Sony Patent | Position information acquisition system, position information acquisition method, and position information acquisition device

Light receiving elements are two-dimensionally arranged and individually acquire the arrival time point of the reflected light, which makes it possible to obtain two-dimensional information regarding the distance to the surface of the object 12 and, consequently, obtain three-dimensional position coordinates of the object 12. This technique has been widely known as dTOF.

Meanwhile, the TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment also detects presence of an object 16, which is in front of the object 12 and lets irradiation light through, and a distance thereto as illustrated in (b). Even in this case, light corresponding to a certain proportion of the irradiation light E passes through the object 16 to reach the object 12. The distance to the position 14 on the surface can thus be obtained by observation of the reflected light R as in (a). Meanwhile, even when the object is highly transmissive, a part of photons of the irradiation light is reflected by the object 16. The TOF sensor 10 also observes the reflected light R′ and determines an arrival time point thereof, thereby deriving a distance to a position 18 on the object 16.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of measuring a distance to an object having transmissivity. The upper tier, or (a), where the abscissa axis represents a distance from the TOF sensor 10, illustrates a position relation between the object 16 having transmissivity and the object 12 having no transmissivity. The pulsed light emitted from the light emitter 20 at an intensity E₀ is divided into light that is reflected by the object 16 to reach the light receiver 22 at an intensity R₁ and light that passes through the object 16 to reach the object 12 at an intensity E₁. The latter of them is reflected by the object 12 at an intensity R₂ and partly passes through the object 16 to reach the light receiver 22 at an intensity R₃.

(b) illustrates a degree of photons actually observed by the light receiver 22 in the environment illustrated in (a), with the abscissa axis representing a distance based on a time point of the observation. It should be noted that, since a relation between the number of entering photons and the value of a charge to be outputted varies with the type of the light receiving elements, here, an index indicating the number of photons is referred to as the “degree.” In other words, the degree is a parameter that increases with an increase in the number of photons and is expressed as, for example, the value of the charge. In a change in a degree of photons, clear local maximum points appear at the positions on the surfaces of the object 16 and the object 12 as illustrated. Thus, the observation of the reflected light is continued for a predetermined duration of time after the application of the pulsed light for irradiation to acquire a change in a degree of photons as illustrated, which makes it possible to determine respective distances to two objects overlapping when seen from the point of view of the TOF sensor 10.

It should be noted that the object 16 having transmissivity is subject to no limitation in number and transmittance as long as it lets the irradiation light and the reflected light through. Assuming that the number of surfaces having transmissivity is N and an object having no transmissivity is behind the surfaces having transmissivity, the number of observed local maximum points of a degree is N+1. In addition, a relative relation in local maximum value varies with transmittance. Hereinbelow, an object having transmittance that is not zero is referred to as a transmissive object and an object having transmittance of zero as a non-transmissive object.

It should be noted that a target for distance acquisition in the present embodiment is not limited to a combination of a transmissive object and a non-transmissive object. For example, in FIG. 2, even when no non-transmissive object 12 is present, the local maximum point of the degree of photons corresponding to the transmissive object 16 is likewise observed. Alternatively, even when a transmissive object is present in place of the non-transmissive object 12, the local maximum point is observed at the same position. However, in this case, the magnitude of the local maximum value changes. In any case, by virtue of acquiring a time point at which a local maximum point of a degree of photons is observed, a distance to an object can be acquired irrespective of transmittance.

FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of a functional block of the TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment. The TOF sensor 10 includes a control unit 24 in addition to the above-described light emitter 20 and light receiver 22. The control unit 24 is implemented by, in terms of hardware, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a microprocessor, and various circuits, and is implemented by, in terms of software, a program that is stored in a memory and that causes the CPU to operate. The control unit 24, which controls operations of the light emitter 20 and the light receiver 22, includes a degree observer 26 that observes a degree of photons of the reflected light, a distance acquirer 28 that acquires a distance to an object on the basis of the degree, and a data output unit 30 that outputs data indicating the distance.

It should be noted that another device connected to the TOF sensor 10 may be equipped with at least some of the functions of the degree observer 26, the distance acquirer 28, and the data output unit 30. In addition, the functions illustrated can collectively be referred to as a position information acquisition device irrespective of the number of enclosures. The degree observer 26 of the control unit 24 acquires, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a temporal change in charge photoelectrically converted and outputted by the light receiver 22. The magnitude of the number of photons entering each light receiving element, or each pixel, corresponds to the magnitude of the value of the charge. In addition, the temporal change in charge can also have a plurality of local maximum points depending on presence of a transmissive object.

The distance acquirer 28 detects a time point at which a local maximum point appears in a temporal change in a degree of photons, thereby acquiring, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a distance to an object on which reflection occurs. Here, the distance acquirer 28 may acquire a change in a degree relative to a distance in place of a temporal change in a degree. In other words, an observation time point is converted to a distance to an object by Expression 1, thereby obtaining a change in a degree as illustrated in (b) in FIG. 2.

In either case, in detecting a local maximum point, the distance acquirer 28 excludes a false local maximum point in accordance with a predetermined filtering rule. For example, with reference to the maximum value within local maximum points, the distance acquirer 28 determines a local maximum point less than a predetermined proportion of the maximum value as a false local maximum point and excludes the false local maximum point from a target for distance acquisition. Alternatively, the distance acquirer 28 may exclude all the local maximum points less than a threshold set as a constant. Further, to detect pulsed entering light, the distance acquirer 28 may extract only a local maximum point equal to or more than a threshold in terms of a change rate of an increase or a decrease in the degree of photons.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, it is only necessary to continue the observation of the reflected light for a predetermined duration of time from irradiation by the light emitter 20 and acquire a time point at which the observed amount of photons temporarily increases (a local maximum point appears) irrespective of the number of times; therefore, if and to the extent that the above is possible, there is no limitation on the form of data that serves as a basis. In addition, as long as a local maximum point of a degree of photons relative to time or a distance is obtainable, it is not essential to provide a histogram.

The data output unit 30 outputs, in a predetermined form, data that is acquired on a pixel-by-pixel basis by the distance acquirer 28 and that indicates a distance to an object. For example, the data output unit 30 outputs data in the form of a depth image where a distance value is stored as a pixel value of an image plane. For a pixel where a plurality of distances are acquired, the pixel value includes a plurality of values. However, this does not mean that the form of output data is not intended to be limited to the above. In addition, a destination to output data may be an external device such as an information processing device that performs information processing by using obtained position information or a storage inside or outside the TOF sensor 10.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining an example of output data from the TOF sensor 10. In this example, the TOF sensor 10 acquires a distance to an object with a wall with a glass window 38 being within a field of vision as illustrated in FIG. 4. A transmissive object 36 such as a glass bottle is placed in front of the wall. At this time, the TOF sensor 10 outputs, for example, data in the form of a depth image 40 as illustrated in FIG. 5. In this example, the depth image 40 is expressed in a gray scale where the smaller a distance is, the higher a luminance value is.

As described so far, in the present embodiment, a local maximum point of a degree of photons of the reflected light is detected, which makes it possible to detect a plurality of objects overlapping as seen from the TOF sensor 10. FIG. 5 also illustrates changes in degrees of photons observed at pixels A, B, and C. For example, at the pixel A, which represents a surface of the transmissive object 36, local maximum points appear at distances D₀, D₁, and D₂ as illustrated in a degree graph 42A and correspond to the positions of a front surface and a rear surface of the transmissive object 36 and a wall surface therebehind, respectively. An increase in transmittance of the transmissive object 36 reduces the local maximum value of the degree on the surface thereof.

As described above, with reference to the largest local maximum value, the distance acquirer 28 of the TOF sensor 10 first extracts only a local maximum point having a local maximum value reaching a predetermined proportion thereof, thereby reducing the possibility of erroneous detection. In the illustrated example, a threshold is set at a degree of 20% with reference to the local maximum value at the distance D₂, so that two local maximum points at the distances D₀ and D₁ with local maximum values equal to or more than the threshold are detectable. It should be noted that the distance acquirer 28 may determine a local maximum point with a local maximum value equal to or more than a predetermined value as one corresponding to a non-transmissive object in a predetermined situation where, for example, the transmittance of the transmissive object 36 is already found.

In the illustrated example, the distance acquirer 28 recognizes that a non-transmissive object is at the distance D₂ where a local maximum value of the degree is equal to or more than a threshold Pth. In this case, the local maximum point with the local maximum value equal to or more than the threshold Pth can be defined as a reference for detection of another local maximum point and a local maximum point detected at a farther position over the distance D₂ can be removed as noise. As a result, for the pixel A within the depth image 40, the data output unit 30 of the TOF sensor 10 stores three pixel values at D₀, D₁, and D₂.

The fact that a plurality of effective distances are obtained as above means that an object other than an object at the largest distance has transmissivity. Accordingly, the data output unit 30 may output a distance and physical properties in association with each other; for example, transmissive objects are at the distances D₀ and D₁ and a non-transmissive object is at the distance D₂. In addition, an increase in transmittance of a transmissive object reduces the degree of photons resulting from reflection thereby. Accordingly, the data output unit 30 may further acquire a local maximum value of the degree of photons from the distance acquirer 28 and output transmittance estimated according to the magnitude of the local maximum value of the degree of photons in association with a distance. A relation between a local maximum value of the degree of photons and transmittance is obtained in advance by experiment or the like.

In contrast, at the pixel B, which represents the wall surface, a local maximum point appears only at the distance D₂ as illustrated in a degree graph 42B, so that a distance to the wall is found. Further, also at the pixel C, which represents the glass window 38, a local maximum point appears only at the distance D₂ as illustrated in a degree graph 42C. Such a single local maximum point appears unless an object is present on the outside of the glass window 38. In this case, in the degree graph 42C, a local maximum value is small as compared with in the degree graph 42B at the pixel B of the wall surface, and no local maximum point that serves as a reference is present unlike in the degree graph 42A at the pixel A. Accordingly, the distance acquirer 28 may obtain a local maximum point that serves as a reference in a spatial direction.

In other words, the distance acquirer 28 searches a plane of the depth image 40 for another pixel having a local maximum point substantially at the same distance (or time point) and a local maximum value thereof is equal to or more than a predetermined value. For example, on a line BC, changes as in the degree graph 42B and the degree graph 42C occur at a boundary 44 between a window frame and the window. Accordingly, the distance acquirer 28 performs a search, for example, in a left direction from the pixel C, thereby detecting a pixel where an effective local maximum point has been obtained as in the degree graph 42B. The illustrated example illustrates detection of a pixel where a local maximum value is equal to or more than the threshold Pth.

Then, with reference to the local maximum point at the detected pixel, the distance acquirer 28 excludes a local maximum point at the original pixel C from a target for distance acquisition if the local maximum point at the original pixel C is smaller than a predetermined proportion of the reference value. In this case, it is concluded that there is nothing at that distance. In the illustrated example, the threshold is set at the degree corresponding to 20% of the reference local maximum value, and the local maximum point at the pixel C is equal to or more than the threshold, so that it is determined that an object is present at that distance. The distance acquirer 28 can thus add, as the pixel value of the pixel C, the distance D₂ to the output data. The distance acquirer 28 may also cause the output data to indicate that, on the basis of the smallness of the local maximum point, the object present at the distance D₂ is a transmissive object.

It should be noted that, in performing a search, in the spatial direction, for a reference local maximum point, a searching direction and a specific processing procedure are not particularly limited to any direction and procedure. For example, in a case where the distance acquirer 28 acquires a distance in a raster order, at the time at which a change from the degree graph 42B to the degree graph 42C occurs, that is, the time at which a local maximum value at the same distance (or time point) decreases by a predetermined value or more, a local maximum value before the decrease may be set as a reference to determine whether a local maximum point obtained at a subsequent pixel is true or false.

Alternatively, in a predetermined situation where, for example, the transmittance of an object in the field of vision of the TOF sensor 10 is substantially found, a threshold provided for a local maximum value of the degree according to an object with a high transmittance may be set as a constant. In this case, the distance acquirer 28 extracts all the local maximum points with local maximum values equal to or more than the threshold. This allows for recognizing that the window is at the distance D₂, without the necessity for searching for a reference even when, for example, the TOF sensor 10 gets close to the glass window 38 with an observation result as in the degree graph 42C obtained all over the image. For the pixels B and C within the depth image 40, the data output unit 30 of the TOF sensor 10 stores only the distance D₂ as a pixel value.

The TOF sensor 10 described so far is supposed to be usable for a variety of purposes. Hereinbelow, an aspect where the TOF sensor 10 is installed in a head-mounted display will be described by way of example. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an appearance form of a head-mounted display according to the present embodiment. In this example, a head-mounted display 100 includes an output mechanism unit 102 and a wearing mechanism unit 104. The wearing mechanism unit 104 includes a wearing band 106 that fully surrounds a head when placed on a user, enabling the device to be fixed. The wearing band 106 includes a material or has a structure allowing the wearing band 106 to be adjusted in length according to the head circumference of each user. For example, the wearing band 106 may be in the form of an elastic body such as rubber, or a buckle, a gear, or the like may be used as the wearing band 106.

The output mechanism unit 102 includes an enclosure 108 that is shaped to cover right and left eyes of a user who is wearing the head-mounted display 100 and that has an interior provided with a display panel that squarely faces the eyes while the user is wearing the head-mounted display 100. The display panel is implemented by a liquid crystal panel, an organic EL (Electroluminescent) panel, or the like. The interior of the enclosure 108 further includes a pair of lenses located between the display panel and the eyes of the user to extend the viewing angle of the user while the user is wearing the head-mounted display 100. In addition, the head-mounted display 100 may further include a speaker and/or an earphone at a position corresponding to an ear of the user while the user is wearing the head-mounted display 100.

The head-mounted display 100 includes, in a front surface of the output mechanism unit 102, a stereo camera 110 and the TOF sensor 10. The stereo camera 110 includes two cameras located right and left at a known interval therebetween, each of which includes an imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The stereo camera 110 captures, at a predetermined frame rate, an image of the real space in a field of vision corresponding to the orientation of the face of the user who is wearing the head-mounted display 100.

With a video captured by the stereo camera 110 being directly displayed in the head-mounted display 100, the user sees the video as if directly seeing the real space in front of him/her. In addition, the position and/or the posture of the head of the user can be acquired from the image captured by the stereo camera 110 by a typical technology such as v-SLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization And Mapping). The TOF sensor 10 acquires a distance to an object in the field of vision corresponding to the orientation of the face of the user who is wearing the head-mounted display 100.

As long as the TOF sensor 10 obtains information regarding relative positions and postures of the head-mounted display 100 and the real object, analysis of the image captured by the stereo camera 110 can be omitted. It should be noted that the position and/or the posture of the head of the user may be obtained on the basis of a value of measurement by a motion sensor installed in the head-mounted display 100 or may be enhanced in accuracy by integration with a result of distance measurement by the TOF sensor 10. However, some of the functions or installation of the stereo camera 110 and the motion sensor may be omitted according to display contents.

In a case where VR (Virtual Reality) is established by the head-mounted display 100 in a form that shields outside light, it is difficult for the user to understand the situation of the real world around him or her. Thus, it is possible that the user comes into contact with an obstacle while walking around or moves in an unintended direction, resulting in disruption of normal display or occurrence of a danger. For example, a highly transmissive object such as glass is unlikely to be recognized by a visible light camera such as the stereo camera 110. In addition to the above-described glass window and bottle, a lot of transmissive objects, such as an empty plastic bottle, a glass-topped table, and a glass wall, can be present in a typical room.

The TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment can detect such transmissive objects, which makes it possible to issue a warning to the user with accuracy. In addition, while a video captured by the stereo camera 110 is displayed, a picture of a virtual object is displayed to be superimposed thereon such that the picture interacts with an object the position information regarding which is obtained by the TOF sensor 10, enabling even AR (Augmented Reality) or MR (Mixed Reality) to be established. Even in this case, it is possible to provide a high-quality user experience without ignoring presence of a transmissive object such as a glass table.

FIG. 7 illustrates by way of example an internal configuration of the head-mounted display 100. A control unit 50 is a main processor that processes and outputs signals, such as an image signal and a sensor signal, a command, and data. The stereo camera 110 supplies data regarding a captured image to the control unit 50 at a predetermined rate. The TOF sensor 10 acquires position information regarding an object at a predetermined rate by the above-described technique and supplies the position information in the form of a depth image or the like to the control unit 50. A display panel 52, which includes a light emission panel of liquid crystal, organic EL, or the like and a control mechanism therefor, receives and displays the image signal from the control unit 50.

A communication control unit 54 sends data inputted from the control unit 50, to the outside by wired or wireless communication through an unillustrated network adapter or an unillustrated antenna. The communication control unit 54 also receives data from the outside by wired or wireless communication through the network adapter or the antenna and outputs the data to the control unit 50. A storage 60 temporarily stores data, a parameter, an operation signal, and the like to be processed by the control unit 50.

A motion sensor 62 measures posture information such as the rotation angle and the tilt of the head-mounted display 100 and constantly supplies the posture information to the control unit 50. An external input/output terminal interface 64 is an interface for connecting peripheral equipment such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) controller. An external memory 66 is an external memory such as a flash memory. The control unit 50 can supply an image and voice data to the display panel 52 and a headphone not illustrated, causing the display panel 52 and the headphone to output the image and the voice data, or supply the image and the voice data to the communication control unit 54, causing the communication control unit 54 to send the image and the voice data to the outside.

FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of a functional block of the control unit 50 of the head-mounted display to which the TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment is applicable. The functional block described herein can be implemented by, in terms of hardware, a configuration including a CPU, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), communication equipment, a memory, and the like, and is implemented by, in terms of software, a program that is loaded into the memory from a recording medium and that exhibits functions such as a data input function, a data holding function, an image processing function, and a communication function. Thus, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be implemented in various forms based on hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof and are by no means limited to any of them.

The control unit 50 includes a captured image acquirer 70, a position/posture acquirer 72, a display image acquirer 74, a warning control unit 76, and an output unit 78. The captured image acquirer 70 sequentially acquires frame data regarding a moving image of the real space captured by the stereo camera 110. The position/posture acquirer 72 acquires information regarding a distance to an object present in the real space from the TOF sensor 10 at a predetermined rate. In a case where the TOF sensor 10 outputs a depth image, a distance value is stored as a pixel value of a two-dimensional picture as illustrated in FIG. 5, so that reverse projection into a three-dimensional space makes it possible to obtain three-dimensional position coordinates of an object surface with reference to an image-capturing plane.

The position/posture acquirer 72 also acquires, at a predetermined rate, values of acceleration, angular speed, and the like measured by the motion sensor 62. By using the acquired information, the position/posture acquirer 72 acquires, at a predetermined rate, the position of an object that is present in front of the user and the posture of the head-mounted display. By using the captured image acquired by the captured image acquirer 70 and the information regarding the position and the posture of the object and the head-mounted display 100 themselves acquired by the position/posture acquirer 72, the display image acquirer 74 acquires a display image at a predetermined rate.

For example, the display image acquirer 74 generates an image where a virtual object is displayed to be superimposed on a captured image. Alternatively, the display image acquirer 74 creates a three-dimensional space representing a virtual world for an electronic game or the like and generates a display image representing the space in a field of vision corresponding to the position and the posture of the head-mounted display 100. A target to display is not limited to a virtual world but may be a panoramic video of the real world, for example. Alternatively, the display image acquirer 74 may use a captured image as a display image without change. Thus, a variety of display images may be acquired by the display image acquirer 74 and, depending on that, a variety of data are to be used.

In the case of displaying a virtual object in a superimposed manner to establish AR or MR, in particular, the use of information regarding the position and the posture of a transmissive object obtained from the TOF sensor 10 allows for preventing occurrence of an unnatural situation where, for example, the virtual object pierces the glass, to achieve an accurate display. It should be noted that the display image acquirer 74 does not necessarily generate all the display images by itself and may acquire at least some of the display images from an external information processing device or the like. In this case, the display image acquirer 74 may send data to be used for generation of a display image to the external information processing device or the like.

The warning control unit 76 determines whether or not a situation requiring issuance of a warning to the user occurs, on the basis of the position information regarding the object acquired by the position/posture acquirer 72. When a predetermined condition set as the situation requiring issuance of a warning is satisfied, the warning control unit 76 performs control to cause an image providing a warning to the user to be displayed. The warning control unit 76 causes a warning to be displayed when predicting that the user is in danger of, for example, bumping into a nearby object or stepping on an object on the floor. By virtue of the use of the position information regarding a transmissive object obtained from the TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately detect that an object unlikely to be recognized from a captured image, such as glass or a plastic bottle, gets closer.

In this case, a threshold for a distance between the user and a nearby object is set in advance in the warning control unit 76. The warning control unit 76 then causes a warning to be displayed when an actual distance reaches the threshold or less. The threshold may differ according to the type or the material (transmissive object or non-transmissive object) of an object, a location where the object is present, or the like. Further, in the warning control unit 76, respective types of warning contents to be issued have been set in association with those parameters.

For example, when the user becomes extremely close to the window, the warning control unit 76 causes textual information “You are getting close to the window” to be displayed. In addition, the warning control unit 76 may give the user who is wearing the head-mounted display 100 instructions to look around prior to the start of the display of content such as a game and cause, when detecting an object such as a plastic bottle in the vicinity of the user, textural information “Put the thing on the floor away” to be displayed. This allows for watching content safely afterward.

The output unit 78 causes the display image generated or acquired by the display image acquirer 74 to be displayed on the display panel 52. The output unit 78 also causes, at a timing for issuing a warning, an image of textural information indicating the contents of the warning or the like to be displayed on the display panel 52, according to a requirement from the warning control unit 76. An image providing a warning may be superimposed on an image having been displayed before that or may be switched to be displayed alone.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an environment where the head-mounted display 100 in which the TOF sensor 10 is mounted is usable. In this example, a user 80 wearing the head-mounted display 100 looks at exhibits 84a and 84b placed in a showcase 82. The showcase 82, needless to say, includes a highly transmissive material such as glass or resin. The head-mounted display 100 causes an image captured by the stereo camera 110 to be displayed, enabling the user 80 to see the real world in a field of vision corresponding to his or her field of vision.

Moreover, the head-mounted display 100 causes, for example, virtual objects 86a and 86b, which provide explanations about the exhibits 84a and 84b looked at by the user 80, to be displayed above the respective exhibits. In FIG. 9, dotted lines mean that the virtual objects 86a and 86b are not real objects. At this time, the display image acquirer 74 places the virtual objects 86a and 86b at predetermined positions in a three-dimensional space corresponding to the real space and draws a picture where the three-dimensional space is projected onto screen coordinates in the head-mounted display 100.

Since the screen coordinates may freely change according to the motion of the user 80, the display image acquirer 74 acquires relative positions and postures between the exhibits 84a and 84b and a front surface of the head-mounted display 100 from the position/posture acquirer 72. This information can be generated on the basis of output data from the TOF sensor 10. The pictures of the virtual objects 86a and 86b are displayed to be superimposed on the image captured by the stereo camera 110, and the objects where the explanations are written thereby appear to the user 80 to float above the exhibits 84a and 84b. For example, even when the exhibit 84a is a transmissive object, the display image acquirer 74 can correctly place the virtual object 86a on the basis of the position of the exhibit 84a.

Meanwhile, in a case where the showcase 82 is large or high with respect to the exhibits 84a and 84b, presence of the showcase 82 is unlikely to be seen in the image displayed in the head-mounted display 100, so that the user 80 getting close to the exhibits 84a and 84b is in danger of bumping into the showcase 82. Accordingly, the warning control unit 76 causes, when detecting that a distance between the user 80 and the showcase 82 reaches a threshold or less, an image for warning him or her not to come any closer to be displayed. The TOF sensor 10 of the present embodiment enables parallel detection of a transmissive object such as the showcase 82 and an object on a far side thereof, which makes it possible to perform independent processes; for example, AR is established with one of them, while the other one is used as a basis for warning.

It should be noted that the position information to be obtained by the TOF sensor 10 is not necessarily used for both generation of a display image and warning. For example, the position information regarding an object from the TOF sensor 10 may be used only for warning, while an image captured by the stereo camera 110 is displayed as a display image without change. Alternatively, the position information regarding an object from the TOF sensor 10 may be used only for generation of a display image. In addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the position information regarding an object from the TOF sensor 10 is usable for a variety of purposes in addition to generation of a display image and warning.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a technique for detecting a nearby object in a case where the TOF sensor 10 is mounted in the head-mounted display 100. As described in relation to FIG. 5, with reference to a local maximum point of a degree of photons corresponding to a non-transmissive object, a transmissive object present in front of the non-transmissive object can be detected with a higher accuracy. In contrast, in a case where the head-mounted display 100 is worn to enjoy content indoors, a distance to a floor or a wall, which is a non-transmissive object, is roughly predictable. For example, in a situation as illustrated in (a) in FIG. 10, a distance to a glass table 88, which is a transmissive object, is to be acquired.

Here, light applied from the TOF sensor 10 for irradiation travels as represented by a chain arrow, and passes through a top panel of the table 88 located at a distance D_t, to reach a floor located at a distance D_f. Assuming that H denotes the height of the user 80 and θ denotes, as the posture of the head-mounted display 100 in this state, a front-surface-direction angle relative to a vertically downward side, the distance D_f to the floor can be calculated as follows.

D_f=H/cos θ  (Expression 2)

The characteristics manager 124 manages the transmittance and the reflectance of the one-way mirror 202. Assuming that t (0202, a reflectance r is (1−t). Here, a difference between the transmittance and the reflectance of the one-way mirror 202 equal to or more than a predetermined value results in a difference in intensity between transmission light and reflected light and, consequently, makes it possible to clearly differentiate local maximum values of the degree of photons. In this case, the characteristics manager 124 has a role in storing the transmittance and the reflectance of the one-way mirror 202 formed in advance in such a manner.

Alternatively, the transmittance and the reflectance of the one-way mirror 202 may be caused to temporally change as described later. In this case, the characteristics manager 124 controls an application voltage to the one-way mirror 202, thereby causing the transmittance and the reflectance to temporally change. It should be noted that, in a case where a photochromatic mirror is used in place of the one-way mirror 202, the characteristics manager 124 switches between a transparent state where the transmittance t=1 (the reflectance r=0) and a mirror state where the transmittance t=0 (the reflectance r=1) by application of a voltage.

The path length identifier 126 determines, on the basis of the difference between the transmittance and the reflectance of the one-way mirror or a temporal change therein, which one of the transmission light and the reflected light is represented by the local maximum point of the degree of photons and, consequently, which one of the objects that are present in the directions corresponds thereto. The position information generator 128 generates and outputs position information regarding the object on the basis of the identified paths of the transmission light and the reflected light and the path length of light to the object obtained from the local maximum point of the degree of photons. The position information generator 128 generates, for example, a depth image in the direction of the object A and a depth image in the direction of the object B in the environment in FIG. 11. A destination to output the data may be a module that performs information processing by using the depth images, or may be a storage or the like.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the principle of identifying a local maximum point of a degree of photons by making a difference of a predetermined value or more between the transmittance t and the reflectance r of the one-way mirror 202. Assuming that E denotes the intensity of the irradiation light, t denotes the transmittance of the one-way mirror 202, and r (=1−t) denotes the reflectance thereof, the light reflected by the object A passes through the one-way mirror 202 twice and the light reflected by the object B is reflected by the one-way mirror 202 twice, so that respective intensities R_A and R_B of the reflected light entering the TOF sensor 10a are as follows.

R_A=E*t²