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Mitsubishi Electric Develops Gesture-Input
Interactive Game
Tokyo, November 18, 1996 -- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
has developed a gesture-input system, featuring an artificial retina
chip, and has succeeded in utilizing the system for an interactive
game. The new interactive game is an innovative game system, which
can control game characters by directly detecting body actions of
the players, without the necessity of a joystick or a keyboard.
The interactive game system has been realized through the development
of hardware featuring an artificial retina chip*1, first of its
kind in the world operating at an ultrahigh speed, as well as the
joint development with Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology
Center America Inc. (ITA), of the software featuring vision algorithm*2,
which flexibly recognizes motions of a person real time. By connecting
this system to existing game machines, characters in the games can
be freely controlled.
This new system can provide the realistic senses to the game players, by coinciding the players' actions to those of the game characters. This development is also a major step forward toward human-friendly interfaces of multimedia equipment. Sega Enterprises has accepted, and agreed to cooperate with Mitsubishi Electric, to the use of Sega's game machines and game software.
Background of the Development
The upcoming multimedia age will require human-friendly interfaces, allowing natural interaction between people and computer, without the necessity of complex information input through devices such as a keyboard and joystick. Since 1990, Mitsubishi Electric has been developing the concept of an artificial retina chip, which processes images as flexibly as the human retina, verifying the principles and developing the chip. In 1995, Mitsubishi Electric succeeded in the test development of an artificial retina chip, whose board was changed from gallium arsenide to silicon, as well as a camera utilizing the chip, both of which opened up the way for application of the chip to multimedia uses. However, the development of a "compact" artificial retina chip module and a vision algorithm suitable for this artificial retina chip module have been indispensable for use in game machines.
Characteristics of the Interactive Game System
1) Intuitive Input
In some of the existing games using a joystick, the motions of characters and operation of the joystick did not quite coincide. Compared with them, players using the new interactive game system can easily control characters by actually moving in front of the artificial retina chip module, while watching the motions of the game character. This allows more intuitive input. For example, by the players' actual running or throwing motions, they can let the characters play track and field games such as running long jump, shot put, 100-meter dash, etc., or let them fly in the sky. This way, characters can be in free motion, from the bottom to the top, left to right of the screen.
2) Compact, High-Speed Artificial Retina Chip Module
The new artificial retina chip module is a single board on which an artificial retina chip of
32 x 32 array of pixel core circuits, electronic circuits such as a 16-bit microprocessor, and a lens are embedded. The chip module is compact, measuring 6.4 cm x 4.7 cm x 5.1 cm, capable of high-speed of more than 100 pictures per second, and features a flexible processing.
The artificial retina chip embedded on the module can detect motions as the human eye does, and is an image sensor which can take out various characteristics of the images real time. The new device, unique to Mitsubishi Electric, also features a high-speed detection function of images, with less than 1 millisecond, and flexible preprocessing functions e.g. edge and projection detection and other functions.
3) Real-Time Vision Algorithm
The vision algorithm recognizes hand gestures and body actions real time. The algorithm analyzes status/shape of the images, including where the center of gravity is, size, tilt angle, etc.; and its motions, including direction and speed. The algorithm requires only a small amount of calculations and features high-precision operation, even when the brightness of the background changes.
Future Plan
Utilizing the various characteristics which the artificial retina chip and the vision algorithm offer, their application will be expanded to multimedia information processing with sophisticated intellectual interfaces, by developing a system which recognizes gestures such as complicated chirology, as well as a motion capture system.
The new gesture-input interactive game will be on display at the COMDEX '96 exhibition, which will be held in Las Vegas, U.S., from November 18th to 22nd, 1996.
Notes:
*1 Artificial retina chip: An image sensor capable of fetching various
characteristics of images real time, similar to the human eye does.
The device is a new and unique to Mitsubishi Electric, featuring
a high-speed image detection function, with less than 1 millisecond,
and preprocessing functions, including edge and projection detection
and other functions.
*2 Vision algorithm: A theoretical model which recognizes image's
shapes and detects motions.
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