JP2006172037A - Virtual reality system, method, software, and recording medium with the software recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable both a user and a producer to easily make the user perform camera work according to the intention of the producer. <P>SOLUTION: This virtual reality system is provided with a means for storing photographic priorities and camera work information of each object as subject information of each object that can be a virtual camera subject within a virtual space, a means for making the object having the highest photographic priority among objects coming into the field of view of the camera a target object, and a means for providing the user with camera work specified in the camera work information of the target object. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology of virtual reality.

  In general, VR (Virtual Reality) software is a computer program that allows a user to view a virtual space constructed with 3DCG (3 Dimension Computer Graphics). In this virtual space, a virtual camera is assumed, and the field of view seen from there is the camera screen viewed by the user.

  Conventionally, there are two types of camera work such as viewpoint movement and gazing point movement in VR software, which are free depending on the user's operation, and automatic which the creator side attaches its movement in advance. However, the former has a problem that the operation is generally complicated and a problem that it is difficult to convey the intention from the producer because the degree of freedom is high. In the latter case, the intention of the creator is transmitted, but there is a problem that the subject interesting to the user cannot be seen from various viewpoints. In the latter case, since the creator defines the camera operating conditions as fixed events in advance, it is necessary to modify the event program by changing or adding objects that can be virtual camera subjects in the virtual space. There is also a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of such background art, and is intended to enable both users and producers to easily perform camera work according to the creator's intention. Let it be an issue.

In order to achieve the above object in the present invention, first, in the invention of claim 1, as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space, shooting priority of each object, camera work information, Means for holding
Among the objects entering the field of view of the camera, a unit having the highest photographing priority as a target object;
A virtual reality system comprising: means for providing a user with camera work defined in camera work information of a target object.

In the invention of claim 2, means for holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
The virtual reality system according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that newly sets a related object of a target object as a target object when provision of the camera work to a user is completed.

The invention of claim 3 is a method executed by a computer,
Holding the shooting priority of each object and camera work information as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space;
Of the objects entering the field of view of the camera, the one having the highest shooting priority is set as a target object;
And providing a user with camera work defined in the camera work information of the target object.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a process of holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
The virtual reality method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of making a related object of the target object a new target object when provision of the camera work to the user is completed.

In the invention of claim 5, the computer
Holding the shooting priority of each object and camera work information as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space;
Of the objects entering the field of view of the camera, the one having the highest shooting priority is set as a target object;
The virtual reality software is a program that executes a process of providing a user with camera work defined in camera work information of a target object.

Further, in the invention of claim 6, a process of holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
6. The virtual reality software according to claim 5, further comprising a step of making a related object of a target object a new target object when provision of the camera work to a user is completed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium on which the virtual reality software according to the fifth or sixth aspect is recorded.

  In the invention of claim 7, which cites claim 1, claim 3, claim 5, and claim 5, the user is allowed to see each object with the camera work specified in the camera work information in the order of photographing priority. There is an effect that it becomes possible.

  The invention according to claim 2, claim 4, claim 6, and claim 6 allows the user to see an object with the camera work defined in the camera work information of the object. Immediately after that, there is an effect that the related object of this object can be seen with the camera work defined in the camera work information of the related object.

  Therefore, if the producer gives the shooting priority order, camerawork information, and related objects to each object in consideration of how to show each object, the burden is placed on the user according to the intention of the producer. The user can be guided without hanging. Further, even if an object is added or changed, the shooting priority order, camera work information, and related objects need only be added or changed, and there is no need to modify the event program.

  As described above, there is an effect that it is easy for both the user and the creator to have the user perform camera work according to the intention of the producer.

  The best embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

Here, an object simply means an object of a 3DCG model that exists in a virtual space constructed with 3DCG and can be a subject of a virtual camera. One virtual space is also called one scene. Further, simply referring to a camera means a virtual camera assumed in a virtual space. The viewpoint means a certain position of the camera. Further, the gazing point means a point where the camera is gazing.

  Further, the creator uses the 3DCG creation software on a computer to give subject information to each object. Subject information held by an object is held in a data file in the class of the object at the implementation level, as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the subject information items described in the data file include position, size, shooting priority, related objects, and camera work information.

  The camera work information is information that defines camera work such as viewpoint movement or gazing point movement with respect to an object. This rule is determined by the producer so that the camera work for the object fits the intention of the producer. This camera work may include standard camera work such as pan (left and right swing), dolly (front and back), tilt (up and down swing), and track (parallel movement). Details of the camera work information will be described later.

  Among the items of the subject information, the position, size, shooting priority, and related object are for determining one target object. The target object is an object that provides the user with the camera work specified in the camera work information of the object.

  The position is a point defined as a point that the user expects as a gaze point in the object. This position is defined by the creator at an arbitrary point when creating the object, and is used when grasping the position of the object.

  The size is the width, height, and depth of the object. This size is used in conjunction with the above position to form a virtual model (eg, a bouncing box, a bouncing sphere, etc.) for determining whether this object enters the camera's field of view.

  The shooting priority is a numerical value indicating the degree to which an object is selected as a target object in preference to other objects in the field of view when the object enters the field of view of the camera. The shooting priority is determined in advance by the producer in accordance with the order of objects to be shown to the user in each scene, and is set so that there is no object having the same shooting priority in one scene.

  The related object is specified by the creator as an object having a strong semantic connection to the object. When the provision of the camera work specified in the camera work information of the target object to the user is completed, the related object of the target object is forcibly set as the next target object.

  In the VR software, the field of view of the camera is expressed in a quadrangular pyramid range. When an object enters this range, the computer considers that the object is in the field of view and displays the portion of the object in the field of view on the camera screen. Specifically, when a quadrangular pyramid shape representing the range and a virtual model calculated from the size and position of the object intersect, it is considered that the object has entered the field of view, and the part of the object at the intersection is the camera. On the screen. FIG. 4 shows an example of the object portion displayed on the camera screen as a result of the intersection of the quadrangular pyramid field of view and the virtual model of the bounding box as shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of the flow of processing executed by the computer by the VR software will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

S (STEP) 1;
When the VR software is activated, the subject information of each object existing in the scene is read from the data file of each object class and stored in the memory.

S (STEP) 2;
The position and size of the object information of each object is referred to the memory, and a virtual model (for example, a bouncing box, a banting sphere, etc.) of each object is calculated and stored in the memory from the position and size. .

S (STEP) 3;
Lets the user freely perform camera work such as viewpoint movement and gazing point movement.

S (STEP) 4;
Always monitor whether a VR software termination request is input from the user,
If a VR software termination request is input from the user, terminate the VR software and proceed to END.
If the VR software termination request is not input from the user, the process proceeds to STEP5.

S (STEP) 5;
Always refer to the virtual model of each object in memory and monitor whether each object is in the camera's field of view,
If an object enters the camera's field of view, go to STEP 6,
On the other hand, if the object does not enter the field of view of the camera, the process returns to STEP3.

S (STEP) 6;
Refer to the shooting priority from the subject information of each object in the camera's field of view,
If the shooting priority of any object can be read, it is determined that any object has the shooting priority, and the process proceeds to STEP7.
On the other hand, if the photographing priority order of any object cannot be read, it is determined that no object has the photographing priority order, and the process returns to STEP 3.

S (STEP) 7;
Among the objects that are in the camera's field of view and have the photographing priority, the object having the highest photographing priority is set as the target object.

S (STEP) 8;
Refer to the camera work information from the subject information of the target object in the memory,
If the camera work information of the target object can be read, it is determined that the target object has the camera work information, and the process proceeds to STEP 9.
On the other hand, if the camera work information of the target object cannot be read, the process returns to STEP 3 assuming that the target object does not have camera work information.

S (STEP) 9;
The camera work specified in the camera work information of the target object is provided to the user.

S (STEP) 10;
When the provision of the camera work to the user ends, the related object is referred to the memory from the subject information of the target object,
If the related object of the target object can be read out, it is determined that there is a related object of the target object, and the process proceeds to STEP11.
If the related object of the target object cannot be read, the process returns to STEP 3 because there is no related object of the target object.

S (STEP) 11;
The related object of the target object is newly set as the target object, and then the process returns to STEP8.

  Finally, details of the camera work information will be described. There are at least two types of camera work information.

  The first type of camera work information is to automatically or manually move the camera along a predetermined trajectory and simultaneously cause the camera to gaze at a predetermined point of interest at each point of the trajectory. This defines the camera work performed in For example, as shown in FIG. 5, camera work may be used in which a camera is moved in a predetermined direction on a predetermined trajectory while gazing at a target object.

  The trajectory and the gazing point at each point on the trajectory may be explicitly specified by the producer, or may be calculated by the computer based on information designated by the producer. For example, based on the author's specification that the target object is captured at the center of the camera screen, the computer uses the trajectory to capture the object that has entered the field of view at the center of the camera screen and each point on the trajectory. By moving the camera along this trajectory while gazing at the calculated gazing point at each point in the trajectory, as shown in FIG. It may be camera work in which the camera's gazing point is aligned with the started object. Also, for example, based on the author's designation to track (translate) from the target object to the related object of this object, the computer will determine the trajectory for this track and the point of interest at each point on the trajectory. By calculating and moving the camera along this trajectory while gazing at the calculated gaze point at each point of the trajectory, as shown in FIG. After matching, the camera work may be such that the camera is focused on the related object.

  The second type of camera work information defines restrictions on camera work performed by the user. For example, an area where the camera cannot enter may be defined. Further, for example, the position of the gazing point that the camera gazes at may be specified.

  By limiting the camera work performed by the user, it is possible to guide the user in the way the creator intends to show the scene while leaving a certain degree of freedom in the camera work performed by the user. In addition, since a portion to be shown and a portion not to be shown in the scene can be determined in advance, a model having a large amount of data in the portion not to be shown can be omitted, leading to reduction in data processing cost.

The figure explaining the subject information given to an object. The flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the process which a computer performs by VR software. The figure which shows the intersection of a quadrangular pyramid type visual field and the virtual model of a bounding box. The figure which shows the example of the part of the object displayed on the screen of the camera by the intersection shown in FIG. The figure which shows the example of the camera work which moves a camera to a predetermined | prescribed direction on a predetermined | prescribed track | orbit while gazing at a target object. The figure which shows the example of the camera work which matches the gazing point of a camera with the target object which began to enter into a visual field. The figure which shows the example of the camera work which matches the gaze point of a camera to a related object after aligning the gaze point of a camera with a target object.

Claims (7)

Means for holding shooting priority of each object and camera work information as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space;
Among the objects entering the field of view of the camera, a unit having the highest photographing priority as a target object;
A virtual reality system comprising: means for providing a user with camera work defined in camera work information of a target object. Means for holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
The virtual reality system according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that newly sets a related object of the target object when the provision of the camera work to the user is completed. A method performed by a computer,
Holding the shooting priority of each object and camera work information as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space;
Of the objects entering the field of view of the camera, the one having the highest shooting priority is set as a target object;
Providing a user with camera work defined in the camera work information of the target object. Holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
The virtual reality method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of newly setting the related object of the target object as the target object when the provision of the camera work to the user is completed. On the computer,
Holding the shooting priority of each object and camera work information as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in a virtual space;
Of the objects entering the field of view of the camera, the one having the highest shooting priority is set as a target object;
Virtual reality software, which is a program for executing a process of providing a user with camera work defined in camera work information of a target object. Holding a related object of each object as subject information of each object that can be a subject of a virtual camera in the virtual space;
The virtual reality software according to claim 5, further comprising a step of making a related object of the target object a new target object when provision of the camera work to the user is completed.   A recording medium on which the virtual reality software according to claim 5 is recorded.