JP3830922B2 - Virtual space display method and virtual space display device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a virtual space display method in movement in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, the movement in the three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics has been performed smoothly by linear interpolation to the designated object or in the designated direction.
[0003]
In addition, the screen of the viewpoint position corresponding to the visual field of the user was displayed (FIG. 17). Further, during the movement, a screen display is performed in which the moving direction and the visual field direction coincide with each other, or the line-of-sight direction remains the same and the left and right are translated. However, in the case of linear and smooth movement, the realistic feeling of movement by walking is poor. Further, in the display as the user's field of view, it is very difficult to recognize the size of the space in an unfamiliar space or a space with few things. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the moving distance to the target.
[0004]
In addition, there is a problem that the user cannot move while gazing at something by the method of matching the direction of movement and the direction of the field of view, or parallel movement of left and right.
On the other hand, Hiroo Iwata et al .: “Reality and analysis of dynamic walking in walk-through simulator”, Human Interface N & R, Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 199-204 (1993) and Michitaka Hirose et al .: “Research on the Synthesis of Sensation of Moving Distance”, Human Interface N & R, Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 277-282 (1995), a method of inputting a walking motion using a special device and giving a sense of moving distance has been taken.
[0005]
However, the use of such a special device has a problem that the cost is high both in terms of space and price.
Furthermore, the method of always displaying a walking person has a problem that the drawing speed becomes slow.
Recently, there is a 3D Viewer for World Wide Web such as webspace, and each site can walk through a 3D space constructed by VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). However, the interface for the walk-through is to operate a control object such as a handle, which is far from the sense that the user is walking around the space (FIG. 18).
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been devised for such a problem. There is a problem in that a sufficient sense of distance cannot be generated simply by moving within a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics.
[0007]
In the conventional walkthrough, the movement direction and the viewpoint direction coincide, so it was impossible to walk while looking at the surroundings. The purpose is to realize a low-cost system that can speed drawing and give a sense of movement close to the actual space.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problem, in a virtual space display method for displaying movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics, a position calculation unit calculates the position of the moving object, and the movement Based on the moving direction of the object and the positional relationship between the object that can be watched and the moving object, the watched object storage unit that stores the position of the object that can be watched in the three-dimensional virtual space And the reference point of the display screen is set by the visual object display setting unit from the position of the selected gaze object, and the display position of the screen is set from the calculated position of the moving object and the set reference point. And a three-dimensional virtual space image is displayed on the display unit at the set display position.
[0012]
As a result, in the virtual space display method of the present invention, it is possible to walk and move while looking at something in the virtual space by setting a gaze object and always displaying it, and in a more actual space. Natural display close to operation can be realized.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Configuration of the first embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in which an input unit 10, a shape storage unit 11, a position storage unit 12, a key frame storage unit 13, a shake calculation unit 14, a screen display position setting unit 15, a display control unit 16, It shows that it is composed of a display 17.
[0014]
Each part which comprises 1st Example of this invention is demonstrated easily. The input unit 10 is a part where the user inputs a movement start / end command. As an input device, a mouse is used in this embodiment.
[0015]
However, the present invention can also be implemented by a method using other input devices (joystick, data glove, keyboard). The shape storage unit 11 is a part that stores data relating to the shape of each object.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a storage example of data related to the shape of the object in the shape storage unit 11. A name indicating each object, an id number, center coordinates, six vertex coordinates of a cuboid (bounding box) circumscribing the three-dimensional shape, and a pointer indicating the location where the actual three-dimensional shape data is stored are stored. Has been. The position storage unit 12 is a part that stores data relating to the position of each object.
[0017]
FIG. 3 is a storage example of data related to the position of the object in the position storage unit 12. Information on the id number of the object in the three-dimensional space, the ID number of the shape data, the position coordinate value, and the rotation angle is stored. The key frame storage unit 13 is a part that stores angle data of each part of the human body during walking.
[0018]
FIG. 4 shows an example of key frame data stored in the key frame storage unit 13. The type of operation such as walking and sitting, the number of sample data sets from the start to the end of one operation, and individual data sets are stored. The shake calculation unit 14 is a part that receives an input from the input unit 10, calculates a position when the human body moves, and calculates a viewpoint position for simulating the shake of the body caused by the movement of the center of gravity. The screen display position setting unit 15 is a part for setting the display position of the screen with reference to the viewpoint position of the human body calculated by the shaking calculation unit 14. The display control unit 16 generates an image and a human body of the three-dimensional virtual environment at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 15 and displays the generated image on the display 17.
[0019]
FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen. In addition to the CRT, other devices such as a head mounted display and a large screen can be used as the display.
(Operation of the first embodiment)
The first embodiment having the above-described configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 8, 6, and 1).
That is, at the input unit 10 of the configuration diagram 2, the user inputs a movement command (20). In order to walk the human body along the direction of the destination according to the input, the next reference point and destination point of the next human body are set based on the current reference point and destination point and a preset step length (21, FIG. 1-14).
[0020]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of reference point setting. For example, it is set based on preset key frame data (FIGS. 1-13 and 4) for walking motion. When the center of gravity at the time of walking is on the right foot, the position of the waist which is the reference position is calculated from the angle data of each part of the right foot set in the key frame data. The key frame data is obtained by sampling human movements at regular intervals.
[0021]
Therefore, a gentle waveform is drawn when the coordinates of the reference points of the human body are arranged on the time axis. Reference points and destination points set in this process are P and A in FIG.
Next, the viewpoint of the human body is calculated as a position D (mm) higher than this reference point. (22, FIGS. 1-14). The reference point of the human body is calculated as a point that is D (mm) higher than the destination point. The viewpoints and reference points of the human body set in this process are E and R in FIG. 8, and the difference between the viewpoint and the center point is D.
[0022]
Next, with reference to the viewpoint of the human body as a result of the shake calculation 22, the display position of the screen is set at a position higher by H (mm) after a preset B (mm) than the viewpoint of the human body (23 1-15).
[0023]
As the reference point of the screen, the value of the reference point of the human body is set. For example, if B = 2000 (mm) and H = 300 (mm), a screen display position that follows a person from a position that is 2 (m) behind the person and 30 (cm) higher than the height of the person's eyes (FIG. 5).
[0024]
If B = 0 (mm) and H = 0 (mm), the screen matches the viewpoint of the person. The screen display position and the screen reference point set in this process are V and R in FIG. 8, the distance between the viewpoint and the display position is B, and the height difference is H. The virtual space and the human body image from the display position set in this way are displayed (24, FIGS. 1-16 and 17). It is repeated unless a stop command is received at the input unit 10.
[0025]
Regarding display, it is conceivable to 1: shake the human model, 2: shake the display screen, and 3: shake the human model and the display screen. In any case in the present invention, a realistic display screen can be generated. However, when a human model is displayed in a three-dimensional space, an image that is easy to see when observing from the outside by shaking the human model. If the human model viewpoint is displayed without displaying the human model, a more realistic screen can be displayed by shaking the display screen.
[0026]
(Effects of the first embodiment)
According to the method as described above, a minute shaking of the display screen can be expressed, and the user can obtain a realistic feeling of movement by walking. Further, by taking the display position of the screen behind the human body, the human body is displayed and it becomes easy to grasp the size of the virtual space. As a result, it is possible to bring the sense of movement distance in the virtual space of the user closer to the sense of movement distance in the actual space.
[0027]
(Modification)
1: In the above embodiment, the drawing of the walking human body is performed, but this can be omitted and the drawing of the human body can be omitted. As a result, the drawing speed can be kept high, and the realistic sensation by walking can be enhanced.
[0028]
2; It is also possible to draw a simplified person image such as only the upper body. Thereby, it is possible to help the user grasp the size of the virtual space while keeping the drawing speed high.
[0029]
3: The configuration of the present invention is modified as shown in FIG. 9, and the position calculation unit 43 and the shake calculation unit 44 are separated. It can also be calculated. The calculation of shaking can also be simulated by a waveform function.
[0030]
For example, the vertical swing can be simulated by an equation such as y = a · cos (2π · t / T) + h, (a: amplitude width t: time T: time taken for one step).
4: Configuration If the key frame storage unit 13 in FIG. 2 prepares a plurality of sample data, display corresponding to various ways of walking and height can be performed.
(Configuration of the second embodiment)
FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which an input unit 100, a shape storage unit 101, a position storage unit 102, a position calculation unit 103, a gaze object storage unit 104, a gaze object selection unit 105, and a gaze object display setting unit 106 are shown. , A screen display position setting unit 107, a display control unit 108, and a display 109.
[0031]
Each part which comprises 2nd Example of this invention is demonstrated easily. The input unit 100 is a part where the user inputs a movement direction and a movement start / end command. As an input device, a mouse is used in this embodiment. The shape storage unit 101 is a part that stores data related to the shape of each object.
[0032]
The position storage unit 102 is a part that stores data related to the position of each object. The position calculation unit 103 is a part that receives the input from the input unit 10 and calculates the current position in the virtual space. The gaze object storage unit 104 is a list of objects that can be watched by the user among the objects in the position storage unit 102, and stores ID numbers of data related to positions.
[0033]
The gaze object selection unit 105 is a part of the gaze object storage unit 104 that checks and selects whether the object is closest to the current point and the positional relationship between the traveling direction and the object does not exceed the set range. . The gaze object display setting unit 106 is a part that obtains the position data of the object selected by the gaze object selection unit 105 from the position storage unit 102 and sets it as a reference point on the display screen. The screen display position setting unit 107 is a part for setting the display position of the screen with reference to the current position set by the position calculation unit 103. The display control unit 108 generates a three-dimensional virtual environment image at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 107 and displays it on the display 109.
[0034]
(Operation of the second embodiment)
The second embodiment having the above configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 11 and 10).
That is, the user inputs a movement command at the input unit 100 of FIG. 10 which is a configuration diagram (120). In response to an input from the input unit 100, the three-dimensional coordinates of the current position are calculated (121, FIGS. 10-103).
[0035]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the process of calculating the current position. Next, an object closest to the current position is selected from the gaze object storage unit 104 in FIG. 10 (123, FIGS. 10-105).
[0036]
Then, it is checked whether or not the angle θ between the selected object and the traveling direction exceeds a preset range α (125, FIG. 10-105). If θ <α, the object is selected as a gaze object, and its coordinates are set as a reference point on the display screen (126, FIG. 10-gaze object display setting unit 106).
[0037]
If θ> α, 127 is performed from the result in 121. FIG. 13 illustrates a process of selecting a gaze object. At time t0, the distance to the objects 1, 2 and 3 is d1t0 <d2t0 <d3t0, and the object 1 is smaller than the range α in which the angle θ1t0 with respect to the traveling direction is set, so the object 1 is selected. The
[0038]
On the other hand, at time t1, d2t1 <d1t1 <d3t1 and the angle is θ2t1 <α, so the object 2 is selected. Next, the display position of the screen is set from the results of the screen reference point settings 126 and 121 (127, FIG. 10-107).
[0039]
An image from the display position set in this way is displayed (128, FIGS. 10-108, 109). The process is repeated unless a stop command is received from the input unit 100.
(Effect of the second embodiment)
According to the method as described above, the user can move while gazing at an arbitrary object. Therefore, it is possible to approach the sense of movement in an actual space.
[0040]
(Modification)
In the second embodiment described above, the gaze object storage unit 104 (FIG. 10) is used to select the gaze object, but this is not used and the object that is drawn the largest on the display screen is selected. The object can be set as a gaze object. For example, the distance from the current position of the object in the field of view is calculated. Further, the size of which object is obtained from the bounding box data (FIG. 2) of the object.
[0041]
Then, the ratio between the distance and the size is taken, and the object with the largest ratio is set as the gaze object. According to such a method, the user can move while gazing at an arbitrary object without creating list-up data of the gazing object in advance. Therefore, the work time for data input can be shortened, and a walk-through close to the sense of movement in an actual space is possible.
[0042]
Further, by having a configuration in which the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention are combined, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the shaking caused by the movement of the human model and the movement of the viewpoint of the human model.
[0043]
(Configuration of the third embodiment)
FIG. 14 is an overall configuration diagram of the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows a third embodiment of the present invention in which an input unit 50, a space configuration storage unit 51, a human body shape storage unit 52, a human body position calculation unit 53, a head rotation angle calculation unit 54, a screen display position setting unit 55, It shows that it is comprised from the display control part 56 and the display 57. FIG.
[0044]
Each part constituting the third embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.
The input unit 50 is a part where the user inputs viewpoint movement. As an input device, a mouse is used in this embodiment.
The space configuration storage unit 51 is a part that stores data relating to the shape and position of each object constituting the virtual space. The human body shape storage unit 52 is a part that stores human body shape data.
[0045]
The human body position calculation unit 53 is a part that calculates and sets the position of the human body from the data in the human body shape storage unit 52 and the input of the viewpoint movement of the input unit 50. The head rotation angle calculation unit 54 is a part that sets the rotation angle of the human head from the data in the human body shape storage unit 52 and the input of the viewpoint movement of the input unit 50.
[0046]
The screen display position setting unit 55 refers to the viewpoint change input value input from the input unit 50 and is a part for setting the display position of the screen. The display control unit 56 refers to the space configuration storage unit 51, the human body shape storage unit 52, and the screen display position setting unit 55 at the display position set by the screen display position setting unit 55. Is generated and displayed on the display 57. In addition to the CRT, other devices such as a large screen can be used as the display. FIG. 16 is an example of a display screen.
[0047]
(Operation of the third embodiment)
The third embodiment having the above configuration has the following operation (FIGS. 14 and 15). FIG. 15 is a flowchart in the case where a movement start command is issued by pressing a mouse button, and a left-right rotation is performed by moving the mouse in the x-axis direction. The user inputs a movement command and a line-of-sight direction using the input unit 50 in FIG. For example, a movement start command is input by pressing a mouse button (150), the center of the screen is set to (x, y) = (0, 0), and the x and y coordinate values of the mouse are used as change values of the line-of-sight direction. (153).
[0048]
When the movement start command is input, the direction (vec) of the human body is calculated and secured (151). Unless a movement start command is received, the direction (vec) of the human body does not change.
Next, the position (pos) of the human body is set in the direction (vec) in which the human body is facing by a predetermined value from the viewpoint position on the screen and below (152).
Further, the rotation angle of the human head in the target direction is calculated from the input x and y coordinate values (FIGS. 14-54 and 15-154). In 154 of FIG. 15, the maximum and minimum values of the rotation angle (yow) are set in advance, and within the range, youw is set corresponding to the movement of the mouse in the x-axis direction.
[0049]
Next, at 55 in FIG. 14, the display position of the screen is set. In 155 of FIG. 15, a new viewpoint (view) is set by updating the amount of movement set in advance in the direction of the human body direction (vec) set by the human body direction calculation unit 151. Also, a new reference point (ref) is calculated based on the rotation angle (yow) set by the head rotation angle setting unit 154.
[0050]
The image of the virtual space and the human body is displayed based on the display position set in this way, the position and orientation of the human body, the angle of the human head, and the data of the space configuration storage unit 51 and the human body shape storage unit 52 ( Fig. 6-24, Fig. 1-16, 17). The space configuration storage unit 51 is an objectized database such as VRML.
[0051]
(Effect of the third embodiment)
According to the method described above, when a user walks through a three-dimensional space constructed by an objectized database such as VRML, the user walks around the virtual space by displaying the human body. You can get a sense of realism. Further, by making the operation of looking around the space correspond to the operation of turning the head of the human body, the user can easily understand the operation result intuitively. In addition, since the rotation of the viewpoint corresponding to the pan of the camera and the movement of the viewpoint corresponding to the movement of the camera are separately assigned to the head and torso of the human body, the operation can be facilitated. Further, in the first, second, and third embodiments, it is possible to provide an easy-to-see screen display by making the human body display transparent.
[0052]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when a user walks through a virtual space, the user can easily grasp the size of the space based on the size of the human body and the background, and has a sense of presence that is moving while walking. be able to. As a result, it is possible to realize a low-cost system that can provide a device close to the sense of moving distance in an actual space without using a special device.
Such a virtual space display method is effective when performing patrol training or route guidance in a virtual space created by imitating an actual space.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the user can walk through while gazing at an arbitrary object in the virtual space, and is given a sense of realism that is closer to movement in an actual space. Such a virtual space display method is effective when a virtual mall is window-shopped for walking.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format related to the shape of an object according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format related to the position of an object according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage example of key frame data according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a display screen on which a human body of the present invention is drawn.
FIG. 6 is an overall flowchart of the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of reference position setting according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of shake calculation by walking according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an overall configuration diagram of a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is an overall flowchart of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart for calculating a current position according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of gaze object selection according to the present invention.
FIG. 14 is an overall configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is an overall flowchart of a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display screen on which a human body according to a third embodiment of the present invention is drawn.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of a conventional example.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 40, 100 Input unit 11, 41, 101 Shape storage unit 12, 42, 102 Position storage unit 13 Key frame storage unit 14, 44 Shake calculation unit 15, 45, 107 Screen display position setting unit 16, 46, 108 Display Control unit 17, 47, 109 Display 43, 103 Position calculation unit 104 Gaze object storage unit 105 Gaze object selection unit 106 Gaze object display setting unit

Claims (4)

In a virtual space display method for displaying movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics,
Calculate the position of the moving object by a position calculation unit,
Based on the moving direction of the moving object and the positional relationship between the object that can be watched and the moving object, from a gaze object storage unit that stores the position of the object that can be gaze in the three-dimensional virtual space Select the gaze object,
The reference point of the display screen is set by the visual object display setting unit from the position of the selected gaze object,
Set the display position of the screen from the calculated position of the moving object and the set reference point in the screen display position setting section,
A virtual space display method, wherein an image of a three-dimensional virtual space is displayed on a display unit at a set display position .   The virtual space display method according to claim 1, wherein the moving object is a human body model. In a virtual space display device for displaying movement of an object in a three-dimensional virtual space generated by computer graphics,
A position calculation unit for calculating the position of the moving object;
A gaze object storage unit that stores a position of an object that can be gazed in the three-dimensional virtual space;
A gaze object selecting unit that selects a gaze object based on a moving direction of the moving object and a positional relationship between the gaze object and the moving object stored in the gaze object storage unit;
A gaze object display setting unit that sets a reference point of the display screen from the position of the gaze object selected by the gaze object selection unit;
A screen display position setting unit for setting the display position of the screen from the position of the moving object calculated by the position calculation unit and the reference point set by the gaze object display setting unit;
A virtual space display device comprising: a display unit that displays an image of a three-dimensional virtual space at a display position set by the screen display position setting unit. The gaze object selecting unit selects a gaze object based on a distance between the moving object and the gaze object stored in the gaze object storage unit and an angle between the gaze object and the moving object. The virtual space display device according to claim 3.

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