JP2001033269A - Three-dimensional road guidance image presenting method, three-dimensional guidance image presenting device and recording medium having three-dimensional guidance image presentation program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional guidance image intuitively understandable to a user in an electronic map information processing system. SOLUTION: Course search is executed by a house electronic map by input of the starting point and end point of road guidance from a user, to form two-dimensional course data (step 3), and viewpoint data for showing a viewpoint on three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional image to be displayed on the course and a regeneration order are produced from the two-dimensional course data (step 4), and a three-dimensional map of an effective visual field is extracted from three-dimensional map data to thereby form the three- dimensional image on the course, and the three-dimensional image is presented to the user (step 5).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer-assisted electronic map information processing system, which uses a residential electronic map including a route search function and three-dimensional map (VRML map) data to generate an easy-to-understand three-dimensional road guidance image. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a body and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional computer-assisted electronic map information processing system, route guidance is generally performed by looking at a house electronic map, aerial photograph, or the like. There is also guidance by computer graphics from a viewpoint on the ground, as in the world of a three-dimensional virtual space, but this only presents a three-dimensional image (virtual space image) of a determined route.

[0003]

The above prior arts have the following problems. (1) In an electronic map information processing system using a computer, since only a guide map of a line of sight from a house electronic map, an aerial photograph, or the like can be created, guidance that assists the visual field during actual movement cannot be provided. (2) Guidance in computer graphics from the line of sight on the ground is only presentation of a three-dimensional image of a determined route, and it is not possible to arbitrarily determine a route and provide guidance on the route. For this reason, it is basically necessary to prepare a route in advance, and it is not possible to respond to a request other than the determined route.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to realize the generation and reproduction of a three-dimensional guide image which enables intuitively understandable and directly usable display.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for presenting a three-dimensional guide image,
By inputting the start point and end point of the route guidance, a route search is performed on a house electronic map to generate two-dimensional route data, and a viewpoint and a reproduction order in three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional image to be displayed on the route from the two-dimensional route data. And generating a three-dimensional image on a route by extracting a three-dimensional map of an effective field of view from the three-dimensional map data based on the viewpoint data,
The three-dimensional image is presented to a user.

In the method for presenting a three-dimensional guide image according to the second aspect of the present invention, in a place where the x and y coordinates form the same layer on the route and form a layer, a viewpoint in which a plurality of z coordinates are set is used as the viewpoint data. It is characterized by being included in.

Further, in the method for presenting a three-dimensional guide image according to the third aspect of the present invention, the user can select continuous reproduction or reproduction and stop of each three-dimensional image on the route presented to the user. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional route guidance image presenting apparatus for generating a two-dimensional route data by performing a route search on a residential electronic map by inputting a start point and an end point of the route guidance. Means for generating viewpoint data indicating the viewpoint and the reproduction order in the three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional image to be displayed on the route from the route data; and generating a three-dimensional map of an effective visual field from the three-dimensional map data based on the viewpoint data. There is provided a means for extracting and generating a three-dimensional image on the route, and presenting the three-dimensional image to a user.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing a three-dimensional guide image presenting program for generating a three-dimensional guide image from a home electronic map and three-dimensional map data and presenting the generated three-dimensional guide image to a user. A process of generating a two-dimensional route data by performing a route search on a residential electronic map by inputting a start point and an end point of the route guidance;
A process for generating viewpoint data indicating a viewpoint and a reproduction order in three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional image to be displayed on the route from the three-dimensional route data, and a three-dimensional effective visual field from the three-dimensional map data based on the viewpoint data And a process of extracting a map to generate a three-dimensional image on a route and presenting the three-dimensional image to a user.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an electronic map information processing system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a client device (user portable terminal) 10 is connected to a server (the present three-dimensional guide image providing device) 30 via a network. The server 30 includes a house electronic map (road network) 40, a position information file 51, an index file 52, and a three-dimensional file (VRML map) 53. Here, the three files 51, 52, and 53 are collectively referred to as a three-dimensional map data group.

The user inputs a departure place and a destination from the client device 10 and, if necessary, a display level, and requests the server 30 for route guidance. The server 30 generates a three-dimensional image file using the electronic house map 40 and the three-dimensional map data group 50 and sends the file to the client device 10.
The client device 10 displays the three-dimensional image file sent from the server 30. On the display screen, there are buttons for continuous reproduction of a three-dimensional image, reproduction / stop of each point on the route, rotation of the line of sight, and the like, and the user can select these buttons at any time.

FIG. 2 shows an overall processing flow of one embodiment of the three-dimensional guide image presentation processing of the present invention. In FIG. 2, steps 1, 2, and 6 are processing on the client (user) side, and steps 3, 4, and 5 are processing on the server side. The user inputs a starting point and a destination point (step 1). Further, the user sets display elements (display levels) of the three-dimensional image if necessary (step 2). First, the server generates a route file 110 representing the route from the input departure point to the destination point by the route search function of the residential land electronic map 40 (step 3). Next, the server generates a viewpoint file 120 in which a viewpoint to be displayed on the route, a stop viewpoint flag for the user to control reproduction, and the like are set from the route file 110 (step 4). In generating the viewpoint file 120, height information (z coordinate value) is added to the viewpoint using the position information file. Next, the server selects a necessary file from the three-dimensional file 53 with reference to the index file 52 based on the viewpoint file 120, and generates a three-dimensional image file 130 (step 5). And first, including the viewpoint of the departure point 3
The two-dimensional image file is displayed on the client (step 6). After that, the user selects on the display screen a three-dimensional walkthrough that automatically advances the viewpoint on the route sequentially, or controls the reproduction and stop of the three-dimensional image display for each point on the route. Then, switching of the three-dimensional image display is performed. The user can also perform display control of constantly changing the display level.

Hereinafter, each step will be described in detail. [Step 1] Input of a departure place and a destination is performed by inputting an address, inputting a telephone number, specifying a place on a map, and the like. On the server,
This input data is converted into the x coordinate and the y coordinate, respectively, and held.

[Step 2] The display level is set as shown in FIG.
The type shown by is set by ON / OFF. However, roads, sidewalks, pedestrian bridges (type 0), buildings, railways, and rivers (type 4) are always displayed. Thereby, the default display level can be set. Note that the display level may be set by the three-dimensional image provider in consideration of restrictions on the user's terminal and the like.

[Step 3] The route search uses the route search function of the electronic house map (road network) 40,
Create the path file 110. The route file 110 generated as a result of the route search includes route information, link information, and landmark information.

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the path file 110. The route information 111 defines the size of the display screen by the map width and the map height required for display in the route search result, and defines the upper left map coordinate value by the upper left offset. Then, the total number of links and the pointer to each link information corresponding to the entire route of the route search result, and the total number of landmarks as important landmark data on the route and the pointer to each landmark information are defined. The breakdown of each link information 112 is
A link ID for identifying the link, a link width and a distance, a start node ID which is a departure point, an end node ID which is a destination, and the number of points and data constituting the link. The breakdown of each landmark information 113 serving as a landmark during movement is a landmark ID for identifying a landmark, a landmark name, an address, and a node ID of the nearest landmark.

FIG. 5 shows a specific image of two-dimensional route data in the route search. Here, the nodes are at intersections and other major points. The road between the nodes is called a link. The link information has the ID of the link, the road width and the distance, and further has a start node ID and an end node ID. However, on a curved road or the like as shown in FIG. 5, at the time of a route search, a node is complemented by a route configuration point in the middle of the node in order to maintain the shape of the actual road. In addition, a target landmark during the movement is also extracted. In the viewpoint setting, nodes and route configuration points are candidates for viewpoints.

[Step 4] In viewpoint setting, step 3
Using the path file 110 generated in step (1), the total number of viewpoints to be displayed (nodes, constituent points in the middle of the node, and the like), a stop viewpoint flag that enables the user to control playback from that viewpoint,
Then, a viewpoint file 120 including a sequence of x and y coordinates of each viewpoint, viewpoint names, and the like is generated.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed processing flow of step 4. In step 4-1, the route file 110 as shown in FIG. 4 is read, and the coordinate values of all viewpoints are acquired using the route constituent point data therein. At this time, if the route file 110 is not aligned in the order from the starting point to the destination, all viewpoints are aligned in the order of the route from the starting point to the destination. In step 4-2, a difference between the next viewpoint coordinates and the current viewpoint coordinates is calculated, and a viewpoint direction vector is set. Also, here, using the path file 110, the point to be stopped at the time of reproduction is set by setting the View flag. Next, the number of all viewpoints is calculated, and a viewpoint file 120 as shown in FIG. 7 is created.

Up to this point, only the position of the plane has been specified, so it is necessary to add height information to the viewpoint information.
In step 4-3, the position information file 51 including the z coordinate as shown in FIG.
The z coordinate value is added to the viewpoint file 120 created in Step 2.
As shown in FIG. 8, the position information file 51 is a file defining position information of all nodes and meshes of the map. In a place where the x and y coordinates constitute the layer at the same position (for example, above ground and underground, on a bridge and above ground), z
Multiple coordinates are set. With this information, the z coordinate can be added to the viewpoint file 120.

[Step 5] In the extraction of a three-dimensional image file, the index file 52 is used to select a three-dimensional map (VRML map) file necessary for the route. The index file 52 includes a three-dimensional file 5
For 3, the name of each section, the number of points forming the section, and the coordinates (x, y) of the points forming the section are stored. From this index file 52, a rectangular range (display section) is set for each section of the vertex row of the route based on the viewpoint file 120, and the road or section range defined in the index file 52 is referred to. By extracting a three-dimensional image file that intersects the rectangular area,
The three-dimensional image file 130 required for display is extracted according to the visual field of the three-dimensional guide image.

FIG. 9 shows a detailed processing flow of step 5. In step 5-1, the viewpoint file 120 generated in step 4 is first read, and the viewpoint order is reconstructed in consideration of the height position. Reconstruction here is the determination of the layered viewpoint order. In a layered portion, a method is used in which the z coordinate of the immediately preceding viewpoint and the z coordinate of the immediately following viewpoint are observed, and the z coordinate closer to each is adopted. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 10, at the viewpoint VP2 in the layer, the z coordinate of the immediately preceding VP1 is closer to the smaller z coordinate of the VP2 (VP2), and the z coordinate of the next VP3 is the next. Since the coordinates are closer to the larger z-coordinate of VP2 (VP2 ′), VP1 → VP2 → vp2 ′ →
It is set so as to advance the viewpoint in the form of VP3.

Next, at step 5-2, the index file 52 is analyzed. FIG. 11 shows details of the index file 52. The index file 52 is 3
It defines index information of all files of the dimensional map data, and is managed separately for road sections and building sections. Further, road sections and building sections are further subdivided, and three-dimensional map data is managed in units of blocks so that the display thereof can be controlled. The block itself manages a range roughly using a plurality of coordinates as shown in the example of FIG. 12, and manages the number of coordinates and the range xy coordinates within this index. Actually, it has a format as shown in FIG. Using such an index file 52, a three-dimensional file intersecting with the display section is extracted as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 14, it is determined that the VRML sections that intersect with the range of the display section 1 are VRML sections A to H.

In step 5-3, distant landmarks which are considered to be visually entered are further extracted. In this process, as shown in FIG. 15, when there is a landmark that falls within the visual range (a portion surrounded by a square), the landmark is extracted as a building display landmark. The extracted data is obtained by setting the display level in step 2 or ON / OFF when switching the display level in step 6 described later.
Data display / non-display like the landmark (B-7) of the section B in FIG. 15 can be performed. Only the three-dimensional data thus extracted is written out as a three-dimensional image file 130 for display. VRM required for displaying 3D guide image at this time
This means that an L file and a viewpoint file corresponding to the display viewpoint are prepared.

For example, when the user selects the display level type (0, 2, 4, 7) in the display level switching item example shown in FIG. When the extracted display sections are Rblock01, 02 and Bblock01, 02 in the internal three-dimensional image file extraction processing, the following three-dimensional image files are sent to the client on the server side. The file names of types 0 to 3 are “R block name−type number.wrl”, and the file names of types 4 to 7 are “B block name−type number.wrl”.

RBlock 01-0. wrl RBlock01-2. wrl BBlock 01-4. wrl BBlock 01-7. wrl RBlock 02-0. wrl RBlock02-2. wrl BBlock02-4. wrl BBlock02-7. wrl

[Step 6] In displaying the three-dimensional image file, the three-dimensional image file of the departure place and the first viewpoint are read out from the viewpoint file, so that the departure place is displayed on the three-dimensional image display screen as shown in FIG. Display the image from the viewpoint. In FIG. 16, A is a VRML display screen, B is a button (control 1) used when playing back the route continuously from the starting point to the destination, and C is used when playing back the route point by point. Button (control 2), D is a button used to rotate the line of sight 360 degrees on each point, E is a check button used to switch the playback speed, F is a button used to switch the items displayed (Control 3). While viewing the screen, the user can continuously play the viewpoint from the departure point to the destination on the route (Control 1), or can control the playback stop of the viewpoint on the route (Control 1).
Select 2). The user can also select the display level at this time by checking the control 3.

While the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the algorithm of the processing flow of FIGS. 2, 6 and 9 is described in a computer-executable language, and is described as a three-dimensional guide image presentation program. Computer readable recording medium, for example, floppy disk, CD-
It can be provided by recording it in a ROM, a memory card, or the like.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By setting the starting point and destination, you can automatically extract the three-dimensional guidance image on the route and automatically display it continuously or
The user can browse and advance the viewpoint in the order of the routes.
Therefore, in an electronic map information processing system using a computer, it is possible to provide intuitive and easy-to-understand directions for a user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an electronic map information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall processing flowchart of one embodiment of a three-dimensional road guidance image providing process of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a switching item of a display level setting.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a path file.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a route search.

FIG. 6 is a detailed processing flowchart of viewpoint file generation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a viewpoint file.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of a position information file.

FIG. 9 is a detailed processing flowchart of generating a three-dimensional image file on a route.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the construction of a viewpoint order in consideration of a height position.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing detailed contents of an index file.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating block management of an index file.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of items in an index file.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a range in which a three-dimensional image file to be extracted is determined.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating landmark extraction.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a playback screen of a three-dimensional image file.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Client 20 Network 30 Server 40 Residential Electronic Map 50 3D Map Data Group 51 Location Information File 52 Index File 53 3D File 110 Route File 120 Viewpoint File 130 3D Image File

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Sugiyama 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (reference) 2C032 HB05 HC23 HC27 HD16 2F029 AB13 AC03 AC08 AC14 5B050 BA09 BA17 CA08 EA27 EA28 FA02 9A001 HH29 JJ11

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electronic house map and three-dimensional map data
A method for generating a two-dimensional route guidance image and presenting it to a user, comprising: inputting a start point and an end point of a route guide; performing a route search on a residential electronic map to generate two-dimensional route data; Generates viewpoint data indicating a viewpoint and a reproduction order in three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional image to be displayed on a route, extracts a three-dimensional map of an effective visual field from the three-dimensional map data based on the viewpoint data, and Generates a three-dimensional image of
3. presenting the three-dimensional image to a user.
Dimensional guide image presentation method. 2. In the method for presenting a three-dimensional guide image according to claim 1, at a place where the x and y coordinates form the same layer on the route and form a layer, a viewpoint in which a plurality of z coordinates are set is used as viewpoint data. A three-dimensional road guidance image presentation method characterized by including: 3. The three-dimensional road guidance image presentation method according to claim 1, wherein the user can select continuous reproduction or reproduction and stop for each viewpoint of the three-dimensional image presented to the user. Characteristic three-dimensional guide image presentation method. 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the electronic home map and the three-dimensional map data are used.
A device for generating a two-dimensional route guidance image and presenting it to a user, comprising means for performing a route search on a residential electronic map to generate two-dimensional route data by inputting a start point and an end point of the route guidance; 3D image 3 to be displayed on the route from the data
Means for generating viewpoint data indicating a viewpoint and a reproduction order in three-dimensional coordinates, extracting a three-dimensional map of an effective visual field from three-dimensional map data based on the viewpoint data, and generating a three-dimensional image on a route; A three-dimensional road guidance image presenting device, comprising: means for presenting the three-dimensional image to a user. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic house map and the three-dimensional map data are used for the three-dimensional map.
A computer-readable recording medium storing a three-dimensional guide image presentation program for generating a three-dimensional guide image and presenting it to a user. A process for generating two-dimensional route data by performing the above-mentioned processes, a process for generating viewpoint data indicating a viewpoint and a reproduction order in three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional image to be displayed on the route from the two-dimensional route data, A process of extracting a three-dimensional map of an effective field of view from the three-dimensional map data based on the data, generating a three-dimensional image on a route, and presenting the three-dimensional image to a user. Recording medium characterized by the above-mentioned.