JP4956730B2 - Haptic information creation device, haptic information creation program, and recording medium storing haptic creation program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for creating haptic information.

  In recent years, among human senses, development of technology related to force / tactile sensation has become active. Here, the force-tactile sense is a general term for force senses such as hardness and softness of an object held in hand and narrow sense of touch such as roughness and smoothness of the surface of the touched object.

  One of the devices related to force and touch is a force sensor such as a switch characteristic test device described in Patent Document 1. Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a tactile sensation evaluation unit including such an apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a push button measurement unit). The structure of the tactile sensation unit is shown in FIG.

  By using this tactile sensation evaluation unit, it is possible to obtain haptic information of the measurement target of the push button measurement unit. The haptic information is information representing the hardness of the object. In this example of the tactile sensation evaluation unit, as the haptic information, the displacement that is the distance the push button measurement unit has moved from the reference point, and the target is the push button measurement unit The load which is the reaction force returned to These are measured using a push button measurement unit. The obtained measurement data is transferred to the personal computer via the measurement data converter. The personal computer stores the obtained haptic information. The force information is displayed in a graph with the horizontal axis representing displacement and the vertical axis representing load.

  Moreover, there exists a force sense presentation apparatus which presents a force sense to the outside as another device related to the force sense of touch. A representative haptic device is PHANToM of SensAble Technologies, which is described in Patent Document 2. As shown in FIG. 2, this apparatus includes a pen-type force sense presentation unit having a force feedback mechanism with 6 degrees of freedom by torque control using a DC motor.

  The force feedback mechanism is a mechanism for presenting force sense to the user, and the mechanism is as follows. When the user grips and moves the force sense presentation unit, the force sense presentation device reads the displacement information. The read data is sent to a computer connected to the force sense presentation device. The computer controls the operation of the motor of the force sense presentation device based on force sense information prepared in advance. The user feels the force from this motor.

In addition, using such a force sense presentation device or the like, a touch-sensitive content that presents a force sense to the user is also created. When creating touch-sensitive content, there is no generalized description method for handling force information to be reproduced, and a low-level library such as Reachin API (Non-Patent Document 2) from Reachin is used, and a programming language such as C language is used. The method of describing the operation of the presentation device is widely used.
Utility model registration No. 3098109 US Pat. No. 5,625,576 MRT SW measurement unit / tactile evaluation unit pamphlet, September 2006 Reachin Technologies, Inc., [online], 2006, [searched July 4, 2007], Internet <URL: http://www.reachin.se/products/ReachinAPI/index.asp>

  The creation of touch-sensitive content by the method as described above is not easy for ordinary people who do not know programming. Moreover, when creating, it is common to input physical formulas and parameters corresponding to them in numerical values, and it is not easy for ordinary people to do.

  If the force information of the object collected by the force sensor can be used as an input, the above numerical input is not necessary. However, force sensors are generally expensive and require skills to use them, and not everyone can use them easily. Furthermore, with this method, the collected force data can be reproduced as it is, but editing and processing of the collected force data is not easy. In the first place, this method cannot be used when there is no object having desired haptic information at hand. In particular, this method cannot be used when an object having a tactile sensation that does not exist in the world is to be created in the tactile content.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a haptic information creation device that allows a user to create desired haptic information by a simple operation. To do.

  The present invention according to one aspect is a haptic information creation device that creates haptic information that is a set of data representing the hardness of an object, and includes an input unit that receives an instruction from a user, and an instruction to the input unit. In response, a creation means for creating a graph corresponding to the force information, a display means for displaying an edit screen including the graph created by the creation means, and an edit displayed by the display means in response to an instruction to the input means Edit that creates a new graph by moving a point on the graph selected by the selection means to another position in the edit screen in response to an instruction to the input means and a selection means that selects points on the screen Means and acquisition means for acquiring edited force information based on the new graph.

  Preferably, the force information is a displacement that is a distance that the force sensor has moved from the reference point and a reaction force that is returned to the force sensor when the force sensor is moved while being in contact with the object. A set of data sets consisting of loads.

  More preferably, the creating means creates a parametric curve that connects points corresponding to a data set as a graph.

  More preferably, the creation means creates a Bezier curve passing through a point corresponding to the data set as a graph.

Preferably, the editing means creates a parametric curve as a new graph,
The acquisition unit specifies a plurality of parameters, and acquires a set of data corresponding to a new point on the graph indicated by the specified parameters as new force information.

Preferably, the apparatus further includes means for presenting a force sense corresponding to the edited force sense information.
Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes storage means for storing a plurality of profiles for identifying a plurality of haptic information and a plurality of correspondence information corresponding to each of the plurality of profiles, and the display means includes a plurality of correspondences stored in the storage means. The information is further displayed, the selection means selects one correspondence information from the plurality of correspondence information displayed on the display means, the creation means obtains a profile corresponding to the correspondence information selected by the selection means, Create a graph based on the acquired profile.

  More preferably, the correspondence information is an image representing a substance having force information corresponding to the correspondence information.

  More preferably, the apparatus further comprises a force sensor that acquires force information of the substance to be measured, and the storage means receives the force information acquired by the force sensor in response to an instruction to the input means, and the force sense. Correspondence information corresponding to the information is further stored.

  Preferably, profile creation means for creating a profile based on a new graph is further provided, and the storage means corresponds to the profile created by the profile creation means and the generated profile in response to an instruction to the input means. Correspondence information is further stored.

  More preferably, for each of the plurality of profiles stored in the storage unit, the area of the first region surrounded by the graph corresponding to each profile and the area of the second region surrounded by the edited graph Calculating means for calculating the ratio of the area of the third area common to the first area and the second area to the sum, and determining means for determining whether the ratio calculated by the calculating means is greater than a predetermined value And when the determination means determines that the ratio is greater than a predetermined value, the display means corresponds to the profile corresponding to the profile in which the ratio is calculated among a plurality of force information stored in the storage means. Is displayed on the display means.

  Preferably, when displaying a new graph, the display unit displays the graph before being edited by the editing unit.

  The present invention according to another aspect is a program for causing a computer having a calculation unit, an input unit for receiving an instruction from a user, and a monitor to create force sense information. A step of creating haptic information, which is a set of data to be represented, a step of creating a graph corresponding to the haptic information in response to an instruction to the input means, and a computing unit creating a graph on the monitor A step of displaying an edit screen including the graph created in the step; a step of selecting a point in the edit screen displayed in the step of displaying the edit screen in accordance with an instruction to the input means by the calculation unit; The calculation unit creates a new graph by moving the point on the graph selected in the selection step to another position in the editing screen according to an instruction to the input means, and a calculation But based on the new graph, and a step of obtaining force information edited.

  The present invention according to still another aspect provides a computer-readable recording medium storing the above program.

  According to the present invention, the graph corresponding to the force information is displayed on the monitor. This graph is graphically edited in response to a user instruction. Also, force information corresponding to the edited graph is created. As a result, the user can create desired haptic information by a simple operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

(1. System configuration of the present invention)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the haptic information creation apparatus 100 according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the configuration of the haptic information creation apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The haptic information creation apparatus 100 includes a computer main body 102 and an FD drive 136 for reading / writing information from / to a flexible disk (hereinafter referred to as “FD”) 146 connected to the computer main body 102 via a bus 105. An optical disc drive 138 for reading information on an optical disc such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) 148, a communication interface 160 for exchanging data with the outside, and a monitor 152 as a display device And a keyboard 112 and a mouse 114 as input devices. The computer main body 102 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 120 connected to the bus 105, a memory 132 including a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a direct access memory device, for example, a hard disk 134. The CPU 120 functioning as an arithmetic processing unit executes processing in accordance with a user instruction to the keyboard 112 and the mouse 114 using the memory 132 as a working memory.

  The hard disk 134 stores a library 221, editing screen data 222, graph data 223, and post-editing haptic information 224. The library 221 includes a plurality of force information 221a and correspondence information 221b corresponding to each force information. The contents of the haptic information 221a and the correspondence information 221b will be described in detail later.

  In addition, the force information creation device 100 presents force sense to the user based on the force sensor 116 that collects force information of an object to be measured and the force information 221 a or the edited force information 224. A force sense presentation device 154. As the force sensor 116, for example, the sensor described in Non-Patent Document 1 can be used. Moreover, as the force sense presentation device 154, the device described in Patent Document 2 can be used.

(2. About the library)
Here, the library 221 will be described in detail. Of the data included in the library 221, the haptic information 221a is data representing the hardness of the object, and is represented by the change in the shape of the object and the force that the object gives to the outside when the shape changes. In this embodiment, when the force sensor is moved while being in contact with the measurement target, the displacement that is the distance that the force sensor has moved from the reference point and the load that is the reaction force that the measurement target returns to the force sensor. A set of sets is used as force information. However, the amount representing the haptic information is not limited to this set. For example, it is also possible to express force sense information from the time when an external force is applied to the object and the displacement. This is because the relationship between displacement and load can be converted to the relationship between time and displacement by using Newton's equation of motion.

  In the present embodiment, the haptic information 221a is included in the library 221. However, in general, the library 221 only needs to include a plurality of profiles that specify each haptic information. The haptic information 221a is an example of a profile. As another example, graph data corresponding to haptic information created by a graph creation unit 212 described later may be stored in the library 221 as a profile.

  In the present embodiment, since the haptic information is expressed by the displacement and the load, there are two types of loads for the displacement: “bound value” and “return value”. The “boundary value” is the reaction force when the displacement increases, that is, the object surface sinks, and the “return value” is the displacement decreases, that is, when the object surface is not applying an external force. It is the reaction force when approaching the state of. Assume that numbers are assigned to the combinations of the displacement and the load of the outgoing value in order from the smallest displacement, and the pairs of displacement and the load of the return value are successively numbered from the largest to the largest. However, the numbering method is not limited to this, as long as the order structure of each set can be understood.

  The correspondence information 221b is information given in correspondence with each haptic information in order to specify an object having the haptic information represented by the above profile. For example, the name of an object having the haptic information or an image representing the object. Alternatively, when haptic information of a characteristic part of the user's body is stored, an image indicating the part can be used as the correspondence information 221b. The correspondence information 221b may include category information for classifying the haptic information according to the type of the object having the haptic information. For example, correspondence information including category information “fruit” may be given to tactile information of oranges, apples, and none. Alternatively, the category information “user body” may be given to the haptic information of the body part of the user. By storing such correspondence information, the user can easily select desired haptic information from the library.

  The library 221 including the haptic information 221a and the correspondence information 221b as described above may be supplied by a storage medium such as the FD 146 or the CD-ROM 148, or supplied from an external database via the communication interface 160. May be. Alternatively, when the computer main body 102 is provided with a drive device that can read other media such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -ROM or a memory card, the media may be supplied by these media.

  The user can also add information other than the previously given data as described above to the library. For example, force information of an object collected using the force sensor 116 can be added. Alternatively, adding haptic information calculated by simulating deformation using FEM (Finite Element Method) based on structural data obtained from 3D scanners, CAD (computer-aided design) data, etc. You can also. In addition, it is also possible to create a model that approximates an object with a simple structure combining basic single materials such as iron and stainless steel, and add force information calculated by performing simulation on the model.

  When adding these haptic information, the CPU 120 also creates and adds the correspondence information 221b in accordance with a user instruction. For example, a file name desired by the user can be created as correspondence information and added to the library. When the force sensor 116 collects pillow haptic information, the user can name the “pillow” as information for specifying the haptic information. Also, correspondence information including category information can be created and added. When force information of the stomach, elbow, and cheeks of the user P is collected by the force sensor 116, correspondence information including a diagram showing these parts and category information “user P's body” is created and stored in the library. to add.

  In the apparatus according to the present invention, since the haptic information is created by editing the haptic information 221a included in the library 221, the haptic information can be easily created. Further, by storing the correspondence information 221b, the user can easily select the desired haptic information 221a. In particular, by registering his / her body “always there” in the library 221, the user can select haptic information while touching his / her body or an object close to him / her and checking its hardness. . Therefore, the user can select haptic information that does not deviate significantly from the haptic information that the user intends to create.

(3. Functional configuration of the present invention)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the CPU 120. Hereinafter, the functional configuration of the CPU 120 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 120 includes a library creation unit 211, a graph creation unit 212, an editing unit 213, a force information creation unit 214, and a display control unit 215. The input unit 110 includes a keyboard 112, a mouse 114, and a force sensor 116.

  The library creation unit 211 creates the library 221 in accordance with instructions from the user to the keyboard 112 and the mouse 114, and stores the created library 221 in the hard disk 134. Here, for the haptic information 221 a included in the library 221, the haptic information collected using the force sensor 116 can be used. For example, the force sensor can be applied to a part of the user's own body (arm, stomach, forehead, etc.), and the force information of each part can be acquired and registered in the library 221.

  The graph creation unit 212 acquires haptic information from the library 221 in accordance with instructions from the user to the keyboard 112 and the mouse 114, and creates graph data 223 based on the acquired haptic information. Then, the created graph data 223 is stored in the hard disk 134.

  The editing unit 213 edits the graph data 223 in accordance with instructions from the user to the keyboard 112 and the mouse 114. Further, the haptic information creation unit 214 creates post-editing haptic information 224 that is haptic information corresponding to the graph data 223 from the graph data 223. Details of processing performed by the editing unit 213 and the haptic information creation unit 214 will be described later.

  The display control unit 215 acquires the edit screen data 222 and the graph data 223, and causes the monitor 152 to display an edit screen corresponding to these data.

(4. Force information editing method)
When editing the haptic information, an editing screen as shown in FIG. 5 is used. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the edit screen in the embodiment of the present invention. The editing screen includes a graph 510 corresponding to the force information, a library display screen 520 for displaying the correspondence information 221b in the library 221, an editing auxiliary screen 530 for assisting editing of the graph, and a pointer 540. Here, the case where the graph 510, the library display screen 520, and the editing assistance screen 530 are simultaneously displayed in the same screen is shown, but these may be displayed on separate screens. Moreover, each screen may be displayed independently as necessary.

  First, the pointer 540 will be described. The position of the pointer 540 changes according to an instruction from the user to the keyboard 112 or the mouse 114. Specifically, the display control unit 215 causes the monitor 152 to output an image in which the position of the pointer 540 is changed in response to an instruction from the user to the keyboard 112 or the mouse 114. In addition, the CPU 120 selects the point indicated by the pointer 540 in response to the button of the mouse 114 being clicked.

  Next, the graph 510 will be described. In this embodiment, since the haptic information is expressed by displacement and load, the horizontal axis of the graph 510 is taken as displacement and the vertical axis is taken as load. However, the method of taking the horizontal axis and the vertical axis is not limited to this, and two amounts selected so as to represent force sense information may be taken on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis. For example, the force information can be represented by a graph in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents displacement.

  The graph 510 is created from the haptic information by the graph creation unit 212. Hereinafter, the haptic information is expressed as (di, fi). Here, di is a displacement, and fi is a load with respect to the displacement. I is a number 1, 2, 3,... Create curve data from haptic information.

  For example, the graph creating unit 212 may calculate a line segment connecting (di, fi) and (di + 1, fi + 1) for each i, and the set of calculated line segments may be used as a graph.

  Further, a graph in which (di, fi) point sets are smoothly connected by a parametric curve may be used as a graph.

  In this case, the graph creation unit 212 may create a parametric curve represented by one parameter t as the graph 510. Alternatively, a set of parametric curves may be created as the graph 510. For example, a graph 510 is created by connecting curves such as Bezier, spline, NURBUS, etc. that pass through the point group (di, fi).

  Further, when the graph data corresponding to the haptic information is registered in the library 221 in advance, the above processing is unnecessary, and the CPU 120 reads the graph data from the library 221 and creates the graph 510.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the graph 510 to be created is a parametric curve (x (t), y (t)) having a parameter t.

  Next, the library display screen 520 will be described. Among these is a pull-down list 522. In the pull-down list 522, categories included in the correspondence information are registered, and the categories are selected according to an instruction via the user's mouse 114. Then, the display control unit 215 causes the monitor 152 to display correspondence information corresponding to the selected category.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the library 221 includes haptic information of each part of the user's body, and the category indicating them is “your body”. The hard disk 134 stores a screen showing the human body, and the display control unit 215 displays a screen 524 showing the human body on the monitor in response to the selection of the category “your body”. Shall. The parts of the body displayed in different colors on this screen are corresponding information corresponding to the force information of each part of the body. The CPU 120 selects a body part, that is, correspondence information in response to an instruction from the user to the mouse 114. Then, haptic information corresponding to the selected correspondence information is acquired.
The user can create desired haptic information by selecting / acquiring haptic information that seems to be close to the haptic information that he / she wants to create from the library and editing the acquired haptic information. This creation method requires less labor than creating force information from scratch. In addition, when the apparatus is used, by registering the force information of the body and the object that is always around at the user's hand in the library 221, the user is in the body and close to the user. The haptic information can be selected while touching an object and confirming its hardness. Therefore, the user can select haptic information that does not deviate significantly from the haptic information that the user intends to create.

  The display control unit 215 may display an image in which the color of the selected body part is changed on the monitor in accordance with the selection of the body part. Thereby, the user can easily know which part has been selected.

  The editing auxiliary screen 530 includes a scale indicating an editing effect given to the force information, and a slider that can be moved on the scale by dragging with the mouse. Details of editing on the editing assistance screen will be described later.

  This is the end of the description of the editing screen. From here, the graph editing method will be described. Editing methods include a method of editing one point of the graph and a method of editing the entire graph.

  One point of the graph is edited by selecting one point of the graph with the pointer 540 and dragging. The selected point is moved to the position where the drag is released as shown in FIG. A new graph is created with this movement.

  Here, when the position of one point on the graph is changed, the position of the point of the other graph is not changed, but the position of these points is moved so that the curve becomes smooth. Processing may be performed.

  Another editing method is to edit the entire point of the graph. This is performed using the editing assistance screen 530. First, the CPU 120 changes the display position of the slider in response to dragging, and acquires an enlargement factor k that is predetermined according to the position of the slider. The enlargement factor k is k = 1 at the position of the scale 0, and the value increases as it goes to the “hard” side. Also, the value becomes smaller as going to the “soft” side. However, k> 0. Then, based on the acquired k, a new graph (x (t), ky (t)) is created.

  The state of this editing is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, a graph represented by a thin line is a graph before editing. By moving the memory of the slider to the “hard” side, this graph is edited to become a graph represented by a thick line in FIG.

  A hard object has a greater load for the same displacement than a soft object. Accordingly, if the slider is moved to the “hard” side, a graph corresponding to the force information of the harder object is obtained, and if the slider is moved to the “soft” side, a graph corresponding to the force information of the softer object is obtained. This editing method is useful when the user wants to create haptic information of an object obtained by hardening an object having haptic information being edited.

  It is also possible to synthesize a plurality of graphs. This synthesis is performed as follows. First, a plurality of haptic information is selected, and a graph corresponding to each is created. At this time, these graphs may be displayed on the monitor. Then, these graphs are synthesized at a ratio according to the user's instruction. This method is useful when the user wants to create haptic information obtained by synthesizing a plurality of material haptic information in the library. For example, the hardness of the substance A represented by (xA (t), yA (t)) and the hardness between the hardness represented by the substance B represented by (xB (t), yB (t)) When creating force sense information of a substance, the CPU 120 combines two graphs according to instructions from the user to the keyboard 112 and the mouse 114 ((xA (t) + xB (t)) / 2, (yA ( A graph of t) + yB (t)) / 2) is created. Although the synthesis of two graphs has been described here, the synthesis of three or more graphs can be similarly performed. In the above example, A and B are synthesized at an equal ratio, but the synthesis ratio is not limited to this.

  In addition to these, tools similar to the graphic software, for example, tools such as rotation, movement, duplication, enlargement / reduction, and composition may be provided. By using these tools, complicated processing such as cutting out a part of a graph and connecting it to another graph becomes possible. This makes it easy to edit fine details such as the expression of a composite material that changes to a different hardness depending on the distance at which the button is depressed or depending on the sinking distance.

  Note that the CPU 120 may display a graph to be referred to on the monitor in addition to the graph being edited. Using this reference display, the user can visually obtain how he / she can obtain desired haptic information by editing the graph.

  In addition, the CPU 120 may refer to and display the graph before editing by superimposing the graph data after editing on the graph after editing without erasing the graph data before editing from the hard disk even after editing the graph. The reference display may be performed in accordance with a user instruction. According to this reference display, the user can know how a graph different from the graph before editing is currently produced.

Based on the graph edited by the method as described above, edited force information is obtained. This process is performed by designating a plurality of points on the graph and obtaining a set of data sets (displacement and load in this embodiment) corresponding to the designated points. When the graph is a parametric curve, a plurality of parameters are specified, and a set of data sets corresponding to the points on the graph indicated by the specified parameters may be obtained. For example, (x (t), y (t)) for t = t0, t0 + td, t0 + 2td,. Here, t0 and td may be predetermined values or may be determined according to user input. When the graph is a combination of Bezier curves, a set of end points (di, fi) may be acquired as haptic information.

(5. Processing performed by the apparatus according to the present invention)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the haptic information creation apparatus 100. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 8, processing performed by the haptic information creation device 100 will be described.

  First, the CPU 120 displays an editing screen on the monitor 152 (step S102).

  Next, the CPU 120 selects and acquires the haptic information 221a from the library 221 in the hard disk 134 in accordance with an instruction from the user to the mouse 114 and the keyboard 112 (step S104).

  Next, the haptic information creation apparatus 100 creates graph data based on the haptic information 221a acquired in step S104, and stores the created graph data in the hard disk 134 (step S106).

  Next, the haptic information creation apparatus 100 acquires the graph data stored in the hard disk 134 in step S106, and displays the graph 510 on the monitor 152 based on the acquired graph data (step S108).

  In this flowchart, the haptic information is acquired from the library 221, the graph data is created based on the acquired haptic information, and the graph is displayed. However, the library is not used, the mouse 114, etc. Depending on the operation, a graph may be created directly on the editing screen. In this case, in order to directly create a graph, tools similar to graphic software, for example, a tool that can create a Bezier curve, a tool that creates a straight line, a handwriting tool, and the like may be provided. This method is suitable for creating an imaginary force sense. This is because the imaginary force should not exist in the library.

  Next, CPU 120 edits graph 510 (step S110). In addition, the CPU 120 displays the edited graph along with the editing (step S112). Details of the processing performed in these steps are as already described.

  Further, the CPU 120 may display on the monitor what kind of object has the haptic information close to the edited haptic information. For each i, the CPU 120 registers the square of the difference between the edited haptic information di and the haptic information di registered in the library, and the edited haptic information fi and the library. The square of the difference between the haptic information and fi is calculated, and when the sum is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the two are similar. And the display which identifies the object which has the force information determined to be similar is displayed on a monitor.

  Note that it is possible to determine whether they are similar by another method. For example, the area S1 of the first region surrounded by the edited graph, the area S2 of the second region surrounded by the graph corresponding to the force information in the library, the first region, and the second region The area S3 of the common third region is calculated, and the ratio (S3 / (S1 + S2)) of the area of the third region to the sum S1 + S2 of the areas of the first region and the second region is calculated. calculate. If it is determined that the calculated ratio is greater than a predetermined value, it may be determined that the two are similar.

  Specifically, a case will be described in which the haptic information of the body part of the user is registered in the library, and an image showing the body part is displayed on the monitor as information corresponding to the haptic information. When it is determined that the edited haptic information is similar to the haptic information of the user's knee, the CPU 120 causes the monitor to display the knee portion in a different color. Or the display which blinks the site | part of a knee is performed. With such a display, the user knows that the force information corresponding to the edited graph is close to the knee force information. Therefore, the user can confirm what kind of force information is after editing by actually touching the knee. Thus, since an actual object can be referred to, it is possible to easily know what kind of haptic information is being created.

  After that, force information corresponding to the edited graph is created (step S114). The processing performed in this step is as already described.

  After editing the graph and the haptic information, the CPU determines whether or not the user has instructed the haptic presentation device to present a haptic based on the edited haptic information (step S116). When the user gives an instruction for presenting a force sense to the force sense presentation device (Yes in step S116), the CPU causes the force sense presentation device to present a force sense based on the edited force sense information. . When the user does not give an instruction for causing the force sense presenting device to present the force sense (No in step S116), the CPU does not cause the force sense presenting device to present the force sense.

  With this force sense presentation, the user can specifically know what force information he / she is creating. In addition, the user receives a force sense based on the force information before editing and a force sense based on the force information after editing, and compares them so that the graph changes and the force information changes. You can know the relationship. Therefore, it is possible to know how to edit the graph in order to obtain the force information desired to be obtained.

  Next, the haptic information creation apparatus 100 determines whether the user has given an instruction to store the edited haptic information in the hard disk 134 (step S120). When the user gives the instruction (Yes in Step S120), the CPU 120 stores the force information after editing in the hard disk 134 (Step S122). When the user does not give the instruction (No in step S120), the CPU 120 does not store the haptic information in the hard disk 134. Note that the CPU 120 may store the edited graph data. Further, the CPU 120 may add force information and graph data after editing to the library 221. By adding the edited force sense information and graph data to the library 221, the user can create new force sense information based on the created force sense information or graph data.

  Next, the haptic information creation apparatus 100 determines whether or not the user has given an instruction to end editing (step S124). When the user gives the instruction (Yes in step S124), the CPU ends the editing. If the user does not give the instruction (No in step S124), the processing from step S110 is continued.

  With the configuration and control as described above, the user can edit and create haptic information by a visual and intuitive operation of editing a graph instead of inputting numerical values. Therefore, the force information can be easily edited and created. The haptic information creation device according to the present invention displays an object having haptic information close to the edited haptic information on a monitor, or presents a haptic based on the edited haptic information. You can also. The user can edit the haptic information while confirming the created haptic information.

  In addition, since the library includes haptic information and correspondence information, the user can select from the correspondence information displayed on the monitor the haptic information that seems to be close to the haptic information that the user wants to create from the library. You can get it. And desired haptic information can be created by editing the acquired haptic information. This creation method requires less labor than creating force information from scratch. In addition, when the device is used, by registering in the library 221 the haptic information of the user's own body that is “always present” or the object that is close to the user, the user can be in the vicinity of the user's body. The haptic information can be selected while touching an object and confirming its hardness. Accordingly, since the user can select the haptic information that does not deviate significantly from the haptic information that the user intends to create, the haptic information can be easily created.

  It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a figure which shows the structure of a tactile sensation evaluation unit. It is a figure which shows a force sense presentation apparatus. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a haptic information creation device 100 according to the present invention. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a CPU 120. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the edit screen in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the display of the edit screen at the time of editing one point of a graph. It is a figure which shows the display of the edit screen at the time of editing the whole point of a graph. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the haptic information creation apparatus 100.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Force information production apparatus, 102 Computer main body, 105 Bus, 110 Input part, 112 Keyboard, 114 Mouse, 116 Force sensor, 120 CPU, 132 Memory, 134 Hard disk, 136 FD drive, 138 Optical disk drive, 146 FD, 148 CD-ROM, 152 monitor, 154 force sense presentation device, 160 communication interface, 211 library creation unit, 212 graph creation unit, 213 editing unit, 214 force sense information creation unit, 215 display control unit, 221 library, 221a force sense information 221b correspondence information, 222 editing screen data, 223 graph data, 224 post-editing force information, 510 graph, 520 library display screen, 522 pull-down list, 524 screen showing human body, 5 30 Edit assist screen, 540 pointer.

Claims (13)

A haptic information creation device that creates haptic information that is a collection of data representing the hardness of an object,
A storage means for storing a plurality of haptic information identifying profiles and a plurality of correspondence information corresponding to each of the plurality of profiles, wherein the correspondence information includes haptic information corresponding to the correspondence information An input means for receiving an instruction from the user,
Creating means for creating a graph corresponding to the haptic information specified by the profile corresponding to the selected image in response to the selection of any image via the input means;
Display means for displaying an editing screen including the graph created by the creating means;
A selection means for selecting a point in the editing screen displayed by the display means in response to an instruction to the input means;
Editing means for creating a new graph by moving a point on the graph selected by the selection means to another position in the editing screen in response to an instruction to the input means;
A haptic information creation apparatus comprising: acquisition means for acquiring edited haptic information based on the new graph.   The force information includes a displacement that is a distance that the force sensor has moved from a reference point and a load that is a reaction force that the measurement object returns to the force sensor when the force sensor is moved while being in contact with the measurement object. The haptic information creation device according to claim 1, wherein the haptic information creation device is a set of data sets.   The haptic information creation device according to claim 2, wherein the creation unit creates a parametric curve that connects points corresponding to the data set as the graph.   The haptic information creation device according to claim 2, wherein the creation unit creates a Bezier curve passing through a point corresponding to the data set as the graph. The editing means creates a parametric curve as the new graph,
The acquisition means specifies a plurality of parameters, and acquires the set of data corresponding to the points on the new graph indicated by the specified parameters as the new force information. The haptic information creation device according to any one of the above.   The haptic information creation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising means for presenting a haptic corresponding to the edited haptic information. Said display means is La, before Symbol selectably display the plurality of images stored in the storage means, the force information generating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A force sensor for acquiring force information of a substance to be measured;
Said storage means in response to the instruction to the input means, the force information acquired by the force sensor, and further stores the corresponding information corresponding to the force sense information, any of claims 1-7 or force information generating apparatus according to (1). Profile creation means for creating a profile based on the new graph;
Said storage means in response to the instruction to the input means, a profile created by the profile creation means further stores the correspondence information that corresponds to the profile that is the generation, any one of claims 1 to 8 The haptic information creation device according to item 1 . For each of the plurality of profiles stored in the storage means, with respect to the sum of the area of the first region surrounded by the graph corresponding to each profile and the area of the second region surrounded by the edited graph, Calculating means for calculating a ratio of the area of the third region common to the first region and the second region;
Determination means for determining whether the ratio calculated by the calculation means is larger than a predetermined value;
If the determination means determines that the ratio is greater than the predetermined value, the display means corresponds to a profile corresponding to the profile in which the ratio is calculated among a plurality of force information stored in the storage means. The force information creating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein information specifying information is displayed on the display means. Said display means, said when displaying a new graph is displayed over the chart before being edited by the editing means, the force information generating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 10. A program for causing a computer having an arithmetic unit, an input unit for receiving an instruction from a user, a storage unit, and a monitor to generate force information, the storage unit specifying a plurality of force information Storing a profile and a plurality of correspondence information corresponding to each of the plurality of profiles, the correspondence information including an image representing a substance having force information corresponding to the correspondence information,
The computing unit creating force information that is a set of data representing the hardness of the object;
The computing unit creating a graph corresponding to the haptic information specified by the profile corresponding to the selected image in response to the selection of any image via the input unit ;
The arithmetic unit displaying an edit screen including the graph created in the step of creating the graph on the monitor;
The arithmetic unit selecting a point in the edit screen displayed in the step of displaying the edit screen in response to an instruction to the input means;
A step of creating a new graph by moving the point on the graph selected in the selecting step to another position in the editing screen in response to an instruction to the input means;
The arithmetic unit includes a step of acquiring edited force information based on the new graph. A computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to claim 12 .

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