JP2006031719A - Information display method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display method and an information display device capable of easily deciding a display range in movement inside a virtual environment using a three-dimensional CG and of coping with a rendering delay. <P>SOLUTION: A variation of the coordinate on a horizontal plane to the next point inside the virtual environment in shift from the present position toward a instructed progressing direction inside a route area is calculated. When the next point is inside the route area, the variation is added to the coordinate of the present position to find the coordinate of the next point. If the next point is outside the route area, the variation is corrected so that the next point is inside the route area, and then, the corrected variation is added to the coordinate of the present point for finding the coordinate of the next point on the plane. Based on the difference of the coordinate value in the vertical direction between the present position and the next point and a walking speed, an inclination of the ground surface inside the virtual environment is found. According to the coordinate of the next point on the horizontal plane, the coordinate in the direction orthogonal to the horizontal plane, the directed progressing direction, and the sight direction defined by the inclination of the ground surface, the virtual environment is drawn to be displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information presentation method and an information presentation apparatus using the information presentation method for presenting realistic information about a display object using a virtual environment in a museum or an art museum, for example.

  In museums and art galleries, information is presented by arranging the objects to be displayed and their descriptions in the physical vicinity. For example, if it is an ammonite fossil, put the fossil in a glass showcase, and above it, a panel explaining ammonite (for example, “ammonite is a fossil animal belonging to cephalopods that survived from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic”). It takes the form that presents.

  However, in this form, it is difficult to grasp the image that ammonite was a kind of giant snail swimming in the Mesozoic sea. In addition, the conventional display format has a problem in that the viewer's view is passive, so that he / she gets up quickly.

  In order to solve such problems, there has recently been an information presentation method that uses computer graphics or the like to reproduce the environmental state when the ammonite was alive and display it on a VTR or the like. Yes. The information presentation method by the VTR can easily analogize the state when the ammonite is alive compared to the static display method by the conventional panel. However, in the information presentation method using the VTR, since the information is presented to the viewer unilaterally, the viewer must be passive. Further, in the VTR, since the presentation of information becomes transient, it is necessary to present bibliographic information using a panel as in the past.

  In order to correct this, an information presentation method of recording on a CD-ROM instead of recording on a VTR has been adopted.

  For example, when an ammonite swimming in the sea is selected using an input device such as a mouse, bibliographic information for the selected ammonite is displayed on the screen, or audio is displayed. A hypertext presentation method as explained by narration can be taken. According to such a method, as compared with the information presentation method by the VTR, the viewer can select an object of his / her interest, and the participation consciousness is increased and an active view can be achieved.

  However, in the information presentation method using a CD-ROM, the camera position and scene development in each scene are determined in advance, so that the viewer can look at the desired position, change the target position, or develop different scenes. I couldn't do it.

  In order to improve such problems and to be able to see and change the arrangement from a free position, recently, using 3D computer graphics (CG), the environment is virtually divided in 3D. Construction methods are also being adopted. In a virtual environment using a three-dimensional CG, it is possible to specify from what position to view and how to move in the virtual environment using a two-dimensional or three-dimensional instruction device.

  Actually, the movement is instructed using the pointing device, and the position to be viewed is controlled based on the coordinate value obtained from the magnetic sensor attached to the viewer's head, for example. The way to do it is taken. However, this method has a problem that the magnetic sensor is expensive, and if the position of the head changes so much, the head is greatly displaced from the screen, and it is difficult to determine the relative position of yourself in the virtual environment. .

  For this reason, a method of operating the movement and the viewpoint position from a single pointing device has been studied. However, in the case of the method of switching between the mode for specifying the destination and the mode for specifying the viewpoint position, the operation is complicated when moving in the virtual environment using a single pointing device and further changing the viewpoint position. There is a problem of becoming. In addition, when operating without mode switching, there is a problem that movement and change of viewpoint position affect each other, such as changing to the viewpoint position even though only movement is specified, and easy instruction operation cannot be performed. There is also. Further, when the viewpoint position is fixed, there is a problem that the viewpoint cannot be directed toward the object even when the object is approached.

  As described above, in the information presentation method based on the virtual environment using the conventional three-dimensional CG, it is not easy to control the moving direction when moving in the virtual environment in consideration of the relationship with the viewpoint position. It was.

  If the drawing speed of the virtual environment is sufficiently high, for example, if the response time is limited to 0.1 seconds in order to realize a natural conversation, the target object will be able to move freely. It is relatively easy to operate the pointing device so as to approach the object. However, for example, when a movement in a virtual environment is instructed from a remote location via a predetermined communication system, the response time is not limited due to a transmission delay, and a drawing delay occurs. Therefore, if the response is poor and it is possible to move freely, there is a problem that it is difficult to move as expected and it is difficult to reach the target place.

  In such a case, it is necessary to restrict movement so that it can be easily brought close to the target object, but if the restriction is too tight, the convenience of the user side becomes more complaining that the viewer cannot move freely. Sexuality gets worse.

  In addition, a method of presenting a virtual environment on a large screen and presenting information to a viewer as if entering the virtual environment has been attempted. However, in such a method, a plurality of viewers can share the same information. When experiencing a virtual environment, if bibliographic information of a selected target is presented on a large screen, there is a problem that other viewers get in the way.

  In addition, the situation when the object is alive can be known from the virtual environment, but there is a problem that it is not possible to present information that acts on the weight or tactile sense of the object.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is easy to determine a display range of a virtual environment that becomes a visual field range when moving in a virtual environment using a three-dimensional CG. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information presentation method and an information presentation apparatus using the information presentation method capable of correcting a traveling direction that can be performed and can cope with a drawing delay associated with a remote operation.

The present invention includes a material shape storage unit that stores a shape of a material to be presented for information, a virtual environment shape storage unit that stores a shape of a virtual environment in which the material is presented, and a list of the material in the virtual environment. An arrangement storage means for storing the arrangement position; and an instruction means for instructing a traveling direction from the current position in the virtual environment,
Configuring a three-dimensional virtual environment based on the shape of the virtual environment stored in the virtual environment shape storage means, the arrangement position stored in the arrangement storage means, and the shape of the material stored in the material storage means;
Setting one boundary line and the other boundary line of a traveling path defined by a path region by two boundary lines on a horizontal plane in the virtual environment;
Instructing the traveling direction in the virtual environment with the instruction means,
Changes in coordinates on the horizontal plane to the next point in the virtual environment when moving at a predetermined walking speed from the current position in the route area between the two boundary lines to the indicated traveling direction Calculate the minutes,
When the next point is within the route region, the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane are calculated by adding the change to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane, and the next point is When the position is outside the route area, a correction for reducing the amount of change is performed so that the next point is within the route area, and then the amount of change corrected to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane. To calculate the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane,
Based on the difference in coordinate values in the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane between the coordinate value of the current position and the next point, and the walking speed, the inclination of the ground surface in the virtual environment is calculated,
The coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane and the coordinates in the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the direction of travel instructed in the instruction step, and the gaze direction determined from the inclination of the ground surface calculated in the second calculation step. Based on the virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration means,
The drawing result is displayed on the display means.

  According to the present invention, since the line-of-sight direction along the current position and the inclination of the traveling direction is automatically determined, there is no need to indicate the line-of-sight direction according to the traveling, and when the user simply proceeds, only the traveling direction is indicated. Therefore, there is an effect of facilitating the operation.

  In addition, the route based on the traveling direction instructed by the user is prevented from greatly deviating from the predetermined traveling route, the rate at which the user gets lost in the virtual space can be greatly reduced, and remote It is possible to cope with a drawing delay when the direction of travel is instructed by operation.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the information presentation apparatus according to the first embodiment, and includes a material storage unit 1, a background storage unit 2, an arrangement storage unit 3, a virtual environment configuration unit 4, and a walking instruction unit 5. , A line-of-sight direction determination unit 6 and a drawing unit 7.

  The material storage unit 1 stores the physical shape data of the material that is the subject of information presentation, for example, in a data structure as shown in FIG. Further, detailed information about each material is also stored.

  The background storage unit 2 stores the virtual environment shape data that is the background of the presentation of the material stored in the material storage unit 1 in, for example, a raster format.

  In the arrangement storage unit 3, the arrangement position and orientation of the material stored in the material storage unit 1 in the virtual environment stored in the background storage unit 2 are expressed by, for example, x coordinate, y coordinate, and z coordinate. It is remembered.

  The virtual environment configuration unit 4 arranges the material stored in the material storage unit 1 in accordance with the arrangement stored in the arrangement storage unit 3 with respect to the virtual environment stored in the background storage unit 2, thereby A virtual environment is configured.

  The walking instruction unit 5 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse that instructs the current position and the traveling direction in the three-dimensional virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4 to move forward, backward, clockwise, and counterclockwise. To do. In other words, it indicates the position where a virtual person exists in the three-dimensional virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4 and the traveling direction when the person walks and moves.

  In the visual field direction determination unit 6, a display range is set based on the shape of the virtual environment at the current position instructed by the walking instruction unit 5, for example, the shape of the terrain, for example, and the traveling direction instructed by the walking instruction unit 5. The line-of-sight direction (for a virtual person) is determined.

  The drawing unit 7 draws the virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4 based on the current position specified by the walking instruction unit 5 and the line-of-sight direction determined by the line-of-sight direction determination unit 6. In other words, the drawing referred to here is to project in two dimensions the world that enters the field of view of a person when the person walks and moves within the three-dimensional virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4.

  The display unit 8 is a display device for displaying the result of drawing the virtual environment by the drawing unit 7.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of storage of the shape data of the material in the material storage unit 1, and the shape data is stored for each material (hereinafter also referred to as an object). For example, in the case of a complicated shape such as “ammonite fossil”, a series of vertex coordinates of a polygon (polygon) covering the surface is stored. On the other hand, in the case of “pillar”, it can be configured by a simple figure cylinder. In that case, the shape of a basic cylinder is stored in advance, and as shown in FIG. The “cylinder” (cylinder shape) and the scale ratio (lx, ly, lz) for the basic cylinder are stored.

  In FIG. 2, the shape data of the material is stored in the form of a table. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shape data of each material can be managed in a list or the like.

  The virtual environment configuration unit 4 arranges the object stored in the material storage unit 1 on the environment stored in the background storage unit 2 based on the arrangement coordinates stored in the arrangement storage unit 3. Thereby, a virtual environment is set. The result is rendered by the drawing unit 7 and displayed on a screen, for example. The virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4 is a three-dimensional world. On the other hand, the result drawn by the drawing unit 7 is a two-dimensional world. Projection from the three-dimensional world to the two-dimensional world is performed based on the current position in the virtual environment designated by the walking instruction unit 5 and the line-of-sight direction determined by the line-of-sight direction determination unit 6. That is, a state where the camera is set at the current position and the camera lens is peeled off in the direction of the line of sight is rendered as a two-dimensional world.

  By freely changing the current position, it is possible to walk freely in the virtual environment that is the three-dimensional world (walk-through) just as if looking into the three-dimensional world from the camera. At this time, even if the current position changes, if the direction of the camera does not change, you will walk through while looking at the outrageous part. The means for solving this problem is the line-of-sight direction determination unit 6.

  Next, the processing operation of the line-of-sight direction determination unit 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, as one of the initial settings, the speed of walking in the virtual environment is set by walkthrough in step S1. Here, it is assumed that the speed per frame update is v. Next, the coordinates of the current location are set in step S2. This is the position updated every time the frame is updated or the position specified by the walking instruction unit 5, but is assumed to be (tx, ty, tz). Next, the traveling direction instructed using the walking instruction unit 5 is obtained. For example, in the case of an instruction using a mouse as a pointing device (position indicating device), if the mouse is moved forward, it will move forward, if it moves backward, it will move left and right as backward, and the angle of deviation from the previous traveling direction It can be set to be θ. The same setting can be made when another position indicating device such as a three-dimensional pointer or a joystick is used. Note that the direction of the walking direction is valid only for a horizontal plane (for example, an xz plane parallel to the ground surface of the three-dimensional world). The indication for the vertical direction is ignored in this case. Here, since it is premised on walking in a virtual environment, it is walking on the ground surface (or walking surface) to the last. Therefore, since it is impossible to move in the vertical direction in simple walking movement, it is ignored. However, there is a case where a virtual movement for viewing from a different viewpoint is performed, but here, in such a case, it is assumed that an instruction direction different from the walking movement is taken.

  Next, a coordinate value of a point after a certain period of time (here, one frame) is calculated from the direction of travel designated as speed v (step S4). Only the x and z coordinates can be obtained from the direction of travel.

  As a result, the x coordinate value becomes (tx ± v cos θ), and the z coordinate value becomes (tz ± v sin θ). “+” For forward travel and “−” for reverse travel.

  Based on the coordinate values obtained in step S4, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 obtains y coordinates ty ′ corresponding to the x and z coordinate values in the virtual environment (step S5).

  Since the coordinate values of the current position and the next point are obtained in the steps so far, in step S6, the inclination δ of the ground surface of the virtual environment is calculated from the equation (1) from the coordinate values of the current position and the next point.

δ = arctan (| ty-ty ′ | / v) (1)
Regarding the line-of-sight direction, the traveling direction θ instructed by the walking instruction unit 5 represents the angle in the xz plane, and the inclination δ represents the angle in the vertical direction. ).

  Thereafter, the next point is updated to the local point, and Steps S1 to S7 are repeated. Thus, it is possible to set the line-of-sight direction in accordance with the inclination of the ground surface in the traveling direction indicated from the current position in the virtual environment.

  Next, the line-of-sight direction determination processing operation shown in FIG. 3 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4A shows the relationship between the old and new traveling directions on the xz plane. The dotted line is the old direction, and the solid line is the new traveling direction instructed by the walking instruction unit 5. In order to adjust to the new direction of travel, it is necessary to change the viewing direction and θ.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the line-of-sight direction is set in accordance with the inclination of the ground surface of the virtual environment on the xy plane. That is, the line-of-sight direction when the inclination of the ground surface from the local point (tx, ty, tz) is not considered is the direction indicated by the dotted line in FIG. In this case, when the ground surface is steep, only the ground surface in front of the eyes can be seen, but the direction of the line of sight parallel to the ground surface can be obtained by tilting the ground surface by the slope δ as shown by the solid line. So that you can see the direction you are going.

  When there is no correction according to the ground surface of the course in the line-of-sight direction, that is, in the case of the line-of-sight direction indicated by the dotted line in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the virtual environment in the visual field is, for example, FIG. ) As you can see only under your feet, almost only the ground is in view.

  On the other hand, when the line-of-sight direction is corrected according to the ground surface of the course, the line-of-sight direction parallel to the ground surface can be maintained as shown in FIG. The viewpoint moves without any sense of incongruity as if walking. Then, for example, it can be seen that the user proceeds while watching fossils of insects flying in the virtual environment.

  Further, in this state, when an instruction for presentation is given from the walking instruction unit 5, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 applies to an object (for example, an insect fossil in the case of FIG. 5B) that is substantially in the center of the visual field. Correspondingly, the detailed information stored in the material storage unit 1 is read and displayed on the display unit 8.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the user simply indicates the desired traveling direction from the current position from the walking instruction unit 5, and the visual line direction is determined by the visual line direction determining unit 6. It is automatically determined so that it is parallel to the slope of the ground surface, that is, when the ground surface is uphill, it is automatically determined to look upward, and when it is downhill, it is determined to look downward. This means that even if you are actually walking on the surface of the earth, you can easily reproduce the situation in which the line of sight is level with respect to the surface of the earth, even in the virtual environment. In addition, by correcting the line-of-sight direction according to the terrain in the virtual environment, the walking instruction unit 5 basically designates the traveling direction, so that the operation burden on the user can be reduced.

  In the first embodiment, the walking instruction unit 5 gives only the angle θ on the horizontal plane and the traveling direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to finely adjust the angle on the vertical plane of the line-of-sight direction slightly upward or downward with respect to the line-of-sight direction obtained by the processing operation of FIG. A specific example of the processing operation in this case is shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, step S7 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is replaced with steps S8 and S9, and other parts are the same as those in FIG. That is, in step S8 of FIG. 6, the inclination δ ′ on the vertical plane instructed by the walking instruction unit 5 is read from, for example, the background storage unit 2, and δ ′ is added to the inclination δ obtained in step S6. The line-of-sight direction (θ, δ + δ ′) is determined (step S9).

  Thereby, the background memorize | stored in the background memory | storage part 2 can also be changed according to a season. For example, in winter, it is snowing or scenes, and in autumn, the vertical angle δ ′ for fine adjustment according to the scene where the fallen leaves are connected to the ground is memorized. A feeling of the season can be expressed.

  Furthermore, it is possible to allow the user to select what virtual environment is presented, for example, the terrain.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  Here, an information presentation apparatus that performs route control for allowing a user to easily approach a desired material (exhibit object) in a virtual environment will be described.

  FIG. 7 schematically shows the configuration of the information presentation apparatus according to the second embodiment. The information storage unit 1, the background storage unit 2, the arrangement storage unit 3, the virtual environment configuration unit 4, and the walking instruction unit 5 are shown. , A route control determination unit 9, a drawing unit 7, and a display unit 8. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different parts will be described.

  In other words, the newly added route control determination unit 9 stores a predetermined advancing route in the virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4, and displays it in the virtual environment as an exhibition object. Control is performed so that the traveling path based on the traveling direction instructed from the walking instruction unit 5 does not deviate from the predetermined traveling path so as to be easily approached.

  Further, information such as the position in the virtual environment and the traveling direction instructed from the walking instruction unit 5 can be transmitted to the information presentation apparatus as the main body via a predetermined communication system.

  Next, the processing operation of the route control determination unit 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, one route boundary R (x, z) = 0 and the other route boundary L (x, z) = 0 in the xz plane of a predetermined advanceable route are set (step S10). FIG. 9 shows a specific example of a predetermined traveling path. In FIG. 9, the route boundary is represented by a straight line for simplicity.

  Next, in response to an instruction from the walking instruction unit 5 (step S11), as shown in FIG. 9, a point ST (sx, sy, sz) at which walk-through is started is set (step S12), and the walking instruction unit 5 is set. The direction of travel in the xz plane instructed (solid arrow in FIG. 9) is obtained as changes dx and dz based on a predetermined walking speed v (step S13).

Next, the point advanced by dx and dz from the start point is included in the route region between one route boundary R (x, z) and the other route boundary L (x, z) in FIG. Is determined (step S14). In other words,
R (sx + dx, sz + dz) L (sx + dx, sz + dz) <0 (2)
Therefore, this equation (2) may be determined as a conditional expression.

  When the expression (2) is not satisfied (for example, the destination point is the point P2 in FIG. 9), the process proceeds to step S15, and control is performed so as to decrease the changes dx and dz. For example, the change amount is reduced by multiplying each of the change amounts dx and dz by a constant k smaller than 1 as the change amounts dx and dz (Equation (3)).

dx ← kdx, dz ← kdz (0 <k <1) (3)
Note that the method for controlling the amount of change may be a method of reducing a certain number. By the operation in step S15, the destination point P2 in FIG. 9 is changed to P2 ′.

  Furthermore, it returns to step S14 and it determines again whether the point advanced by the reduced change is included in the route. If not, the change is reduced again in step S15, and steps S14 to S15 are repeated until the change is included in the route. It should be noted that dx and dz can be forcibly set to 0 if they are not included in the route even though the operation of decreasing the number of times is repeated.

  Since the point P2 ′ in FIG. 9 is included in the path when returning to step S14, the process proceeds to step S16. In the case of the point P1, since the change amount of dx and dz is not large and is included in the route from the beginning, the process proceeds directly to step S16 without proceeding to step S15.

  When finally included in the route, coordinates (sx + dx, sz + dz) on the xz plane of the movement destination are determined, and in step S16, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 determines the next movement destination. The y coordinate sy ′ of the point is obtained. That is, the y coordinate corresponding to the point P1 or P2 ′ in FIG. 9 is obtained.

  Furthermore, it progresses to step S17, makes this value a new point, returns to step S12, and repeats the process of step S12-step S17. That is, the process after step S11 is repeated with P1 or P2 'in FIG. 9 as a starting point.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the direction of travel is instructed from the walking instruction unit 5, for example, information on a main body at a long distance that takes time to transmit via a predetermined communication system Even when accessing the virtual environment of the presentation device, the response time is slow, there is a high possibility of giving too much instruction to walk, and even when it is very difficult to approach the target object, the route control determining unit 9 By controlling the travel route based on the travel direction instructed from the walking instruction unit 5 so as not to deviate from the travel route in the predetermined virtual environment, the user is unaware of the constant travel route determined in advance. Since it does not stick out, it can easily approach the target object.

  Further, by controlling the travel route by the route control determination unit 9, the user does not greatly deviate from the travel route determined in advance by the information presentation device. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of data and the creation of data.

  In the second embodiment, the correction coefficient k when the route is deviated is fixed, but is not necessarily limited to this. For example, as in the case of the first embodiment described above, the background changes according to the season. For example, in a situation where it is snowing in winter, the route and its surroundings are also displayed in white. The situation where the boundary is difficult to understand and the route is difficult to see occurs. In such a case, it is possible to make it difficult to deviate from the predetermined traveling route by reducing the correction coefficient k. is there.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described.

  In both the first and second embodiments, the setting is such that an instruction is given toward the display screen (display unit 8) of the display device on which the virtual environment is displayed. In this method, what is displayed on the screen is a visual field in a range visible from a certain viewpoint in the three-dimensional virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit 4. For this reason, it is a problem that it is difficult to know where in the virtual environment. Further, when it is assumed to be used in a museum or the like, only one person's field of view can be displayed at a time, so that an unnatural state occurs in which other viewers view with a field of view other than their own. Therefore, as a third embodiment, an information presentation method for solving such problems and an information presentation device using this information presentation method will be described.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the configuration of the information presentation apparatus according to the third embodiment.
The document storage unit 1, the background storage unit 2, the arrangement storage unit 3, the virtual environment configuration unit 4, the walking instruction unit 5, the route control determination unit 9, the drawing unit 7, the display unit 8, and the hand operation unit 10 are configured. 10, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different parts will be described. That is, the hand operating unit 10 is newly added, and the display unit 8 may be configured to surround the room with a large screen, for example.

  Next, the hand operation unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The hand operation unit 10 is possessed by each user M, and when the virtual environment is displayed around the user M on the display unit 8, the position of the user M is detected as a three-dimensional position in the virtual environment. In response to an instruction from the user M, information such as materials in the field of view of the user M is presented.

  In FIG. 11, the hand operation unit 10 includes a display 100, an instruction button 101 for giving a description display instruction, and a position sensor 102 by magnetism for detecting the three-dimensional position of the user M in the virtual environment. And a virtual environment configuration unit 4 and, for example, a transmission / reception unit 103 for transmitting and receiving data wirelessly. Each user has one operation unit 10 at hand and walks around in the virtual environment displayed on the display unit 8. The virtual environment is an ancient underwater state in which, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, a three-dimensional virtual environment is drawn and the drawing result is displayed on the surrounding large screen.

  The position sensor 102 of the hand operation unit 10 senses where the user M is located, and the transmission / reception unit 103 notifies the virtual environment configuration unit 4 as a set of coordinate values of x, y, and z.

  Next, processing operations when using the hand operating unit 10 with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, particularly processing operations centered on the virtual environment configuration unit 4 will be described.

  First, in step S20, the position of the position sensor 102 is initialized. Next, the current coordinate values (rx, ry, rz) in the virtual environment of the user M obtained by the position sensor 102 are transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 104 to the virtual environment configuration unit 4 (step S21).

  Next, in step S22, a field of view (for example, 20 degrees up / down / left / right which is an effective field of view) around the obtained coordinate values (rx, ry, rz) is set, and it is determined which object is included in the field of view. To do.

  In step S23, the drawing unit 7 draws the determined object, sends image data as a drawing result to the hand operation unit 10, and draws the image on the display 100.

  Note that when the transmission / reception capability of the hand operation unit 10 is low, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 can also transmit the image data after compressing it. In this case, the hand operation unit 10 requires a separate image decoding unit for decoding the original image.

  When the user wants to know the description of the object displayed on the display 100 of the hand operation unit 10, he / she is instructed by pressing the instruction button 101 (step S24).

  When there is an instruction to display this explanation, the process proceeds to step S25, where the virtual environment configuration unit 4 interprets that an explanation of the object displayed at the center of the display 100 of the hand operation unit 10 has been obtained. The object closest to (rx, ry, rz) is searched. Then, the description (usually text) of the searched object is read from the material storage unit 1 and transmitted to the hand operation unit 10. The hand operating unit 10 draws the received text using another window so as to overlap the object already drawn on the display 100 as shown in FIG. 11 (step S26). At this time, not only text but also voice narration can be sent. In this case, a speaker is required for the hand operating unit 10.

  The measurement is started from the time when the instruction of the explanation is started, and the display of the explanation is finished when a certain time has passed (step S27). Alternatively, the presentation of the explanation can be ended by the user pressing the instruction button 102.

  When the presentation of the explanation is finished, the process returns to step S21 again to obtain the position of the user, and the processes from step S22 to step S27 are repeated thereafter.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, each user uses the hand operation unit 10, so that a plurality of users can share one virtual environment displayed on the display unit 8, and each user can The user can obtain an explanation of the object he wants to obtain at any time. At this time, the explanation is displayed only on the hand operating unit 10 of the user who requested the explanation display, so that other users are not disturbed.

  The explanation displayed on the hand control unit 10 is classified into levels such as outline and detail, only the outline is given for the first explanation display instruction, and when the explanation instruction button 102 is further pressed, details (for example, It is also possible to display an explanation of the ecology through a video).

  Further, not only characters, moving images, and voices but also the weight when it is assumed that the object is touched can be attributed to the force by the combination of the force feedback unit 11 and the hand operation unit 10 as shown in FIG. Is possible. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the hand operating unit 10 is connected to the arm 11 b of the force feedback unit 11.

  In such a configuration, for example, when there is an instruction to display an explanation from the instruction button 101 of the hand operation unit 10, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 reads out the description and weight information of the object from the material storage unit 1. This is sent to the local operation unit 10. The hand operating unit 10 further sends weight information to the force feedback unit 11, and under the control of the control unit 11a, the torque generating unit 11c generates a torque corresponding to the weight, and the torque is transmitted to the arm 11b. The user can experience that the object is actually lifted by being applied to the hand operation unit 10 via the hand.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, by adding the tactile feedback unit 12, it is possible to experience the roughness of the surface of the object. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, the tactile feedback unit 12 is configured to be incorporated in the hand operation unit 10. With such a configuration, for example, when an instruction display is instructed from the instruction button 102, the virtual environment configuration unit 4 reads out the tactile information such as the description of the object and the roughness of the surface from the material storage unit 1, and performs a hand operation. Send to part 10. The hand operation unit 10 further sends tactile information to the tactile feedback unit 12, and vibrates the vibration unit 12a according to the roughness. The user can experience as if he / she actually touched the object by touching the vibration part 12a.

The figure which showed schematically the structure of the information presentation apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of a memory | storage of the shape data of a data storage part. 1. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing operation of the information presentation apparatus of FIG. 1, and is for demonstrating the specific example of the processing operation of a gaze direction determination part especially. The figure for demonstrating concretely the determination processing operation | movement of a gaze direction. The figure for demonstrating the importance of a gaze direction when performing walkthrough. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the information presentation apparatus in FIG. 1, particularly for explaining another specific example of the processing operation of the line-of-sight direction determination unit. The figure which showed schematically the structure of the information presentation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the information presentation apparatus in FIG. 7, and in particular, for explaining the processing operation of the route control determination unit. The figure for demonstrating concretely the processing operation of a route control determination part. The figure which showed schematically the structure of the information presentation apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the function of a hand operation part. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the information presentation apparatus in FIG. 10, in particular, for explaining the processing operation of the virtual environment configuration unit when the hand operation unit is used. The figure which showed concretely the other example of composition of the information presentation device concerning a 3rd embodiment. The figure for demonstrating a force feedback part. The figure for demonstrating a tactile feedback part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Material storage part, 2 ... Background storage part, 3 ... Arrangement storage part, 4 ... Virtual environment structure part, 5 ... Walking instruction part, 6 ... Visual field direction determination part, 7 ... Drawing part, 8 ... Display part, 9 ... Route control determining unit, 10... Hand operation unit, 11 .. Force feedback unit, 12 .. Tactile feedback unit.

Claims (2)

Material shape storage means for storing the shape of the material for which information is presented;
Virtual environment shape storage means for storing the shape of the virtual environment in which the material is presented;
Arrangement storage means for storing the arrangement position of the material in the virtual environment;
Instruction means for instructing a traveling direction from the current position in the virtual environment;
An information presentation method in an information presentation device comprising:
A virtual that constitutes a three-dimensional virtual environment based on the shape of the virtual environment stored in the virtual environment shape storage means, the arrangement position stored in the arrangement storage means, and the shape of the material stored in the material storage means Environment configuration steps;
A travel path setting step for setting one boundary line and the other boundary line of a travel path defined by a path area on two horizontal lines on the horizontal plane in the virtual environment;
An instruction step of instructing a traveling direction in the virtual environment by the instruction means;
On the horizontal plane from the current position in the path area between the two boundary lines to the next point in the virtual environment when moving at a predetermined walking speed in the direction of travel indicated in the instruction step Calculating a change in coordinates of
When the next point is within the route region, the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane are calculated by adding the change to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane, and the next point is When the position is outside the route area, a correction for reducing the amount of change is performed so that the next point is within the route area, and then the amount of change corrected to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane. A first calculation step of calculating the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane by adding
A second calculation for calculating a slope of a ground surface in the virtual environment based on a difference between coordinate values in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane between the coordinate value of the current position and the next point and the walking speed; Steps,
A coordinate on the horizontal plane of the next point and a coordinate in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane; A drawing step of drawing a virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration unit;
A display step of displaying a drawing result in the drawing step by a display means;
An information presentation method characterized by comprising: Material shape storage means for storing the shape of the material for which information is presented;
Virtual environment shape storage means for storing the shape of the virtual environment in which the material is presented;
Arrangement storage means for storing the arrangement position of the material in the virtual environment;
A virtual that constitutes a three-dimensional virtual environment based on the shape of the virtual environment stored in the virtual environment shape storage means, the arrangement position stored in the arrangement storage means, and the shape of the material stored in the material storage means Environmental configuration means;
A travel path setting means for setting one boundary line and the other boundary line of a travel path defined by a path region by two boundary lines on a horizontal plane in the virtual environment;
Instruction means for instructing a traveling direction from the current position in the virtual environment;
On the horizontal plane from the current position in the route area between the two boundary lines to the next point in the virtual environment when moving at a predetermined walking speed in the traveling direction instructed by the instruction means Means for calculating the change in coordinates at
When the next point is within the route region, the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane are calculated by adding the change to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane, and the next point is When the position is outside the route area, a correction for reducing the amount of change is performed so that the next point is within the route area, and then the amount of change corrected to the coordinates of the current position on the horizontal plane. First calculating means for calculating the coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane by adding
Second calculation means for calculating the inclination of the ground surface in the virtual environment from the difference in coordinate values in the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane between the current position and the next point, and the walking speed;
The coordinates of the next point on the horizontal plane and the coordinates in the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the direction of travel instructed by the instruction means, and the line-of-sight direction determined from the inclination of the ground surface calculated by the second calculation means Drawing means for drawing the virtual environment configured by the virtual environment configuration means,
Display means for displaying a drawing result by the drawing means;
An information presentation device comprising:

Images