JP2002073517A - System and device for providing information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable plural users to share information by making them easily access the same virtual space while using the Internet. SOLUTION: A server 12 and user terminals 14, 16 and 18 are connected to the Internet 10. A certain user enters a virtual space by accessing the server 12, calls the other user by an Internet telephone and makes the user access the same virtual space. The position information of the user, who accesses the virtual space, is successively stored in the server 12. When a certain user moves inside the virtual space, the moving information thereof is transmitted to the terminal of the other user and a picture wherein the user is positioned is displayed on the other terminal. When a certain user enters a specified site inside the virtual space, URL of that site is transmitted to the other user as well so that the other user can instantaneously access the same site.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information providing system and apparatus, and more particularly to a system that allows a plurality of users to share information while viewing the same screen via a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has become possible to access various information using the Internet. A Web page is stored on a Web server connected to the Internet, and the user accesses the server from the terminal, reads out a Web page on which necessary information is posted, and displays the Web page on a terminal screen using a Web browser or the like. The Web page is described in, for example, an HTML format or an XML format, and a user can specify a desired Web page by a uniquely defined URL. It should be noted that not only character information and two-dimensional image information but also VRML (Virtual Reality) is used.
A system has been developed in which a virtual space is formed using a language such as Modeling Language, and a user can move in the virtual space to access various information as if the user were traveling in a real space.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, information is basically exchanged between a user terminal and a Web server. For example, a user who is viewing a certain Web page is notified to another user. In order to transmit information, it is necessary to separately send the URL of the Web page or the like to the user who wants to transmit the information, and the other user to whom the URL has been transmitted needs to start up his / her own terminal and display the Web page.

Further, for example, even if a plurality of users are looking at the same Web page or the same virtual space, and a certain user moves within the space and finds interesting information, the information is separately transmitted by telephone or e-mail. There is a problem that it is necessary to inform other users, and exchange of information between a plurality of users is not efficient.

[0005] Further, there are many cases where a plurality of users move together with each other as in a real space and wish to share information. Couldn't respond to request.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and has as its object to establish a communication between users, thereby enabling information to be easily shared among a plurality of users. And a device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a system for providing a virtual space from a server to a plurality of terminals via a communication network, wherein the server is provided in the virtual space. Means for storing the positions in the virtual space of the plurality of accessed terminals, and means for transmitting the positions in the virtual space to the plurality of terminals, wherein the plurality of terminals accessing the virtual space are mutually different from each other. The position of the terminal in the virtual space can be recognized. By storing the position of each terminal in the server and transmitting this to each terminal, the user of each terminal can easily know that the user of the other terminal is in the same virtual space and where in the virtual space it is Can be. As a result, it is possible to generate a situation similar to a situation where a plurality of users actually meet in a real facility, and communication between users in a virtual space can be made more efficient.

Here, the storing means may store the positions in the virtual space of the plurality of terminals as a movement amount from an initial position. For example, from the initial position P to P '
, The component of the movement vector can be stored. When moving from P ′ to P ″, the component of the movement vector may be stored with P ′ as a new initial position.

[0009] The storage means may divide the virtual space into a plurality of areas, and store the positions of the plurality of terminals as coordinates of the areas. When there are a plurality of facilities in the virtual space and the user enters the facility, the coordinates in the facility are stored.

[0010] In the present invention, it is preferable that the transmitting means transmits to the plurality of terminals each time the position in the virtual space is updated. Thus, each terminal can grasp the current position of another terminal at any time.

Further, the transmitting means can transmit in response to a request from the plurality of terminals. That is, the transmitting means of the server can send the position information to each terminal at a predetermined timing, but may send the position information in response to a request from each terminal. Each terminal periodically accesses the server, requests position information, and obtains position information from the server.

[0012] In the present invention, the terminal may include display means for displaying a position of the terminal accessing the virtual space according to the position in the virtual space transmitted from the server. Accordingly, each user can easily visually recognize the position of another user accessing the same virtual space.

It is preferable that the terminal has means for transmitting and receiving audio data to and from the terminal that has accessed the virtual space. This allows each user to communicate with other users accessing the same virtual space by voice. The location of the user accessing the same virtual space is displayed, and it is possible to transmit and receive voices to and from the user, so that information can be obtained as if they were actually meeting in the real space despite being a virtual space. Can be shared.

In the present invention, the transmitting means transmits a virtual space page where the certain terminal is located to another terminal in response to a request from a certain terminal, and the other terminal transmits the virtual space page to the other terminal. It is preferable that the same virtual space page as that of the certain terminal is displayed upon reception. This allows a plurality of users to share a page in the same virtual space.

The present invention is also an apparatus for providing virtual space data to a plurality of terminals accessed via a communication network, wherein the means for storing positions of the plurality of terminals in the virtual space; Means for transmitting the positions of the plurality of terminals to the plurality of terminals, respectively.

Here, the storage means may store the positions in the virtual space of the plurality of terminals as a movement amount from an initial position. Further, the virtual space may be divided into a plurality of areas, and the positions of the plurality of terminals may be stored as coordinates of the areas.

[0017] The transmitting means may transmit to the plurality of terminals each time the position in the virtual space is updated.

In the present apparatus, it is preferable that, when a certain terminal is located in a specific virtual space page, the transmitting means transmits data for accessing the page to another terminal. The data for accessing the page is, for example, a URL, and another terminal accesses the same page as the terminal using this data. Of course, the virtual space page in which a certain terminal is located may itself be sent as data to another terminal.

The transmitting means can receive audio data from a terminal and transmit the audio data to another terminal. Transmission and reception of audio data is possible, for example, by Internet telephone.

The present device can function as a server computer in a communication network.

The terminal according to the present invention includes not only a personal computer but also any device having an interface, an input unit, and a display unit that can be connected to a communication network, such as a portable information terminal and a portable telephone. The connection to the communication network may be wired or wireless.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of the present embodiment. Server 12 via Internet 10
And a plurality of user terminals 14, 16, 18 are interconnected. The user terminals 14, 16, and 18 may be ordinary personal computers, and may be a PDA (Personal Digital Assy).
istance) or a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone. Each of the user terminals 14, 16 and 18 includes a communication interface for connecting to the Internet 10 and a browser for displaying a Web page stored in the server 12. Further, it is desirable that each of the user terminals 14, 16, and 18 has a speaker and a microphone for transmitting and receiving audio, and can exchange audio via the Internet 10.
To transmit and receive voice data using the Internet 10, for example, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
ol) technology can be used.

On the other hand, a server 12 connected to the Internet 10 stores a Web page described in an HTML format.
(Including virtual space pages described in VRML), and these pages are transmitted via the Internet 10 in response to a request from the user terminal, and displayed on the user terminal.

FIG. 2 shows a server 12 according to the present embodiment.
Is shown in FIG. CPU 12a, communication interface (I / F) 12b, ROM 12c, R
In addition to the AM 12d, a location information database (D / B) 1
2e.

The location information database 12e is a database that stores the location of the user in the virtual space for each user terminal accessing the server 12 via the Internet 10. For example, users A, B, and C When the user accesses the virtual space and exists in the virtual space, the position information database 12e stores the position information of the users A, B, and C in a table format. The stored location information is transmitted to the accessing user terminal. Accordingly, when viewed from a certain user terminal, the position information of the user in the virtual space is stored in the server 12 and transmitted to another user terminal, and the position information of the other user terminal in the virtual space is supplied to the own terminal. Will be. As a result, the user terminal can know where other users are in the virtual space.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a table stored in the position information database 12e in FIG. First, (a) stores the moving amount and moving direction of the user as position information. For each of the users A, B, and C accessing the server 12, the amount of movement in the x direction from the initial state (the first state of accessing the virtual space) and y
The moving amount in the direction is stored. For example, for the user A, Δx1 in the x direction, Δy1 in the y direction, and the like. The x direction corresponds to the horizontal direction in the virtual space, and the y direction corresponds to the vertical direction. The movement amounts in the x direction and the y direction are sequentially updated and stored each time the user moves. Specifically, each time a movement command input using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like is transmitted from the user terminal to the server 12, the movement amount is calculated and stored.

On the other hand, (b) stores absolute position data of a user in a virtual space as position information.
That is, the virtual space is divided into a matrix, and a matrix in which each accessing user exists is specified and stored by the coordinate data. For example, (x1, y1) is stored for the user A. This coordinate data is also sequentially updated and stored each time the user moves. The update timing can be the timing at which the movement command is transmitted from the user terminal, as in (a).

The server 12 always grasps the position of each user by using one of the tables (a) and (b).

The system according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Hereinafter, a case where the user A and the user B access the server 12 via the Internet 10 and move together in the virtual space with reference to FIG. The process will be described using an example.

First, the user A accesses the server 12 via the Internet 10 using his / her own user terminal (for example, the user terminal 14). Then, the virtual space provided by the server 12 is displayed on its own terminal. User A
If you want to move the virtual space with user B,
User A makes an Internet call to user B using the terminal. That is, a call is made by designating the IP address of the user B (S101). The server 12 that receives the call from the user A transmits the IP from the user A to the user B.
Recognizing that there was a call (S102), the terminal of user B specified by the IP address is called. Server 12
, The terminal of the user B operates, and thereby the voice communication between the user A and the user B via the Internet 10 becomes possible. When the user A calls the user B, the user B responds to the call from the user A by simultaneously transmitting the IP address and the address of the virtual space displayed by the user A. The terminal B may be configured to access the virtual space of the server 12. Specifically, user A
Answer the call from
The web browser is automatically started and the virtual space page sent from the server 12 is displayed. When you access the virtual space,
A character (icon) indicating the user who has accessed the virtual space is displayed, and the user can visually recognize that he or she is in the virtual space. The server 12 may appropriately assign the initial position of the user character immediately after the access.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen displayed on the terminals of user A and user B when user A and user B access the same virtual space. The character of the user A and the character of the user B are displayed in the virtual space. The initial positions of the user A and the user B
Is stored in the position information database 12e, and the server 12 displays the character based on the position information.

Returning to FIG. 4, assume that the user B has moved in the virtual space (S104). The movement is performed by transmitting a movement command to the server 12 by operating the keyboard or mouse of the terminal itself.
In this case, the character of the user B is displayed on the terminal of the user B so as to move in the virtual space. At the same time, the position information of the user B, that is, the moving direction and the amount, or the absolute coordinates at the time of the movement are displayed on the server. Twelve position information databases 12e are sequentially stored. Then, the stored position information of the user B is automatically transmitted to another user A accessing the same virtual space (S10).
5). The terminal of the user A receives the position information of the user B transmitted from the server 12, and thereby the position of the user B also changes on the terminal of the user A (S106). In addition,
During this time, the user A and the user B can communicate with each other by voice through the Internet telephone. When a plurality of users are accessing the same virtual space, it is also possible to call a specific user by voice and move in the virtual space near the user.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Moves to a specific facility, for example, a shopping center in the virtual space, and acquires information of interest in this shopping center, and transmits a predetermined command (for example, a Come on command) to the user B (S107). ). The command is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen, and may be transmitted by operating the command with a keyboard or a mouse. As a specific mode, for example, a character of the user B is clicked, and thereafter, a command designating the user is transmitted by operating a predetermined command. Server 1
2 receives the transmission from the user A and transmits the command to the designated user B (S108). Further, when transmitting the command, the URL of the shopping mall where the user A currently exists and the position data thereof are transmitted to the user B. When receiving the command from the server 12, the terminal of the user B displays the content of the command on the screen. For example, "Receive Come on command from user A"
And so on. When the user B authenticates the command, the page is acquired from the server 12 based on the transmitted URL, and the same shopping mall as the user A is displayed (S109). The server 12 may first transmit only the command to the user B, and transmit the URL and the position information of the user A to the terminal of the user B when the authentication is received from the user B. Thereby, the user B can easily see the same screen as the user A, and can share the information found by the user A. Since the position information of the user B at this time is also stored in the position information database 12e and transmitted to the terminal of the user A, not only the character of the user A but also the character of the user B appears on the screen of the user A, In the real world, the same situation as when user B comes to the place in response to user A's call can be realized. Further, since the character of the user B has appeared, the user A can confirm that the user B is also viewing the same screen as the user A.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a plurality of users access the same virtual space, their positions can be easily grasped. Then, when a certain user acquires desired information, the information is transmitted to another user, and the other user can easily share the information.

In the present embodiment, the location information of each user accessing the server 12 is stored and the location information is transmitted to each user terminal. Instead, the server 12 may simply store the user position, and each user terminal may periodically access the server 12 to acquire the stored position information (polling).

In the present embodiment, since the current position of each accessing user is grasped on the server 12 side, an operation involving cooperation of a plurality of users can be easily performed. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, when a user B approaches a user A in a virtual space and mutually sends and receives a specific command (for example, a handshake command) to each other, the command is first transmitted. It is also possible to move the user B so that the user A who has transmitted becomes a parent and follows the movement of the user A. In the figure, a situation is shown in which the user B approaches the user A (a), and after exchanging commands, the user A becomes the parent and the users A and B enter the shopping mall together (b). . Specifically, a flag is set for a user who has mutually authenticated the handshake command on the server 12 side,
User B who is a child according to the position information of the user who is a parent
The position information database 12e may be managed so as to automatically update the position information. When the parent moves by Δx1 and Δy1, the child is automatically moved by the same amount. In this case, the child user will see his or her own character that automatically moves with the movement of the parent user. Thereby, for example, a function of navigating to a shopping site or the like (a parent user guides another user) becomes possible, and an action performed in the real world between friends can be realized in a virtual space. . This is particularly effective when guiding a user who has visited a virtual space for the first time. Also, for example, even when visiting a virtual museum or museum, it would be effective to control the movement of another user so as to follow the movement of a specific user (or an instructor prepared by the server side). Specifically, for example, the server-side 12
Instructor's location information is stored in the server 1
The two sides move the instructor in accordance with a predetermined algorithm and sequentially update the position information, and sequentially and automatically update the user's position information according to the updated position information. Thus, the user can look around the virtual space without performing any operation. In addition, by using the navigating function by the server 12, specific information (for example, advertisement) can be automatically sent to the user.

In the present embodiment, the position information database 12e stores not only the position information of the accessing user but also the position information of another object moving in the virtual space.
Can be stored. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, a ball game (soccer, tennis, volleyball, etc.) in which a plurality of accessing users participate can be realized. Incidentally, (a) is a diagram in which users A and C form a pair and users B and D form a pair and play volleyball, and (b) is a state in which the ball falls to a predetermined position on the court and the win or loss is determined. Is shown.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described by taking as an example a case where a plurality of users access a virtual city, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a plurality of users in a virtual space. , Or an auction by a plurality of users, an online meeting by a plurality of users, a meeting in a virtual city, and the like.

In this embodiment, voice data is transmitted and received via the Internet 10, and the terminal of the user who has received the call automatically connects to the Internet 10 to access the server 12. It is preferable that the user who made the call bears the telephone charges and the Internet connection charges.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of users can easily share the same information via a communication network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a server in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a file of a position information database in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram (1) of a process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram (part 2) for explaining processing in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a virtual space display in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a navigation function in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a user participation type game in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Internet, 12 servers, 14, 16, 1
8 User terminal.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A system for providing a virtual space from a server to a plurality of terminals via a communication network, wherein the server stores locations in the virtual space of the plurality of terminals that have accessed the virtual space. Means for transmitting the position in the virtual space to the plurality of terminals, wherein the plurality of terminals accessing the virtual space can mutually recognize the position of another terminal in the virtual space. Information system. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said storing means stores the positions in the virtual space of the plurality of terminals as a movement amount from an initial position. 3. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit divides the virtual space into a plurality of areas and stores the positions of the plurality of terminals as coordinates of the areas. system. 4. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting means transmits to said plurality of terminals each time the position in said virtual space is updated. system. 5. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting means transmits in response to a request from said plurality of terminals. 6. The display according to claim 1, wherein the terminal displays a position of the terminal that has accessed the virtual space in accordance with the position in the virtual space transmitted from the server. An information providing system comprising means. 7. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal has means for transmitting and receiving voice data to and from a terminal that has accessed the virtual space. . 8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting unit transmits a virtual space page where the terminal is located to another terminal in response to a request from the terminal, The information providing system, wherein the other terminal displays the same virtual space page as the certain terminal by receiving the virtual space page. 9. An apparatus for providing virtual space data to a plurality of terminals accessed via a communication network, comprising: means for storing positions of the plurality of terminals in the virtual space; Means for transmitting the position of the terminal to the plurality of terminals, respectively. 10. The information providing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the storage unit stores the positions in the virtual space of the plurality of terminals as a movement amount from an initial position. 11. The information providing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said storing means divides said virtual space into a plurality of areas and stores the positions of said plurality of terminals as coordinates of said areas. apparatus. 12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting unit transmits to the plurality of terminals each time a position in the virtual space is updated. Information providing device. 13. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said transmitting means, when a terminal is located on a specific virtual space page, transmits data for accessing the page to another terminal. An information providing device for transmitting to an information providing device. 14. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting unit receives audio data from a certain terminal and transmits the audio data to another terminal. Information providing device.