Patents by Inventor Shinichi Hirata

Shinichi Hirata 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).

  • Patent number: 9583133
    Abstract: Frame memories store captured images supplied from a plurality of imaging units, respectively. A motion detection portion detects the motion of a captured image of at least one of the imaging units. A mode determination portion sets, in accordance with at least either the amount of the motion detected by the motion detection portion or a power consumption limit of the image generation device, one of two modes, one for operating the plurality of imaging units simultaneously and the other for operating the plurality of imaging units intermittently. A control signal generation portion supplies, to the plurality of frame memories, a control signal adapted to control reading of the captured images from the plurality of frame memories in accordance with the mode set by the mode determination portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Hiroshi Osawa, Kyoko Furumura
  • Patent number: 9560274
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for generating a component image in which, with images picked up using a front side camera and a rear side camera built in portable equipment, posture information of the portable equipment is associated; combining a plurality of component images between which the posture of the portable equipment is different to generate a synthesis image; changing over an image pickup mode between a double-sided synthesis image pickup mode in which a synthesis image of one half circumference picked up by the front side camera and a synthesis image of one half circumference picked up by the rear side camera are connected to each other to pick up a synthesis image of a whole circumference and a single-sided synthesis image pickup mode in which a synthesis image of a whole circumference is picked up by each of the front side camera and the rear side camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Kyoko Furumura, Takeshi Yamagishi
  • Publication number: 20170024934
    Abstract: In an information processing system 1, an information processing apparatus 10 recognizes, when a user moves real bodies 120a and 120b arranged on a play field 19, the movement on the basis of, for example, an image taken by a camera 122 taking an image of the movement to interlock objects of corresponding characters 202a and 202b displayed on a display apparatus 16. In addition, when the user moves the characters 202a and 202b through an input apparatus 14, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits a control signal to the corresponding real bodies 120a and 120b to perform interlocking. When a situation in which interlocking between the real bodies 120a and 120b and the characters 202a and 202b is difficult occurs, an appropriate scenario is selected from the scenarios prepared in advance and realized, thereby maintaining the consistency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2015
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventors: Naoki NUMAGUCHI, Keiji TOGAWA, Hiroshi OSAWA, Takeshi YAMAGISHI, Shinichi HIRATA
  • Publication number: 20160332075
    Abstract: An information processing device communicates with a block set assembled by a user, and thereby obtains information on the structure of the block set. In addition, a corresponding position setting screen including an image of an object corresponding to the block set is displayed on a display device. The user moves a joint of the block set which joint is desired to be associated, by for example bending and stretching the joint. Next, the user indicates a joint to be associated on a 3D object side in the image of the 3D object by a cursor, and performs a determination input. The joint of the block set and the joint of the 3D object are thereby associated with each other. The block set and the object are interlocked with each other bidirectionally by thus setting the corresponding positions of the block set and the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Naoki Numaguchi, Takeshi Yamagishi, Hiroshi Osawa, Keiji Togawa
  • Publication number: 20160334885
    Abstract: A core information receiving section of an information processing device receives information related to the state of a core from a first block of a block set assembled by a user. A structure analyzing section identifies the shape, posture, and position of the block set on the basis of an image photographed by a camera and the information related to the state of the core. An information processing section performs predetermined information processing according to the shape, posture, and position of the block set or an operation on an input device by the user. A display processing section generates an image to be displayed as a result of the information processing, and outputs the image to a display device. A driving control section transmits a signal for controlling the operation of the block set.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2015
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Keiji Togawa, Shinichi Hirata, Naoki Numaguchi, Takeshi Yamagishi, Hiroshi Osawa
  • Publication number: 20160332071
    Abstract: A block set assembled by a user and an information processing device communicate with each other. The information processing device thereby obtains information on the structure of the block set. In addition, an object of a crane truck corresponding to the block set is displayed on a display device. Correspondences between joints and wheels and correspondences between movements are set. Thereby, when the block set is moved, the movement of the block set is reflected in the object on display. When the object is moved, the movement of the object is reflected in the block set by transmitting a control signal from the information processing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2015
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Naoki Numaguchi, Takeshi Yamagishi, Hiroshi Osawa, Keiji Togawa
  • Patent number: 9497391
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for: acquiring a still image of a scene at a location; acquiring a moving image of at least one object at the scene taken at a different time of day, a different date, and/or a different season; selecting an image frame from among a plurality of image frames of the moving image as a still image frame; generating a three-dimensional (3D) image from the still image in a three-dimensional (3D) object space; superimposing the still image frame from the moving image onto the three-dimensional (3D) image; displaying the three-dimensional (3D) image on a display screen for a user; and generating the moving image superimposed on the three-dimensional (3D) image, starting at the selected image frame, in response to receiving a command from the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Kyoko Furumura, Shinichi Hirata, Takeshi Yamagishi
  • Publication number: 20160319191
    Abstract: A task to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition which has a satisfactorily low solid phase-nematic phase transition temperature (Ton), a satisfactorily small viscosity (?), a satisfactorily small rotational viscosity (?1), a large elastic constant (K33), and a negative dielectric anisotropy (??), the absolute value of which is large, without having lowered the refractive index anisotropy (?n) and nematic phase-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (Tni), and further to provide a liquid crystal display element of a VA mode or the like using the same, which has excellent display quality such that the element is free of or has suppressed a display failure, and which has high response speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2014
    Publication date: November 3, 2016
    Applicant: DIC Corporation
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Go Sudo, Shotaro Kawakami
  • Publication number: 20160319192
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid crystal composition whose refractive index anisotropy (?n) and nematic phase-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (Tni) are sufficiently high, whose viscosity (?) is sufficiently low, whose rotational viscosity (?1) is sufficiently low, whose elastic constant (K33) is high, whose dielectric anisotropy (??) is high or whose ?? is negative with a large absolute value, and whose decrease in reliability after UV irradiation is small, and also provide a liquid crystal display element including the same, which has the excellent display quality and the high response speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2014
    Publication date: November 3, 2016
    Applicant: DIC Corporation
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Tomoaki Hara, Naomi Hatano, Yasuo Umezu
  • Publication number: 20160310861
    Abstract: A block system 1 includes a block 102 and a host terminal 10. The block 102, configured such that two or more blocks are connectable with each other, includes a power supply mechanism 110 for supplying power to the block 102, a communication mechanism 114 for establishing connection with the host terminal 10 to transmit and receive various signals, a storage mechanism 112 for storing identification information related with the block 102, a display mechanism 118 for emitting light and displaying an image under the control of the host terminal 10, and a control mechanism 116 for executing programmed processing in accordance with a signal from the host terminal 10.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Publication date: October 27, 2016
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Takeshi Yamagishi, Hiroshi Osawa, Keiji Togawa, Naoki Numaguchi
  • Publication number: 20160304782
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid crystal display element that suppresses occurrence of drop marks in production without degrading various properties of the liquid crystal display element, such as dielectric anisotropy, a viscosity, a nematic phase upper limit temperature, and a rotational viscosity (?1), and ghosting property of the liquid crystal display element and a method for producing the same. In addition, it is possible to produce a liquid crystal display element that has excellent high-speed responsiveness of the liquid crystal display element, stable alignment properties and pre-tilt angles of liquid crystal molecules, and in which ghosting is less likely to occur and drop marks are less likely to occur in the production of the liquid crystal display element. The liquid crystal display element can be effectively used as a display element for liquid crystal TVs, monitors, and the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Publication date: October 20, 2016
    Applicant: DIC Corporation
    Inventors: Shinji OGAWA, Yoshinori IWASHITA, Takeshi KURIYAMA, Shinichi HIRATA
  • Patent number: 9465443
    Abstract: An instruction point extraction unit extracts an instruction point of a user from an image in which a gesture of the user made while the user is looking at a display is captured. A distance calculation unit obtains a distance to the instruction point in the depth direction. A gesture recognition parameter adjustment unit adjusts a parameter related to detection sensitivity in the depth direction when operation input by the gesture of the user is recognized, based on at least one of resolution of distance measurement in the depth direction and three-dimensional display performance of a display. A gesture recognition processing unit recognizes the operation input by the gesture of the user based on the adjusted parameter in reference to the distance to the instruction point in the depth direction calculated by the distance calculation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment In.
    Inventor: Shinichi Hirata
  • Patent number: 9442586
    Abstract: A sampling unit acquires a sample data series of a signal indicating a touch state quantity detected in a touch panel. A discrete Fourier transformation unit transforms the sample data series into the frequency domain. The frequency spectral analysis unit determines a frequency spectral distribution in accordance with the sample data transformed into the frequency domain. A peak detection unit detects a peak in a frequency band of a pulse in the frequency spectral distribution and finds the frequency of the detected peak so as to determine the pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventor: Shinichi Hirata
  • Patent number: 9436303
    Abstract: A conversion unit converts output data detected by an input device based on any one type of conversion table among a plurality of types of conversion tables. An output unit transmits the output data thus converted to a main processor via an interface. A switching unit receives, from the main processor via the interface, a mode switching signal for switching detection sensitivity. The conversion unit switches the conversion table for reference based on the mode switching signal. The conversion table is a bit conversion table for reducing the number of bits of the output data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventor: Shinichi Hirata
  • Publication number: 20160237349
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid crystal composition having the following properties without reductions in refractive index anisotropy (?n) and nematic phase-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (Tni): sufficiently small viscosity (?), sufficiently small rotational viscosity (?1), a large elastic constant (K33), and negative dielectric anisotropy (??) with a large absolute value. There is also provided a liquid crystal display device of, for example, a VA type in which such a liquid crystal composition is used and which has a high response speed and excellent display quality with defective display being eliminated or reduced. The liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal composition of the present invention is useful as an active-matrix liquid crystal display device and can be used in liquid crystal display devices of, for instance, a VA mode and PSVA mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Publication date: August 18, 2016
    Applicant: DIC Corporation
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Hyobok Cha, Naomi Hatano, Tomoaki Hara, Yasuo Umezu
  • Publication number: 20160215215
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a nematic liquid crystal composition useful as a liquid crystal display material, the liquid crystal composition having negative dielectric anisotropy (??), and to a liquid crystal device element including the liquid crystal composition. The liquid crystal composition of the present invention has sufficiently low viscosity (?), sufficiently low rotational viscosity (?1), a large elastic constant (K33), and a negative dielectric anisotropy (??) whose absolute value is large, without reducing the refractive index anisotropy (?n) or the nematic-isotropic liquid phase transition temperature (Tni). Provided is, for example, a VA-mode liquid crystal display element including the liquid crystal composition, the liquid crystal display element having no or minimal display defects and having excellent display quality and a fast response.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2014
    Publication date: July 28, 2016
    Applicant: DIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Go Sudo, Shotaro Kawakami
  • Publication number: 20160182437
    Abstract: A portable electronic device includes: a communication block configured to communicate with another portable electronic device different from said portable electronic device; an information acquisition block configured to acquire relation information that is information about a relation between a user of said portable electronic device and a user of said other portable electronic device from an external server through a network when said communication block communicates with said other electronic device; and a notification block configured to notify the user of said portable electronic device of the relation information acquired by said information acquisition block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2015
    Publication date: June 23, 2016
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi HORIE, Hideyuki SASAKI, Shinichi HIRATA, Nobuyuki TAKAHASHI
  • Publication number: 20160122650
    Abstract: There is provided a polymerizable compound-containing liquid crystal composition having strong alignment regulating force of a liquid crystal compound. The polymerizable compound-containing liquid crystal composition includes: a polymerizable compound; and a liquid crystal compound, in which the polymerizable compound includes at least one polymerizable compound represented by General Formula (I), and in which the liquid crystal compound includes at least one component selected from the group consisting of at least one compound represented by General Formula (II) as a second component, at least one compound represented by General Formulae (IIIa), (IIIb), and (IIIc) as a third component, and at least one compound represented by General Formulae (IVa), (IVb), and (IVc) as a fourth component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Publication date: May 5, 2016
    Applicant: DIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinichi Hirata, Shotaro Kawakami
  • Publication number: 20160100104
    Abstract: When a place where a different panoramic image was captured is present in a direction in which a panoramic image to be displayed is captured, a marker setting unit associates a marker indicating that the different panoramic image is present in said image-captured direction with the panoramic image to be displayed. A mapping processing unit maps, as a texture, the panoramic image to be displayed, with which the marker of the different panoramic image is associated, in a three-dimensional panoramic space. A three-dimensional image generation unit generates a three-dimensional panoramic image when the three-dimensional panoramic space is viewed in a designated visual line direction, with a place where the panoramic image to be displayed is captured as a visual point position. A user interface unit accepts a user's instruction regarding the displayed three-dimensional panoramic image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2015
    Publication date: April 7, 2016
    Inventors: Kyoko FURUMURA, Takeshi YAMAGISHI, Shinichi HIRATA
  • Publication number: 20160086306
    Abstract: An image generating device includes: a storage section that stores images of surrounding spaces centered at plural different fixed points; a detecting section that detects translational movement on the basis of the location of the point of view; an image processor that acquires an image of a displaying target by clipping out part of the image of the surrounding space centered at the fixed point, stored in the storage section, on the basis of the location of the point of view and the direction of the line of sight; and a switching section that makes switching to the image of the surrounding space centered at another fixed point closest to the point of view after translational movement if the plural different fixed points are so disposed that the surrounding spaces centered at the fixed points overlap with each other in a world coordinate system and translational movement is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventors: Yoichi NISHIMAKI, Takeshi YAMAGISHI, Shinichi HIRATA, Kyoko FURUMURA