JP2001209606A - Virtual space sharing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a virtual space sharing system capable of suppressing load to be applied to the communication processing of a virtual space sharing server even when the number of user terminals is increased while efficiently suppressing the communication band of each user terminal. SOLUTION: When avatar changing information is transmitted from plural user terminals 1, a multicast address management means 6 acquires the shared level of a partial area to which the avatar belongs and a multicast address corresponding to the shared level and a multicast communication means 8 transmits updating information corresponding to the avatar changing information to plural user terminals 1 by quality suited to respective user terminals 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a virtual space in which a plurality of user terminals connected to a network share a three-dimensional virtual space and provide an environment for performing various communications between users of the user terminals. Regarding shared systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional three-dimensional virtual space sharing device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Here, for the sake of simplicity, a case will be described where the virtual sharing apparatus accommodates three terminals. FIG.
, 2010 is a virtual space shared server, 2011,
2012 and 2013 are line interface units;
Is a position information distribution unit, 2015 is a distance calculation unit, 2016 is a gaze coincidence calculation unit, 2017 is a video thinning rate determination unit,
Reference numeral 018 denotes a video thinning / distribution unit. 2019, 202
Reference numerals 3 and 2027 denote internal buses for receiving video, and 2020 and 202.
4, 2028 are internal buses for video transmission, 2021, 202
5, 2029 are internal buses for receiving position information;
026 and 2030 are internal buses for transmitting position information;
Is an internal bus for transferring distance calculation results, 2032 is an internal bus for transferring gaze coincidence calculation results, 2033 is an internal bus for notifying a video thinning rate, and 2034, 2035, and 2036 are communication lines.

Next, the operation will be described. The virtual space sharing server 2010 has INS64 lines 2034 and 203
5, 2036, and transmits and receives video and positional information to and from a terminal (not shown). First, the lines 2034, 2035,
The data received from the line interface 2036 is received by the line interface units 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively. The line interface units 2011, 2012, 2013
The received data is analyzed.
The video is transferred to the video thinning / distribution unit 2018 via 9, 20, 23, and 2027.

The line interface units 2011 and 201
2, 2013, if the received data is position information,
The position information is transferred to the position information distribution unit 2014, the distance calculation unit 2015, and the eye-gaze coincidence calculation unit 2016 via the internal buses 2021, 2025, and 2029. Location information distribution unit 2
Reference numeral 014 copies the position information received from the internal bus 2021 and transfers it to the line interface units 2012 and 2013 via the internal buses 2026 and 2030.

[0005] The location information distribution unit 2014 copies the location information received from the internal bus 2025 and copies it to the internal bus 20.
22 and 2030 via the line interface unit 201
1, 2013. Further, the location information distribution unit 20
14 copies the position information received from the internal bus 2029 and transfers it to the line interface units 2011 and 2012 via the internal buses 2022 and 2026.

The distance calculation unit 2015 includes an internal bus 2021,
The mutual distance d is calculated from the position information received via 2025 and 2029. The distance is compared with the depth L of the virtual space, and if 0 <d ≦ L / 4, the value 4 is changed to L / 4 <d
≤L / 2, value 3; L / 2 <d≤3L / 4, value 2
If 3L / 4 <d ≦ L, the value 1 is given, and the internal bus 203
1 to the video thinning rate determination unit 2017.

The eye-gaze coincidence calculation unit 2016 has an internal 202
From the position information received via 1, 2025, 2029,
The intersection angle θ of the line of sight between the users is calculated. If there is an overlap between the field of view of one user and the field of view of another user, the value of the user is 3; if there is no overlap, 0 <θ ≦
If the angle is 45 degrees, the value is 2; if the angle is 45 degrees <θ ≦ 90 degrees, the value is 1;
If 0 degree <θ ≦ 180 degrees, the value 0 is given, and the internal bus 2032
Is transferred to the video thinning rate determination unit 2017 via the.

[0008] The video thinning rate determination unit 2017 calculates the product of d and θ for each user, and based on this value, determines the distribution of transmission bit rates to the terminals of each user so that the total is 64 kbit / sec. The data is determined by proportional distribution and transferred to the video thinning / distribution unit 2018 via the internal bus 2033. The video thinning / distribution unit 2018 stores the video received from the internal buses 2023 and 2027 in the internal bus 2020.
24 receives the images received from the internal buses 2019 and 2027, and the internal bus 2028 stores the images received from the internal buses 2019 and 2023.
The video received from the video decimation rate determining unit 201
7 based on the transmission bit rate distribution received via the internal bus 2033, and performs the thinning process and transfers.

[0009] Decimation takes one of two methods: reducing the number of frames per second, reducing the resolution, or reducing both. Line interface units 2011, 2012, 201
3 are internal buses 2020, 2024, and 2028, respectively.
From the lines 2034, 2035,
2036.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a network connection form used by the three-dimensional virtual space sharing server. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, the network connection form used by the three-dimensional virtual space sharing server is a star connection. In FIG. 19, reference numeral 2101 denotes a terminal, 2103 denotes a video server, 2104 denotes a public network, and 2105 denotes a line. The terminal 2101 and the video server 2103 are connected to a line 2105
Is connected to the public network 2104 via the network, and information of the three-dimensional virtual space is transmitted from the video server 2103 to the terminal 2101. Here, the virtual space sharing server 201 in FIG.
0 corresponds to the video server 2103 in FIG.

[0011]

As described above,
In the conventional three-dimensional virtual space sharing system, when a server provides information of a virtual space to a large number of user terminals, the user of each user terminal aims at efficiently using the communication band of the user terminal. The number of user terminals increases because the quality of information provision to each user terminal is individually set based on the distance between one avatar and another avatar, and the information provided to each user terminal is transmitted. As a result, there is a problem that transmission processing to each user terminal increases, the load on the communication processing of the server sharply increases, and the response performance of the system is greatly affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and a three-dimensional virtual space is shared between a plurality of user terminals connected to a network, and a user of the user terminal In a virtual space sharing system that provides an environment for performing various communications between users, when the server provides information on the virtual space to a large number of user terminals, the server divides the virtual space into partial areas, and Based on the distance between the partial area to which the avatar belongs and each partial area, set the sharing level of the user terminal and each partial area, set the quality of update information by the sharing level, and share each partial area By allocating multicast communication channels for each level, even if the number of user terminals increases, the load on the server's communication processing can be reduced while effectively suppressing the communication bandwidth of each user terminal. There is provided a virtual space sharing system that allows to suppress.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The first invention has the following elements. (A) Connected via a network, share the same virtual space, transmit change information of avatars moving in this virtual space, and receive update information of each avatar updated based on this change information A plurality of user terminals connected to the network, and based on avatar change information transmitted from any of the plurality of user terminals, the avatars of the plurality of user terminals are connected to the network. A virtual space sharing server that transmits update information to the plurality of user terminals and has the following elements: (b1) an object management unit that divides the virtual space into a plurality of partial areas; The sharing level for setting the quality of update information of the partial area to which the avatars of the plurality of user terminals belong is set for each of the plurality of partial areas based on the distance of the plurality of user terminals. Level setting means; (b3) multicast address allocating means for allocating a multicast address for transmitting avatar update information of the plurality of user terminals for each of the sharing levels set in the plurality of partial areas; (b4) When the avatar change information is transmitted from any of the plurality of user terminals, the share level of the partial area to which the avatar of the arbitrary user terminal belongs and the multicast address corresponding to the share level are set. (B5) Update information of avatars of the plurality of user terminals based on the sharing level and the multicast address acquired by the multicast address management means. Multicast to be transmitted to the above multiple user terminals with quality suitable for each Communication means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of user terminals having multicast group management means for transmitting a message for joining or leaving the multicast group having the same multicast address to the virtual space sharing server; Upon receiving the message transmitted by the management means, the virtual space sharing server having a participant number storage means for storing the number of participants in the multicast group, and the multicast communication means are stored in a participant number storage. And a multicast communication means for checking the number of participants in the multicast group and transmitting avatar update information to the multicast group in which the number of participants is stored.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sharing level setting means for setting a sharing level for determining low-quality update information for each of a plurality of adjacent partial areas among the plurality of partial areas; A share level setting means for setting a share level for determining low-quality update information for each area obtained by dividing a partial area into an area composed of a plurality of adjacent partial areas; Multicast address allocating means for allocating a similar multicast address to a plurality of partial areas.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shared level setting means for setting the shared level in the plurality of partial areas based on a communication state between the plurality of user terminals and the virtual space sharing server. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the sharing level is assigned to the plurality of partial areas based on a plurality of user terminals for performing a virtual space display process and a load of the virtual space display process of the plurality of user terminals. And a sharing level setting means for setting.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a sharing level setting means for setting the sharing level in the plurality of partial areas based on directions of avatars of the plurality of user terminals.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a plurality of user terminals having input processing means for inputting a request for detailed information of a specific partial area from a user, and the sharing level setting means are input by the input processing means. Sharing level setting means for setting a sharing level of the specific partial area based on a request for detailed detailed information of the specific partial area.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the virtual space sharing system according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e) is a user terminal used by a user, 2 is a virtual space sharing server, 3 is an object management unit, 4 is a sharing level setting unit, and 5 is a multicasting unit. Address assigning means, 6 is a multicast address managing means, 7 is a multicast group managing means, 8 is a multicast communication means, 9 is an update information transmitting means, and 10 is an update information receiving means. In FIG. 1, the user terminal 1a is provided with the multicast group management means 7
And the update information transmission means 9 are provided, but the multicast group management means 7 and the update information transmission means 9 are also provided in the user terminals 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e, similarly to the user terminal 1a. (Although not shown in the user terminals 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e of FIG. 1, a multicast group management unit 7 and an update information transmission unit 9 are provided, respectively).

FIG. 2 shows that the virtual space is divided into 16 partial areas L1.
~ L16, the avatar A1 of the user of the user terminal 1
It is a figure which shows a mode that ~ A5 is arrange | positioned. FIG. 3 sets the sharing level of each partial area to four levels of 0, 1, 2, and 3,
It is a figure showing signs that quality at the time of providing information on partial field L3 was defined. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where multicast addresses are assigned to four levels of sharing levels of each partial area. Here, the multicast address is an address for communication when transmitting information on the avatar belonging to each partial area to the user terminal 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating, with respect to the partial area to which the avatar A1 of the user terminal 1 belongs, the sharing level set in each partial area and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the virtual space server 2, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the user terminal 1. The user terminals 1 share the same virtual space. The user of the user terminal 1 can operate his / her avatar A to move in the virtual space. Object management means 3
Divides the virtual space into a plurality of partial areas L as shown in FIG.
1 to L16, and each object has a partial area L
(Step S1).

FIG. 2 shows the avatar A1 of the user of the user terminal 1a in the partial area L6, the avatar A2 of the user of the user terminal 1b in the partial area L7, and the avatar A3 of the user of the user terminal 1c. The partial area L3 indicates that the avatar A4 of the user of the user terminal 1d is located in the partial area L11, and the avatar A5 of the user of the user terminal 1e is located in the partial area L16.

Here, the avatar A3 of the user of the user terminal 1c belonging to the partial area L3 changes information on his / her avatar A3, and the user terminal 1 shares the changed information of the avatar A3 with the virtual space. The description will be made by taking the reception via the server 2 as an example. Here, the number of levels of the sharing level is four. First, the sharing level setting means 4 sets a sharing level for each partial area for each partial area based on the distance between the partial areas (step S2). FIG. 3 shows the sharing level set for each of the partial areas L3.

Next, the multicast address assigning means 5
Assigns a multicast address for each sharing level of each partial area (step S3). FIG. 4 shows a multicast address assigned to each partial area for each sharing level.

Next, the multicast address management means 6 acquires the sharing level set by the sharing level setting means 4. For example, the partial area L3 is the user terminal 1
The sharing level 2 is set for the partial area L6 to which the avatar A1 of a belongs, and the multicast address management unit 6 acquires the sharing level 2.

The multicast address management means 6 acquires a multicast address corresponding to the sharing level from the multicast addresses assigned by the multicast address allocating means 5 for each sharing level of each partial area. Here, the acquired multicast address is, for example, the multicast address assigned to the sharing level 2 of the partial area L3 from the multicast address for each sharing level shown in FIG. 4 is 230.10.3.2. is there.

Similarly, a sharing level 2 is set for the partial area L3 in the partial area L7 to which the avatar A2 of the user terminal 1b belongs, and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level 2 is shown in FIG. 230.10.3.2 shown in L3 sharing level 2. Also, a sharing level 3 is set for the partial area L3 in the partial area L3 to which the avatar A3 of the user terminal 1c belongs, and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level 3 is
230.1 shown in sharing level 3 of L3 in FIG.
0.3.3.

Further, a sharing level 1 is set for the partial area L3 in the partial area L11 to which the avatar A4 of the user terminal 1d belongs, and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level 1 is L3 in FIG. Sharing level 1
Is 230.10.3.1. Also, the sharing level 0 is set for the partial area L3 in the partial area L16 to which the avatar A5 of the user terminal 1e belongs,
No multicast address corresponding to this sharing level 0 is assigned.

As described above, the multicast address management means 6 performs the same processing for the partial area other than the partial area L3, and sets the shared area set for the partial area L6 to which the avatar A1 of the user terminal 1a belongs. A list of multicast addresses corresponding to the level is generated (step S4).

FIG. 5 shows a correspondence table between the sharing level set in each partial area and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level for the partial area L6 to which the avatar A1 of the user terminal 1a belongs. .

That is, the sharing level 2 corresponding to the partial area L6 is set in the partial area L1 of FIG. 5, and the multicast address of this sharing level 2 is set to the sharing level 2 of the partial area L1 of FIG. 230 assigned.
10.1.2 is shown. Further, the partial area L in FIG.
2, a sharing level 2 corresponding to the partial area L6 is set, and the multicast address of this sharing level 2 is 230.10.2.2 assigned to the sharing level 2 of the partial area L2 in FIG. It is shown. Hereinafter, FIG.
Similarly, the sharing level and the multicast address are shown in the other partial areas.

On the other hand, in the user terminal 1a, the multicast group management means 7 stores a list of multicast addresses for the partial area L6 to which the avatar A1 of the user of the user terminal 1a managed by the multicast address management means 6 belongs. Acquired (step S11), the user terminal 1a joins a multicast group in the list (step S12). That is, the user terminal 1a
Then, for the partial area L3, it joins the multicast group with the multicast address 230.10.3.2.

Similarly, the user terminal 1b participates in the multicast group having the multicast address 230.10.3.2, and the user terminal 1c participates in the multicast group having the multicast address 230.10.3.3. In terminal 1d, multicast address 2
Participate in the multicast group of 30.10.3.1, and do not participate in the multicast group at the user terminal 1e.

When the avatar A3 of the user of the user terminal 1c belonging to the partial area L3 changes the information of his / her own avatar A3, the update information transmitting means 9 of the user terminal 1c transmits the change information of the avatar A3. This is transmitted to the virtual space sharing server 2.
In the virtual space sharing server 2, the update information receiving means 10 receives the change information of the avatar A3 (step S5), and the object managing means 3 knows that the partial area to which the avatar A3 belongs is L3 (step S6).

Further, the multicast address management means 6 acquires the multicast address from the correspondence table of the sharing level and the multicast address assigned to the partial area L3 to which the avatar A3 belongs. The multicast communication means 8 has a multicast address 230.
10.3.1 multicast group with quality 1
The update information of the avatar A3 is transmitted with the quality 2 to the multicast group having the multicast address 230.10.3.2 and the quality 3 to the multicast group having the multicast address 230.10.3.3 (step S7). Here, the update information to be transmitted becomes higher quality information in the order of quality 1, 2, and 3.

The user terminal 1a receives the quality 2 update information transmitted to the multicast address 230.10.3.2 (step S13). Similarly, in the user terminal 1b, the multicast address 230.10.
3.2 Receive the quality 2 update information transmitted. In the user terminal 1c, the multicast address 230.1
The update information of quality 3 transmitted in 0.3.3 is received.
In the user terminal 1d, the multicast address 230.
10. The quality 1 update information transmitted in 10.3.1 is received. The user terminal 1e does not receive the update information on the avatar A3.

Also, in the virtual space sharing server, the avatar of the user of the user terminal 1 moves across the partial area,
When a change occurs in the partial area to which the avatar belongs, the multicast address management unit 6 regenerates a list of multicast addresses (step S8).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the virtual space sharing server provides the user terminal with high-quality update information on the partial area close to the user's avatar from the user's avatar. Update information on a distant partial area can be provided with low quality. In this way, by transmitting update information of different qualities using multicast communication, it is possible to effectively reduce the communication band to the user terminal, thereby suppressing an increase in the communication load of the virtual space shared server. This has the advantage that a large-scale virtual space sharing system can be constructed.

Embodiment 2 Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the virtual space sharing system according to the second embodiment. In FIG.
1a, 1b, 1c are user terminals used by the user, 2 is a virtual space sharing server, 3 is an object management unit, 4 is a sharing level setting unit, 5 is a multicast address allocating unit, and 6 is a multicast address managing unit. , 7 are multicast group management means, 8 is multicast communication means, 9 is update information transmission means, 10 is update information reception means, and 11 is participant number storage means. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the virtual space is divided into 16 partial regions L1 to L16, and avatars A1 to A3 of the user of the user terminal 1 are arranged.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 9 shows the avatar A1 of the user terminal 1a in the partial area L6, the avatar A2 of the user terminal 1b in the partial area L7, and the user terminal 1c.
Is located in the partial region L3. Here, the user terminal 1c belonging to the partial area L3
An example will be described in which the user's avatar A3 changes information with respect to his / her own avatar A3, and the user terminal 1 receives the change information of the avatar A3 via the virtual space sharing server 2. I do.

First, the sharing level setting means 4 sets four levels of sharing levels for each partial area based on the distance between the partial areas. FIG. 3 shows the sharing level set for each partial area by the partial area L3. As shown in FIG. 4, the multicast address assigning means 5 assigns a multicast address to each sharing level.

The multicast address management means 6 comprises:
The sharing level set by each partial area and the multicast address assigned to the sharing level are acquired. For example, the partial area L3 is the avatar A of the user terminal 1a.
The sharing level 2 is set for the partial area L6 to which 1 belongs, and the corresponding multicast address is 23.
0.10.3.2.

Similarly, a sharing level 2 is set for the partial area L7 to which the avatar A2 of the user terminal 1b belongs, and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level 2 is 230.10.3.2. . Also, a sharing level 3 is set for the partial area L3 to which the avatar A3 of the user terminal 1c belongs, and the multicast address corresponding to the sharing level 3 is 230.10.3.3.

In the user terminal 1a, the multicast group management means 7 acquires a list of multicast addresses for the partial area L6 to which the avatar A1 of the user of the user terminal 1a managed by the multicast address management means 6 belongs. , The user terminal 1a joins the multicast group in the list. That is, the user terminal 1a joins the multicast group having the multicast address 230.10.3.2 for the partial area L3.

Similarly, the user terminal 1b joins the multicast group of the multicast address 230.10.3.2, and the user terminal 1c joins the multicast group of the multicast address 230.10.3.3.

The multicast group management means 7
Sends a message to join or leave the multicast group to the virtual space sharing server 2 when joining or leaving the multicast group. When the virtual space sharing server 2 receives the message for joining or leaving the multicast group from the user terminal 1, the number-of-participants storage unit 11 updates and stores the number of participants for each multicast group.

When the avatar A3 of the user of the user terminal 1c belonging to the partial area L3 changes the information of his / her own avatar A3, the update information transmitting means 9 of the user terminal 1c transmits the change information of the avatar A3. This is transmitted to the virtual space sharing server 2.
In the virtual space sharing server 2, the update information receiving means 10 receives the change information of the avatar A3,
Thus, the partial area to which the avatar A3 belongs is L3.

Further, the multicast address management means 6 obtains a correspondence table between the sharing level assigned to the partial area L3 to which the avatar A3 belongs and the multicast address, and the multicast communication means 8 stores the number of participants in the number-of-participants storage means 11. The number of participants of the stored multicast group is checked, and the update information of the avatar A3 is not transmitted to the multicast group having zero participants. In other words, the multicast communication means 8 is the participant number storage means 1
1 is checked, and when the number of participants is stored in the multicast group, avatar update information is transmitted to this multicast group. In this example, the multicast address 230.10 is used. 3.2.2 multicast group with quality 2 and multicast address 230.1
The update information of the avatar A3 is transmitted to the multicast group of 0.3.3 with the quality of 3, and the transmission is performed to the multicast group of the multicast address 230.10.3.1 where the number of participants is zero. Absent.

The user terminal 1a receives the quality 2 update information transmitted to the multicast address 230.10.3.2. Similarly, the user terminal 1b receives the quality 2 update information transmitted to the multicast address 230.10.3.2. The user terminal 1c receives the quality 3 update information transmitted to the multicast address 230.10.3.3.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the virtual space sharing server 2 performs unnecessary multicast transmission processing by checking the number of participants of the multicast group before transmitting to the multicast group. Therefore, there is an advantage that transmission processing to the user terminal 1 can be reduced and a communication band can be saved.

Embodiment 3 FIG. In the above embodiment, the multicast addresses of the number of sharing levels are individually assigned to each partial area. However, in this embodiment,
Considering that the amount of communication for sharing low-quality information is small and the influence on the communication band of the user terminal is small, it is necessary to share low-quality information with a plurality of adjacent partial areas. A method of sharing a multicast address will be described.

FIG. 10 shows that the virtual space is divided into 16 partial areas L1.
It is the figure divided into L16. FIG. 11 is a diagram in which a multicast address is assigned to each partial area for each sharing level. As shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that the virtual space is divided into partial regions L1 to L16. Also,
FIG. 11 shows an example in which four adjacent partial areas share a multicast address assigned to low-quality sharing level 1.

As described above, four adjacent partial regions L
1, L2, L5, and L6 use a common 230.10.101.1 as a multicast address of the sharing level 1, and similarly, L3, L4, L7, and L8 are 230.1.
0.102.1, L9, L10, L13, L14 are 2
30.10.103.1 to L11, L12, L15,
It is shown that L16 uses 230.10.104.1. The basic operation in the present embodiment in which the multicast address is used by a plurality of adjacent partial areas is the same as in the first embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the multicast address of the sharing level 1 is shared, but a multicast address of another sharing level may be shared.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the number of usable multicast addresses is limited, it is used for low-quality information sharing that has little effect on the communication band of the user terminal 1. Sharing the multicast address between adjacent partial areas has the advantage that the number of multicast addresses to be assigned can be reduced.

Embodiment 4 In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the sharing level is set or changed in consideration of the difference in communication performance with respect to the user terminal, that is, the communication state between the user terminal and the virtual space sharing server. FIG. 12 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is raised for the user terminal 1a having the avatar A1 in the partial area L6. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the sharing level of each partial environment with respect to the normal user terminal 1b having the avatar A2 in the partial area L6. FIG.
4 is a user terminal 1c having an avatar A3 in a partial area L6
FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is lowered.

In this embodiment, the sharing level is increased for the user terminal 1a having high communication performance as shown in FIG. For the terminal 1c, the sharing level is lowered as shown in FIG. Even when the sharing level for the user terminal 1 is set or changed, the basic operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is an advantage that information of quality suitable for the communication environment of the user terminal 1 can be provided by taking into account the difference in communication performance of the user terminal 1. .

Embodiment 5 FIG. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the sharing level is set and changed in consideration of the performance difference of the virtual space display processing for the user terminal. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is raised for the user terminal 1a having an avatar in the partial area L6. FIG.
3 is a normal user terminal 1 having an avatar in the partial area L6
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a sharing level of each partial environment with respect to b.
FIG. 14 shows a user terminal 1c having an avatar in the partial area L6.
FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is lowered.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the sharing level is increased for the user terminal 1a having the high virtual space display processing performance, and the low virtual For the user terminal 1c having the spatial display processing performance, the sharing level is lowered as shown in FIG. In this embodiment in which the sharing level for the user terminal 1 is set and changed, the basic operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, quality information suitable for the display processing environment of the user terminal 1 can be provided by considering the performance difference of the virtual space display processing of the user terminal 1. It has the advantage that.

Embodiment 6 FIG. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the sharing level with each partial area is set and changed according to the direction of the avatar of the user terminal. FIG. 15 shows an avatar of the user terminal 1 when the virtual space is divided into 16 partial areas L1 to L16 and the avatar of the user of the user terminal 1 is arranged in the partial area L6 in the direction of the partial area L2. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a sharing level of a partial region to which a.

In FIG. 15, the sharing level of the front partial areas L1, L2, L3, and L4 with a large amount of information to be provided to the user is increased, and the rear partial area L with a small amount of information to be provided to the user is increased.
9, the sharing level of L10, L11, and L12 is reduced. In this embodiment in which the sharing level for the user terminal 1 is set and changed, the basic operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by considering the direction of the avatar of the user terminal 1, useful information is provided to the user of the user terminal 1 with high quality, and non-useful information is provided. It has the advantage that it can be provided with low quality.

Embodiment 7 FIG. The present embodiment describes an example in which a user of a user terminal sets and changes a sharing level with each partial area according to his / her own will. FIG. 16 shows a case where the virtual space is divided into 16 partial regions L1 to L16, and the avatar of the user of the user terminal 1 is arranged in the partial region L6. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a sharing level of a partial region of FIG. FIG.
FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of a virtual space sharing system according to a seventh embodiment. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 12 denotes an input processing means.

In FIG. 16, it is assumed that the user is interested in the object P belonging to the partial area L3 while positioning the avatar in the partial area L6. The user requests the input processing means 12 for detailed information of the partial area L3. The input processing means 12 outputs the set partial area L3
Is requested to the virtual space sharing server 2. Then, the sharing level setting unit 4 of the virtual space sharing server 2 changes the sharing level for the set partial area L3, and the L6 to which the avatar of the user terminal 1 belongs
Is increased by one step from 2 to 3. In this embodiment in which the sharing level for the user terminal 1 is set and changed, the basic operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the sharing level can be arbitrarily set and changed for each partial area based on a request from the user of the user terminal 1. There is an advantage that information can be provided with a quality that satisfies the requirements of the user of the user terminal 1.

[0068]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

In the first invention, when avatar change information is transmitted from a plurality of user terminals, a plurality of avatar change information is transmitted based on a sharing level of a partial area to which the avatar belongs and a multicast address corresponding to the sharing level. By transmitting update information corresponding to avatar change information to multiple user terminals with quality suitable for each of the user terminals, the communication band to the user terminals can be reduced. However, even if the number increases, the load on the communication processing of the virtual space sharing server can be suppressed.

[0070] In the second invention, the multicast communication means is provided for the multicast group in which the message for joining or leaving the multicast group having the same multicast address transmitted by the user terminal is stored in the number-of-participants storage means. By transmitting the update information of the avatar, unnecessary multicast transmission processing is not performed, so that the communication band to the user terminal can be reduced and the communication band can be saved.

In the third invention, a sharing level for determining low-quality update information is set for each area including a plurality of partial areas, and the multicast address allocating means sets the plurality of areas constituting the area to which the sharing level is set. By assigning a similar multicast address to the partial area, the number of multicast addresses can be reduced.

In the fourth invention, the sharing level setting means comprises:
By setting the sharing level in a plurality of partial areas based on the communication state between the plurality of user terminals and the virtual space sharing server, it is possible to provide quality information suitable for the display processing environment of the user terminals.

In the fifth invention, the sharing level setting means comprises:
By setting the sharing level for a plurality of partial areas based on the load of the virtual space display processing of a plurality of user terminals, it is possible to provide quality information suitable for the display processing environment of the user terminals.

In the sixth aspect, the sharing level setting means includes:
Based on the direction of the avatars of a plurality of user terminals, by setting the sharing level in a plurality of partial areas, useful information is provided to users of the user terminals with high quality, and non-useful information is reduced in quality. Can be provided by

In the seventh invention, the sharing level setting means comprises:
By setting the sharing level of the specific partial area based on the request for the detailed detailed information of the specific partial area input by the input processing means, it is possible to provide quality information that satisfies the request of the user of the user terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a virtual space sharing system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram in which a virtual space is divided and a user avatar is arranged in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial area is set to four levels in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram in which a multicast address is assigned to four levels of sharing levels of each partial area in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sharing level set for each partial area and a multicast address corresponding to the sharing level in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the virtual space server 2 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the user terminal 1 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a virtual space sharing system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram in which a virtual space is divided and a user avatar is arranged in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram in which a virtual space is divided according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram in which a multicast address is assigned for each sharing level in the third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is increased for the user terminal 1a in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a normal user terminal 1 according to the fourth embodiment.
The figure which shows the sharing level of each partial environment with respect to b.

FIG. 14 is a diagram in which the sharing level of each partial environment is reduced for the user terminal 1a in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a sharing level of another partial area with respect to the direction of the avatar of the user terminal 1a in the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a sharing level of another partial area with respect to the partial area to which the avatar of the user terminal 1a belongs in the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a virtual space sharing system according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram of a conventional three-dimensional virtual space sharing apparatus.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a network connection mode used by a three-dimensional virtual space sharing server of a conventional three-dimensional virtual space sharing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 user terminal, 2 virtual space shared server, 3 object management means, 4 sharing level setting means, 5 multicast address assignment means, 6 multicast address management means, 7 multicast group management means,
8 multicast communication means, 9 update information transmitting means,
10 Update information receiving means, 11 Participant number storage means, 1
2 Input processing means.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B050 AA08 BA08 BA11 BA12 CA07 CA08 EA24 EA27 FA02 5B089 GA11 JA17 JB22 KA06 KA08 LB17 5K030 GA03 HC01 HD09 JT06 KA01 KA05 LD06 LD08 LD17 LE11 MD09 5K033 AA03 CB13 DA01 DA01 9A001 BB04 JJ18 JJ27 KK56 LL09

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A virtual space sharing system comprising the following elements. (A) Connected via a network, share the same virtual space, transmit change information of avatars moving in this virtual space, and receive update information of each avatar updated based on this change information A plurality of user terminals connected to the network, and based on avatar change information transmitted from any of the plurality of user terminals, the avatars of the plurality of user terminals are connected to the network. A virtual space sharing server that transmits update information to the plurality of user terminals and has the following elements: (b1) an object management unit that divides the virtual space into a plurality of partial areas; The sharing level for setting the update information quality of the partial area to which the avatars of the plurality of user terminals belong based on the distance of Level setting means; (b3) multicast address allocating means for allocating a multicast address for transmitting avatar update information of the plurality of user terminals for each of the sharing levels set in the plurality of partial areas; (b4) When the avatar change information is transmitted from any of the plurality of user terminals, the share level of the partial area to which the avatar of the arbitrary user terminal belongs and the multicast address corresponding to the share level are set. (B5) Update information of avatars of the plurality of user terminals based on the sharing level and the multicast address acquired by the multicast address management means. Multicast to be transmitted to the above multiple user terminals with quality suitable for each Communication means. 2. The virtual space sharing server, wherein the plurality of user terminals include multicast group management means for transmitting a message for joining or leaving the multicast group having the same multicast address to the virtual space sharing server. Comprises a number-of-participants storage means for storing the number of participants in the multicast group when receiving the message transmitted by the multicast group management means, wherein the multicast communication means is stored in a number-of-participants storage unit. 2. The virtual space sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the number of participants in the multicast group is checked, and avatar update information is transmitted to the multicast group in which the number of participants is stored. 3. The sharing level setting means sets a sharing level for determining low-quality update information for each of a plurality of adjacent sub-regions among the plurality of sub-regions. 2. The virtual space sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the means assigns a similar multicast address to the plurality of partial areas constituting the area in which the sharing level is set. 4. The sharing level setting unit sets the sharing level in the plurality of partial areas based on a communication state between the plurality of user terminals and a virtual space sharing server. 2. The virtual space sharing system according to 1. 5. The plurality of user terminals perform display processing of a virtual space, and the sharing level setting means determines the plurality of partial areas based on a load of the virtual space display processing of the plurality of user terminals. The virtual space sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the sharing level is set in the virtual space. 6. The virtual space according to claim 1, wherein said sharing level setting means sets said sharing level in said plurality of partial areas based on directions of avatars of said plurality of user terminals. Sharing system. 7. The plurality of user terminals include input processing means for inputting a request for detailed information of a specific partial area from a user, and the share level setting means includes a function for inputting a request from the input processing means. 2. The virtual space sharing system according to claim 1, wherein a sharing level of the specific partial area is set based on a request for detailed detailed information of the specific partial area.