JPH09311952A - Display method for three-dimensional image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a three-dimensional image with more natural operability against the shift control of a cursor performed in a virtual three-dimensional space by applying the perspective projection processing to the cursor that is displayed with an image via the same visual point as that used for display of other objects included in the virtual three-dimensional space. SOLUTION: A three-dimensional image 3 is shown on a display 1, and the image 3 is divided into spaces by several walls. A cursor 5 is arranged at a part equivalent to a floor surface and displayed via the perspective projection processing. In other words, the image 3 is displayed by means of the well-known perspective and in a three-dimensional shape. When the cursor 5 is shifted toward the inside wall of the image 3 via a mouse, the shape of the cursor 5 is also reduced by the perspective projection processing. When the shape of the cursor 5 is reduced less, the visual point is automatically shifted. That is, the visual point existing right before the cursor 5 is shifted up to a position that is very close to the cursor 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for displaying a three-dimensional image with improved operability when moving a cursor in a three-dimensional stereoscopic image displayed on a computer display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the improvement in image processing capability of computers, it has become commonplace to display stereoscopic images on a computer display and perform various operations. Generally, when various operations and instructions are input on a screen displayed on a computer, control by a cursor using a mouse or the like is performed. The same cursor is displayed and operated for a stereoscopic image. In this case, conventionally, the moving direction of the mouse is detected, the cursor symbol pointing in a specific direction prepared in advance is displayed while being switched, and the direction in which the operator is moving the cursor is clarified. Was doing. In addition, instead of displaying the cursor, by moving the mouse, the direction of the displayed stereoscopic image is changed, and the display method of reaching the image to be operated by just operating the steering wheel of the car with the mouse It was done.

[0003]

The conventional three-dimensional image display method as described above has the following problems to be solved. With the symbolic cursor prepared in advance, it is not possible to accurately represent the intended direction of the operator and the intention to move the viewpoint on the screen. Therefore, it is not easy for the operator to look at the screen and recognize whether his / her operation is correct. Further, it has been desired to develop a method that allows the user to intuitively recognize the amount of movement, the direction of movement, and the like when the user moves the cursor in the three-dimensional space on the screen. Further, when moving the cursor in the stereoscopic image, if the stereoscopic image is rewritten each time following the movement of the cursor, the load on the processor will be heavy and the image rewriting speed will be slow. There was a problem of giving discomfort.

Furthermore, when the tip of the cursor is moved in the three-dimensional space while changing the direction according to one's own intention using the mouse, the direction of the cursor can be changed in various directions by the delicate operation of the mouse. There is a problem in that a wasteful operation for changing the direction of the cursor is added at the time of starting an operation, the operability is poor, and unnecessary screen display reduces the processing speed. Further, when the cursor moves in the uneven three-dimensional space, if there is a staircase or a wall, there is a problem that the cursor faces in a direction contrary to the intention of the operator each time. As described above, there is a demand for a display method that is more natural and has good operability for the movement control of the cursor in the three-dimensional space.

[0005]

The present invention employs the following structure to solve the above problems. <Structure 1> When an image of a three-dimensional virtual space image viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint is displayed, the cursor displayed with this image is the same as displaying another object in the three-dimensional virtual space. A three-dimensional image display method characterized by performing perspective projection processing using a viewpoint.

<Explanation> A three-dimensional virtual space is a logical three-dimensional space assumed for three-dimensional image processing. When a three-dimensional image is displayed on a computer screen, a three-dimensional virtual space is used from a specific viewpoint. The viewed image is arithmetically processed and drawn on the display memory. The cursor refers to an object such as an arrow that can be moved on the screen as intended by the operator with a mouse or the like, and its shape is arbitrary. Therefore, it may be a sheet having no thickness at all, or may be a copy of a thick three-dimensional object. What is perspective projection processing?
Drawing the shape of the cursor by the so-called perspective method from the viewpoint of the displayed image. As a result, it is possible to recognize at a glance which direction the cursor is heading on the stereoscopic screen, so that the operability in the three-dimensional image processing is improved.

<Structure 2> When an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint is displayed on the display, the cursor displayed together with this image is subjected to perspective projection processing and is the same as the displayed image. A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized in that the light source process is performed.

<Explanation> The light source processing is to apply a shadow in accordance with the assumed position of the light source. The same light source processing as that of the displayed image is performed because the cursor is moved in the same three-dimensional space. The shadow includes both the thing made by the cursor itself and the thing made by the object around the cursor. Note that the same includes an approximate simplification process. This is because the cursor itself does not require a very delicate shading process, and if simplified, the cursor drawing process can be facilitated. If the cursor is three-dimensional, the orientation and movement can be naturally and intuitively recognized in a three-dimensional image, which further improves operability.

<Structure 3> When an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint is displayed on a display, when the cursor moves in this image, any wall surface included in the image On the other hand, a three-dimensional image display method is characterized in that a cursor is always displayed so as to maintain a constant interval and posture.

<Explanation> When the cursor is moved in the stereoscopic image, it is imagined that the operator himself moves in the stereoscopic image, and the line of sight is fixed above the wall surface along an arbitrary wall surface. It is natural to move while maintaining the height. Therefore, in this configuration, the cursor is set to move along an arbitrary wall surface. The reason why this is always maintained at a substantially constant height with respect to the floor surface is to obtain this effect. For example, when changing the reference wall surface, an appropriate route may be taken. Further, the constant interval means that there is no extreme change, and there is no problem with a change that can be regarded as an apparent error range. Further, when the reference wall surface is changed, the distance from the wall surface may be arbitrarily changed at the same time. Further, the distance from the wall surface may be zero. For example, when the display is such that the cursor closely moves on the reference wall surface, there is an effect that the moving direction and the moving state of the cursor can be easily recognized intuitively.

<Structure 4> In Structures 1 to 3, when the movement of the cursor is controlled by the mouse, the movement amount of the mouse is compared with a reference value, and only when the movement amount exceeds the reference value, the direction and movement of the cursor are moved. A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized in that a quantity control is executed.

<Explanation> When a cursor is operated with a mouse, a cursor expressing a direction, a shadow or the like is displayed in a three-dimensional image, and when the movement is controlled, a delicate operation of the mouse is displayed each time. When the image is reflected on the screen, the rewriting process of the image becomes frequent and the burden on the processor increases. Moreover, when a complicated image is drawn, its processing speed also decreases.
Therefore, a dead zone for mouse operation is provided so that redrawing processing is not performed for the operation in the dead zone. The range of this dead zone is set by the reference value. Therefore, the amount of movement is reflected in the movement of the cursor only when the mouse moves above the reference value. This allows
The load on the processor can be reduced without impairing the operability.

<Structure 5> In Structures 1 to 4, when displaying the movement state of the cursor, only the image of a small area including the movement source and the movement destination of the cursor is cut out and redrawing processing is performed. 3D image display method.

<Explanation> When a cursor expressing a direction, a shadow or the like is displayed in a three-dimensional image and the movement of the cursor is controlled, if the moving state of the cursor is reflected on the display screen each time, an image rewriting process is performed. Becomes more frequent and the load on the processor increases. Moreover, when a complicated image is drawn, its processing speed also decreases. Therefore, a small area including the source and destination of the cursor is set at the timing of redrawing, and the image of that portion is cut out and processed. This reduces the amount of image data to be redrawn and reduces the processing load on the processor. Also, the processing speed is improved.

<Structure 6> When an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint is displayed on the display, when the cursor moves in this image, the third
A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized in that the viewpoint for the three-dimensional virtual space is set so as to face the front end direction of the cursor at a point separated by a certain distance rearward from the rear end of the cursor.

<Explanation> When performing various processes while moving the cursor in the stereoscopic image, there is a problem from which viewpoint the operator should recognize the operation target. When the tip of the cursor can be precisely controlled in a desired direction, the operator's viewpoint should follow the direction of the cursor. Therefore, at a fixed position behind the cursor, the viewpoint is set to face the direction of the tip of the cursor to improve operability. The viewpoint is set at a certain distance from the rear end of the cursor so that the operator can see the entire cursor when operating the cursor. The viewpoint is directed toward the tip of the cursor for the purpose of allowing the operator to operate in the three-dimensional space while looking at the direction of travel of the cursor.

<Structure 7> In the structure 6, when the viewpoint is controlled so as to move with the movement of the cursor, the viewpoint is moved after the cursor has moved a predetermined distance or more, and the image displayed together with the cursor is redrawn. And a method of displaying a three-dimensional image.

<Description> If the viewpoint is fixed in a fixed direction behind the cursor in a fixed direction, it is necessary to redraw the stereoscopic image as the cursor moves, which increases the load on the processor. Therefore, the viewpoint is moved until the cursor moves a certain distance, and the viewpoint is moved intermittently. As a result, the frequency of redrawing processing is reduced and the load on the processor is lightened. Further, since the movement of the cursor is easier to see when the background stereoscopic image is stopped, this improves the operability.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples. <Specific Example> FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of perspective projection processing according to the present invention. (A), (b), (c) of this figure
3A and 3B respectively show changes in the image of the cursor when the cursor according to the present invention is displayed. As shown in (a),
A stereoscopic image 3 is displayed on the display 1. The space of the stereoscopic image 3 is partitioned by some walls. The cursor 5 is arranged at a portion corresponding to this floor surface. The cursor 5 is displayed by the perspective projection process in the present invention. That is, this stereoscopic image is displayed by using the well-known perspective method, and the cursor itself is also displayed in a stereoscopic shape by adopting the perspective method. As a result, the operator can clearly recognize that the cursor 5 moves on the floor surface in the direction of the arrow. If the mouse (not shown) is operated to move the cursor 5 toward the wall at the back of this image, the shape of the cursor 5 is also reduced by the perspective projection process. (B) shows the state.

Here, when the cursor 5 becomes smaller,
As will be described later, the viewpoint is automatically moved as shown in (c). That is, the viewpoint existing immediately before the cursor 5 shown in (a) is moved to the cursor 5 shown in (b).
Move it close to. As a result, the back wall is enlarged and displayed as shown in (c).
It is possible to control the movement straight ahead or to the left and right continuously.

According to the concrete example shown in FIG. 1, the operator designates an arbitrary direction by operating the mouse, and the cursor 5
When is moved, the cursor 5 is displayed three-dimensionally and is displayed by the perspective projection process, so that the amount of movement can be recognized as a real feeling. That is, since the movement amount can be visually and intuitively recognized, the operability by the operator is improved. In addition,
Such a stereoscopic image assumes a three-dimensional virtual space in advance,
It is displayed by arranging an object in this and performing drawing processing as if it was viewed from a specific viewpoint.

FIG. 2 shows a conceptual diagram of such a three-dimensional virtual space. This figure shows a process of arranging an arbitrary object, for example, a wall, a floor, a cursor, etc. in a three-dimensional space represented by X, Y, Z axes, for example, photographing this with a camera 9 and displaying it on a display. To do. Note that the stereoscopic image can be illuminated by using the light source 8 and can be shaded.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of cursor display control using a mouse. The present invention is implemented on a generally known workstation or personal computer. The hardware includes a display, a control unit having a processor and the like, a mouse, a storage device, and the like. The configuration of the hardware itself is very general, so the illustration is omitted here. As shown in this figure, by moving the mouse 7 on a table (not shown), the direction of the cursor 5 displayed on the display 1 can be directed or advanced in any direction of arrows A, B, and C. .

That is, assuming that the processor is the three-dimensional image shown in FIG. 2, the image viewed from the viewpoint of the camera 9 is arithmetically processed, the result is temporarily stored in the memory, and further converted into bitmap data. Then, an image as shown in the figure is displayed on the display 1. Here, when the mouse 7 is operated to move the cursor 5, the image including the cursor 5 as shown in the drawing is sequentially rewritten each time, and the cursor 5 moves while performing the perspective projection processing as described above. .

Specifically, the movement of the cursor 5 when the mouse 7 is operated may be set as follows, for example. First, a 2-button mouse is used as the mouse 7. Here, the cursor 5 reacts only when a drag operation with the mouse 7 is performed, and does not react when the mouse button is not pressed. Then, if the right button is pressed and moved back and forth, the cursor 5 moves up and down in the screen.
If the right button is pressed and moved left and right, the cursor 5 moves left and right. Note that when moving, the tip direction of the cursor automatically faces the moving direction.

The left button is used to change the direction of the cursor. That is, when the mouse 7 is moved back and forth while pressing the left button, the cursor 5 rotates 360 ° in a horizontal plane including, for example, a straight line oriented in the traveling direction. Further, if the mouse 7 is moved left and right while the left button is being pressed, the cursor 5 can be rotated 360 ° in a vertical plane including a straight line that faces the direction of travel, for example. In this way, the direction of the cursor 5 can be freely changed to the three-dimensional direction. Further, by moving the mouse 7 back and forth while simultaneously pressing the left and right buttons, the cursor 5 can be moved only in the direction in which the cursor 5 is currently facing without changing the direction of the cursor 5.

For example, by prescribing the above-described operation, the mouse 5 can be used to freely move the cursor 5 in the three-dimensional direction in the stereoscopic image shown in the figure. Note that, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, if the position of the operator's viewpoint is kept away from the cursor 5 by a certain distance, and the viewpoint is always directed in the direction of the arrow of the cursor 5, it is more natural. You can perform various cursor operations. Also, by setting a rule that the positional relationship between the cursor 5 and the viewpoint is kept constant, when the cursor 5 is moved in the three-dimensional space as described with reference to FIG. 1, the viewpoint is automatically moved to the optimum position. It is possible to let

4 and 5 show modified examples of cursor display. FIG. 4 shows a cursor 6 having a shape different from that described above. The cursor 6 is flat without any thickness. However, the cursor 6 can also be controlled to move on the floor surface of the image shown in the figure while maintaining perspective, by performing perspective projection processing as in the previous specific example. When such a planar cursor 6 is used, the drawing process becomes easier than the three-dimensional one. In addition, the feeling of moving distance of the cursor, which is an advantage of the present invention, is not lost.

FIG. 5 shows the shading processing according to the method of the present invention. When the cursor 5 is three-dimensionally displayed, when the stereoscopic image 3 displayed on the display 1 is shaded by the light source, the influence thereof is reflected. ing. As a result, the cursor 5 is more intuitively three-dimensionally expressed and the operability is improved.

Next, a control method when the cursor hits a wall or the like while moving in the three-dimensional space will be described. FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the method of attitude control of a cursor. (A)
And (b) show the moving state when the cursor 5 hits the wall 13. It is assumed that the cursor 5 is moving in the direction of arrow D with the left side surface visible. When the mouse is operated in the direction of arrow D, the cursor 5 hits the vertical wall 13 in front of it. In this case, even if the operator is not aware of the wall 13, the cursor 5 is automatically controlled to stand up vertically as shown by the arrow E. After that, as shown in (b), the wall 1
Go over 3 and proceed again in the same direction as arrow D as indicated by arrow F.

In other words, according to the control method of the present invention, the cursor 5 is
It moves so as to get over this wall 13 according to the linear control of the mouse. In order to perform such control, the cursor 5 is controlled so as to be arranged at a substantially constant distance from the wall 13 having a stair-like surface. That is, as shown in the figure, the movement control of the cursor 5 is performed so that the distance L between the cursor 5 and the wall 13 becomes constant. By performing such control while recognizing the operation direction of the mouse, the operator simply moves the mouse in one direction so that the cursor 5 gets over the wall formed by the three-dimensional figure and the operator's intention. Go in the direction you want to.

When such control is performed, it is always calculated by arithmetic processing whether or not another object exists in the direction of the tip of the cursor 5. Then, the intersection determination is performed on each surface of the cursor movement direction vector and the three-dimensional figure existing in that direction, and if there is an intersecting surface, the position is compared with the current position coordinate of the cursor, and a collision occurs. Make a decision. When a collision occurs, the moving direction vector of the moving cursor is rotated in a direction parallel to the colliding wall, and the cursor is continuously moved along the surface. In this case, the cursor 5 is moved within one plane including the movement direction vector designated by the movement of the mouse. As a result, the cursor 5 does not penetrate through the wall, and the visually natural movement in the three-dimensional space can be expressed.
In (c), the movement of the cursor 5 when such posture control is performed is illustrated more specifically.

As shown in this figure, the cursor 5 follows the curve of the arrow G in the figure and moves according to the movement control of the mouse. That is, in the example of this figure, when the direction of the cursor 5 is changed 90 ° on the floor surface to the left in the figure and the mouse is linearly moved to the left, the cursor 5 moves to the wall 13
The cursor 5 can now be moved to the right-hand direction of the wall 13 by changing the direction of the mouse on the way up the stairs and on the way up the vertical wall. Even in these cases, if the display control is performed so that the distance between the cursor 5 and the wall 13 is kept constant, the cursor 5 can be naturally and smoothly moved in the stereoscopic image.

FIG. 7 shows a dead zone setting operation flowchart. When moving the mouse in the stereoscopic image as described above, if the direction of the cursor is easily changed by a subtle operation of the mouse, the cursor may randomly move in a direction different from the direction originally intended by the operator. There is a risk that Therefore, in this specific example, the cursor is prevented from changing its direction by a slight operation of the mouse such as camera shake.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the cursor has been moved by operating the mouse. Then, when the cursor is moved, in step S2,
It is determined whether the moving distance is equal to or larger than the threshold value range R. That is, if the movement is less than or equal to the threshold value, the movement of the viewpoint is ignored. If the movement is equal to or more than the threshold value R, then in step S3, it is determined whether or not the setting is to move the viewpoint. That is, as explained above, if you set the viewpoint to be kept just behind the cursor at a certain distance from the cursor, after the cursor changes direction or the cursor advances a long distance, Move the viewpoint. When the viewpoint is moved, the three-dimensional image is redrawn each time. However, it is preferable to prevent frequent redrawing, reduce the burden on the processor, and eliminate discomfort due to display delay.

Therefore, it is preferable to control such that the viewpoint moves only when the cursor moves by a threshold value or more. In the example shown in this figure, if it is necessary to move the viewpoint, step S3
Then, the process proceeds to step S4, and image processing for moving the viewpoint is performed. If viewpoint movement is not necessary, the process moves from step S3 to step S5, and only cursor movement processing is performed. Then, in step S6, the image is redrawn based on the results of the movement of the viewpoint and the movement of the cursor. The result is displayed on the display. Then, the process returns to step S1 again to monitor the movement of the mouse.

The threshold value R can be arbitrarily selected by the operator. Unless the cursor is redrawn smoothly, the cursor movement becomes discontinuous and unnatural. On the other hand, the viewpoint movement is not necessarily unnatural even if control is performed such that the cursor moves and stops at an appropriate position before switching. Therefore, the viewpoint movement can be performed less frequently than the redrawing of the cursor.

FIG. 8 shows a small area setting explanatory diagram for redrawing. In this specific example, when the cursor is moved on the screen displaying the stereoscopic image as described above, if the entire screen is redrawn each time the cursor is moved, the load on the processor increases and the processing speed increases. It solves the drawback of being slow. That is, when the cursor 5 moves in the direction of the arrow H, the position before the movement is compared with the position after the movement, and the small area 20 that can display both the cursor before the movement and the cursor after the movement is displayed. Set. The image rewriting is performed only for the small area 20. This can be realized by a well-known clipping process or the like. By performing such control, even if the cursor moves, the amount of data for redrawing the cursor each time is made sufficiently small, and high-speed redrawing becomes possible. In this way, the movement of the cursor can be displayed more naturally.

By the control shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the processor is not used for data processing and display processing of useless images, and the burden on the processor is reduced. In addition, it is possible to prevent the control of the direction of the viewpoint and the cursor by the subtle movement of the mouse by providing the dead zone, and eliminate unnecessary display control. In this way, a natural cursor movement with a stable viewpoint can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a perspective projection process according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a three-dimensional virtual space.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of cursor control according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of a cursor.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of shading processing according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a posture control of a cursor.

FIG. 7 is a dead zone setting operation flowchart.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a small area setting process for redrawing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Display 3 Stereoscopic image 5 Cursor

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. When displaying an image of an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint on a display, a cursor displayed together with this image displays another object in the three-dimensional virtual space. A three-dimensional image display method characterized by performing perspective projection processing using the same viewpoint. 2. When displaying an image of a three-dimensional virtual space image viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint on a display, a cursor displayed together with this image is perspective-projected, and the same light source as the displayed image is used. A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized by performing processing. 3. When an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint is displayed on a display, when a cursor moves in the image, any wall surface included in the image is displayed. A three-dimensional image display method characterized in that a cursor is displayed so as to always maintain a constant interval and posture. 4. The cursor movement and the movement amount according to claim 1, wherein when the movement of the cursor is controlled by the mouse, the movement amount of the mouse is compared with a reference value, and only when the movement amount exceeds the reference value. A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized in that the control of (3) is executed. 5. The redrawing process according to claim 1, wherein, when displaying the moving state of the cursor, only a small area image including the moving source and the moving destination of the cursor is cut and redrawing processing is performed. How to display a three-dimensional image. 6. When displaying an image of an image of a three-dimensional virtual space viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint on a display, when the cursor moves in this image, the viewpoint of the three-dimensional virtual space is A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, characterized in that the three-dimensional image is set so as to face the front end direction of the cursor at a point separated from the rear end by a certain distance behind. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the viewpoint is controlled to move with the movement of the cursor, the viewpoint moves and the image displayed together with the cursor is redrawn after the cursor moves a certain distance or more. A method of displaying a three-dimensional image.