Patent ID: 6951515

Claim:
A simulator apparatus with which an operator plays a simulation in mixed reality space including a virtual space and real space in which a real object(s) is placed, said simulator comprising: a viewpoint detection unit adapted to detect the position/orientation of a viewpoint of the operator; an inputting unit adapted to input a real space image corresponding to the position/orientation of the viewpoint of the operator; a geometric information acquisition unit adapted to acquire geometric information of the real object(s) placed in the real space; a rule memory adapted to store rules for controlling the action patterns of virtual object(s); a status memory adapted to store a simulation progress status; a computation unit adapted to determine the next action pattern of the virtual object(s) as if a virtual object had its own will based on a command input by the operator, the simulation progress status, the rules and the geometric information of the real object(s); a virtual space generation unit adapted to generate a virtual space image on the basis of a next position/orientation of the virtual object(s) according to the determined action pattern and the position/orientation of the viewpoint of the operator; and a mixed reality image generation unit adapted to generate a mixed reality space image by superimposing or overlaying the virtual space image on the real space image, wherein the next position/orientation of the virtual object(s) is determined based on a location relationship among the position/orientation of the viewpoint of the operator, position(s) of the virtual object(s) and the geometric information of the real object(s).