JP3443321B2 - Virtual shared space forming method and recording medium recording virtual space forming program - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention represents each user as an alter ego, and the user operates the alter ego to express a three-dimensional virtual space in which he / she can freely move at will, and in the virtual space. Multiple image display terminals capable of expressing the altercations of other users are connected via a network, and the text and voice entered by the user and the position information and line-of-sight direction information of the user in the virtual space The present invention relates to a method of forming a virtual shared space when a plurality of users share a virtual space in a remote place and users gather in the virtual space to communicate through the alternation by distributing the image data to other image display terminal devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The landscape of a three-dimensional object such as a building or a vehicle changes variously depending on the position seen by the user. Information relating to these three-dimensional objects such as buildings and vehicles is stored in an external storage device of a computer, and various three-dimensional computer graphics (CG) techniques are used, depending on the position seen by the user. There are video display systems that can display landscapes. Here, consider an image communication system including a plurality of image display terminal devices, a center device, and a network connecting the plurality of image display terminal devices and the center device. FIG. 2 shows the configuration.

A center device 1 and a plurality of image display terminal devices 3A, 3B, ... Are connected to a network 2. The image display terminal device 3A corresponds to the user A, and the image display terminal device 3B corresponds to the user B. Each image display terminal device 3
A, 3B, ..., Terminal control device 8, display 9 which is an image output device, camera 4 which is an image input device 4, microphone 6 and speaker 7 which are an audio input / output device, from which position the three-dimensional object is viewed. A moving direction input device 5 for inputting and instructing is provided.

Each of the image display terminal devices 3A, 3B, ... Inputs from the moving direction input device 5 the voice input by the microphone 6 and the image captured by the camera 4 for the user corresponding to the image display terminal device. The position information indicating the position of the user and the line-of-sight direction information are sent to the center device 1.

On the other hand, the center device 1 receives various information transmitted from the terminals and distributes the information from the center device 1 to the image display terminal devices 3A, 3B, .... The voice is distributed after mixing.

Each of the image display terminal devices 3A, 3B, ...
Three-dimensional information is stored in advance, and based on the positional information sent from the center device 1, the building, vehicle, etc. existing within a certain angle (viewing angle) from the direction of the line of sight with the designated position as the center. The three-dimensional object is displayed on the display 9 using the three-dimensional CG technology. That is, a three-dimensional virtual space is set, a three-dimensional object is placed in the three-dimensional virtual space, and an image viewed from this viewpoint is displayed on the display 9 assuming that the viewpoint is at a designated position in the three-dimensional virtual space.

Further, each image display terminal device 3A, 3B, ...
By using the movement direction input device 5, the viewpoint can be freely moved in the three-dimensional virtual space where buildings, vehicles, etc. exist. Regarding the alter ego, a preselected alter ego image is placed at a position where the viewpoint of the image display terminal device exists in this three-dimensional virtual space, the image captured by the camera 4 is pasted on the face portion, and the line of sight of the alter ego ( A process of matching the vertical direction of the face image) with the line-of-sight direction of the image display terminal device is executed.

[0008]

In the conventional image communication system as described above, when users gather in the virtual space and communicate only with a specific person through the alter ego, a room is provided in the virtual space. By making it possible for only the alter-ego user in the room to communicate, it is thought that communication that is not bothered by an external alter-ego is possible.

Therefore, when trying to display a room in a virtual space, according to the conventional technology, since the size of the room in the virtual space is fixed, when a large number of users try to communicate in the room. In addition, the density of the alter-ego of the user is high, it is difficult to communicate, and the user outside the room cannot visually grasp the number of the alter-ego that is gathered in the room. There is.

An object of the present invention is to automatically form a room having a sufficient size for a large number of users to communicate in a room by using a plurality of users, and to allow users who are outside the room to It is to provide a means for visually grasping the number of the ghosts gathered in the room.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention represents each user as an alter ego, and the user operates the alter ego and the three-dimensional virtual space in which he / she can freely move at his / her own position. In addition to expressing the above, the image display terminal devices that can express the alter ego of another user in the virtual space are connected via the network, and the text and voice input by the user and the virtual space of the user The position information and the direction information of the line of sight are distributed to other image display terminal devices,
In a virtual space system in which a plurality of users communicate in a virtual space at a remote location, a room is prepared in the virtual space, and the altercations of users who are willing to communicate are gathered in the room, and The feature is that the size is changed according to the number of gathered ghosts.

Specifically, the present invention is as follows, for example. Relative function f (n) (n is the number of alternations in the room) peculiar to the room that calculates the size of the room in the virtual space and the alternation in the room to move the alternation when reducing the size of the room A room having a room-specific function g (q) for calculating the position is prepared. Here, q is a vector representing the relative position of the subject in the room before moving, and is given by X and Y coordinates with a specific point such as the lower left corner, the upper left corner or the center of the room as the origin. Alternatively, the value of q may include an element such as the direction of the ghost, in addition to the X and Y coordinates.

When the user wants to communicate, the user is notified from the image display terminal device of that user that he / she has entered the room, and the center device is notified of the ghosts gathered in the room. The number of the number is counted, the size of the room is calculated by f (n) using the number, the size of the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device, and each image display terminal device re-creates in the virtual space. Draw and change the size of the room.

When the user finishes communication and leaves the room, the user's image display terminal devices inform the center device that the user has left the room, and the center device is still in the room. The number of remaining clones is counted, the size of the room is calculated by f (n) using the number, and the relative position in the room to move the clones still remaining in the room is g (q). The size of the room is transmitted to the image display terminal device of the alternation in the same virtual space as the room, and the image display terminal device of the alternation remaining in the room is calculated by In addition, the information on the relative position of each branch in the room is transmitted,
Each image display terminal device redraws the virtual space based on the information and changes the size of the room.

The operation of the present invention is as follows. When the user's alter ego enters and leaves the room in the virtual space, the fact is transmitted from each image display terminal device to the center device,
The center device determines the size of the room according to the number of ghosts gathered in the room, and transmits the size of the room to each image display terminal device of the ghost in the same virtual space as the room. Thus, each image display terminal device can redraw in the virtual space and change the size of the room.

A program for realizing the above-described processing for forming a virtual space in a virtual space system by a computer should be stored in an appropriate storage medium such as a computer-readable portable medium memory, a semiconductor memory, a hard disk. You can

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. <Outline of the Present Invention> FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the present invention.

The virtual space 10 is a virtual three-dimensional space for a plurality of users to communicate with each other by image display terminal devices connected by a network at remote locations. The alternations 11A, 11B, 11C and 11D respectively represent the users of the image display terminal devices in the virtual space 10, and each user operates the alternation,
Unless specifically limited, the virtual space 10 can be freely moved.

In the present invention, a room 12 is prepared for gathering the altercations of users who are willing to communicate in the virtual space 10. When the alternation enters the room 12 through the entrance / exit 13, the inside of the room 12 is entered. Only the alter ego can communicate on a common topic.

The size of a building or the like in the virtual space 10 is generally a fixed size, but in the present invention, the size of the room 12 for this communication is
The number is automatically changed according to the number of ghosts gathered in the room 12. For example, as shown in FIG.
When two alternations 11A and 11B are contained in 2 and another alternation 11C enters, a room-specific function f (n) (n is in the room) for calculating a predetermined size of the room The size of the room 12 is calculated according to the number of ghosts), the information is transmitted to each image display terminal device, and the size of the room 12 is changed as shown in FIG.

When the branch exits from the room, the size of the room 12 is recalculated by the function f (n) for similarly calculating the size of the room, and the size of the room 12 is changed to a smaller size. At this time, the relative positions of the clones still remaining in the room 12 are calculated so as to fit in the room 12, and the room 1
The movement of the ghost is automatically performed within 2.

Therefore, when a large number of users use the alter-ego to communicate in the room, a room having a necessary and sufficient size is automatically formed. Further, as in the case of the alternation 11D in FIG. 1, the user of the altercation outside the room can visually grasp the number of the alternations gathered in the room from the size of the room.

<Device Configuration> The hardware configuration of the image communication system to which the virtual shared space forming method of the present invention is applied is basically the same as that described in the prior art using FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the center device, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image display terminal device. 3 and 4, those having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 correspond to those shown in FIG.

In the center device 1 of FIG. 3, the movement information control section 21 determines the position to be transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 based on the movement information of each subject sent from each image display terminal device 3. Determine the information. The video processing unit 22 determines a video to be transmitted based on the position information determined by the movement information control unit 21, and transmits the video to each image display terminal device 3 via the data demultiplexing device 25 and the network 2. .

The room control unit 23 changes the size of the room based on the position information determined by the movement information control unit 21,
When the position of the alter ego is moved due to the change of the room, a process of calculating the relative position in the room where the alter ego is moved is performed. Further, when the appearance or interior of the room is changed and the appearance or interior of the room is generated by the image display terminal device 3 for the first time, the video processing unit 22 is instructed to transmit the image data.

The voice mixer unit 24 includes a movement information control unit 21.
The sound to be transmitted is determined based on the position information determined in step 1, and the mixing process is also performed.
Send audio to. The data demultiplexing device 25 performs data communication with each image display terminal device 3 via the network 2.

In the image display terminal device 3 of FIG. 4, the audio output unit 31 outputs audio information separated from the data sent via the network 2 by the data demultiplexing device 36 to the speaker 7. The virtual space generation unit 32
A three-dimensional virtual space is generated based on the video received from the center device 1, the position information of the object in the virtual space, and the movement information of the self, and the room and the alter ego are displayed on the display 9.

The input device 5'is, for example, a mouse, a joystick or a keyboard, and includes the moving direction input device 5 of FIG. The input unit 33 transmits the moving direction of the ghost to the virtual space generation unit 32 and the center device 1 based on the input from the input device 5 ', and other screen selection information, that is, information processed by a click operation or the keyboard. Processing for transmitting input information from the etc. to the center device 1 is performed. Further, the voice input unit 34 converts the voice information input from the microphone 6 into digital data and transmits it to the center device 1 via the data demultiplexing device 36 and the network 2. The video input unit 35 transmits the video of the user or the like captured by the camera 4 to the center device 1.

<First Embodiment> FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention. The alternations of the users A, B, C, D of the image display terminal devices 3A, 3B, ... Are respectively alternations 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D,
The vertical length of the room when no one is in the room is a, the horizontal length is b, and the height is c. Hereinafter, the size of the room is represented by (a, b, c).

Here, the function for calculating the room size is f (n) = (a × n ^1/2 , b × n ^1/2 , c). n is the number of ghosts in the room.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the alternation 11 is placed in the room.
When A and 11B gather, the size of the room 12 at this time becomes (2 ^1/2 a, 2 ^1/2 b, c) by the function f (2).
At this time, the image of the image display terminal device used by the user D of the alternator 11D who is in the same virtual space as the room 12 and outside the room 12 appears as shown in FIG. 5B.

When the clone 11C of the clones 11C and 11D outside the room 12 enters the room 12, the image display terminal device of the user C tells the center device 1 that the clone 11C has entered the room 12. The center device 1 is transmitted to the room 12
Recognizing that the number of ghosts in the room has become 3, the size of the room 12 (3 ^1/2 a,
3 ^1/2 b, c) is transmitted. As a result, each image display terminal device redraws the virtual space based on the transmitted size of the room 12, and changes the size of the room 12 as shown in FIG. 6A. 6B is displayed on the display of the image display terminal device used by the user D of the alternator 11D who is outside the room 12.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention. It is assumed that the ghosts 11A and 11B are present in the room 12 whose size is (a, b, c) when nobody is in the room.
In the second embodiment, each of the ghosts is oriented so that the line-of-sight direction of the ghost is perpendicular to the wall surface facing the wall having the entrance / exit 13 of the room 12, and the position of the viewpoint of each image display terminal device is changed. The line of sight of each image display terminal device is set to be in a line-symmetrical position with respect to the wall surface in the front direction with respect to the alter-ego. In this case, in order to bring the ghosts that have entered the room 12 into the field of view of the other ghosts, it is necessary to arrange the ghosts so as to be parallel to the wall surface in the front direction of the ghost. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the function f (n) for calculating the size of the room 12 is set as f (n) = (a, b × n, c).

For example, if the alternator 11C enters the room 12 and the number of persons in the room 12 becomes three, the size of the room 12 is set to (a, 3b, c) as shown in FIG. Change horizontally. At this time, the image of the image display terminal device used by the user D of the alternation 11D outside the room 12 appears as shown in FIG. 7B.

<Third Embodiment> In each of the above-described embodiments, in the case where each individual comes into the room 12 one by one or goes out one by one, the center device is used. Since the size of the room is calculated each time in step 1, the processing load of the center device 1 becomes large. Therefore,
In the third embodiment, the center device 1 calculates the size of the room each time the number of the clones in the room in each of the above-described embodiments changes by a certain number. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the number of times the center apparatus 1 performs the process of calculating the size of the room, and it is possible to suppress the load on the center apparatus 1.

<Fourth Embodiment> In the room 12 in each of the above-described embodiments, when the alter ego comes out of the room 12, the size of the room is calculated by f (n) and the room 12 is used.
At that time, the center device 1 calculates the relative position of each alternation in the room 12 by the room-specific function g (q) that calculates the relative position of the alternation, and the relative position is calculated as follows. The image is transferred to the image display terminal device inside the alter ego and redrawn. As a result, when the room is made small, it is possible to display the subject inside the room without protruding from the room.

For example, the function f (n) for calculating the size of the room as in the first embodiment is f (n) = (a × n
^In the case of a room of ^1/2 , b × n ^1/2 , c), the function g (q) for calculating the relative position of the alternation in the room 12 is set as follows.

G (q) = (N '/ N)^1/2q Here, N is the number of original alternations, N'is the number of alteratives
Is. q represents the relative position of the alter ego in the room before moving
Vector, and in the example of FIG.₁, Y ₁)
It If necessary, q may include the direction of the alter ego. This g
Using (q) to calculate the new relative position of the alter ego,
To move the alter ego. This will increase the size of the room
As a result of the change, the alter ego never leaves the room
It becomes possible to do so.

<Operation Flow> FIG. 9 is a flow chart when the size of the room is changed. As shown in FIG. 5, alternations 11A, 11 of users A, B of the image display terminal devices 3A, 3B
B are gathered in the room 12, and the image display terminal device 3
C, 3D users C, D's altercations 11C, 11D are in room 1
When the alternator 11C of the user C enters the room 12 outside the room 2, the image display terminal device 3C notifies the center device 1 that the position information of the user C has entered the room 12. Tell by doing.

The center device 1 counts the number of divisions in the room 12, and calculates the size of the room from the increase / decrease by using f (n). When the number of clones in the room 12 decreases, the center device 1 further uses g (q) to move the relative positions in the room 12 in order to move each clone that still remains in the room 12. To calculate. After that, the center device 1 obtains the information about the size of the room and the relative position in the room to which the other body is moved from each image display terminal device 3A, 3B,
3C, 3D, each image display terminal device 3A, 3B, 3
In C and 3D, the size of the room in the virtual space is changed based on the information sent from the center device 1 and displayed on the display.

<Processing Flowchart of Room Control Unit of Center Device> FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a size changing process of the room control unit of the center device. When the room control unit 23 of the center device 1 shown in FIG. 3 receives the entry / exit information to / from the room from the image display terminal device 3 (step S1 in FIG. 10), it counts the number of clones in the room (S2). Then, the size of the room is calculated using f (n) (S3). When the room is enlarged, that is, when the alternation enters the room, the size of the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the alternation in the same virtual space as the room (S4, S6).

Further, when the room is made small, that is, when the clone comes out of the room, g (q) is used to calculate the relative position in the room to move the clone still remaining in the room, and the same as the room The size of the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the alternation in the virtual space, and the relative position in the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the alternation (S4, S5, S6).

The size changing process of the room control unit of the center device in the case of the third embodiment is performed as shown in FIG. When the room control unit 23 of the center apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 3 receives the entry / exit information to / from the room from the image display terminal apparatus 3 (step S11 in FIG. 11), a change for counting the number of changes in the alternation in the room. The number of persons entering and leaving the room from the image display terminal device 3 is added to the number counter (S
12). At this time, the number of entrances and exits is a positive value when the alternation enters the room, and the number of entrances and exits is a negative value when leaving the room.

Next, it is judged whether or not the absolute value of the change counter is larger than a predetermined threshold value (S13). If it is not large, the process is terminated without changing the size of the room.

If the absolute value of the change counter is larger than a predetermined threshold value, the change counter is set to 0 (S1
4) Count the number of clones in the room (S15). Then, the size of the room is calculated using f (n) (S16).
When enlarging the room, the size of the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the alternation in the same virtual space as the room (S
17, S19). On the other hand, when making the room small, g
(Q) is used to calculate the relative position in the room in which the subject that remains in the room is moved, and the size of the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the subject in the same virtual space as the room. , The relative position in the room is transmitted to each image display terminal device 3 of the alter ego (S17, S18, S1).
9).

In the above embodiment, an example in which the center device 1 calculates the size of the room and transmits it to each image display terminal device 3 has been described. However, the virtual space management function of the center device 1 is as follows. Each image display terminal device 3 is distributed to each image display terminal device 3, and each image display terminal device 3 receives movement information of the alternation from another image display terminal device, and determines the size of the room and the relative position of the alternation. Similarly, the present invention can be implemented.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, by changing the size of a room when a user enters or leaves, it is possible for a large number of users to communicate with each other in the room by using the alter ego. This has the effect of forming a room of sufficient size and allowing users outside the room to visually grasp the number of ghosts gathered in the room.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image communication system to which a virtual shared space forming method is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a center device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart when changing the size of a room.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a process of a room control unit of the center device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a process of a room control unit of the center device according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Center device 2 network 3A, 3B, ... Image display terminal device 4 cameras 5 Movement direction input device 5'input device 6 microphones 7 speakers 8 Terminal control device 9 display 10 virtual space 11A, 11B, ... 12 rooms 13 doorway 21 Mobility Information Control Unit 22 Video processing unit 23 Room control section 24 Audio mixer section 25 Data demultiplexer 31 Audio output section 32 virtual space generation unit 33 Input section 34 Voice input section 35 Video input section 36 Data demultiplexer

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-11-250278 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 15/00-17/50 G06F 13/00

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of image display terminal devices capable of expressing a three-dimensional virtual space in which each user is represented as an alter ego, and the user can freely move by operating the alter e In a virtual space system connected via a plurality of users to communicate in a virtual space in a remote place, a room is prepared in the virtual space for gathering the alternations of users who are willing to communicate, A virtual space characterized in that the size of the room is calculated according to the number of the ghosts gathered in the room, and the virtual space is redrawn in each of the image display terminal devices based on the calculated size of the room. Shared space formation method. 2. The virtual shared space forming method according to claim 1, wherein in calculating the size of the room, a vertical length and a horizontal length of the room are calculated, and a vertical length and a horizontal length of the room are calculated. A method of forming a virtual shared space, characterized in that the number of ghosts is changed according to the number of ghosts gathered in the room. 3. The virtual shared space forming method according to claim 1, wherein the clones in the room are laterally aligned toward one surface of the wall of the room, and the room size is calculated by calculating the room size. A method for forming a virtual shared space, characterized in that the horizontal length of the room is calculated and the horizontal length of the room is changed according to the number of bunches gathered in the room. 4. The virtual shared space forming method according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, when a user's altercation enters or leaves the room, the number of changes in the alternation in the room due to the entry or exit. Is calculated, and when there is a change over a predetermined value,
A virtual shared space forming method, characterized in that the size of the room is calculated and the size of the room is changed. 5. The method for forming a virtual shared space according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4, when the alternation of the user leaves the room to make the room smaller,
A method for forming a virtual shared space, characterized in that the relative position in each room remaining in the room is calculated, and the clone is moved based on the calculated relative position. 6. A plurality of image display terminal devices capable of expressing a user in a three-dimensional virtual space in which each user is represented as an alter ego, and the user operates the alter ego to freely create a three-dimensional virtual space through a network. A recording medium in which a program for realizing a virtual space system, which is connected via a plurality of users and communicates in a virtual space in a remote place, is recorded, and has a willingness to communicate in the virtual space. A computer is configured to perform a process of setting a room for gathering the ghosts of different persons and a process of calculating the size of the room according to the number of ghosts gathered in the room and changing the size of the room. A recording medium on which a program for forming a virtual space is recorded, which program is recorded.