Patents by Inventor Akio Ohba

Akio Ohba has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20150301616
    Abstract: A game controller includes a plurality of LEDs formed on the rear of a case. The plurality of LEDs are arranged two-dimensionally in its layout area. The game controller has a plurality of PWM control units which are provided inside the case and control the lighting of the plurality of LEDs, respectively. The PWM control units control the lighting of the LEDs based on a control signal from a game apparatus. The game apparatus acquires a captured image of the game controller, and acquires the position of the game controller in the captured image based on the positions of the LEDs in the captured image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Inventors: Teiyu GOTO, Katsu Saito, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Publication number: 20150287215
    Abstract: An image acquisition section of an information processor acquires stereo images from an imaging device. An input information acquisition section acquires an instruction input from a user. A depth image acquisition portion of a position information generation section generates a depth image representing a position distribution of subjects existing in the field of view of the imaging device in the depth direction using stereo images. A matching portion adjusts the size of a reference template image in accordance with the position of each of the subjects in the depth direction represented by the depth image first, then performs template matching on the depth image, thus identifying the position of a target having a given shape and size in the three-dimensional space. An output information generation section generates output information by performing necessary processes based on the target position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Publication date: October 8, 2015
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada, Hirofumi Okamoto
  • Patent number: 9148564
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus includes: an image data production unit configured to produce data of a plurality of kinds of images from a picked up image and successively output the data; an image synthesis unit configured to cyclically connect the data of the plurality of kinds of images for each pixel string within a range set in advance for each of the kinds of the images and output the connected data as a stream to produce a virtual synthetic image; and an image sending unit configured to accept, from a host terminal, a data transmission request that designates a rectangular region in the virtual synthetic image, extract and connect data from the stream and transmit the connected data as a new stream to the host terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Hideyuki Saito, Hidehiko Ogasawara, Tetsugo Inada
  • Publication number: 20150229927
    Abstract: A tile image sequence 250 obtained by dividing a frame into a predetermined size is further divided into another predetermined size on an image plane to generate a voxel (for example, a voxel 252) (S10). If a redundancy in a space direction or a time direction exists, then data is reduced in the direction (S12), and sequences in the time direction are deployed on a two-dimensional plane (S14). Voxel images are placed on an image plane of a predetermined size to generate one integrated image 258 (S16). In a grouping pattern which exhibits a minimum quantization error, pixels are collectively placed in the region of each voxel image for each group (integrated image 262) (S18). The integrated image 262 after the re-placement is compressed in accordance with a predetermined compression method to generate a compressed image 266 and reference information 264 for determining the position of a needed pixel (S20).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2013
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Tetsugo Inada, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Patent number: 9084934
    Abstract: A game controller includes a plurality of LEDs formed on the rear of a case. The plurality of LEDs are arranged two-dimensionally in its layout area. The game controller has a plurality of PWM control units which are provided inside the case and control the lighting of the plurality of LEDs, respectively. The PWM control units control the lighting of the LEDs based on a control signal from a game apparatus. The game apparatus acquires a captured image of the game controller, and acquires the position of the game controller in the captured image based on the positions of the LEDs in the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Teiyu Goto, Katsu Saito, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Patent number: 9030569
    Abstract: A camera outputs to a host terminal a moving image for display on a display. An image acquisition unit acquires an unprocessed image captured using an imaging element. A simple demosaic processing unit performs a demosaic process on the unprocessed image. A pyramid filter unit converts the unprocessed image into a plurality of reduced images whose resolutions vary in stages. An image transmission unit is provided with a selection unit for selecting a part of the unprocessed image as a specific part and also selecting any one of the plurality of reduced images as a specified reduced image. The specific part of the unprocessed image and the specified reduced image that have been selected are transmitted to a host terminal by a communication unit for a further image process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Corporation Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada
  • Publication number: 20150123993
    Abstract: An input information obtaining portion of a control section obtains requests input from an input device by a user, which requests include a display region moving request to enlarge/reduce or scroll an image displayed on a display device and a request to generate/erase a viewport, change the size of a viewport, or move a viewport. A viewport control portion successively determines the number, arrangement, and size of viewports accordingly. A display region determining portion determines the region of an image to be displayed next in each viewport. A loading portion determines tile images to be newly loaded, and loads the data of the tile images from a hard disk drive. A decoding portion decodes the data of tile images used for rendering the image in each viewport. A display image processing portion updates the display region independently for each viewport.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Tetsugo lnada, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Publication number: 20150124883
    Abstract: A frame sequence of moving picture data is divided into a tile image sequence 250, and the color space of the tile image sequence 250 is converted to generate a YCbCr image sequence 252 (S10). Each frame is reduced to ½ time in the vertical and horizontal directions (S12), and a compression process is carried out to generate compression data 260 of a reference image (S14). The compression data 260 of the reference image is decoded and decompressed similarly as upon image display to restore a YCbCr image as the reference image, and a difference image sequence 262 is generated from the reference image and the original YCbCr image 252 (S16). Then, compression data 266 of a difference image is generated (S18), and compression data 268 obtained by connecting the compression data 260 of the reference image and the compression data 266 of the difference image is generated for every four frames of a tile image (S20).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Inventors: Tetsugo Inada, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Publication number: 20150077520
    Abstract: An information processor includes a detection plane definition portion defining a detection plane in a 3D space of a camera coordinate system of a first camera and calculates vertex coordinates of a detection area by projecting the detection plane onto a plane of a left image shot by the first camera. A feature quantity calculation portion generates feature point image of left and right images. A parallax correction area derivation portion derives an area as a parallax correction area. The parallax correction area is obtained by moving, to a left, an area of a right image identical to the detection area of the left image by as much as the parallax appropriate to a position of the detection plane in a depth direction. A matching portion performs block matching for the feature point images of each area, thus deriving a highly rated feature point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2013
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada
  • Publication number: 20150070277
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing apparatus including a hand shape recognition unit that performs hand shape recognition on an input image to detect a position and a size of a hand with a specific shape in the input image, a determination region setting unit that sets a region in a vicinity of the hand on the input image as a determination region used to recognize a gesture performed using the hand, based on the position and the size of the hand, and a gesture recognition unit that recognizes the gesture by monitoring movement of the hand to the determination region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2014
    Publication date: March 12, 2015
    Applicants: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC., SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun KIMURA, Akio OHBA
  • Patent number: 8972877
    Abstract: A control panel image generation unit generates a control panel image displayed to control an application. An application execution unit executes the application based on user control information input while the control panel image is being displayed. An information image generation unit generates an information image including information related to the application. An image switching unit switches an image displayed on a display from the control panel image to the information image. The information image generation unit uses image data stored in a storage device and generates the information image including a thumbnail image corresponding to the control panel image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada
  • Patent number: 8947448
    Abstract: A parallax representation unit in a displayed image processing unit uses a height map containing information on a height of an object for each pixel to represent different views caused by the height of the object. A color representation unit uses, for example, texture coordinate values derived by the parallax representation unit to render the image, shifting the pixel defined in the color map. The color representation unit uses the normal map that maintains normals to the surface of the object for each pixel to change the way that light impinges on the surface and represent the roughness accordingly. A shadow representation unit uses a horizon map, which maintains information for each pixel to indicate whether a shadow is cast depending on the angle relative to the light source, so as to shadow the image rendered by the color representation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Segawa, Noriaki Shinoyama, Akio Ohba, Tetsugo Inada
  • Patent number: 8933936
    Abstract: Moving image data is delivered from an image provider server. A hierarchical data generation device decodes the moving image data and generates data for the moving image representing each frame in a plurality of resolutions, by reducing frames included in the moving image in a single or multiple stages. A decoder reads only data for a layer in the hierarchical data for each frame, the layer being determined by a resolution requested for display, and decodes the read data. This produces a series of frames representing frames in a requested resolution. A display device displays the frames so that the moving image is displayed in the requested resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Tetsugo Inada, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Patent number: 8928694
    Abstract: An original image to be edited is displayed using hierarchical data. As a user draws a figure in a region of the image as an edit action, an image data updating unit generates a layer having a hierarchical structure composed of the rendered region only. More specifically, the image of the region to be edited is used as the lowermost hierarchical level, and upper hierarchical levels than this lowermost level are generated by reducing the lowermost level, as appropriate, so as to produce hierarchical data. As, during image display, it is checked that the updated region is contained in a frame to be displayed anew, the image of the layer is displayed by superposing the frame on the original hierarchical data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Tetsugo Inada, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Patent number: 8923559
    Abstract: Provided is an image processing apparatus including a hand shape recognition unit that performs hand shape recognition on an input image to detect a position and a size of a hand with a specific shape in the input image, a determination region setting unit that sets a region in a vicinity of the hand on the input image as a determination region used to recognize a gesture performed using the hand, based on the position and the size of the hand, and a gesture recognition unit that recognizes the gesture by monitoring movement of the hand to the determination region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Jun Kimura, Akio Ohba
  • Publication number: 20140375694
    Abstract: An image processing device includes: an input information obtaining section for obtaining input information for changing a display region in an image as a display object; a display image processing section for generating an image inside the display region determined on a basis of the input information as a display image; and a display section for displaying the generated display image on a display, wherein when the input information obtaining section obtains input information for scaling the display image, the display image processing section scales the display image according to the input information, and performs image manipulation making visibility of a region in a predetermined range including a focus as a center of scaling in an image plane different from visibility of another region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Publication date: December 25, 2014
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada
  • Patent number: 8917286
    Abstract: When a single page of a newspaper article or a magazine is displayed using hierarchical data, a guidance area (indicated by a line in the hierarchical data) for each article is defined in a scenario definition file. A plurality of guidance areas are defined in the layer below, i.e., the layer having a resolution of a level that allows characters to be legible, so that the viewer can track the article from start to end. The displayed image is initially guided to the guidance area upon a user request for enlargement. Upon a further request for enlargement, the displayed image is guided to the guidance area at the head of the article. When the user having read the sentence in the guidance area provides an input by indicating a direction or pressing a predetermined button, the displayed image is guided to the guidance area showing the continuation of the sentence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Tetsugo Inada, Hirotoshi Maegawa, Jun Hiroi
  • Patent number: 8878869
    Abstract: Compressed image data of different resolutions stored in a hard disk drive is divided into blocks of substantially regular sizes. A determination is made as to whether a required block is stored in the main memory at predefined time intervals. If the block is not stored, the block is loaded into the main memory. Subsequently, the loaded compressed image data is referred to so that data for an image of an area required for display or for an image of an area predicted to be required is decoded and stored in a buffer memory. Of the images stored in a buffer area, i.e. a display buffer, the image of a display area is rendered in a frame memory. The display buffer and the decoding buffer are switched depending on the timing of completion of decoding or the amount of change in the display area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Tetsugo Inada, Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa
  • Publication number: 20140320689
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus includes: an image data production unit configured to produce data of a plurality of kinds of images from a picked up image and successively output the data; an image synthesis unit configured to cyclically connect the data of the plurality of kinds of images for each pixel string within a range set in advance for each of the kinds of the images and output the connected data as a stream to produce a virtual synthetic image; and an image sending unit configured to accept, from a host terminal, a data transmission request that designates a rectangular region in the virtual synthetic image, extract and connect data from the stream and transmit the connected data as a new stream to the host terminal
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Akio Ohba, Hiroyuki Segawa, Hideyuki Saito, Hidehiko Ogasawara, Tetsugo lnada
  • Publication number: 20140294289
    Abstract: There is provided an image processing apparatus including a stereo matching unit configured to obtain right and left disparity images by using stereo matching, based on a pair of images captured by right and left cameras, respectively, a filter processing unit configured to perform filter processing on the disparity images, and a first merging unit configured to make a comparison, in the disparity images that have undergone the filter processing, between disparity values at mutually corresponding positions in the right and left disparity images and to merge the disparity values of the right and left disparity images based on a comparison result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicants: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC., SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ayaka Nakatani, Yoshihiro Myokan, Akio Ohba, Tetsugo Inada, Hiroyuki Segawa