera 52 photographing an observer 10, an infrared LED 51 arranged in the vicinity of the CCD camera 52, a reflection sheet 54 mounted on the head of the observer 10, and a deciding means 55 for deciding which of a normal vision region, a reverse vision region, a first cross talk region and a second cross talk region the reflection sheet 54 is positioned based on picture images photographed by the CCD camera 52. The reflection sheet 54 is constituted by a retro reflective member.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position detecting device capable of detecting the position of the head of an observer and expanding the stereoscopic viewable range when the observer performs stereoscopic vision without requiring special glasses. And a head position tracking type stereoscopic display device provided with the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a three-dimensional display device for allowing a viewer to view three-dimensionally without requiring special glasses, a method using a parallax barrier and a method using a lenticular lens are known. In any of these types of stereoscopic display devices, the right-eye image and the left-eye image are the left-eye image and the right-eye image is the left-eye image, Or a crosstalk area in which both images are observed by one eye. Therefore, it is conceivable to expand the stereoscopically viewable range by detecting the position of the head of the observer and performing switching control of the display images of the left and right eyes.

As a conventional position detecting device, there is known a position detecting device which processes an image picked up by an image pickup device to extract an observer and detect the position.

However, when an observer is extracted from a captured image and the position of the head is specified, not only the processing becomes complicated, but also the time required for the processing becomes longer.

On the other hand, there has been proposed a position detecting device in which a member having high reflectivity (reflective member) such as aluminum foil is mounted on the head of the observer and the position of the observer is detected from the position of the reflective member. ing. In this device, since the reflection member is imaged brightly, the head position can be detected by performing threshold processing on the luminance value in the imaged image.

[0006]

However, when the position of the observer is detected using the above-mentioned reflecting member, the reflecting member must be brightly imaged by the imaging device regardless of the position of the observer. The surface must be a diffuse reflection surface.
For this reason, the utilization efficiency of the reflected light at the reflection member is low, and there is a possibility that the lens of the glasses worn by the observer, the curved metal in the background, or the like may be erroneously detected as the reflection member.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a simple structure and processing, and a position detecting device capable of accurately detecting the position of an observer and a head provided with the same. It is an object of the present invention to provide a unit position tracking type stereoscopic display device.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A position detecting device according to the present invention comprises: an image pickup means for picking up an image of an object; a light emitting means arranged near the image pickup means; a reflecting means attached to the object; And a judging means for judging the position of the reflecting means on the basis of the image picked up in the step (a), wherein the reflecting means comprises a retroreflective member.

Further, the position detecting device of the present invention comprises an image pickup means for picking up an image of an observer, a light emitting means arranged near the image pickup means, a reflecting means mounted on the head of the observer, and an image pickup means. And a determining means for determining whether the reflecting means is located in the normal viewing area or the reverse viewing area based on the image taken in the position detecting device, wherein the reflecting means comprises a retroreflective member. Features.

The retroreflective member has a characteristic of reflecting an incoming light beam in the incident direction of the light beam. For this reason, of the light flux emitted from the light emitting means, most of the light flux irradiated on the reflecting means is reflected toward the light emitting means, whereby the reflecting means is brightly imaged by the imaging means located near the light emitting means. . At this time, even if light from the light emitting means is irradiated to the lens of the glasses worn by the observer or the curved metal in the background, the possibility that the reflected light is directed to the imaging means is low. Even if there is reflected light toward the means, the amount of the reflected light is smaller than the amount of light reflected by the reflecting means, and there is no erroneous recognition. Then, the position of the reflection unit in the image captured by the imaging unit is obtained, and the normal viewing region and the reverse viewing region are determined based on the position.

The judging means determines that the reflecting means determines the first viewing area, the reverse viewing area and the first viewing area based on the image taken by the imaging means.
It is characterized by determining which of the crosstalk area and the second crosstalk area is located.

For example, when n is an integer, E is the distance between the eyes of the observer, and A is the lateral distance from the center of the normal viewing position in front of the screen, (2n
An area represented by -1/2) * E≤A≤ (2n + 1/2) * E is defined as a normal viewing area, and the observer is determined to be {(2n + 1) -1 /
If the area indicated by 2 で × E <A <{(2n + 1) + ／} × E is set as the reverse viewing area, the area becomes as follows: normal viewing area → opposite viewing area → standard viewing area →. Is referred to as one target region) is repeated every twice the interocular distance. Furthermore, in this case, in particular, ｛(1+
2n) / 2−1 / 4｝ × E <A <｛(1 + 2n) / 2 +
Assuming that a region indicated by 1/4｝ × E is a crosstalk region, the region is as follows: a standard viewing region → a first crosstalk region → a reverse viewing region → a second crosstalk region → a standard viewing region →. For convenience, this is referred to as one target region) also comes every twice the interocular distance.

Further, the light emitted from the light emitting means includes invisible light, and the imaging means has a filter for blocking visible light.

[0014] With this configuration, visible light, which occupies most of the external light, is cut from the image picked up by the image pickup means. Even if the light is reflected by a curved metal or the like in the background, no erroneous recognition occurs.

[0015] More specifically, the light-emitting means comprises a light-emitting diode that emits infrared light.

A head position tracking type stereoscopic display device according to the present invention includes the above-described position detection device. When a signal indicating that the observer is located in the normal vision region is obtained by the position detection device, the stereoscopic display device is provided. The right eye image for the right eye of the observer located at
The left eye is configured to guide the left eye image to the left eye, and when the observer obtains a signal indicating that the observer is located in the reverse viewing area, the right eye image of the observer located in the reverse viewing area is provided with the right eye image, It is characterized in that a left-eye image is guided to the left eye.

Further, when the above-mentioned position detecting device is provided and a signal indicating that the observer is located in the normal viewing region is obtained by the position detecting device, the right eye image of the observer located in the normal viewing region is provided to the right eye. Is configured to guide the left-eye image to the left eye, respectively, and when a signal indicating that the observer is located in the reverse viewing area is obtained, the right-eye image is provided to the right eye of the observer located in the reverse viewing area. To the left eye, respectively, to guide the left-eye image, and when the observer obtains a signal indicating that the observer is located in the first crosstalk area, the observer is positioned on the right of the observer located in the first crosstalk area. It is configured to guide the right-eye image to the eye and the left-eye image to the left eye, respectively. When the observer obtains a signal indicating that the image is located in the second crosstalk area, the observer obtains the signal in the second crosstalk area. The right eye image for the right eye of the observer located,
It is characterized in that a left-eye image is guided to the left eye.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the observer's head is positioned in a normal viewing area, a reverse viewing area, a first crosstalk area, and a second viewing area.
An example of a head-position tracking type stereoscopic display device that can follow the movement of the user to the crosstalk area and appropriately cause the observer to perform stereoscopic vision will be described.

The head position tracking type stereoscopic display device is provided with a planar backlight 1 and a light-transmitting portion and a light-shielding portion having a predetermined width in a vertical stripe and arranged on the light emission side of the backlight 1. And the light-transmitting part and the light-shielding part are separated by 1 /
Liquid crystal shutter 2 that can be moved by two pitches
A lenticular lens 3 which is disposed on the light emitting side of the liquid crystal shutter 2 and has a semi-cylindrical lens portion corresponding to each set of the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion; A light transmitting type image display panel 4 made of, for example, liquid crystal, a position detecting device 5 for detecting the position of the observer's head, a control unit 6, and an illuminating unit for illuminating the face of the observer 10 (FIG. (Not shown).

The liquid crystal shutter 2 has a structure as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 2, 2a,
Reference numeral 2b denotes a transparent substrate disposed so as to sandwich the liquid crystal layer 2c. On the inner surface side of the transparent substrate 2a, a transparent conductive film 2d in the form of a vertical stripe is provided with a light-transmitting portion having the same width as the light-transmitting portion. When A is defined as A, the transparent conductive film 2 is formed with a width of A / 2, and the transparent conductive film 2 having a solid pattern is formed on the inner surface side of the transparent substrate 2b.
e is formed. The polarizing plate is omitted in the figure. Further, in FIG. 2, the conductive film 2 in the power OFF state is shown.
d is shown in black, and the conductive film 2d in the energized ON state is shown in white. The transmissive state of the liquid crystal by the ON / OFF of the energization is indicated by non-hatching and hatching.

The control section 6 includes a display control circuit section 6a and a shutter control circuit section 6b. The display control circuit unit 6a includes:
Based on the head position information from the position detection device 5, the display switching timing between the left-eye image and the right-eye image on the light transmission type image display panel 4 is controlled. Further, the shutter control circuit 6b controls alternate switching between the light-transmitting portion and the light-shielding portion and movement of the predetermined pitch in the liquid crystal shutter 2 in synchronization with the display switching timing. Hereinafter, specific modes of these controls will be described. (In the case where the observer 10 is located in the reverse viewing area) In this case, the display control circuit unit 6a switches between the image for the left eye and the image for the right eye at the normal viewing position at the opposite timing. That is, the reverse viewing position is a state in which the image for the right eye is incident on the left eye and the image for the left eye is incident on the right eye, so that the alternate display timing of the image for the left eye and the image for the right eye is directly viewed. That is, it may be performed at the opposite timing to the case of. (When the observer 10 is located in the crosstalk area) In the shutter control circuit section 6b, a pair of adjacent vertical stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 2d, 2d is turned on / off (transmitted / shielded) as a pair. The energization control is performed on the liquid crystal shutter 2 as described above. By such control, in the liquid crystal shutter 2, as shown in FIGS.
The light transmitting part and the light shielding part in the liquid crystal shutter 2 can be moved in A / 2 pitch units. Then, the shutter control circuit unit 6b sends the observer 10
Is obtained in the crosstalk area (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 for the crosstalk area).
When the pitch is shifted and the information that the observer 10 has passed the crosstalk area and is located in the reverse viewing area is obtained,
The light transmitting part and the light shielding part are further moved by A / 2 pitch.

When the observer 10 is located in the crosstalk area, the display control circuit 6a does not switch between the left-eye image and the right-eye image at the opposite timing. The reverse timing is performed when the observer 10 passes through the crosstalk area and comes to the reverse viewing area.

By this control, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the head of the observer 10 moves rightward by a distance of E / 2 from the emmetropic region (the position shown by the dotted line in the figure), and the first position. Correspondingly, the light-shielding portion and the light-transmitting portion are moved to the left from the normal viewing position by A / 2 pitches (switching between left and right eye images is the same as in the normal viewing position state). The state where the image for the right eye is incident on the right eye of the observer 10 and the image for the left eye is incident on the left eye of the observer 10 is maintained, and satisfactory stereoscopic vision can be performed.

On the other hand, when the observer 10 moves to the left from the normal viewing area by a distance of E / 2 and is located in the second crosstalk area, the light-shielding portion and the light-transmitting portion are correspondingly shifted from the normal viewing position state. What is necessary is just to move A / 2 pitch to the right side. Also in this case, switching between the left and right eye images is the same as in the normal viewing position state. In addition to the above control, when the observer moves leftward from the normal viewing area by a distance of E / 2 and is located in the crosstalk area, the light shielding section is made to correspond to that as shown in FIG. A / 2 from the normal viewing position to the left
The pitch may be moved (same as the above-described rightward movement of the observer), and the switching of the left and right eye images may be set as the timing of the reverse viewing position state.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of the position detecting device 5 for detecting whether the observer 10 is located in the normal viewing area, the reverse viewing area, the first crosstalk area, or the second crosstalk area. FIG. This position detecting device 5
Are an infrared LED 51, a CCD camera 52, a visible light cut filter 53, a reflection sheet 54,
5

The CCD camera 52 is arranged above the display device (not shown), facing the observer 10. At this time, with respect to the image captured by the CCD camera 52, the following areas corresponding to the normal viewing area, the reverse viewing area, and the crosstalk area are set.
Is stored in

That is, when n is an integer, E is the distance between the eyes of the observer, and A is the lateral distance from the center of the normal viewing position in front of the screen, (2n
An area represented by -1/2) * E≤A≤ (2n + 1/2) * E is defined as a normal viewing area, and the observer is determined to be {(2n + 1) -1 /
Assuming that an area represented by 2｝ × E <A <{(2n + 1) + ／} × E is a pseudoscopic area, it is as follows: emmetropic area → opposite-vision area → emmetropic area →... 2
Repeated every doubling. Furthermore, in this case, in particular, {(1 + 2n) / 2−1 / 4} × E <A <{(1 + 2
Assuming that a region indicated by n) / 2 + ／/ E is a crosstalk region, the region is as follows: standard viewing region → first crosstalk region → reverse viewing region → second crosstalk region → normal viewing region →. One cycle (for convenience, this is referred to as one target area, and in the figure, 56a, 56b, 56
c and 56d are added every two times the interocular distance.

The infrared LED 51 is arranged in the vicinity of the CCD camera 52 and irradiates a predetermined range of infrared light from the CCD camera 52 toward the observer 10.

The visible light cut filter 53 is mounted on the imaging lens of the CCD camera 52 and cuts visible light components of an image captured by the CCD camera 52.

As shown in FIG. 6, the reflection sheet 54 includes a reflection layer 54a, spherical glass beads 54b spread all over the surface of the reflection layer 54a, and a reflection layer 5a.
The glass beads 54b have a substantially hemispherical portion embedded in the reflective layer 54a. And the glass beads 54
b is refracted on the surface of the glass bead 54b as shown by a solid arrow in FIG.
It is reflected at 4a. The reflected light is refracted on the surface of the glass bead 54b again, and is emitted in a direction substantially parallel to the incident light, as indicated by a broken arrow in the drawing.

The reflection sheet 54 is formed of a reflection layer 54
It is attached to the head of the observer 10, more specifically, to the center of the forehead by the adhesive layer 54 c provided on the back surface of “a”.

In the position detecting device 5 having such a configuration, of the infrared light emitted from the infrared light LED 51, most of the light flux irradiated on the reflection sheet 54 is red due to the above-described retroreflection. The light is reflected toward the external light LED 51. The reflected light is applied to a CCD camera 52 located near the infrared LED 51 via a visible light cut filter 53.

At this time, in the image picked up by the CCD camera 52, the visible light, which occupies most of the external light, is cut off by the visible light cut filter 53 and the image is picked up. The infrared light emitted from the LED 51 is emphasized.

On the other hand, of the infrared light emitted from the infrared LED 51, most of the light not irradiated on the reflection sheet 54 is not reflected in the direction of the CCD camera 52, and even if the observer 10 Even if the light reflected on the lens of the glasses or on the metal behind the observer 10 is directed toward the CCD camera 52, the brightness level of the light is reflected on the reflection sheet 54.
Is significantly lower than the reflected light.

The judging means performs a binarization process on the image picked up by the CCD camera 52 at a predetermined threshold value determined based on the luminance level of the light emitted from the infrared LED 51, so that the reflection sheet 54 on the picked up image is obtained. Identify the location of Then, the position is the above-described normal viewing area, reverse viewing area,
It is determined which of the first crosstalk area and the second crosstalk area is located.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the infrared LED 5 disposed near the CCD camera 52
The light flux emitted from 1 is reflected by a reflection sheet 54 made of a retroreflective member attached to the head of the observer 10 to detect the position of the observer's head. The use efficiency of the reflected infrared light can be improved, and erroneous detection due to the lens of the glasses worn by the observer, the curved metal in the background, and the like can be reduced. Thereby, the observer 10 can be detected with high accuracy, and the reliability of the device can be improved. Further, since the infrared LED 51 is disposed only near the CCD camera 52, it is possible to make the configuration compact.

Further, since the visible light cut filter 53 for blocking visible light is mounted on the CCD camera 52, the influence of visible light on the captured image is eliminated, and the infrared LED 5
The reflected light of the infrared light applied to the reflection sheet 54 from 1 is emphasized. Therefore, the output of the infrared LED 51 can be suppressed low, and power saving can be achieved.

In this embodiment, the observer 1
Although a case has been described where 0 is located in the normal viewing area, the reverse viewing area, the first crosstalk area, or the second crosstalk area, as described above, as shown in FIG. It may be possible to detect only the position in the normal viewing region or the reverse viewing region. In this case, in the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal shutter 2 may be configured to switch between the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion in units of the width of the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion.

In the above description, the reflecting means is
Although the reflecting sheet 54 including the reflecting layer 54a and the glass beads 54b buried substantially half of the reflecting layer 54a is shown, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a reflective sheet 154 having a conical or pyramid-shaped concave portion having an isosceles triangle with a right angle in cross section may be provided on one surface. The glass beads 54b are made of a cured plastic (FR
It may be configured by using a resin such as P).

In the above description, the reflection sheet 54 is directly attached to the forehead. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the observer 10 wears a hat, a hair band, or the like, the reflection sheet 54 may be attached to the hat, the hair band, or the like in advance.

In the above description, one light emitting means is used.
Although the one composed of the infrared LEDs 54 is shown,
A plurality of infrared LEDs may be used, or a light emitting element other than the infrared LEDs may be used.

Further, in the above description, 1 is used as the imaging means.
In this example, the position of the observer 10 in the horizontal direction with respect to the display screen is detected using two CCD cameras 52.
Using one or more CCD cameras, observer 1
The position in the front-back direction of 0 may be detected. At that time, the position of the observer 10 is obtained using a so-called stereo measurement method.

In the above description, the head position tracking type three-dimensional display device has a structure in which the entire left and right eye images are alternately displayed on the image display panel in time. It is needless to say that the left and right eye images may be alternately displayed in the form of vertical stripes, and the images may be separated by a parallax barrier or a lenticular lens. May be used for a stereoscopic display device that uses an image display device and that changes the image according to the position of the observer. Also, the light source is composed of a backlight and a liquid crystal shutter. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, light from a linear light source is alternately formed on a diffuser with a lenticular lens so that bright and dark portions are alternately formed. It is formed at a predetermined pitch, and such a bright portion and a dark portion are treated like the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion in the configuration of FIG. 1, and the line-shaped light sources are left and right in a normal viewing region (or a reverse viewing region). A configuration using a set of four linear light sources, one set corresponding to the eyes and another set corresponding to the left and right eyes in the crosstalk area, may be used.

Further, the left and right eye images are alternately displayed at a predetermined timing on a single image display panel. The left and right eye images are displayed on the two image display panels, for example, a half image is displayed. A head position tracking type stereoscopic display device having a structure in which the images are synthesized by a mirror and guided to an observer may be used.

Further, the position detecting device and the head position tracking type three-dimensional display device are formed in separate housings, and the position detecting device is provided separately from the head position tracking type three-dimensional display device. Alternatively, the configuration may be such that the position detecting device is incorporated in the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device.

[0047]

According to the present invention, the light beam emitted from the light emitting means arranged near the image pickup means is reflected by the reflecting means comprising the retroreflective member mounted on the head of the observer, thereby enabling the observation. Since the configuration is such that the position of the head of the observer is detected, the utilization efficiency of the light beam reflected by the reflection unit is improved, and the position of the head of the observer can be detected with high accuracy. This makes it possible to improve the reliability of the position detection device and the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device using the same. Further, since the light emitting means is arranged in the vicinity of the imaging means, a compact configuration can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a head position tracking type stereoscopic display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a liquid crystal shutter in the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in the head position tracking type stereoscopic display device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a position detection device of the present invention.

6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a reflection sheet in the position detection device of FIG.

7 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing another configuration of the reflection sheet of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing another configuration of the position detection device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 backlight 2 liquid crystal shutter 3 lenticular lens 4 liquid crystal display panel 5 position detection device 51 infrared light LED 52 CCD camera 53 visible light cut filter 54 reflection sheet 54 a reflection layer 54 b glass beads 6 control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09F 9/00 366 G09G 5/36 510V G09G 5/00 550 G06F 15/62 350V 5/36 510 380 (72 ) Inventor Goro Hamegishi 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) PP22 QQ05 QQ28 5B050 FA06 5B057 BA08 BA15 CA13 CB13 CH18 DA07 DB02 DC22 5C082 AA21 BA41 BA47 CA81 CB01 MM10 5G435 AA14 AA18 BB12 CC11 EE25 EE30 EE33 FF03 FF15 GG06 GG25 HH12 KK05

Claims (7)

[Claims] An imaging unit configured to image an object; a light emitting unit disposed near the imaging unit; a reflecting unit attached to the object; A position detecting device comprising: a judging means for judging a position of a reflecting means, wherein the reflecting means comprises a retroreflective member. 2. An image pickup means for picking up an image of an observer, a light emitting means arranged near the image pickup means, a reflection means mounted on the head of the observer, and an image picked up by the image pickup means. And a judging means for judging whether the reflecting means is located in the normal viewing area or in the reverse viewing area based on the position detection device, wherein the reflecting means comprises a retroreflective member. Position detection device. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining unit is configured to determine, based on an image captured by the image capturing unit, whether the reflecting unit is located in any of a normal viewing area, a reverse viewing area, a first crosstalk area, and a second crosstalk area. 3. The position detecting device according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether the position is detected. 4. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitted from the light-emitting unit includes invisible light, and the imaging unit includes a filter that blocks visible light. Position detection device. 5. The position detecting device according to claim 4, wherein said light emitting means comprises a light emitting diode emitting infrared light. 6. The position detecting device according to claim 2, wherein when a signal indicating that the observer is located in the normal viewing region is obtained by the position detecting device, the right eye of the observer located in the normal viewing region is included in the right eye. The image is configured to guide the left eye image to the left eye, and when the observer obtains a signal indicating that the observer is located in the reverse viewing area, the right eye is applied to the right eye of the observer located in the reverse viewing area. A head position tracking type three-dimensional display device configured to guide an image and a left eye image to a left eye, respectively. 7. The position detecting device according to claim 3, wherein when a signal indicating that the observer is located in the normal viewing region is obtained by the position detecting device, the right eye of the observer located in the normal viewing region is included in the right eye. The image is configured to guide the left eye image to the left eye, and when the observer obtains a signal indicating that the observer is located in the reverse viewing area, the right eye is applied to the right eye of the observer located in the reverse viewing area. An image is guided to the left eye, and a left-eye image is guided to the left eye. When an observer obtains a signal indicating that the observer is located in the first crosstalk area, the observer is positioned in the first crosstalk area. The right-eye image is guided to the right eye, and the left-eye image is guided to the left eye. When the observer obtains a signal indicating that the image is located in the second crosstalk region, the second crosstalk region The right eye image for the right eye of the observer located at
A head position tracking type stereoscopic display device, wherein a left eye image is guided to a left eye.