KR100312747B1 - Networked Multi-User Dimension three dimensional graphic virtual reality system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network-based multi-user three-dimensional graphical virtual reality system, in a network-based multi-user application system constructed in a client interconnected via a communication network, the movement of the object to make the user feel like the real world To control the position and direction of the user's view of the 3D world, which is a 3D virtual reality world to which the physical laws of the real world are applied, or to generate a user event, which is an event that changes the state of a specific object present in the 3D world. Receives user input, reads and executes a rule for processing the user event from a rule database configured according to a scenario defining an operation method of a loaded multi-user application, and an event transmitted from another client or server through a communication network. Application engine unit running reads the rules from the rules database for the network event; The 3D world is reflected in the 3D world at every moment according to the result of the processing of the user event and the network event by the application engine unit, and the 3D seen from the position and the direction in which the user views the 3D world. A three-dimensional world navigator for displaying objects in the visible space of the world using three-dimensional phase data or animation data; And a data transmission / reception unit configured to transmit the processing result of the user event by the application engine unit to another client or server through a communication network, and to transmit the network event received through the communication network to the application engine unit.

According to the present invention, a three-dimensional world navigator for processing an application engine and a user output for processing an application scenario in each client interconnected through a communication network, and a three-dimensional virtual reality space shared in real time through the communication network By independently managing the network events transmitted and received through the communication network and periodically exchanging state information to correct the state of the 3D virtual reality space, a network-based multi-user 3D graphic virtual reality system can be effectively constructed. It has the effect of making it possible.

Description

Networked Multi-User Dimension three dimensional graphic virtual reality system

The present invention relates to a virtual reality system, and more particularly, to a network-based multi-user three-dimensional graphical virtual reality system in which a plurality of clients and servers are constructed on an interconnected communication network.

Network-based multi-user virtual reality systems have a wide range of potential applications. In particular, it shows its usefulness in applications such as military simulation using high-performance graphic workstations, and is expanding its application scope to entertainment, education, medicine, and architecture. Typical examples include Internet-based games, electronic commerce through Internet shopping malls, and virtual meetings through communication networks.

Here, the technology trends will be briefly reviewed in the field of entertainment, particularly network-based multi-user games (hereinafter, simply referred to as network games).

Early network games used the telnet protocol and a method of user input and output based on text (hereinafter referred to simply as text mud). The text mud game receives the user input from the client connected to the game server using the telnet protocol and transmits the user input to the game server. The game server processes the data and returns the data to the client, and the client outputs the output data. To display to the user. That is, all data processing including the game scenario is a centralized structure in the game server, and the client does not perform any processing other than the basic functions of the telnet application.

Next, there is a method in which user input / output is used for graphic data rather than text, the input / output graphic data processing is directly performed by a client, and game scenario processing is performed in a game server (hereinafter, simply referred to as a graphic mud method). The game in the graphic mud method receives the user input from the client and transmits it to the game server. The game server processes the data and returns the graphic control data to the client, and the client receives the received graphic control data and the display resource managed by the client. It works by displaying the results to the user using resources. In other words, the game server is responsible for processing the game scenario, and the client is responsible for processing input / output data. In addition, a unique communication protocol is used for communication between the client and the game server.

The conventional network-based multi-user application including such a network game is dedicated to the scenario processing of the application in the server, there is a problem that the communication bottleneck to the server occurs in the scenario processing of the application.

In addition, in order to solve this problem, a network-based multi-user application in which an application engine is installed in each client has been attempted, but even in this attempt, graphic data for user output is a two-dimensional graphic, that is, a periodic bitstream. Based on the image frame, there is a limit to give the user a real-time reality.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to solve the above problems, equipped with an application engine for processing application scenarios in each client interconnected via a communication network, the graphic data for the user output is a three-dimensional virtual reality technology By providing a network-based multi-user three-dimensional graphics virtual reality system that allows each client to share in real time the three-dimensional virtual reality space built on the communication network and a recording medium recording a program for functioning the same There is.

1 schematically illustrates a network-based multi-user 3D virtual reality space in which a plurality of clients and servers are interconnected according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates a network based multi-user three-dimensional graphical virtual reality system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 schematically illustrates a visible space area of a three-dimensional world displayed through a three-dimensional world navigator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a network-based multi-user three-dimensional graphic virtual reality system according to an aspect of the present invention in the network-based multi-user application system is built in the client interconnected via a communication network, the user in the real world In order to make it feel like, it controls the position and direction that the user looks at the 3D world, which is a 3D virtual reality world to which the physical laws of the real world are applied to the movement of the object, or controls the state of a specific object in the 3D world. Receives user input for generating a user event, which is a changing event, reads and executes a rule for processing the user event from a rules database configured according to a scenario defining an operation method of a mounted multi-user application, and executes other Cly Application engine unit running reads the rules from the rules database for the event, the network event is transmitted from the site or server; The 3D world is reflected in the 3D world at every moment according to the result of the processing of the user event and the network event by the application engine unit, and the 3D seen from the position and the direction in which the user views the 3D world. A three-dimensional world navigator for displaying objects in the visible space of the world using three-dimensional phase data or animation data; And a data transmission / reception unit configured to transmit the processing result of the user event by the application engine unit to another client or server through a communication network, and to transmit the network event received through the communication network to the application engine unit.

The application engine unit may transmit the state information of the 3D world including the position and the shape of the avatar periodically sailing the 3D world on behalf of a user to another client or server through the data transceiver. The 3D world navigator periodically refers to the corresponding information of the 3D world by referring to state information of a specific object present in the 3D world received from the data transceiver and transmitted from another client or server transmitted through the application engine unit. It is desirable to correct the state of the object.

In addition, the three-dimensional world navigator, if a collision occurs between the objects existing in the three-dimensional world, and detects the notification of the occurrence of a physical event to the application engine, the processing result of the physical event through the application engine unit Reflects the state change of the object according to the 3D world, and the application engine unit reads and executes the rule from the rule database with respect to a physical event notified from the 3D world navigator, When a state change of an object shared with another client in the 3D world occurs as a result of the processing, it is preferable to transmit the processing result of the physical event to another client or server through a communication network.

In order to solve the above other technical problem, a computer-readable recording medium according to an aspect of the present invention is the physical physics of the real world to the movement of the object in order to make the user feel like the real world in the client interconnected via a communication network By controlling the position and direction of the user's viewing of the 3D world, which is a 3D virtual reality world to which the law is applied, or receiving a user input for generating a user event which is an event for changing the state of a specific object present in the 3D world. And read and execute a rule for processing the user event from a rule database configured according to a scenario defining an operation method of a loaded multi-user application, and perform the rule for a network event which is an event transmitted from another client or server through a communication network. data An application engine unit for reading out and executing the rule from the base; The 3D world is reflected in the 3D world at every moment according to the result of the processing of the user event and the network event by the application engine unit, and the 3D seen from the position and the direction in which the user views the 3D world. A three-dimensional world navigator for displaying objects in the visible space of the world using three-dimensional phase data or animation data; And a data transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting a result of processing the user event by the application engine unit to another client or server through a communication network, and transmitting the network event received through the communication network to the application engine unit by a computer. It is characterized by recording.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the configuration and operation of the present invention.

1 schematically illustrates a network-based multi-user 3D virtual reality space 150 in which a plurality of clients 110, 120, 130 and a server 100 are interconnected according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the virtual reality world, in particular, the virtual reality world based on 3D graphics, the physical laws of the real world are applied to the movement of the objects constituting the virtual reality world in order to allow the user to feel the virtual reality world like the real world. In other words, the virtual reality world based on three-dimensional graphics refers to a world configured to feel the same as the real world by applying mechanical forces such as gravity, elastic force, friction, and physical laws of the real world such as equations of motion. Of course, not all physical laws of the real world can be applied to the virtual reality as it is, and the physical laws of the real world appropriately selected according to the needs of the application field will be applied to give a feeling similar to the real world.

In order to express the virtual reality world, objects constituting the virtual reality world are managed as geometry data in a vector format, and data is processed through vector operations. In addition, all data processing in the virtual reality world is performed in real time, and visualizes a dynamically changing world through simulation of phase data, which is numerical data, rather than a bitstream form as in image processing.

In the virtual reality world, it is desirable that a user can interact not only with objects in the virtual space but also with other users who are connected through a communication network and share the virtual reality space. Therefore, it is desirable that the virtual reality world be network based in order to overcome regional limitations and support multiple users.

The present invention proposes a framework for efficiently constructing such a network-based multi-user 3D graphic virtual reality system.

As shown in FIG. 1, each client 110, 120, 130 is placed on a network-based multi-user three-dimensional graphical virtual reality space (hereinafter, simply referred to as a three-dimensional world) 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Avatars 115, 125, and 135 and various three-dimensional objects 140 constituting the three-dimensional virtual reality space. Here, the physical laws of the real world are applied to the 3D world 150 to the movement of the objects constituting the virtual reality in order to allow the user to feel the virtual world as if the real world.

The avatars 115, 125, and 135 are objects that navigate the 3D world 150 on behalf of the user. That is, the avatars 115, 125, and 135 are also managed as one object and operate under the influence of all physical phenomena applied to the 3D virtual reality space. The user at each client sees, feels, and navigates the three-dimensional virtual reality space at the location and direction in which the avatars 115, 125, and 135 view the three-dimensional world 150. FIG. A user at each client can see an avatar acting on behalf of a user at another client in the three-dimensional world 150 (hereinafter referred to as a third person avatar), but his avatar acting on his behalf ( Hereinafter referred to as a first person avatar) is not visible.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, a 3D virtual reality system configured in each client to construct a 3D virtual reality space on a communication network as shown in FIG. 1 will be described. 2 schematically illustrates a network based multi-user three-dimensional graphical virtual reality system 200 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the virtual reality system 200 at each client includes a three-dimensional world navigator 220, an application engine unit 240, and a data transmission / reception unit 260.

The application engine 240 receives a user event through a user input, reads the rule from a rule base, and executes the rule.

The user event input from the user is 1 in the position and orientation (where the object is twisted based on the global coordinate system of the 3D world) where the first-person avatar is located in the 3D world. The state of a particular object in the 3D world according to the rules of the user application (hereinafter referred to as user event A) that controls the location and shape of the user's view of the 3D world through the first person avatar and the rules of the application being loaded. It includes a user event (hereinafter referred to as user event (B)) to change. Here, the event refers to an event of changing state information of an object existing in the 3D world. Since the user event A also changes the position and shape state information of the first person avatar, it is included in the user event B, but is displayed when the position or shape of the first person avatar is changed by the user event A. Will be changed separately, and will be described separately in that it can be processed in a standard manner irrespective of the type of application.

The rules database consists of a set of rules in a set of scenarios that define how a multi-user application behaves or runs. Here, each rule takes a specific event as an input, and outputs a state change of a specific object and / or occurrence of another event.

The application engine unit 240 sends a graphic event to the 3D world navigator 220 to reflect the result of reading and executing the corresponding rule from the rule database for the user event in the 3D world. In addition, the network event is transmitted through the data transmission / reception unit 260 so that other clients or application servers sharing the 3D world through the communication network can reflect the result in the 3D world. In the same way, when an event that changes the state of the 3D world occurs in another client or application server sharing the 3D world through a communication network, it is received through the data transmission / reception unit 260 in the form of a network event. .

The application engine unit 240 reads and executes the corresponding rule from the rule database with respect to the network event received and transmitted from the data transmitting / receiving unit 260, and reflects the result to the three-dimensional world in order to reflect the result in the three-dimensional world. Send a graphical event

In addition, even when a physical event is received from the 3D world navigator 220, the application engine unit 240 reads and executes the corresponding rule from the rules database, and returns the result to the 3D world navigator 220 as a graphic event. do. If, as a result of processing a physical event from the 3D world navigator 220, a state change of an object shared with another client or application server occurs in the 3D world, another client sharing the 3D world through a communication network Alternatively, the application server transmits the network event through the data transceiver 260 to reflect the result in the 3D world.

The 3D world navigator 220 receives the processing result of the user event and the network event in the form of a graphic event in the application engine 240, and changes the state of each object in the 3D world according to the processing result of the graphic event. Objects in the visible space of the 3D world, which are reflected in the 3D world at the moment and viewed from the position and direction in which the user views the 3D world through the first person avatar, are displayed to the user using 3D phase data or animation data. Output

In addition, the 3D world navigator 220 has a function of detecting itself physical events such as collision of objects occurring in the 3D world. If a physical event such as a collision is detected, the application engine unit 240 is notified of this, and the application engine unit 240 receives the processing result according to the corresponding rule of the rules database as a graphic event and sends it to the 3D world. Reflect.

Each object in the three-dimensional world is represented by vector data. For example, each object may be divided and defined as, for example, a 3D unit object, and an association relationship between the 3D unit objects may be configured and managed in a tree-type object hierachy. For example, a human object is divided into three-dimensional unit objects such as a head, a body, a right arm, a left arm, a right leg, a left leg, a hip, and the object is associated with each other. The relationship in which the movement of an object affects other three-dimensional unit objects can be managed by constructing a tree-type object hierarchy. Here, the 3D unit object refers to an object of the smallest unit that can be animated independently.

When a state change of an object including the position or shape information of a specific object existing in the 3D world occurs due to an event or the like, the physical laws of the real world are applied to the motion paths of all 3D unit objects in the object hierarchy. Calculate or render at every moment using predefined animation data. In other words, the three-dimensional display screen according to the present embodiment uses phase data calculated through a vector operation that applies real-world physics laws to each object at every moment, not an image bit stream method used in two-dimensional image processing. It is configured by.

Subsequently, a display method of a 3D screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a visible space region 320 of a three dimensional world displayed through a three dimensional world navigator 220 according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the three-dimensional world displayed through the three-dimensional world navigator 220 is the visible space region 320 viewed by the camera 300. The 3D world navigator 220 refers to the phase data of each object in the visible space region 320 and performs cameras through calculation processes such as raytracing, shading, and projection at every moment. A merchant viewport that is bound to the view plane of 300 is calculated and displayed.

Here, the camera 300 is a reference point of the viewing position and shape of the first-person avatar for defining the viewport of the screen to be displayed. The camera 300 operates in a manner similar to that of the human eye, and within a certain distance, that is, the object existing within the shear cutting surface 310 of FIG. 3 and after the predetermined distance, that is, the rear cutting surface 330 of FIG. 3. Afterwards, the existing object cannot be displayed, and only the object located in the visible space 320 between the front end face 310 and the rear end face 330 is displayed.

The viewport refers to the 3D graphic screen information or the area to be displayed on the 3D graphic window screen, and the observation section refers to the reference section for calculating the viewport by projecting an object located in the visible space. Corresponds to). The phase data refers to numerical data in a vector format for representing an object in a 3D virtual world, and is information for shaping an object in a combination of points, edges, and polygonal units. Raytracing is a technique for displaying a 3D object composed of a combination of polygons in consideration of light.Shading is a technique for smoothly connecting the outer lines of a 3D object, and a projection technique is positioned in a 3D virtual reality space. It refers to a technique of forming an image by reflecting each object in a plane.

The biggest singularity of the 3D virtual world is not to collect several still images and display them sequentially, but to display the result of calculating each object represented by a vector by applying the laws of physics in consideration of time at each moment. Through this, the 3D virtual reality world becomes more dynamic and realistic.

The three-dimensional world navigator 220 mounted on each client is a kind of virtual display device, which calculates and displays the phase data of each object so that virtual reality can be shared among multiple clients using only the phase data. do.

Since a large amount of topology data is used to represent one object, in this embodiment, each client manages topology data of basic objects, and when an event or a state change occurs, the client communicates with each other through a communication network. Each person constructs their own 3D display screen.

On the other hand, the three-dimensional virtual reality space to be built on the communication network must take into account the difference in the processing power of the data in the hardware device used by each client interconnected via the communication network. In addition, in order to construct a network-based 3D virtual reality space in real time, a communication delay occurring during data transmission and reception through a communication network should be considered together. That is, the network-based 3D virtual reality space according to the present embodiment should operate in synchronization with each other. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various synchronization techniques may be used for this purpose.

Here, as one of the synchronization schemes on the communication network, a method of exchanging periodic state information will be described as an example.

The 3D virtual reality space built on the communication network and shared by each client is managed independently by referring to network events transmitted and received through the communication network at each client, while each client is a 3D virtual reality space configured in its own system. Periodically exchange status information. This state information basically includes position and shape information of the first-person avatar in each client.

In other words, the application engine 240 according to the present embodiment transmits the data transmission / reception unit 260 to the state information of the three-dimensional world including the position and shape of the first-person avatar who periodically navigates the three-dimensional world on behalf of the user. To another client or server. In addition, the three-dimensional world navigator 220 is periodically received through the data transmission and reception unit 260, the state information of a specific object present in the three-dimensional world transmitted from another client or server transmitted through the application engine unit 240 Correct the state of the object in the 3D world with reference to.

The data transmitting / receiving unit 260 transmits the network event transmitted from the application engine unit 240 and periodic state information of the 3D world to another client or server through a communication network, and the network event and periodic state received through the communication network. It performs a function of transferring information to the application engine unit 240. Preferably, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the data transmitting / receiving unit 260 according to the present embodiment preferably includes a unique network synchronization mechanism.

In addition, the multi-user application server 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 manages each client information sharing a three-dimensional world through a communication session and communication network between each client or each client and server for operating an application in a communication network. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the embodiments of the present invention so far center on a case where the application engine 240 is mounted on the client. However, the three-dimensional world navigator 220 and the application engine unit 240 in the present invention are each an independent module. Accordingly, the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 should be understood to illustrate one form of hierarchical structure in which these independent modules are mutually coupled. Depending on the application field, it may be preferable to form the application engine unit 240 on a server and to configure a simple client. In this case, the 3D world navigator 220 should be implemented including a basic function for processing user input.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention so far revolve around a client / server architecture, where the server is responsible for managing the communication session and the sharing area of the three-dimensional world. However, depending on the application, instead of having a separate server (or perhaps the server is responsible for only the initial part of the application session), a pure peer-to-peer structure establishes a communication session for the application. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be configured to share and manage communication sessions.

Embodiments of the present invention may be functioned by a program executable in a computer system. In addition, the program can be read from a computer readable recording medium having recorded such a program and executed in a general-purpose digital computer system. Such recording media include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical reading media (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) and carrier waves (e.g., transmission over the Internet). Media is included.

So far, the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment (s). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the present invention, a three-dimensional world navigator for processing an application engine and a user output for processing an application scenario in each client interconnected through a communication network, and a three-dimensional virtual reality space shared in real time through the communication network By independently managing the network events transmitted and received through the communication network and periodically exchanging state information to correct the state of the 3D virtual reality space, a network-based multi-user 3D graphic virtual reality system can be effectively constructed. It has the effect of making it possible.

Claims (6)

In a network-based multi-user application system built on clients interconnected via a communication network, In order to make the user feel like the real world, the position and direction of the user's view of the three-dimensional world, which is a three-dimensional virtual reality world to which the physical laws of the real world are applied to the movement of the object, or the specific present in the three-dimensional world Receives a user input for generating a user event, which is an event that changes the state of an object, reads and executes a rule for processing the user event from a rules database configured according to a scenario defining a method of operating a mounted multi-user application. An application engine unit configured to read and execute a corresponding rule from the rule database with respect to a network event which is an event transmitted from another client or server through a communication network; The 3D world is reflected in the 3D world at every moment according to the result of the processing of the user event and the network event by the application engine unit, and the 3D seen from the position and the direction in which the user views the 3D world. A three-dimensional world navigator for displaying objects in the visible space of the world using three-dimensional phase data or animation data; And And a data transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting the processing result of the user event by the application engine unit to another client or server through a communication network, and transmitting the network event received through the communication network to the application engine unit. Multi-user 3D graphical virtual reality system. The method of claim 1, wherein the application engine unit, Periodically transmitting the state information of the 3D world including the position and the shape of the avatar sailing the 3D world on behalf of a user to another client or server through the data transceiver; The 3D world navigator periodically refers to the state information of a specific object present in the 3D world, which is received through the data transceiver and transmitted from another client or server transmitted through the application engine unit, of the 3D world. A network-based multi-user 3D graphic virtual reality system, characterized in that to correct the state of the object. According to claim 1, The three-dimensional world navigator, When a collision occurs between objects existing in the 3D world, the controller detects the notification and notifies the application engine to the occurrence of a physical event, and notifies the state change of the object according to the result of processing the physical event through the application engine. Reflected in the three-dimensional world, The application engine unit reads and executes a corresponding rule from the rule database with respect to a physical event notified from the 3D world navigator, When a state change of an object shared with another client in the 3D world occurs as a result of the processing of the physical event, the processing result of the physical event is transmitted to another client or server through a communication network. Multi-user 3-D graphical virtual reality system. In a client interconnected through a communication network, to control the position and direction of the user's view of the three-dimensional world, which is a three-dimensional virtual reality world in which the physical laws of the real world are applied to the movement of an object in order to make the user feel like the real world, Receiving a user input for generating a user event, which is an event for changing a state of a specific object present in the 3D world, and processing the user event from a rule database configured according to a scenario defining an operation method of a mounted multi-user application. Read and execute rules for An application engine unit configured to read and execute a corresponding rule from the rule database with respect to a network event which is an event transmitted from another client or server through a communication network; The 3D world is reflected in the 3D world at every moment according to the result of the processing of the user event and the network event by the application engine unit, and the 3D seen from the position and the direction in which the user views the 3D world. A three-dimensional world navigator for displaying objects in the visible space of the world using three-dimensional phase data or animation data; And A program for transmitting a result of the processing of the user event by the application engine unit to another client or server through a communication network, and the data transmission and reception unit for transmitting the network event received through the communication network to the application engine unit by a computer. A computer-readable recording medium that has been recorded. The method of claim 4, wherein the application engine unit, Periodically transmitting the state information of the 3D world including the position and the shape of the avatar sailing the 3D world on behalf of a user to another client or server through the data transceiver; The 3D world navigator periodically refers to the state information of a specific object present in the 3D world, which is received through the data transceiver and transmitted from another client or server transmitted through the application engine unit, of the 3D world. A computer-readable recording medium that records a program, characterized by correcting the state of the object. According to claim 1, The three-dimensional world navigator, When a collision occurs between objects existing in the 3D world, the controller detects the notification and notifies the application engine to the occurrence of a physical event, and notifies the state change of the object according to the result of processing the physical event through the application engine. Reflected in the three-dimensional world, The application engine unit reads and executes a corresponding rule from the rule database with respect to a physical event notified from the 3D world navigator, When a state change of an object shared with other clients in the 3D world occurs as a result of the processing of the physical event, the processing result of the physical event is transmitted to another client or server through a communication network, the computer recording the program Readable media.