Screen coding methods and camera based game controller for video shoot game

#The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for a video shooting game and more specifically to video shooting game for simulated-projectile with process data and calculate coordinate of a point-of-aim (i.e. target) on display screen.

#The present invention also relates to education and demonstration of gun aiming and shooting with simulated-projectile for instruction and practice purpose.

#Video shooting games are popular and fun. However, most such video shooting games in market are using computer peripherals, such as a keyboard, a mouse or a joystick to aim and shoot at visual targets on a display screen. Other game devices, such as PLAYSTATION, XBOX, Wii, etc. use their remote controllers to aim and shoot at visual targets on a display screen. These types of peripheral devices or remote controllers make video shooting games less realistic.

#FIG. 1 is system of video shoot game and TV screen coordinate system.

#FIG. 2A is picture coordinate system in a blank picture captured by the camera in game controller.

#FIG. 2B is a picture coordinate system with TV screen captured in. An algorithm to calculate the coordinate of hit point on screen is described in detail.

#FIG. 1 shows a system of video shoot game with a game controller (10) and a video display (20). (200) is the screen of the video display (20). The screen (200) is called “TV screen”, which has known size, in pixels, such as 1920×1080. The whole area of the TV screen (200) is defined as TV screen coordinate system (called x-y system), whose origin is S′(0, 0). (25) is “hit point”, which is a point-of-aim on TV screen a player is aiming to with a mock gun. O′(X′,Y′) is coordinate of a hit point (25) in the x-y system.

#The Game controller (10) is a mock gun, which is camera based, and comprises an optical or electrical sight (11), a trigger (12), a compact camera with or without any kind of image stabilization (13), an embedded computer (14), an operation panel (18), wireless communication, a motion sensor, a battery, and LED light, audio, a vibrator, etc., its detailed design is described in FIG. 6A. One embodiment of optical sight (11) contains a translucent mirror (16), which let certain amount of light passes directly through to eyepiece (15), and the rest of light is reflected to the camera (13). The central axis (19A) of optical sight (11) is the trajectory, which passes through the center of eyepiece (15) and the center of translucent mirror (16), and is pointing to a point on TV screen, known as hit point (25). The central axis (19B) of the camera's optical center is perpendicular to (19A) at the center of translucent mirror (16). Both images shown on eyepiece (15) and in picture captured by camera (13) are concentric by means of the translucent mirror (16). The purpose of this design is to project the hit point (25) to the center of a picture capture by camera (13). The detailed design about optical sight (11) is described in FIG. 7.

#The game controller (10) is safe to use, it has no gun barrel to emit light beam or shoot physical projectile, it only captures pictures. The major functions of a game controller (10) include: