JP2004253009A - Virtual space display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve high-speed plotting and a low-cost system capable of giving a feeling of movement similar to that in actual space, by solving a problem that, in conventional walkthrough in virtual space, it is impossible to walk while watching surrounding objects because a moving direction is the same as a view direction. <P>SOLUTION: Displaying a moving human model permits a user to recognize the scale of the virtual space. Further, the determination of a screen display position referring to the viewpoint of the walking human model causes the screen to slightly shift to improve a feeling of attendance according to the movement by walking. As a result, a low-cost system, which can give a sense of moving distance similar to that in the actual space, can be achieved without use of a special device. Furthermore, setting objects to be gazed and displaying them at all times allows movement by walking while watching something in the virtual space, leading to a natural representation more similar to the motion in the actual space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a virtual space display method for movement in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics.

  Conventionally, movement in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics has been performed smoothly by linear interpolation to a designated target or in a designated direction.

In addition, a screen at a viewpoint position corresponding to the user's field of view was displayed (FIG. 17).
Further, during the movement, a screen display has been performed in which the moving direction and the direction of the visual field coincide with each other, or the screen moves parallel to the left and right while keeping the line of sight. However, in the case of linear and smooth movement, the sense of presence of movement by walking is poor. In addition, in the display as the user's visual field, it is very difficult to recognize the size of the space in a space that is unfamiliar or in a space with few objects. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the moving distance to the target.

In addition, the method of matching the moving direction with the direction of the field of view or the parallel movement of the left and right has a problem in that the user cannot move while gazing at something.
On the other hand, Hiroo Iwata et al .: "The Reality and Analysis of Dynamic Walking in a Walkthrough Simulator", Human Interface N & R, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 199-204 (1993), Michitaka Hirose et al .: "Study on Synthesis of Moving Distance Sense", Human Interface N & R, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. As described in 277-282 (1995), a method has been adopted in which a walking motion is input using a special device to give a sense of moving distance.

  However, the use of such a special device has a problem that the cost is high both spatially and costly. Further, the method of always displaying a walking person has a problem that the drawing speed is slow.

  Recently, there is a 3D viewer for the World Wide Web such as webspace, and each site can walk through a three-dimensional space constructed by VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). However, the interface for the walk-through is such as operating a control object such as a steering wheel, which is far from the feeling that a user is walking around in a space (FIG. 18).

  The present invention has been devised for such a problem. There is a problem that simply moving in the three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics does not generate a sufficient sense of distance.

  In the conventional walk-through, since the moving direction and the viewpoint direction match, it was not possible to walk while looking at surrounding objects. It aims at realizing a low-cost system that can speed up drawing and give a feeling of movement close to the real space.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in a virtual space display device for displaying the movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics, a moving object And a swing calculation unit that calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position, and the movement based on the position calculated by the shake calculation unit. A display for displaying the movement of the object.

  In a virtual space display method for displaying a movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics, a change in a reference position of the moving object is obtained from an operation of key frame data storing data of an operation part. A swing calculating unit that calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position, and a position of the moving object displayed on a screen based on the position calculated by the swing calculating unit. A screen display position setting unit for setting a display position, and a display for displaying the movement of the object at the display position set by the screen display setting unit are provided.

  Further, in a virtual space display device for displaying the movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics, a change in a reference position of the moving object is obtained from the operation of the key frame data storing the data of the operation part. A swing calculation unit that calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position, and a screen display position that sets a screen display position based on the position calculated by the shake calculation unit. And a display for displaying the movement of the moving object from the screen display position set by the screen display setting unit.

  As a result, according to the virtual space display method of the present invention, it is easy to grasp the size of the space by displaying the moving human body. In addition, since the screen display position is determined with reference to the viewpoint of the human body that moves while walking, the screen slightly shakes, and the sense of presence of the movement by walking increases. As a result, it is possible to realize a low-cost system that can provide a sense of moving distance close to an actual space without using a special device.

  Furthermore, by setting a gaze object and displaying it constantly, it is possible to move while walking while seeing something in the virtual space, realizing a natural display that is closer to operation in a real space. .

  As described above, according to the present invention, when a user walks through a virtual space, the user can easily grasp the size of the space due to the human body size and the background, and has a sense of realism while walking and moving. be able to. As a result, it is possible to realize a low-cost system that can obtain an object close to the sense of moving distance in an actual space without using a special device.

Such a virtual space display method is effective when performing patrol training and route guidance in a virtual space created by imitating an actual space.
Further, according to the present invention, the user can walk through the virtual space while gazing at an arbitrary object, thereby giving a sense of realism closer to movement in an actual space. Such a virtual space display method is effective in a case where a user walks through a virtual mall by window shopping.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Configuration of First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows an input unit 10, a shape storage unit 11, a position storage unit 12, a key frame storage unit 13, a swing calculation unit 14, a screen display position setting unit 15, a display control unit 16, And the display 17.

Each part constituting the first embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.
The input unit 10 is a part where the user inputs a movement start and end command. In this embodiment, a mouse is used as an input device.
However, the present invention can be implemented by a method using other input devices (joystick, data glove, keyboard). The shape storage unit 11 is a part that stores data on the shape of each object.

    FIG. 2 is an example of storing data on the shape of an object in the shape storage unit 11. A name for each object, an id number, center coordinates, six vertex coordinates of a cuboid (bounding box) circumscribing the three-dimensional shape, and a pointer indicating a location where actual three-dimensional shape data is stored are stored. Have been. The position storage unit 12 is a part that stores data relating to the position of each object.

  FIG. 3 is a storage example of data relating to the position of the object in the position storage unit 12. The id number of the object in the three-dimensional space, the ID number of the shape data, and information on the position coordinate value and the rotation angle are stored. The key frame storage unit 13 is a part that stores data on angles of various parts of the human body during walking.

  FIG. 4 is an example of storage of key frame data in the key frame storage unit 13. The types of motions such as walking and sitting, the number of sample data sets from the start to the end of one motion, and individual data sets are stored. The shaking calculation unit 14 is a part that receives an input from the input unit 10, calculates a position when the human body moves, and calculates a viewpoint position for simulating the shaking of the body caused by the movement of the center of gravity. The screen display position setting unit 15 is a unit that sets the display position of the screen with reference to the viewpoint position of the human body calculated by the shaking calculation unit 14. The display control unit 16 generates an image of the three-dimensional virtual environment and a human body at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 15 and displays the image on the display 17.

FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen. As the display, other devices such as a head-mounted display and a large screen can be used in addition to the CRT.
(Operation of the First Embodiment)
The first embodiment having the above configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 8, 6, and 1).
That is, the user inputs a movement command through the input unit 10 of the configuration diagram 2 (20). In response to the input, the reference point and the destination point of the next human body are set based on the current reference point, the destination point and a preset step length so that the human body walks in the direction of the destination point (21, FIG. 1-14).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of setting a reference point. For example, it is set based on preset key frame data of the walking motion (FIGS. 1-13 and 4). When the center of gravity during walking is on the right foot, the waist position as a reference position is calculated from the angle data of each part of the right foot set in the key frame data. The key frame data is obtained by sampling the movement of a human at regular time intervals.

Therefore, when the coordinates of the reference point of the human body are arranged on the time axis, a gentle waveform is drawn. The reference points and destination points set in this process are P and A in FIG.
Next, the viewpoint of the human body is calculated as a position higher by D (mm) from this reference point. (22, FIGS. 1-14). The reference point of the human body is calculated as a point higher by D (mm) from the destination point. The viewpoint and reference point of the human body set in this process are E and R in FIG. 8, and the difference between the viewpoint and the center point is D.

  Next, the display position of the screen is set at a position H (mm) higher than the viewpoint of the human body by a predetermined B (mm) and higher by H (mm) than the viewpoint of the human body as a result of the shake calculation 22 (23). , Figures 1-15).

  The reference point on the screen sets the value of the reference point of the human body. For example, if B = 2000 (mm) and H = 300 (mm), a screen display position that follows a person from a position 2 (m) behind the person and 30 (cm) higher than the height of the eyes of the person (FIG. 5).

  If B = 0 (mm) and H = 0 (mm), the screen matches the viewpoint of the person. The display position of the screen and the reference point of the screen set in this process are V and R in FIG. 8, the distance between the viewpoint and the display position is B, and the difference in height is H. The virtual space and the image of the human body from the display position of the screen set in this way are displayed (24, FIGS. 1-16, 17). This operation is repeated unless a stop command is input from the input unit 10.

    Regarding the display, it is conceivable that 1: the human model is shaken, 2: the display screen is shaken, 3: the human model and the display screen are shaken. In any case in the present invention, a realistic display screen can be generated. However, when a human model is displayed in a three-dimensional space, the human model is shaken so that an image which is easy to see when viewed from outside is displayed. When the viewpoint of the human model is displayed without displaying the human model, a more realistic screen can be displayed by shaking the display screen.

(Effect of the first embodiment)
According to the method as described above, a slight shaking of the display screen can be expressed, and the user can obtain a sense of realism of movement by walking. Further, by taking the display position of the screen behind the human body, the human body is displayed, and the size of the virtual space can be easily grasped. As a result, the user's feeling of moving distance in the virtual space can be made closer to the feeling of moving distance in the actual space.

(Modification)
1: In the above-described embodiment, the drawing of the walking human body is performed. However, this may be omitted and the drawing of the human body may not be performed. Thereby, the drawing speed can be kept high, and the sense of presence due to walking can be enhanced.

2: It is also possible to draw a simplified human image such as only the upper body. This can help the user to grasp the size of the virtual space while keeping the drawing speed high.

3: The configuration of the present invention is modified as shown in FIG. 9, the position calculating unit 43 and the shaking calculating unit 44 are divided, the moving direction and the position are set by the position calculating unit 43, and the shaking of the display screen is set by the shaking calculating unit 44. It can also be calculated. The calculation of the swing can be simulated by a function of the waveform.

For example, a vertical swing can be simulated by an expression such as y = a · cos (2π · t / T) + h, (a: amplitude width t: time T: time required for one step).
4: If the key frame storage unit 13 of FIG. 2 prepares a plurality of sample data, a display corresponding to various walking styles and heights can be performed.
(Configuration of Second Embodiment)
FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 shows that the input unit 100, the shape storage unit 101, the position storage unit 102, the position calculation unit 103, the gazing object storage unit 104, the gazing object selection unit 105, and the gazing object display setting unit 106 correspond to the second embodiment of the present invention. , A screen display position setting unit 107, a display control unit 108, and a display 109.

Each part constituting the second embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.
The input unit 100 is a part where the user inputs a moving direction and a start and end command of the movement. In this embodiment, a mouse is used as an input device. The shape storage unit 101 is a part that stores data on the shape of each object.

  The position storage unit 102 is a part that stores data on the position of each object. The position calculation unit 103 is a unit that receives an input from the input unit 10 and calculates the current position in the virtual space. The gazing object storage unit 104 is data that lists objects that the user can gaze out of the objects in the position storage unit 102, and stores an ID number of data relating to the position.

  The gazing object selection unit 105 is a unit for checking and selecting whether the gazing object storage unit 104 is an object closest to the current position, and whether the traveling direction and the positional relationship of the object do not exceed a set range. . The gazing object display setting unit 106 is a part that obtains the position data of the object selected by the gazing object selection unit 105 from the position storage unit 102 and sets it as a reference point on the display screen. The screen display position setting unit 107 is a unit that sets the display position of the screen with reference to the current position set by the position calculation unit 103. The display control unit 108 generates an image of the three-dimensional virtual environment at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 107, and displays the image on the display 109.

(Operation of the Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment having the above configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 11 and 10). That is, the user inputs a movement command using the input unit 100 of FIG. 10 which is a configuration diagram (120). In response to the input from the input unit 100, three-dimensional coordinates of the current position are calculated (121, FIGS. 10-103).

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the process of calculating the current position. Next, the object closest to the current position is selected from the watched object storage unit 104 in FIG. 10 (123, FIGS. 10-105).

  Then, it is checked whether the angle θ between the selected object and the traveling direction does not exceed a preset range α (125, FIGS. 10-105). If θ <α, the object is selected as a gazing object, and its coordinates are set as reference points on the display screen (126, FIG. 10-gazing object display setting unit 106). If θ> α, 127 is performed from the result at 121. FIG. 13 illustrates a process of selecting a gazing object.

  At time t0, the distance to the objects 1, 2, 3 is d1t0 <d2t0 <d3t0, and the object 1 is selected because the angle θ1t0 with respect to the traveling direction is smaller than the set range α. You. On the other hand, at time t1, d2t1 <d1t1 <d3t1 and the angle θ2t1 <α, so that the object 2 is selected.

Next, the display position of the screen is set from the results of the screen reference point settings 126 and 121 (127, FIGS. 10-107).
The image from the display position thus set is displayed (128, FIGS. 10-108, 109). This operation is repeated unless a stop command is input from the input unit 100.
(Effect of Second Embodiment)
According to the above method, the user can move while gazing at an arbitrary object. Therefore, the movement sensation in the actual space can be more approximated.

(Modification)
In the above-described second embodiment, the gazing object storage unit 104 (FIG. 10) is used to select the gazing object. However, without using the gazing object, the object drawn the largest in the display screen is selected. , The object can be set as a gaze object. For example, the distance from the current position of the object in the field of view is calculated. Further, the size of any object is determined from the bounding box data of the object (FIG. 2).

Then, the ratio between the distance and the size is determined, and the object having the largest ratio is determined as the gazing object.
According to such a method, the user can move while gazing at an arbitrary object without creating list-up data of the gazing object in advance. Therefore, the work time for data input can be shortened, and a walk-through that is close to a sense of movement in an actual space can be performed.

  Further, by having a configuration in which the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention are combined, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the shaking caused by the movement of the human model and the movement of the viewpoint of the human model.

(Configuration of Third Embodiment)
FIG. 14 is an overall configuration diagram of the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows a third embodiment of the present invention in which an input unit 50, a spatial configuration storage unit 51, a human body shape storage unit 52, a human body position calculation unit 53, a head rotation angle calculation unit 54, a screen display position setting unit 55, This shows that the display control unit 56 and the display 57 are configured.

  Each part constituting the third embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described. The input unit 50 is a part where the user inputs the movement of the viewpoint. In this embodiment, a mouse is used as an input device. The space configuration storage unit 51 is a part that stores data relating to the shape and position of each object constituting the virtual space. The human body shape storage unit 52 is a part that stores human body shape data.

  The human body position calculation unit 53 is a part that calculates and sets the position of the human body from the data of the human body shape storage unit 52 and the input of the movement of the viewpoint of the input unit 50. The head rotation angle calculation unit 54 is a part that sets the rotation angle of the head of the human body based on the data of the human body shape storage unit 52 and the input of the movement of the viewpoint of the input unit 50.

  The screen display position setting unit 55 is a part that sets the display position of the screen with reference to the input value of the viewpoint change input from the input unit 50. The display control unit 56 refers to the space configuration storage unit 51, the human body shape storage unit 52, and the screen display position setting unit 55 at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 55, and displays the image of the three-dimensional virtual environment and the human body. Is generated and displayed on the display 57. The display can use other devices such as a large screen other than the CRT. FIG. 16 is an example of a display screen.

(Operation of Third Embodiment)
The third embodiment having the above configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 14 and 15). FIG. 15 is a flowchart in the case where a movement start command is issued by pressing a mouse button, and the mouse is rotated left and right by moving in the x-axis direction. The user inputs a movement command and a line-of-sight direction using the input unit 50 shown in FIG. For example, a movement start command is input by pressing a mouse button (150), the center of the screen is set to (x, y) = (0, 0), and the x, y coordinate values of the mouse are set as the line-of-sight direction change values. (153).

  When a movement start command is input, the orientation (vec) of the human body is calculated and secured (151). Unless a movement start command is received, the direction (vec) of the human body does not change. Next, the position (pos) of the human body is set in the direction (vec) in which the human body is facing and below by a preset value from the viewpoint position on the screen (152).

  Further, the rotation angle of the human head in the target direction is calculated from the input x, y coordinate values (FIGS. 14-54, 15-154). In 154 of FIG. 15, the maximum and minimum values of the rotation angle (you) are set in advance, and within that range, youw corresponding to the movement of the mouse in the x-axis direction is set.

  Next, the display position of the screen is set at 55 in FIG. In 155 of FIG. 15, a new viewpoint (view) is set by updating the movement amount set in advance in the direction of the human body direction (vec) set by the human body direction calculation unit 151. Further, a new reference point (ref) is calculated based on the rotation angle (you) set by the head rotation angle setting unit 154.

  The virtual space and the image of the human body are displayed based on the display position of the screen set in this way, the position and orientation of the human body, the angle of the human head, and the data of the space configuration storage unit 51 and the human body shape storage unit 52 ( 6-24, 1-16, 17). The space configuration storage unit 51 is an objectized database such as VRML, for example.

(Effect of Third Embodiment)
According to the method as described above, a user walks around a virtual space by displaying a human body when walking through a three-dimensional space constructed by an objectized database such as VRML. You can get a sense of presence. In addition, by making the operation of looking around the space correspond to the operation of turning the head of the human body, the user can intuitively understand the operation result. Further, since the rotation of the viewpoint corresponding to the panning of the camera and the movement of the viewpoint corresponding to the movement of the camera are separately allocated to the head and the body of the human body, the operation can be easily performed. In the first, second, and third embodiments, by making the display of the human body transparent, it is possible to provide a screen display that is easy to see.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of data relating to a shape of an object according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of data relating to the position of an object according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a storage example of key frame data according to the present invention. It is the figure which showed the display screen which drawn the human body of this invention. 1 is an overall flowchart of a first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart of setting a reference position according to the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram of calculation of shaking by walking of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. 5 is an overall flowchart of a second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart of a current position calculation according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the gaze object selection of this invention. FIG. 11 is an overall configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention. 13 is an overall flowchart of a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing a display screen which drawn a human body of a 3rd example of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen display example of a conventional example. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen display example of a conventional example.

Explanation of reference numerals

10, 40, 100 Input unit 11, 41, 101 Shape storage unit 12, 42, 102 Position storage unit 13 Key frame storage unit 14, 44 Shake calculation unit 15, 45, 107 Screen display position setting unit 16, 46, 108 Display Control units 17, 47, 109 Displays 43, 103 Position calculation unit 104 Gaze object storage unit 105 Gaze object selection unit 106 Gaze object display setting unit

Claims (5)

In a virtual space display device for displaying the movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics,
A swing calculation unit that calculates a change in the reference position of the moving object from the operation of the key frame data storing the data of the operation part, and calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position,
A display for displaying the movement of the moving object based on the position calculated by the shaking calculation unit. In a virtual space display method for displaying a movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics,
A swing calculation unit that calculates a change in the reference position of the moving object from the operation of the key frame data storing the data of the operation part, and calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position,
A screen display position setting unit that sets a display position of the moving object displayed on a screen based on the position calculated by the shaking calculation unit,
A display for displaying the movement of the object at a display position set by the screen display setting unit. In a virtual space display device for displaying the movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics,
A swing calculation unit that calculates a change in the reference position of the moving object from the operation of the key frame data storing the data of the operation part, and calculates a preset position of the moving object based on the change in the reference position,
A screen display position setting unit that sets a screen display position based on the position calculated by the shake calculation unit,
A display for displaying movement of the moving object from a screen display position set by the screen display setting unit.   4. The virtual space display device according to claim 1, wherein the moving object is a human body model.   The virtual space display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the preset position is a viewpoint position of a human body model.

Images