JP3203615B2 - Virtual space sharing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional virtual space in which a user can move freely on his / her own will, and a plurality of devices capable of expressing an alter ego of another user in the virtual space. Connected via a network, multiple users can share the same virtual space in remote locations by distributing the user's voice, video, position information in the virtual space, information on the gaze direction of the alter ego to other devices, etc. The present invention relates to a virtual space sharing technology that allows a user to talk with an arbitrary user in a virtual space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present invention is directed to a three-dimensional virtual space that can be shared by a plurality of users via a communication network. Can freely move in the virtual space with the will of
The positional relationship between one's alter ego and the alter ego of another user and the direction of the face constantly change.

[0003] Conventionally, to talk with another user in a virtual space, a user operates his / her alter ego from an operation device and approaches the alter ego of the user to convey the intention of the conversation, or by using voice. A method of calling the other party's name or a method of operating the operation device and visually communicating the intention of the conversation to the other party using a graphic or the like has been adopted.

[0004]

However, the first method has a drawback that if the alternations of both users are not in the field of view of each other, the existence of the other party cannot be recognized and the intention of the conversation cannot be conveyed. There is. In addition, there is a disadvantage that it is complicated to operate the self-self and move in front of the opponent in order to match the line of sight with the opponent. The second method has a disadvantage that it is difficult to convey the intention of the conversation when the name of the other party cannot be specified from the back of the alter ego. The third method has a drawback in that an operation is required in addition to the operation of moving the alter ego, and the human interface becomes complicated.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual space sharing system that can automatically match the lines of sight of the alter egos and easily establish a conversation in the virtual space without complicated operations. .

[0006]

The first virtual space sharing system of the present invention measures the distance between oneself and another self using the received position information of another self and the position information of oneself, Means for detecting whether or not the distance is equal to or less than a threshold determined in advance by the device, and whether or not the state has continued for not less than a threshold of time determined in advance by the device; and a state in which the distance is equal to or less than the threshold is a threshold of the time. When it is detected that the continuation has been performed, there is provided a means for changing the position of one's own body or the direction of the sight of the other ghost until the direction of the sight of one's own body matches the direction of the sight of another ghost.

A second virtual space sharing system according to the present invention comprises:
Means for detecting whether or not the line of sight of the other self is directed to the other self by using the received direction information of the line of sight of the other alter ego and the direction of the line of sight of the self If it is detected that the line of sight of the self is directed to another alter ego that is equal to or greater than the threshold of the time, the position of the self or the position of the self until the direction of the line of sight of the self and the direction of the line of sight of the other alter ego match It has means for changing the direction of the line of sight.

[0008]

The present invention utilizes the position information of the alter ego and the direction of the line of sight transmitted and received between the devices connected via the communication network to determine the time when the alter egos are close to each other. In addition, the gazes of the alter egos are automatically matched according to the gaze time when the alter ego is looking at other alter egos, so that conversation can be easily established in the virtual space without complicated operations.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a virtual space sharing apparatus constituting a virtual space sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a line-of-sight coincidence based on the distance between the alter egos or the face direction and time.

The virtual space sharing device is connected to another virtual space sharing device via a communication line 17. The communication network interface unit 10 transfers the position information of the other alter ego and the line of sight direction information received via the communication line 17 to the other alter ego movement processing unit 13 via the internal bus 18. On the other hand, when the user of the virtual space sharing apparatus operates and moves himself using the operation device 16, movement information is input to the operation device interface section 11 via the external bus 27. Actuator interface
The communication unit 11 converts the received movement information into position information and line-of-sight direction information, and communicates with the communication network interface via the internal bus 19.
To the application unit 10. The communication network interface unit 10 transmits position information and line-of-sight direction information to another virtual space sharing apparatus via the communication line 17. At the same time, the operating device interface unit 11 transmits the position information and the line-of-sight direction information to the internal bus 2.
The data is transferred to the virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 and the distance / sight line / time calculation unit 15 via 1 and 22 respectively. The virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 moves the viewpoint of the alter ego of the user based on the position information and the line-of-sight direction information received from the internal bus 21, and transmits the virtual space display unit 1 via the internal bus 24.
2 is instructed to change the display viewpoint of the display model. In addition, the virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 is connected to the internal bus 2
The change of the viewpoint is notified to the other alter ego movement processing unit 13 via 5. The other alter ego movement processing unit 13 determines, based on the viewpoint change notification received via the internal bus 25, the position information of the other alter ego received via the internal bus 18 and the line-of-sight direction information, The virtual space display unit 12 is notified via the internal bus 23 to change the position of the alter ego and the direction of the face. The virtual space display unit 12 moves and displays the viewpoint in the virtual space in accordance with the operation of the operation device 16 by the user, and displays other alter egos therein.

The distance / line-of-sight / time calculator 15 is connected to the internal bus 2
The distance between oneself and the other alter ego is measured from the position information of the other alter ego received through the internal bus 22 and the line-of-sight direction information received through the internal bus 22. If the distance is smaller than the threshold and the other alter ego is in the line of sight of the user, a timer is started. If the time exceeds the threshold, the viewpoint is changed via the internal bus 26 and the viewpoint of the virtual space model is moved. Instruct processing unit 14. Thereby, one's own body can move so as to match the line of sight of the other alter ego. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in the case where the user a wants to talk to the user of the other alter ego b when his / her a is not in the field of view of the other alternator b as shown in FIG. An example will be described.

The communication network interface unit 10 is a communication line 1
The position information and the line-of-sight direction information of the other alter ego b are received via 7 and transferred to the other alter ego movement processing unit 13 via the internal bus 18. On the other hand, the user of the virtual space sharing apparatus
When the user operates and moves his / her own by using, the movement information is input to the controller interface unit 11 via the external bus 27. The operating device interface unit 11 converts the received movement information into position information and line-of-sight direction information,
9 to the communication network interface unit 10. The communication network interface unit 10 transmits position information of its own a and line-of-sight direction information to another virtual space sharing apparatus via the communication line 17. At the same time, the operating device interface unit 11 transmits the position information of its own a and the line-of-sight direction information to the internal bus 21.
22, the virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 1
4. Transfer to the distance / line-of-sight / time calculator 15.

The distance / line-of-sight / time calculator 15 is an internal bus 2
0 and the position information of the other alter ego b received via the internal bus 2
The distance between the self-a and the other self-b is measured based on the position information of the self-a received via the communication device 2. If the distance is smaller than the threshold L and the other alter ego b is in the line of sight of the self a, a timer is started, and if the time has passed the threshold T while maintaining the distance L or less (FIG. 2 (1)). , And instructs the virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 to change the viewpoint via the internal bus 26. The virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 notifies the change of viewpoint to the other alternation movement processing unit 13 via the internal bus 25. Upon receiving the viewpoint change notification via the internal bus 25, the other alter ego movement processing unit 13 determines, based on the line-of-sight direction information of the other alter ego b received via the internal bus 18, the other alter ego b in the field of view of the user. Is notified to the virtual space display unit 12 via the internal bus 23 to change the direction of the face. The virtual space display section 12 rotates the other alter ego b on the spot until the line of sight coincides with the self a (FIG. 2 (3)). Alternatively, the virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 14 notifies the virtual space display unit 12 to move the viewpoint of the alter ego a of the user based on the position information and the line-of-sight direction information received from the internal bus 21, and displays the virtual space. The unit 12 moves itself a until the line of sight coincides with the other alter ego b (FIG. 2 (4)).

In FIG. 2 (2), if the time that the user a looks at the other alter ego b he / she wants to talk to continues for more than a time threshold T determined in advance by the apparatus, FIG. 2 (3) or FIG.
As shown in (4), the other alter ego b or the other alter ego a is set so that the line of sight of the self alter ego a and the other alter ego b match without the user's operation.
Is controlled.

In the case of realizing both FIG. 2 (1) and FIG. 2 (2) at the same time, one's own body a approaches another alter ego b at a distance L or less while keeping an eye on the other alter ego b to talk to. When the time T elapses while maintaining the direction and the distance L or less,
Alter egos a and b so that the eyes of self a and other alter ego b match
Control.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Utilizing the position information and line-of-sight information of the alter egos that are mutually transmitted and received between the devices connected via the communication network, the time when the alter egos are close to each other in position and the alter ego sees other alter egos By automatically matching the lines of sight of the alter egos with the gaze time, the conversation can be easily established in the virtual space without complicated operations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a virtual space sharing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (1) shows a case where the distance between oneself a and another self b is smaller than a threshold and the duration is longer than the threshold,
FIG. 2B shows a case where the time during which oneself looks at another alter ego b is longer than the threshold, and FIG.
It indicates that it will rotate on the spot until the line of sight matches
FIG. 4D shows that the self body a is moved until the line of sight coincides with the other alter ego b.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 communication network interface unit 11 operation unit interface unit 12 virtual space display unit 13 other alternation movement processing unit 14 virtual space model viewpoint movement processing unit 15 distance, line of sight, time calculation unit 16 operation unit 17 communication line 18, 19 , 20, 21, 22 Internal bus for position coordinate / line-of-sight direction information 23 Internal bus for indicating the position of another self-position 24, 25 Internal bus for indicating the viewpoint 26 Internal bus for indicating the change of the viewpoint 27 Bus for transferring operation device signals a, b

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 15/00-17/50 H04N ⁷ /14-7/173 G06F 13/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A three-dimensional virtual space in which a user can move freely according to his / her own will and a plurality of devices capable of expressing a user's alter ego in the virtual space are connected via a communication network. Virtual space sharing that allows multiple users to share the same virtual space at remote locations by distributing the user's voice, video, location information of the alter ego in the virtual space, gaze direction information of the alter ego to other devices In the system, the distance between the self and the other self is measured using the received position information of the other self and the position information of the self, and the distance is equal to or less than a threshold determined in advance by the device, and the state is determined in advance. Means for detecting whether or not the state has continued for a time equal to or greater than a threshold value determined by the device; The gaze directions of the alter egos match Virtual space sharing system and a means for changing the direction of the sight line position or other branch of his body until the. 2. A three-dimensional virtual space in which a user can move freely according to his / her own will and a plurality of devices capable of expressing a user's alter ego in the virtual space are connected via a communication network. Virtual space sharing that allows multiple users to share the same virtual space at remote locations by distributing the user's voice, video, location information of the alter ego in the virtual space, gaze direction information of the alter ego to other devices The system uses the received gaze direction information of the other alter ego and the gaze direction information of the self to detect whether the gaze of the self is facing the other alteration that is equal to or greater than the time threshold determined in advance by the device. And detecting that the gaze of the self is directed to another alter ego that is equal to or greater than the time threshold, until the direction of the gaze of the self coincides with the orientation of the gaze of the other alter ego. Position or gaze direction of other alter ego Virtual space sharing system and a means for changing.