JP5427551B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus or the like that outputs a three-dimensional image or the like on which information such as products is arranged.

  As a conventional technique, a menu item is assigned to each area of a three-dimensional figure, a display step for displaying the three-dimensional figure, a movement step for moving the three-dimensional figure according to an instruction command to be input, and an assignment to the three-dimensional figure There has been known a three-dimensional menu selection method comprising: a selection step for selecting a required menu from a given menu item; and a selection processing execution step for executing processing corresponding to the selected menu. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP-A-7-114451 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  However, conventional information processing apparatuses have a problem that security cannot be easily maintained for information output using a three-dimensional object.

  For example, in the conventional technique, while the user is away from the operation of the information processing apparatus, it is possible for a third party to operate the 3D object without permission. The security of the information that can be kept was not maintained. On the other hand, if the operation for preventing a third party from operating a 3D object without permission is complicated, there is a problem that the operability of the 3D object is hindered.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged on a shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information specifying the shape of one or more solid objects, and one or more surfaces constituting each of the one or more solid objects. Depending on the operation received by the operation reception unit, the operation information reception unit that receives an operation including an operation on one or more solid objects, the arrangement information storage unit that can store arrangement information that is one or more pieces of information. Lock surface designation information that is information for designating a lock surface, which is a surface for locking the operation, among an execution unit that executes processing for each of the above three-dimensional objects and a surface that constitutes the solid object indicated by the shape information Is placed on one or more faces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information and the shape information of the three-dimensional object Information, and an image information configuration unit that configures image information of a three-dimensional object in which arrangement information corresponding to each of one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information is configured, and an image configured by the image information configuration unit An output unit that outputs information, a direction determination unit that determines whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information of the three-dimensional object is facing a predetermined direction, and the direction determination unit include a lock surface specification An information processing apparatus includes an operation restriction unit that restricts an operation on a three-dimensional object when it is determined that a lock surface designated by information faces a direction designated in advance.

  With such a configuration, for example, the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted by directing the lock surface in a predetermined direction, and security can be easily maintained for information output using the three-dimensional object.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus in which, in the information processing apparatus, the operation restriction unit releases the restriction on the operation when an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object is received. .

  With this configuration, for example, a user who has an access right to information output using a three-dimensional object can release the restriction on the operation as appropriate and access information output using the three-dimensional object. .

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an operation availability information storage unit in which operation availability information that is information indicating whether or not to restrict an operation on the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information in the information processing apparatus can be stored. The direction determining unit, when determining that the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information of the three-dimensional object is facing the direction designated in advance, indicates the operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted. The operation restriction unit is an information processing device that restricts operations on a three-dimensional object when operation availability information for restricting operations is stored in the operation availability information storage unit.

  With this configuration, when the lock surface is oriented in the designated direction, it is possible to reduce the determination process of whether or not the lock surface is oriented in the designated direction, and to reduce the processing performed by the information processing apparatus. .

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the operation accepted by the operation accepting unit is the operation availability information that restricts the operation stored in the operation availability information storage unit, and the operation availability information that does not restrict the operation. When the operation accepting unit accepts the operation to be changed, the operation restriction unit converts the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit into the operation availability information that does not restrict the operation. An information processing apparatus to be changed.

  With this configuration, when the lock surface does not face the designated direction, it is possible to execute a determination process as to whether or not the lock surface is oriented in the designated direction.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the direction determination unit determines whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface designation information is the front, and the operation restriction unit includes the direction determination unit. When the lock surface is determined to be the front, the information processing apparatus restricts operations on the three-dimensional object.

  With this configuration, it is possible to limit operations on the three-dimensional object by directing the lock surface to the front. Thereby, it is possible to limit the operation with an operation that is easy for the user to understand.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a lock surface designation information receiving unit that receives lock surface designation information for one solid object stored in the shape information storage unit, and a shape information storage unit. For each of the one or more three-dimensional objects, the lock plane designation information for designating the same plane as the plane designated by the lock plane designation information received by the lock plane designation information receiving unit is acquired, and the acquired lock plane designation information is obtained. The information processing apparatus includes a lock surface designation information storage unit stored in a lock surface designation information storage unit in association with each solid object.

  With such a configuration, when a lock surface is designated for one solid object, the same lock surface can be designated for other solid objects.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus of the present invention has a shape information storage unit that can store shape information, which is information specifying the shape of one or more solid objects, and one or more surfaces constituting each of the one or more solid objects. Depending on the operation information received by the operation accepting unit, the operation accepting unit that accepts an operation including an operation on one or more three-dimensional objects, the placement information storing unit that can store the placement information that is one or more pieces of information to be placed An execution unit that executes processing for one or more solid objects, an operation information acquisition unit that acquires operation information that is information indicating an operation received by the operation reception unit, and the latest two or more acquired by the operation information acquisition unit The appearance pattern determination unit for determining whether the appearance pattern of the operation information matches the appearance pattern of the operation information specified in advance, and the appearance pattern determination unit When it is determined that the turns match, the operation restriction unit that restricts the operation on the solid object, the shape information of the solid object, and the placement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the solid object indicated by the shape information are read out, An image information configuration unit that configures image information of a three-dimensional object in which placement information corresponding to each of the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information is arranged, and an output that outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit And an information processing apparatus.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to limit operations on the three-dimensional object by combining a plurality of operations on the three-dimensional object. Accordingly, the operation can be limited only by performing a series of operations on the three-dimensional object, and security can be easily maintained with a simple operation on information output using the three-dimensional object.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an operation history information storage unit that can store operation history information, which is information indicating a history of operations received by the operation receiving unit, in the information processing apparatus. Stores the operation history information including the acquired operation information in the operation history information storage unit, and the appearance pattern determination unit displays the appearance pattern of the operation information included in the latest two or more operation history information stored by the operation information acquisition unit. Is an information processing apparatus that determines whether or not the appearance pattern of operation information designated in advance matches.

  With this configuration, when the operation history is a predesignated operation, it is possible to easily maintain security for information output using the three-dimensional object by restricting the operation on the three-dimensional object.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus in which, in the information processing apparatus, the operation restriction unit releases the restriction on the operation when an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object is received. .

  With this configuration, for example, a user who has an access right to information output using a three-dimensional object can release the restriction on the operation as appropriate and access information output using the three-dimensional object. .

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an operation availability information storage unit in which operation availability information that is information indicating whether or not to restrict an operation on the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information in the information processing apparatus can be stored. When the appearance pattern determination unit determines that the appearance patterns match, the operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted is accumulated in the operation availability information storage unit, and the operation restriction unit operates in the operation availability information storage unit. This is an information processing device for restricting operations on a three-dimensional object when operation permission / prohibition information for restricting is stored.

  With this configuration, when the operation is restricted, it is possible to reduce the processing performed by the information processing apparatus without determining whether to restrict the operation.

  Further, in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the operation received by the operation receiving unit is the operation availability information that restricts the operation stored in the operation availability information storage unit, and the operation availability information that does not restrict the operation. The operation restriction unit changes the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit to operation availability information that does not restrict the operation when the operation acceptance unit accepts an operation to be changed. Information processing apparatus.

  With this configuration, when the operation is not restricted, it is possible to determine whether or not to restrict the operation.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus further comprising an operation pattern definition information storage unit capable of storing operation pattern definition information that is information indicating an appearance pattern of operation information in the information processing apparatus. is there.

  With this configuration, it is possible to define an appearance pattern of operation information for performing operation restriction by the operation pattern definition information.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an object arrangement information storage unit that can store object arrangement information that is information for designating arrangement of one or more three-dimensional objects. The shape information of the three-dimensional object, the arrangement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information, and the object arrangement information corresponding to the three-dimensional object are read, and the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information On the other hand, it is an information processing apparatus that constitutes image information in which a solid object in which arrangement information corresponding to each is arranged as indicated by the object arrangement information.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to perform an operation restriction on the three-dimensional object arranged as indicated by the object arrangement information. For example, when a three-dimensional object is arranged as indicated by the object arrangement information, it is determined whether or not the operation is limited by determining whether or not the lock surface of the three-dimensional object is directed in a predetermined direction. be able to. Alternatively, it is possible to determine whether or not to limit the operation based on a combination of operations that change the arrangement of the three-dimensional objects arranged as indicated by the object arrangement information.

  According to the information processing apparatus or the like according to the present invention, security can be easily maintained for information output using a three-dimensional object.

1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Flow chart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the shape information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus Schematic diagram of a three-dimensional object for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the object arrangement | positioning information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the information for arrangement | positioning of the information storage part for arrangement | positioning for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the information management table for arrangement | positioning for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the figure which shows the example of a display of image information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the lock surface designation | designated information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the operation availability information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the operation availability information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the example of a display of the password input screen for canceling | releasing operation restrictions for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the lock name designation | designated information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. Block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Flow chart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows the operation history information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the example of a display of the same information processing apparatus The figure which shows the operation history information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the operation pattern definition information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the newest operation information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the operation history information management table for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the newest operation information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus. The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the computer system which implement | achieves the information processing apparatus The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system which implement | achieves the information processing apparatus

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the component which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in embodiment performs the same operation | movement, description may be abbreviate | omitted again.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.

  The information processing apparatus 1 includes a shape information storage unit 101, an object arrangement information storage unit 102, an arrangement information storage unit 103, an operation reception unit 104, an execution unit 105, a lock surface designation information storage unit 106, a direction determination unit 107, and an operation restriction. Unit 108, image information configuration unit 109, output unit 110, lock surface designation information receiving unit 111, lock surface designation information storage unit 112, and operation availability information storage unit 113.

  The shape information storage unit 101 can store shape information that is information specifying the shape of one or more solid objects. The shape information is information that defines, for example, the shape of an object arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space. The shape information is so-called modeling information of a three-dimensional object, for example. Note that the shape information may be information indicating the shape of a two-dimensional object for displaying a three-dimensional object in a pseudo manner. The solid object described here includes, for example, what is called a 3D object, a 3D model, or a solid model. The shape information includes information on the coordinates of the vertices of the three-dimensional object, information on equations that express boundary lines, surfaces, and the like, and information on parameters thereof. The coordinates described here may be, for example, a coordinate system set based on the three-dimensional object itself, a coordinate of a so-called object coordinate system, a coordinate system of a virtual three-dimensional space where one or more three-dimensional objects are arranged, Coordinates in the so-called world coordinate system may be used.

  The solid object is composed of one or more surfaces. For this reason, the shape information includes information that defines the surface of the solid object or information that can define the surface. For example, the surface of the three-dimensional object is specified by, for example, a combination of coordinates of vertices that the surface is configured with other surfaces, coordinates on sides around the surface, and the like. Alternatively, it is specified by information indicating the normal of the surface, for example, a normal vector. One or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information may be associated with identification information for identifying each surface, for example. Such surface identification information is referred to herein as surface identification information. The surface identification information may be associated with, for example, a combination of coordinates of vertices that specify the surface, and the surface identification information may be associated with information indicating a normal line that identifies the surface, for example. . In addition, when the arrangement of the three-dimensional object is limited to several patterns such that each surface constituting the three-dimensional object is arranged in front, each pattern and the surface of the front surface in the pattern It may be associated with identification information. The surface identification information may be included in the shape information, or may be accumulated in another storage unit such as a storage medium (not shown).

  The three-dimensional object can be classified into polygon modeling, modeling using a free-form surface, and the like, for example, depending on the method of constructing the surface. The shape information may include information on setting items such as the color of the 3D object, transparency, reflection, refractive index, and bump when the 3D object is output. The shape information may be shape information of a three-dimensional object having a movement whose size, shape, color, transparency, etc. change over time. The shape information of the three-dimensional object may be information in any format. For example, the shape information may be a file in the FLASH (registered trademark) format. The shape of the three-dimensional object may be any shape such as a sphere, a cylinder, a polyhedron such as a hexahedron or an octahedron, a cube, a cone, or a pyramid.

  The shape information storage unit 101 can store shape information of one or more solid objects. Two or more solid objects may have the same shape and size, or may have different shapes and sizes. The three-dimensional object may be associated with three-dimensional object identification information that is identification information for identifying the three-dimensional object. The unit of the size of the shape information may be an absolute unit or a relative unit. Further, in a plurality of three-dimensional objects, sharable shape information or the like may be mutually used by referring to the link information or the like. That is, the shape information of two or more solid objects may be one shape information shared by two or more solid objects. That is, the shape information of two or more solid objects may be considered as shape information corresponding to two or more solid objects. Note that the shape information storage unit 101 may store in advance shape information indicating the shape of a three-dimensional object for arranging one or more grouped three-dimensional objects therein. Here, such a three-dimensional object for arranging one or more grouped three-dimensional objects is called a group three-dimensional object. Further, the shape information of the three-dimensional object for arranging one or more grouped three-dimensional objects therein is appropriately configured by a shape information configuration unit (not shown) and stored in the shape information storage unit 101. You may make it. The shape information storage unit 101 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The object arrangement information storage unit 102 can store object arrangement information that is information for designating the arrangement of one or more solid objects. The one or more solid objects described here are solid objects indicated by the shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101. The object arrangement information may be considered as information specifying the arrangement of the shape information of the three-dimensional object. The arrangement described here is, for example, an arrangement in a virtual three-dimensional space. However, it may be position information such as a two-dimensional image configured using a three-dimensional object or two-dimensional coordinate information indicating a position where a pseudo three-dimensional image indicating a three-dimensional object is arranged. This arrangement is a concept having a combination of the position and direction of a three-dimensional object, for example. However, any one of arrangement, position, and direction may be used.

  The object arrangement information may be information that can specify the arrangement of the three-dimensional object as a result. For example, the object arrangement information is information that specifies the coordinates of the position where the three-dimensional object is arranged and the direction of the three-dimensional object. Information specifying the direction is, for example, information such as vector information or a rotation angle with a predetermined axis in the virtual three-dimensional space as a rotation axis. Or you may think that it is the information which shows the positional relationship of the coordinate axis in a virtual three-dimensional space, and the coordinate axis set to a solid object. For example, it may be information in which each coordinate axis set in the three-dimensional object is represented by a vector with reference to the coordinate axis in the virtual three-dimensional space. Further, the object arrangement information may include information for designating the size of the three-dimensional object. The coordinates that specify the position of the three-dimensional object may be absolute coordinates set in the virtual three-dimensional space, or may be relative coordinates set for other three-dimensional objects. . Further, the coordinates for designating the position of the three-dimensional object may be the coordinates of the vertex where the sides constituting the three-dimensional object gather, or the coordinates of the position such as the center of the three-dimensional object. The object arrangement information may be object arrangement information for moving images in which the arrangement of the three-dimensional object changes with time. For example, the object arrangement information may include information on a plurality of frames, and the arrangement of the three-dimensional object may be designated for each frame.

  Here, the case where the object arrangement information and the shape information of the three-dimensional object are provided will be described. However, the shape information storage unit 101 and the object arrangement information storage unit 102 are configured as one storage unit, and the object arrangement information May be included in the shape information. For example, by specifying the vertex information of the shape information with the coordinates of the coordinate system of the space where the three-dimensional object is arranged, the shape information can also be used as the object arrangement information, and the arrangement of the three-dimensional object can also be specified Also good. In addition, when creating a final output image by placing a two-dimensional image created by rendering using each solid object on a two-dimensional background image, the position of the object is placed. The information may be two-dimensional information, for example, coordinate information such as xy coordinates.

  Further, the object arrangement information may include information for managing a grouping situation such as whether or not a plurality of three-dimensional objects are grouped. Information for managing the status of grouping includes, for example, associating group identification information for identifying a group to which a three-dimensional object constituting one group is associated, or identifying identification information of a three-dimensional object included in the same group. A database managed by a plurality of items of records may be used.

  In addition, the group in this Embodiment is not necessarily restricted only to the group of the solid object managed by the information which manages a grouping condition as mentioned above, As a result, one or more solid objects are made into a group, Any state can be used as long as the execution unit 105 and the like can be determined. For example, the group of solid objects may be a group that can be determined according to the arrangement of the solid objects. Specifically, as described above, one or more solid objects arranged in one window may be considered as one group. In the case where the three-dimensional object is managed in a hierarchical manner, a three-dimensional object belonging to one hierarchy or a three-dimensional object subordinate to one solid object may be considered as one group. A solid object arranged in a predesignated region may be considered as one group of solid objects. Information for designating such a predesignated area is stored in, for example, a storage medium (not shown). The area designated in advance is, for example, an area in which a three-dimensional object for a purchase target is arranged. A solid object having the same attribute or associated with the same attribute may be considered as one group of solid objects. As a specific example, a case where the solid object is a solid object in which information about a product is arranged will be described as an example. A solid corresponding to information indicating that the user has “added to shopping cart” The objects may be considered as a group of solid objects. A solid object registered in the product list to be purchased may be considered as a group of solid objects. The object arrangement information is changed by the execution unit 105 or the like when the execution unit 105 described later changes the arrangement of the three-dimensional object, for example.

  The object arrangement information storage unit 102 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium. The object arrangement information storage unit 102 can temporarily store default object arrangement information read from, for example, a storage unit (not shown) in which object arrangement information prepared by default is stored in advance. It may be considered as a temporary storage unit or the like.

  The arrangement information storage unit 103 can store arrangement information that is one or more pieces of information arranged on one or more planes that constitute each of the one or more solid objects. Specifically, the placement information storage unit 103 can store placement information to be placed on one or more surfaces of each of the one or more solid objects stored in the shape information storage unit 101. The arrangement information may be arranged on one or more surfaces of each solid object, and may not be arranged on all surfaces.

  The placement information may be any information such as image information such as a still image and a moving image, text information, and the like as long as it is information that can be output and displayed, for example, by placing it on the surface constituting the solid object. The image information may be any information as long as image information for output can be configured as a result. For example, the image information may be vector data or raster data. Further, the arrangement described here may be considered as mapping of image information or the like on the surface of a so-called solid object. Further, the arrangement information may be considered as information to be mapped, for example, texture information. The data structure of the placement information is not limited. For example, the placement information may be tagged information such as an XML format. Further, the placement information may be information managed in association with, for example, items or attributes by a table or database. Further, the placement information may be grouped in advance.

  The arrangement information may be associated with the surface of the solid object on which the arrangement information is arranged. For example, using management information or the like that manages a set of arrangement information or its identification information and a plane of a solid object associated with the arrangement information or its plane identification information as a plurality of items of one record It may be managed. Specifically, the arrangement information, the identification information of the solid object on which the arrangement information is arranged, and the identification information of the surface on which the arrangement information of the solid object is arranged are managed in association with each other. Also good. This management information may be stored in a storage unit (not shown), for example. In addition, the shape information storage unit 101 and the placement information storage unit 103 are configured as a single storage unit, and the information indicating the surface of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information corresponds to the placement information placed on the surface. It may be attached and stored.

  Also, the shape information storage unit 101 or the like is associated with the surface of the solid object indicated by the shape information in association with acquisition condition information or the like indicating information for acquiring the placement information arranged on the surface. May be stored. The acquisition condition information is, for example, information indicating a search condition such as a search expression for searching for placement information arranged on a surface. In this case, by performing a search using information such as a search expression associated with each surface, it is possible to acquire the placement information placed on the surface.

  Note that the acquisition condition information may be any information as long as it is information that can eventually designate one or more pieces of placement information to be placed on the surface of one or more solid objects. For example, when the placement information is divided into items, the acquisition condition information may be information specifying the item. Further, when the placement information has an attribute, it may be information specifying the attribute. In addition, when the placement information is tagged, information specifying a tag may be used. In addition, when index information is added to the placement information, information for designating the index may be used. Further, it may be information designating the location, file name, directory, etc. of the placement information such as link information. Further, it may be a search expression or an arithmetic expression for searching the arrangement information. The search formula does not necessarily have to be shown in the form of a formula, and may be a keyword that can be used for the search. For example, the acquisition condition information indicated by this search expression is a combination of “select”, “from”, “where”, and the like. Note that “select” is an item of information for arrangement to be acquired, “from” is information for specifying a plurality of pieces of information for arrangement to be searched, and “where” is information indicating conditions for search (SQL specification) See). The acquisition condition information indicated by the arithmetic expression is, for example, an arithmetic expression performed on one or more pieces of arrangement information, for example, information specifying two pieces of arrangement information represented by numerical values, and these Are expressed by an arithmetic expression for calculating the average of the above, an arithmetic expression for adding / subtracting a predetermined time to / from a current time, and the like. The acquisition condition information may be individually specified for all solid objects that can be output, or may be specified for all solid objects. Further, it may be specified in common for some solid objects. When an attribute or the like is set for a solid object, a common acquisition condition may be specified for a solid object that matches the attribute. The acquisition condition information may be specified in advance for each surface of the three-dimensional object, or may be specified randomly for each surface. The placement information storage unit 103 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  It should be noted that the shape information, the object arrangement information, and the arrangement information may be accumulated in the shape information storage unit 101, the object arrangement information storage unit 102, and the arrangement information storage unit 103. For example, shape information, object arrangement information, and arrangement information may be accumulated in the shape information storage unit 101, the object arrangement information storage unit 102, and the arrangement information storage unit 103, respectively, via a recording medium. Shape information, object placement information, and placement information transmitted via a line or the like may be accumulated in the shape information storage unit 101, the object placement information storage unit 102, and the placement information storage unit 103, respectively. Shape information, object placement information, and placement information input via the input device may be accumulated in the shape information storage unit 101, the object placement information storage unit 102, and the placement information storage unit 103, respectively. In addition, the shape information, the object arrangement information, and the arrangement information stored in the shape information storage unit 101, the object arrangement information storage unit 102, and the arrangement information storage unit 103 are received by, for example, a reception unit (not shown). It may be appropriately updated according to the shape information, the object arrangement information, and the arrangement information. Also, a combination of shape information and object placement information for one or more three-dimensional objects, or a combination of shape information, object placement information, and placement information, etc., is a file such as a file in FLASH (registered trademark) format. You may make it store in. In this case, a combination of the shape information storage unit 101 and the object arrangement information storage unit 102, a combination of the shape information storage unit 101, the object arrangement information storage unit 102, and the arrangement information storage unit 103 is realized by one storage unit. You may do it. The placement information storage unit 103 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The operation reception unit 104 receives an operation on one or more solid objects indicated by the shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101. The operation received by the operation receiving unit 104 for a three-dimensional object may be any operation. This operation is, for example, an operation for making some change with respect to the three-dimensional object. For example, a pre-designated operation among the operations related to the arrangement of the three-dimensional object may be performed, a pre-designated operation among the operations related to the attribute of the three-dimensional object may be performed, and the operation is arranged on the three-dimensional object. Of the operations related to the placement information, a predesignated operation may be used. The arrangement described here is a concept including position, orientation, and the like. The operation related to the arrangement of the three-dimensional object is an operation for changing the position and orientation of the three-dimensional object. For example, the operation related to the arrangement of the three-dimensional object is an operation for giving an instruction to change the arrangement of the three-dimensional object, such as “move 50 pixels in parallel to the y axis” or “rotate 90 ° about the x axis as a rotation axis”. May be an operation for giving a command or the like, or may be given coordinates or orientation information for designating the arrangement of the three-dimensional object after the change. Further, the operation related to the arrangement of the three-dimensional object may be an operation of moving the three-dimensional object to a predetermined area. The operation related to the attribute of the solid object is an operation for changing the attribute or the like of the group to which the solid object belongs. For example, if the three-dimensional object is a three-dimensional object corresponding to a product, an operation for selecting a product corresponding to the three-dimensional object as a purchase target and giving the three-dimensional object an attribute of the purchase target is performed. It may be considered as an operation related to attributes. The operation related to the placement information placed on the three-dimensional object is, for example, an operation of changing the placement information placed on the three-dimensional object. For example, an operation for assigning the placement information to the solid object, an operation for changing the value of the placement information, and the like.

  An operation other than the operation related to the arrangement with respect to the three-dimensional object is, for example, an operation of grouping the three-dimensional objects. For example, the process of associating a solid object with one group may be considered as grouping. For example, as described above, an operation for giving a predetermined attribute, such as the attribute of being a purchase target, to the solid object may be considered as an operation for grouping the solid objects. Further, for example, an operation for changing the position of the three-dimensional object in a region designated in advance is an operation for grouping. Since the process of grouping the three-dimensional objects and the like, the management method of the grouped three-dimensional objects, and the like are well-known techniques, detailed description thereof is omitted here. An operation on a three-dimensional object is usually information including information specifying a three-dimensional object to be operated. The operation receiving unit 104 may accept an operation other than a predetermined operation specified in advance.

  Further, the operation accepting unit 104 may accept an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object restricted by the operation restriction unit 108 described later. The operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object is, for example, a series of operations for inputting a password, user identification information, and the like designated in advance. Alternatively, an operation specified in advance, for example, an operation of selecting a menu specified in advance, an operation of pressing a key specified in advance, or the like may be used. The operation accepted by the operation accepting unit 104 may be an operation for changing the operation availability information that restricts the operation stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 described later to the operation availability information that does not restrict the operation.

  The reception described here refers to reception of information input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, reception of information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, recording on an optical disk, magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, or the like. It is a concept including reception of information read from a medium. The input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse or menu screen. The operation accepting unit 104 can be realized by a device driver of an input unit such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, menu screen control software, or the like.

  The execution unit 105 executes processing for one or more solid objects in accordance with the operation received by the operation reception unit 104. The process executed by the execution unit 105 on the solid object is specifically a process according to the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104. For example, the execution unit 105 updates the object arrangement information stored in the object arrangement information storage unit 102 so that the arrangement of the three-dimensional object is changed according to the operation related to the arrangement received by the operation receiving unit 104. Specifically, when an operation for rotating a certain three-dimensional object by 90 ° in the right direction is received, the object arrangement information is changed so that the three-dimensional object is rotated by 90 ° in the right direction according to this operation. . The process for each solid object is executed not only by changing the arrangement of the three-dimensional object but also by changing the arrangement information arranged in the object or by using the arrangement information. This includes a process for performing a calculated operation, a process for adding or deleting a solid object, and the like. Further, the execution unit 105 may execute processes other than the process for the three-dimensional object in accordance with the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104.

  The execution unit 105 is designated in advance using, for example, arrangement information arranged on one or more surfaces of each of the one or more solid objects in accordance with a predetermined operation designated in advance by the operation receiving unit 104. A predetermined calculation may be performed. Specifically, the execution unit 105 determines whether the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104 is a predetermined operation specified in advance, and performs a predetermined calculation when the operation is a predetermined operation. As described above, the predetermined operation is an operation for grouping the three-dimensional objects. The predetermined calculation is specifically an operation using a numerical value arranged on each surface of one or more three-dimensional objects as a parameter. The calculation may be performed, for example, by assigning a numerical value to a previously specified arithmetic expression, or may be performed according to a rule specified in advance. The calculation formulas and calculation rules are stored in advance in, for example, a storage medium (not shown). The operations described here are operations including one or more of the four arithmetic operations. For example, the calculation is a combination of one or more of four arithmetic operations. Specifically, the operation is an operation including at least one of a sum operation, a difference operation, a product operation, or a quotient operation of numerical values arranged on each surface of one or more solid objects. As a specific example, this is an operation of adding numerical values arranged on the surface of each solid object. Further, it is an operation of adding a value obtained by multiplying a numerical value arranged on the surface of each solid object by a predetermined coefficient or the like. Whether or not the operation is a predetermined operation is determined based on, for example, whether or not a pre-designated command has been received or whether or not a pre-designated event has occurred. Depending on the predetermined operation, one calculation may be performed with the predetermined operation as a trigger, or the calculation performed may be different depending on the predetermined operation. There may be. Further, it does not matter which solid object the execution unit 105 uses as a calculation target. For example, when an operation of adding a three-dimensional object to a group is performed, information arranged in the three-dimensional object included in the same group may be a calculation target. Also, all the three-dimensional objects may be subject to calculation. Further, one or more solid objects designated or selected at the time of performing the operation may be the calculation target.

  For example, the execution unit 105 performs an operation using information specified in advance by the user, default, or the like among the information arranged in each solid object. The execution unit 105 may use any information among the information arranged in each solid object for the calculation. For example, the execution unit 105 may use information such as numerical values arranged on a predetermined surface of each solid object as a calculation parameter. For example, when identification information such as the x1 surface and the x2 surface is given to the surface of the three-dimensional object, the calculation may be performed using only numerical values arranged on the x1 surface as predetermined parameters. Further, information such as numerical values having predetermined attributes arranged in each solid object may be used as a calculation parameter. The attribute designated in advance may be any attribute, for example, an attribute such as price or quantity. For example, the execution unit 105 may detect arrangement information having a character string “circle” from a solid object that is a target of a predetermined operation, and perform a predetermined calculation using the numerical value of the arrangement information as a parameter. good. Thereby, a numerical value whose attribute is a price can be calculated. Alternatively, arrangement information to which a tag “price” is attached may be detected from a three-dimensional object that is a target of a predetermined operation, and a predetermined calculation may be performed using a numerical value included in the arrangement information as a parameter.

  For example, it is assumed that the three-dimensional object is a three-dimensional object for a product, and arrangement information that is information on the product name and the price of the product is arranged on the surface thereof. Then, it is assumed that an operation for grouping a plurality of three-dimensional objects, for example, a process of selecting a plurality of three-dimensional objects indicating products as purchase targets is performed by the user or the like. In this case, the execution unit 105 sets “circle” specified in advance as a default or the like at the end from among the arrangement information arranged on the surface for each of the plurality of solid objects subjected to the grouping operation. Get the numeric value followed by the characters. Then, the execution unit 105 multiplies the numerical value by a pre-specified consumption tax rate, for example, “1.05”, adds the value obtained by the multiplication, and includes the tax-included price of the product selected by the user for purchase. Calculate the sum of.

  The execution unit 105 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the execution unit 105 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The lock surface designation information storage unit 106 can store lock surface designation information that is information for designating a lock surface that is a surface for locking the operation among the surfaces constituting the solid object indicated by the shape information. . Specifically, to lock an operation is to invalidate one or more operations performed on the three-dimensional object. The lock surface is a surface that is a determination target for locking the operation, as will be described later. Any information may be used as long as the lock surface can be specified.

  When the surface identification information is associated with the surface of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information as described above, the lock surface designation information may be the surface identification information of the surface to be the lock surface. Further, since each surface of the three-dimensional object can be identified by a normal vector, the normal vector may be used as lock surface designation information. However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the normal vector is directed to the outside of the three-dimensional object. Or it is good also considering the coordinate group of the vertex of the solid object which defines the surface used as a lock surface as lock surface designation | designated information. In addition, when the three-dimensional object has only a limited number of arrangement patterns designated in advance, the arrangement pattern in which the surface displayed on the front surface is the lock surface is identified among the arrangement patterns. Information to be used may be used as lock surface designation information.

  A plurality of lock surfaces may be designated for one solid object. The lock surface designation information may be individually associated with each solid object, or may be associated with a plurality of solid objects at once. The solid object and the lock surface designation information for designating the lock surface of the solid object may be associated in any way. For example, corresponding lock surface designation information and solid object identification information (or shape information identification information) may be associated with each other and accumulated in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106. The lock surface designation information and the three-dimensional object identification information are stored in association with each other. For example, the corresponding lock surface designation information and the three-dimensional object are stored as different field values in one record. is there. Alternatively, management information having the corresponding lock plane designation information and the solid object as values of different fields of one record may be accumulated in the lock plane designation information storage unit 106, a storage medium (not shown), or the like. good.

  There is no limitation on the process of storing the lock surface designation information associated with the solid object in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106. For example, it may be stored in advance by default or the like. Further, the lock surface designation information received by the lock surface specification information receiving unit 111 described later may be stored in association with the three-dimensional object. The lock surface designation information storage unit 106 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The direction determination unit 107 determines whether or not the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information of the arranged solid object faces the direction designated in advance. For example, the direction determination unit 107 determines whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface designation information of the three-dimensional object arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space or the like according to the object arrangement information or the like is directed in a predetermined direction. Judging. For example, the direction determination unit 107 arranges the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information in the virtual three-dimensional space or the like according to the object arrangement information associated with the shape information, for example, at the position or orientation indicated by the object arrangement information. In this case, it is determined whether or not the lock surface of the solid object is oriented in a predetermined direction. Specifically, the direction designated in advance is a direction for determining whether or not an operation other than the operation designated in advance is invalidated. It may be considered as a direction for determining whether or not to lock the operation.

  Note that the direction determination unit 107 only needs to be able to determine whether or not the lock surface is in the direction specified in advance as a result. For example, the direction determination unit 107 has a position where the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information is located. It may be determined whether or not the surface is a predetermined surface. Specifically, the direction determination unit 107 may determine whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information is the front. The front described here is usually a surface that is visible on the front side when viewed from the user side, for example, when output from a display or the like. However, in a coordinate system (world coordinate system) where the three-dimensional object is arranged, a predesignated direction (for example, a direction toward the origin of the Z axis) from a predesignated position (for example, from the positive position of the Z axis). When the three-dimensional object is viewed toward, the surface of the three-dimensional object located in front may be considered as the front.

  The direction determination unit 107 may determine how the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information of the three-dimensional object is facing the direction designated in advance. For example, a surface facing in a direction designated in advance may be detected from the surfaces of each solid object, and it may be determined whether or not this surface is a surface designated by the lock surface designation information. Specifically, a surface facing a predetermined direction is detected from each surface of the three-dimensional object, and the surface identification information of the surface facing the predetermined direction and the lock surface designation information are used. It is determined whether or not certain surface identification information matches. If they match, the direction determination unit 107 determines that the lock surface faces the direction designated in advance. If they do not match, it is determined that they are not facing the direction designated in advance.

  Note that “facing a surface in a certain direction” may mean that, for example, a normal line toward the outside of the solid object on the surface is substantially parallel to a certain direction. Whether or not the surface of the three-dimensional object faces the direction designated in advance is, for example, whether or not the normal vector of one surface of the three-dimensional object is substantially parallel to the vector indicating the direction designated in advance. This can be determined by detecting the above. Alternatively, it can also be determined by detecting whether one surface of the three-dimensional object is substantially perpendicular to a vector indicating a direction designated in advance. Further, as described above, there are limited arrangement patterns for possible arrangements of the three-dimensional object, and in any arrangement pattern, one surface of the three-dimensional object becomes a surface indicating the previously specified direction described above. If it is set, the identification information indicating the arrangement pattern in which one surface of the three-dimensional object indicating the direction designated in advance is the lock surface is used as the lock surface designation information. Also good. In this case, if the identification information of the arrangement pattern indicating the current arrangement of the three-dimensional object matches the lock surface designation information, it can be determined that the direction is designated in advance.

  Here, “substantially parallel” indicates a state including not only the case of being completely parallel but also the case of being tilted by a predetermined allowable range from the state of being completely parallel. The term “substantially vertical” indicates a state including not only the case of being completely vertical but also the case of being tilted by a predetermined allowable range from the state of being completely vertical. The allowable range specified in advance may be set in advance.

  Further, it may be determined whether or not the lock surface of each three-dimensional object specified by the lock surface specification information faces a direction specified in advance. Specifically, the normal vector of each lock surface is acquired, and it is determined whether or not this normal vector is substantially parallel to a direction designated in advance. If it is determined that the shift is abbreviated, the direction determination unit 107 determines that the lock surface faces the direction designated in advance.

  For example, when the three-dimensional object is a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped, and each surface is perpendicular to the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of the object coordinate system, the pre-designated direction is a world coordinate system in which the three-dimensional object is arranged. If the direction is parallel to any of the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis, the axis indicating the predetermined direction and the axis perpendicular to the lock surface of the three-dimensional object are substantially parallel, If the direction indicating the positive direction of the axis has a relative relationship designated in advance, it may be determined that the lock surface is oriented in the direction designated in advance.

  Note that a surface facing in a certain direction may be considered that, for example, a normal line that faces the outside of the surface solid object passes through a certain point or a region including the periphery of the one point specified in advance. good. For example, if one surface is the front, for example, it can be considered that there is a point that becomes the viewpoint (camera position) when rendering the screen of the three-dimensional object on the extension of the normal vector. good. In such a case, for example, the surface of the three-dimensional object that is closest to the viewpoint at the time of rendering may be determined as the front surface. Alternatively, coordinates designated in advance may be used instead of the viewpoint.

  The direction determination unit 107 may make the above determination only when the operation reception unit 104 receives an operation for changing the arrangement of an object such as rotation or movement. Also, immediately after it is determined that the lock surface of the solid object is oriented in a predetermined direction, the above determination is not performed until the restriction on the operation of the solid object is released as will be described later. Also good. Alternatively, the above determination is repeated at a constant or indefinite predetermined timing, and immediately after the restriction on the operation of the three-dimensional object is released as described later, until a predetermined operation, for example, one operation is performed on the three-dimensional object. May not make the above determination.

  The direction determination unit 107 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the direction determination unit 107 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The operation restriction unit 108 restricts the operation on the three-dimensional object when the direction determination unit 107 determines that the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information faces the direction designated in advance. For example, when the direction determination unit 107 determines that the lock surface of the three-dimensional object is the front, the operation restriction unit 108 restricts the operation on the three-dimensional object. Restricting operations on a three-dimensional object means, for example, invalidating part or all of operations on a three-dimensional object. Specifically, it is preferable to invalidate the operation including the operation of rotating the three-dimensional object. This is because the three-dimensional object cannot be rotated so that arrangement information arranged on various surfaces of the three-dimensional object cannot be seen by a third party, and security can be ensured.

  The three-dimensional object that is an operation restriction target is, for example, a three-dimensional object including at least a three-dimensional object whose lock surface faces a predetermined direction. For example, only an operation on a three-dimensional object whose lock surface faces a predetermined direction may be restricted. In addition, operations on all solid objects may be restricted. Limiting the operation on the three-dimensional object may be considered as locking at least a part of the operation on the three-dimensional object. Other operations on the information processing apparatus 1 including operations on the three-dimensional object may be restricted. When it is considered that the operation of the three-dimensional object includes an operation for releasing the restriction of the operation described later, the operation restriction performed by the operation restriction unit 108 is, for example, at least this operation among the operations on the three-dimensional object. It is preferable to invalidate the operation except for the operation for releasing the restriction. Note that when the operation of the 3D object does not include an operation for releasing the operation restriction described later, the operation restriction performed by the operation restriction unit 108 is, for example, invalidating all operations on the 3D object. It may be.

  Limiting the operation only requires that at least a part of the operation performed on the three-dimensional object is invalidated, and it does not matter how the operation is invalidated. For example, the operation accepting unit 104 may instruct the operation accepting unit 104 not to accept an operation on the three-dimensional object. Further, after the operation accepting unit 104 accepts the operation, when the operation is an operation on the three-dimensional object, the operation accepting unit 104 ignores or discards an instruction or an event generated by the operation. It may be to instruct. Further, when the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104 is an operation to be invalidated, the execution unit 105 is instructed to ignore an instruction received according to the operation or not to perform an operation according to the instruction. It may be to do. Information for setting what operations are restricted may be stored in a storage unit such as a storage medium (not shown) in advance. For example, information of a list such as an event or an instruction generated by an operation invalidated by restriction may be stored in advance.

  For example, the operation restriction unit 108 indicates the determination result of whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information indicated by the direction determination unit 107 is directed in a predetermined direction at a predetermined timing or a predetermined timing. When the determination result obtained repeatedly and the acquired determination result is a determination result indicating that the lock surface is directed in a predetermined direction, the operation reception unit 104 or the execution unit 105 is configured to restrict the operation on the three-dimensional object. You may make it indicate.

  Further, the operation restriction unit 108 obtains the determination result of the direction determination unit 107 after acquiring the determination result of whether or not the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information is directed in the direction designated in advance. Regardless of the case, the operation receiving unit 104 or the like may be instructed to restrict the operation on the three-dimensional object.

  Further, the operation restriction unit 108 determines whether or not the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 is operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted, and indicates that the operation is restricted. In the case of the operation availability information, the operation reception unit 104 or the like may be instructed to limit the operation on the solid object.

  For example, when the operation receiving unit 104 receives an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object, the operation restriction unit 108 releases the restriction on the operation. The operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the solid object received by the operation receiving unit 104 is a series of operations for inputting a password designated in advance or an operation for inputting a special key combination. In addition, in the operation such as password input for canceling the restriction of the operation accepted by the operation accepting unit 104, the process for judging whether or not the input content is appropriate, and the configuration for the judgment are as follows. Since it is a well-known technique in normal authentication processing and the like, description thereof is omitted here. Such a configuration may be included in the operation reception unit 104 or may be included in the operation restriction unit 108.

  For example, when the operation accepting unit 104 accepts an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object, the operation restricting unit 108 cancels the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object. You may be made to instruct.

  When the operation accepting unit 104 accepts an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object, specifically, the operation accepting unit 104 stores the operation accepting information storage unit 113 described later. An operation indicating that the operation stored in the operation enable / disable information storage unit 113 is restricted when an operation for changing the stored operation enable / disable information to the operation enable / disable information without operation limit is received. The availability information may be changed to operation availability information indicating that the operation is not restricted.

  When the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object is released as described above, the direction determination unit 107 changes the direction in which the lock surface is designated in advance in a predetermined operation, for example, one operation on the three-dimensional object immediately after that. The operation restriction unit 108 is not determined whether or not the operation is restricted, or the operation restriction unit 108 does not restrict the operation regardless of the determination result of the direction determination unit 107 so that the operation on the three-dimensional object can be accepted. Immediately after the release, the restriction on the operation of the three-dimensional object may be prevented from being added again.

  In addition, when the restriction on the operation on the solid object is released as described above, the direction determination unit 107 faces the lock surface in a predetermined direction until a predetermined number of operations on the solid object are changed. The operation restriction unit 108 may not accept the operation restriction regardless of the determination result of the direction determination unit 107 and may accept the operation on the three-dimensional object. .

  Alternatively, immediately after the restriction on the three-dimensional object is released, the arrangement of the three-dimensional object is automatically changed so that the lock surface of the three-dimensional object does not face the predetermined direction so that the operation is not restricted again. Also good.

  The operation limiting unit 108 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the operation restriction unit 108 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The image information configuration unit 109 reads the shape information of the three-dimensional object and the placement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information, and each of the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information The image information of the three-dimensional object in which the placement information corresponding to is arranged. In addition, the image information configuration unit 109 reads and reads the shape information of the three-dimensional object, the arrangement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information, and the object arrangement information corresponding to the three-dimensional object. You may comprise the image information which has arrange | positioned the solid object which has arrange | positioned the information for arrangement | positioning corresponding to one or more surfaces which shape information shows as object arrangement information shows. In addition, the image information configuration unit 109 displays an input interface screen for canceling the above-described operation restriction, such as a password input screen, for an operation on a three-dimensional object or the like for which the operation is restricted, and other operations on the information processing apparatus 1. And may be output from the output unit 110 described later.

  The image information configuration unit 109 can usually be realized by an MPU, GPU, memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the image information configuration unit 109 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The output unit 110 outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit 109. The output described here is a concept including display on a display, projection using a projector, transmission to an external device, delivery of a processing result to another processing device or another program, and the like.

  The output unit 110 may or may not include an output device such as a display or a speaker. The output unit 110 can be implemented by output device driver software, or output device driver software and an output device.

  The lock surface designation information accepting unit 111 accepts lock surface designation information for one solid object stored in the shape information storage unit 101. For example, the lock surface designation information receiving unit 111 designates one or more surfaces of a three-dimensional object with a mouse, a touch pad, a keyboard, or the like, and gives an instruction to set the lock surface for the designated surface. Get lock face designation information that designates a locked face as a lock face. Alternatively, lock surface designation information for one solid object prepared in advance may be received from a user or the like.

  Information input means for the lock surface designation information receiving unit 111 may be anything such as a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menu screen. The lock surface designation information receiving unit 111 can be realized by a device driver for input means such as a numeric keypad or a keyboard, control software for a menu screen, and the like.

  The lock surface designation information storage unit 112 has the same surface as the surface designated by the lock surface designation information received by the lock surface designation information reception unit 111 for each of the one or more solid objects stored in the shape information storage unit 101. Lock surface designation information to be designated is acquired, and the acquired lock surface designation information is stored in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106 in association with each solid object. The same surface as the surface specified by the lock surface designation information is, for example, a plurality of three-dimensional objects that are the same or similar three-dimensional objects, and the same identification is made on the surfaces that match or correspond among the plurality of three-dimensional objects. When the information has been assigned, when the lock surface designation information accepting unit 111 accepts the lock surface designation information for designating one surface of the one three-dimensional object, other information having the same identification information as the identification information of this one surface The lock plane designation information for designating the plane of the three-dimensional object is acquired, and the acquired lock plane designation information is associated with each solid object and accumulated in the lock plane designation information storage unit 106.

  The lock surface designation information storage unit 112 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the lock surface designation information storage unit 112 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The operation enable / disable information storage unit 113 can store operation enable / disable information that is information indicating whether or not to limit an operation on a three-dimensional object. The operation propriety information may be stored in association with the solid object individually, or may not be stored in association with it. As a result, the operation permission / prohibition information may be information that can indicate whether or not the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted. For example, the operation availability information may be only information indicating that the operation is restricted. In this case, if the operation availability information is not accumulated, as a result, the operation availability information indicates that the operation is possible. The operation enable / disable information may be so-called flag information in which a value is different between when the operation is restricted and when the operation is not performed, or the presence or absence of the value is changed. The operation availability information storage unit 113 may store the operation availability information as long as the operation availability information is accumulated so that the direction determination unit 107 and the like can refer to the latest operation availability information. . For example, when new operation availability information is accumulated, old operation availability information may be overwritten. Or you may make it give information, such as a flag which shows that it is not the newest, to old operation availability information. The operation availability information storage unit 113 may be a non-volatile recording medium or a volatile recording medium.

  Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Here, a case will be described as an example where, when it is determined that the lock surface of one solid object is facing a predetermined direction, operations on all the solid objects are restricted.

  (Step S100) The image information configuration unit 109 reads the shape information of the three-dimensional object from the shape information storage unit 101, and sets the object arrangement information and the arrangement information corresponding to each three-dimensional object as the object arrangement information storage unit 102 and the arrangement information. A solid object that is read from the storage unit 103 and has placement information arranged on each surface constitutes image information arranged in the position and direction indicated by the object placement information.

  (Step S101) The output unit 110 outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit 109. For example, it is displayed on a monitor or the like.

  (Step S102) The operation restriction unit 108 determines whether or not the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 indicates that the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted. Here, as an example, it is assumed that only one operation availability information can be stored for one or more solid objects. It is assumed that the initial value of the operation availability information is a value indicating that the operation is not restricted. If it is not the operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted, the operation reception unit 104 is instructed that any operation can be received, and the process proceeds to step S105. Specifically, the operation receiving unit 104 is instructed to accept an operation for instructing a process for a solid object that is not limited to the process for releasing the operation restriction. If the operation permission information indicates that the operation is restricted, the operation reception unit 104 is instructed to accept only the restricted operation, and the process proceeds to step S114. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the restricted operation is a process for releasing the operation restriction.

  (Step S103) The lock surface designation information receiving unit 111 determines whether or not the lock surface designation information has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S116. If not accepted, the process proceeds to step S104.

  (Step S104) The operation accepting unit 104 determines whether or not an operation for a three-dimensional object has been accepted. The operation accepted here may be any operation. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S105. If not accepted, the process returns to step S103.

  (Step S105) The execution unit 105 causes the three-dimensional object to execute a process according to the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104. For example, you may perform the process which changes arrangement | positioning of a solid object, for example, a position, and direction. Further, in accordance with the change of the arrangement, a pre-designated calculation may be performed using the arrangement information arranged on the three-dimensional object. Further, the arrangement information arranged in the three-dimensional object may be changed according to the operation. When the operation received by the operation receiving unit 104 is a predesignated operation, the object arrangement information is changed according to the operation, a numerical value is acquired from the arrangement information of the three-dimensional object, and the calculation of the numerical value is performed. May be performed.

  (Step S106) The direction determining unit 107 substitutes 1 for a counter n.

  (Step S107) The direction determination unit 107 substitutes 1 for a counter k.

  (Step S108) The direction determining unit 107 determines whether or not the nth solid object has the kth lock surface. Specifically, it is determined whether or not k-th lock surface designation information corresponding to the n-th solid object is accumulated in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106. If accumulated, the process proceeds to step S109, and if not accumulated, the process proceeds to step S111.

  (Step S109) The direction determination unit 107 determines whether or not the k-th lock surface faces a predetermined direction. For example, it is determined whether or not the normal vector of the surface indicated by the k-th lock surface designation information is substantially parallel to the normal vector indicating the direction designated in advance. If it is substantially parallel, it is determined that it is facing the direction designated in advance, and if it is not substantially parallel, it is determined that it is not directed in the direction designated in advance. In addition, when the arrangement pattern that the three-dimensional object can take is limited (for example, when the direction that the three-dimensional object can take is limited to several patterns), when the three-dimensional object is arranged in each arrangement pattern in advance, The surface identification information of the surface having the designated orientation is stored in advance in the object arrangement information storage unit 102 or the like in association with the arrangement pattern. Then, the surface identification information of the surface facing the direction specified in advance is acquired from the arrangement pattern of the current solid object acquired using the object arrangement information, and the surface indicated by the surface identification information is the kth lock. It may be determined whether or not it matches the surface indicated by the surface designation information. If they match, it may be determined that the lock surface is oriented in a predesignated direction, and if they do not match, it may be determined that the lock surface is not oriented in a predesignated direction. If the k-th lock surface does not face the direction designated in advance, the process proceeds to step 110. If the k-th lock surface faces the direction designated in advance, the process proceeds to step S113.

  (Step S110) The direction determination unit 107 increments the counter k by 1. Then, the process returns to step S108.

  (Step S111) The direction determination unit 107 increments the counter n by 1.

  (Step S112) The direction determining unit 107 determines whether there is an nth solid object. If there is, the process returns to step S107, and if not, the process returns to step S103.

  (Step S113) The direction determination unit 107 changes the operation enable / disable information stored in the operation enable / disable information storage unit 113 to operation enable / disable information indicating that the operation on the solid object is restricted. For example, the operation availability information indicating that the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted is accumulated so as to overwrite the already stored operation availability information. Then, the process returns to step S102.

  (Step S114) The operation reception unit 104 determines whether an operation for releasing the operation restriction on the three-dimensional object has been received. For example, it is determined whether an input of a specific instruction for canceling the operation restriction, for example, an input of a specific key combination is accepted. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not a password that matches the password prepared for canceling the operation restriction is accepted. If the accepted operation is an operation for canceling the operation restriction, the process proceeds to step S115, and if not, the process returns to step S102.

  (Step S115) The operation restriction unit 108 accumulates in the operation availability information storage unit 113 operation availability information indicating that the operation restriction is not performed. For example, the operation restriction unit 108 overwrites and accumulates the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 with the operation availability information indicating that the operation is not restricted. Then, the operation receiving unit 104 is instructed that any operation can be accepted, and the process returns to step S103.

  Note that operation availability information is individually provided for each solid object, and in step S102, the operation availability information corresponding to each of the one or more solid objects to be manipulated restricts the operation. If one or more pieces of operation availability information indicates that the operation is restricted, the process proceeds to step S114, and when there is no operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted. May proceed to step S103.

  In addition, the operation that can be accepted by the restriction of the operation performed according to the operation permission information indicating that the operation is restricted is not limited to the restriction releasing operation. For example, in addition to the restriction releasing operation, Operation may be accepted.

  In addition, as a step between step S102 and step S114, a step of determining whether or not an operation for outputting a password input interface screen for releasing the restriction is accepted, and an interface screen is displayed in accordance with this operation. A step for outputting, a step for determining whether or not a password input is accepted via the interface screen, a step for determining whether or not the input password is a password for releasing the restriction, etc. are provided. Anyway. In this case, if the input password is a restriction release password, it may be determined in step S114 that a restriction release operation has been accepted.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment will be described. Here, a case where a catalog of products is displayed by the information processing apparatus 1 will be described as an example. Here, a case where the three-dimensional object is a cube will be described as an example. Note that the size, angle, and the like shown in this specific example are merely for convenience of explanation, and the arrangement, size, and the like of a three-dimensional object such as a figure may not be accurately shown.

  FIG. 3 is a shape information management table for managing the shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101. Here, it is assumed that the shape information is stored in advance as an example here. The shape information management table includes “object ID”, “size x”, “size y”, “size z”, “x1 surface”, “x2 surface”, “y1 surface”, “y2 surface”, “z1 surface”. , “Z2 plane”. “Object ID” is identification information for identifying a three-dimensional object. “Size x” is the length of the solid object in the x-axis direction, that is, the width. “Size y” is the length of the three-dimensional object in the y-axis direction, that is, the height. “Size z” is the length of the three-dimensional object in the z-axis direction, that is, the depth. However, the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis described here are the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis set in the solid object itself, and the absolute X-axis, Y-axis, set in the virtual three-dimensional space, Different from the Z axis. The origins of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis set for the solid object itself are set, for example, at the center and the center of gravity of the solid object. The unit of each size may be any unit such as a pixel. The x1, x2, y1, y2, z1, and z2 planes are plane identification information of planes that constitute each solid object. Although the surfaces indicated by these surface identification information are not shown, they are defined using the coordinates of the vertices of the three-dimensional objects constituting each surface. Since the definition of the surface and the technology for associating the identification information with the surface are well known in the 3D modeling technology and the like, the description thereof is omitted here. The values of the items “x1 plane”, “x2 plane”, “y1 plane”, “y2 plane”, “z1 plane” and “z2 plane” in the shape information management table are the normals of the plane indicated by each plane identification information The vector is shown. However, the normal here is assumed to be a vector in a direction from the inside to the outside of the solid object. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the zero point of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis is located at the center of each solid object. Here, the “x1 plane” is a plane whose normal is the positive direction of the x axis, the “x2 plane” is a plane whose normal is the negative direction of the x axis, and the “y1 plane” is the normal line of the positive direction of the y axis. “Y2 plane” is a plane whose normal is the negative direction of the y axis, “z1 plane” is a plane whose normal is the positive direction of the z axis, and “z2 plane” is a negative direction of the z axis. It is the surface to be a line. Here, the shape information of the three three-dimensional objects is managed by the shape information management table.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for illustrating the relationship between the three-dimensional object and the x1, x2, y1, y2, z1, and z2 planes. In this figure, the z1 surface is the front surface, the z2 surface is the back surface, the x1 surface is the right side surface, the x2 surface is the left side surface, the y1 surface is the top surface, and the y2 surface is the bottom surface.

  FIG. 5 is an object arrangement information management table for managing object arrangement information stored in the object arrangement information storage unit 102. Here, the object arrangement information is assumed to be stored in advance as an example. The object arrangement information includes items of “object ID”, “coordinates (X, Y, Z)”, and “rotation angle (X, Y, Z)”. The “object ID” is identification information for identifying a three-dimensional object, and corresponds to the “object ID” of the shape information described above. “Coordinates (X, Y, Z)” is information indicating the coordinates in the virtual three-dimensional space where the solid object indicated by the “object ID” of the same record is arranged. Here, the coordinates are the coordinates of the center of the solid object. A case will be described. Here, it is assumed that the coordinate value is a coordinate value in the virtual three-dimensional space. Here, the horizontal direction (width direction) in the virtual three-dimensional space is the X axis, the vertical direction (height direction) is the Y axis, and the depth direction is the Z axis. “Rotation angle (X, Y, Z)” indicates a rotation angle with the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis in the virtual three-dimensional space as rotation axes. The rotation angle may be considered as information indicating the direction in which the three-dimensional object is arranged. For example, when the three-dimensional object is rotated 90 degrees with the Y axis as the rotation axis, the x axis and the y axis of the three-dimensional object are respectively orthogonal to the X axis and the Y axis of the virtual three-dimensional space. When each value is (0, 0, 0), the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of the three-dimensional object are arranged in parallel to the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis in the virtual three-dimensional space, respectively. Shall be. Note that the value of the Z coordinate may be omitted when there is no need to change the depth of the position where the three-dimensional object is arranged, for example, when the rendered three-dimensional object image is arranged on a two-dimensional plane.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 103. Here, as an example, a case will be described in which arrangement information constitutes information in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. However, the arrangement information may not be information in the XML format, and may be data in a format in which the information can be referred to by item or attribute. In the XML format information shown in FIG. 6, for convenience, the placement information is considered to be information composed of information surrounded by a start tag and an end tag. For example, the tagged information in the range delimited by “<product name>” and “</ product name>” is the placement information indicating the product name of one product. Further, the tagged information in the range delimited by “<price>” and “</ price>” is the placement information indicating the price among the information indicating the details of one product. Further, the arrangement information in a range delimited by “<product>” and “</ product>” is information for arrangement of one product and information for arrangement that can be arranged in one solid object. To do. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the placement information is information about a mobile phone. When information for specifying a file or the like, for example, link information, is included as the placement information, the information on the file specified thereby becomes the placement information. The information on the link destination is appropriately read when an image is constructed. Here, for example, it is assumed that information prepared in advance is stored as arrangement information.

  FIG. 7 shows arrangement information management for managing the correspondence between the arrangement information, the solid object in which the arrangement information is arranged, and the arrangement plane, which are stored in the arrangement information storage unit 103. It is a figure which shows a table | surface. The placement information is managed in association with the solid object. The arrangement designation information management table has an item “object ID”, an item “product ID”, and an item “arrangement surface”. The “arrangement plane” further has items of “z1 plane”, “x1 plane”, and “y1 plane”. The “object ID” corresponds to the object ID shown in FIG. “Product ID” is information for designating placement information associated with the three-dimensional object indicated by “Object ID”, and here, it is information indicating a product ID tag in the placement information shown in FIG. is there. That is, the placement information associated with the product ID tag having an element that matches the value of the “product ID” is the placement information designated by the “placement information”. “Arrangement plane” is information for designating tags of arrangement information to be arranged on each plane of the three-dimensional object, and “z1 plane”, “x1 plane”, and “y1 plane” are plane identifications of the three-dimensional object, respectively. The information is information for designating the tags of the placement information that are respectively placed on the z1 plane, the x1 plane, and the y1 plane. Here, it is assumed that information to which a tag indicated by the value of “arrangement plane” is assigned to each plane of the three-dimensional object. For example, on the z1 surface of the solid object “OBJ1”, the “product ID” tag value is “SER1345”, and the “product name” tag that is the value of the “z1 surface” item of the “placement surface” is attached. The placement information is placed. The tag that is the value of the item “placement surface” may be considered as acquisition condition information that is information indicating a condition for obtaining the placement information.

  First, for example, if the user gives an instruction to display a catalog of products to the information processing apparatus 1, the image information configuration unit 109 is managed by the object arrangement information management table shown in FIG. Read object placement information. That is, the values of the items “coordinate (X, Y, Z)” and “rotation angle (X, Y, Z)”, which are object placement information corresponding to “object IDs” from “OBJ1” to “OBJ3”. Is read. Then, for example, it is temporarily stored in a memory (not shown) in association with the “object ID”.

  Next, the image information configuration unit 109 of the information processing apparatus 1 acquires shape information about the three-dimensional object associated with the placement information. That is, all the values of the “object ID” in the arrangement information management table shown in FIG. 5 are acquired, and the shape information of the three-dimensional object associated with the “object ID” that matches this value is shown in FIG. Read from the information management table. Here, the shape information in which “object ID” shown in FIG. 3 is “OBJ1” to “OBJ3” is read, and is temporarily stored in a memory or the like in association with “object ID”, for example.

  Next, the image information configuration unit 109 reads the shape information, that is, each of the three-dimensional objects whose “object IDs” are “OBJ1” to “OBJ3” (hereinafter referred to as the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3”). ) Is acquired as follows using the arrangement information management table shown in FIG. 7 from the arrangement information shown in FIG. 6.

  First, the placement information tags placed on the respective surfaces constituting the three-dimensional object “OBJ1”, here the z1, x1, and y1 surfaces, are read from the placement information management table shown in FIG. Specifically, the value “SER1345” of the item “product ID” of the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ1” in the arrangement information management table shown in FIG. 7 is read. Then, from the arrangement information shown in FIG. 6, information on the product having the product ID tag whose element is “SER1345”, that is, the “<product>” tag having the product ID tag whose element is “SER1345”. The information enclosed by the “</ product>” tag is specified. Next, the tag name and the product that are the values of the items “z1 side”, “x1 side”, and “y1 side” of the record whose “object ID” in the arrangement information management table shown in FIG. 7 is “OBJ1” Names, details, and product photos are sequentially read out, and from the information of the product having the product ID tag whose element is “SER1345” specified above in the arrangement information shown in FIG. A tag having a tag name is detected, and elements of the detected tag are sequentially acquired. The acquired tag elements are arrangement information arranged on the z1, x1, and y1 surfaces of the three-dimensional object whose “object ID” is “OBJ1”.

  For example, since the value of “z1 surface” of the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ1” in the arrangement information management table shown in FIG. 7 is a tag “product name”, the element shown in FIG. The product name tag is detected from the placement information including the product ID tag “SER1345”, and “BS602”, which is an element of this product name tag, is acquired as placement information for placement on the z1 plane. Similarly, arrangement information is acquired for the x1 plane and the y1 plane. The acquired information is temporarily stored in a storage medium such as a memory (not shown) in association with the identification information of the three-dimensional object, for example.

  In the same manner, the arrangement information is acquired for each of the three-dimensional objects “OBJ2” to “OBJ3”.

  Then, the image information configuration unit 109 configures image information of the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3”.

  Specifically, the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3” are displayed on the z1, x1, and y1 surfaces of the three-dimensional objects indicated by the shape information of the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3” acquired by the image information configuration unit 109. The arrangement information acquired by the image information configuration unit 109 is arranged corresponding to the z1 plane, x1 plane, and y1 plane, and these three-dimensional objects are imaged corresponding to the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3”. The image information arranged at the position and orientation indicated by the arrangement information acquired by the information configuration unit 109 is configured. Specifically, so-called rendering processing is performed. Here, parameters such as the coordinate axes in the virtual three-dimensional space, that is, the coordinate axes in the world space, the angle of view at the time of rendering, and the like are set in advance so that the projection drawing of each solid object is configured. To do.

  Then, the output unit 110 outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit 109. Here, the output unit 110 is connected to the monitor 504 and displays the image information of the synthesized solid object on the monitor 504.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of image information configured by the image information configuration unit 109. In FIG. 8, the solid object 801 is a solid object “OBJ1”, the solid object 802 is a solid object “OBJ2”, and the solid object 803 is a solid object “OBJ3”. In this embodiment, coordinate values and solid objects shown in the figure are displayed, and the correspondence between each product and information such as specifications related to the product can be easily grasped. It is for the purpose, and is not accurately drawn according to the actual size. As shown in FIG. 8, each solid object corresponds to a product, and the product name, product image, specification, price, etc. of each product can be displayed on the surface of each solid object. . Here, when viewed from the positive side of the Z-axis in the virtual three-dimensional space toward the negative side of the Z-axis, the surface located in front is considered as the front. For example, in FIG. 8, the z1 plane of each of the three-dimensional objects “OBJ1” to “OBJ3” is the front.

  FIG. 9 is a lock surface designation information management table for managing the lock surface designation information stored in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106. The lock surface designation information management table has items of “object ID” and “lock surface”. The “object ID” corresponds to the object ID shown in FIG. “Lock surface” is lock surface designation information, and here is surface identification information of a surface designated as a lock surface. For example, in FIG. 9, the first record from the top indicates that the lock surface of the solid object whose “object ID” is “OBJ1” is “y2 surface”.

  FIG. 10 shows the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113. The operation availability information is flag information, for example. Here, if the value is “0”, it indicates that the operation for all the three-dimensional objects is not restricted, that is, the restriction is released, and if the value is “1”, for all the three-dimensional objects. Indicates that the operation is restricted. The restriction on the operation here is, for example, invalidating an operation other than an operation for inputting information for releasing the restriction.

  The operation restriction unit 108 determines whether or not the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 indicates that the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted. Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the value of the operation availability information is an initial value “0”, indicating that the operation is not restricted. Therefore, the operation restriction unit 108 instructs the operation reception unit 104 that any operation can be accepted. Alternatively, it may be instructed not to limit the accepted operations. Alternatively, it may be instructed to accept an operation that can be accepted when the operation is not limited, which is designated by default for the three-dimensional object.

  Next, it is assumed that the user performs an operation for rotating the output 3D object 801, that is, the 3D object “OBJ1”, by 90 ° upward about the X axis of the virtual three-dimensional space. For example, here, when the pointer is placed on the solid object and the mouse is dragged, the solid object is rotated by 90 ° in the drag direction, and the user places the pointer on the solid object 801 and moves the mouse upward. Suppose you drag to. Note that this operation may be an operation of selecting a menu item for rotating the three-dimensional object.

  The execution unit 105 performs processing for the three-dimensional object 801 in response to an operation received by the operation receiving unit 104 to rotate the three-dimensional object 90 degrees upward about the X axis of the virtual three-dimensional space (world space). To change the direction of the solid object. Specifically, the x value of “rotation angle” in the object arrangement information of the solid object “OBJ1” is changed from “0” that is the initial value to “−90 °”. At this time, the execution unit 105 may similarly change the arrangement information of the other three-dimensional object other than the operation target three-dimensional object for which the operation receiving unit 104 has received the operation. That is, in the above case, the solid object “OBJ2” and the solid object “OBJ3” may also be rotated. Or you may make it change only the arrangement | positioning of the solid object grouped with the solid object used as operation object similarly to the operation object.

  Next, the direction determination unit 107 determines whether or not the lock surface of each three-dimensional object after execution is oriented in a predetermined direction. Here, it is determined whether or not the lock surface is the front. In the solid object arranged in this virtual three-dimensional space, it is specified in advance that the front surface is a surface whose normal is parallel to the Z axis and faces the positive direction. To do.

  First, the direction determination unit 107 acquires a vector indicating the normal of the lock surface of the displayed solid object “OBJ1” from the shape information management table shown in FIG. Specifically, first, “y2 plane” that is the lock plane designation information of the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is acquired from the lock plane designation information management table of FIG. Next, the normal vector of the surface designated by the lock surface designation information “y2 surface” of the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is acquired from the shape information management table shown in FIG. Specifically, “(0, −1, 0)”, which is the value of the “y2 plane” item of the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ1” in the shape information management table, is used as the normal vector of the lock plane. get.

  Since the acquired normal vector “(0, −1, 0)” is a vector of the coordinate system in the solid object, this vector is a vector in the virtual three-dimensional space where the solid object is arranged, that is, a virtual cubic. Convert to vector in original space (world space). Specifically, information indicating the relationship between the coordinate system of the three-dimensional object and the coordinate system of the virtual three-dimensional space (world space) when the three-dimensional object is placed in a default state in the virtual three-dimensional space (world space), Using the rotation angle information of the object arrangement information, the normal vector of the lock surface is converted into a vector indicating the direction in the virtual three-dimensional space. For example, in this specific example, when the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is arranged without being rotated, that is, in the state of FIG. 8, as described above, the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of the three-dimensional object are respectively virtual. A solid object is arranged so as to be parallel to the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis of the three-dimensional space. For this reason, the normal vector of the lock surface in this state expressed in the coordinate system of the virtual three-dimensional space (world space) is “(0, −1, 0)” which is the same as the original normal vector. . Since the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is rotated 90 degrees upward about the X axis as a rotation axis, the normal vector of the lock surface “y2 surface” of the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” after rotation is represented in a virtual three-dimensional space. What is expressed in the coordinate system of (world space) is “(0, 0, 1)” by calculation.

  Next, the direction determination unit 107 determines whether or not a condition indicating that the lock surface after rotation is a front surface is satisfied. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the normal vector of the locked surface after rotation is parallel to the Z axis and faces the positive direction. Here, since the normal vector of the locked surface “y2 surface” after rotation is “(0, 0, 1)”, the normal vector is parallel to the Z axis and faces the positive direction. Meet. Therefore, the direction determination unit 107 determines that the lock surface “y2 surface” of the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is the front surface.

  The direction determination unit 107 accumulates the operation availability information “1” in the operation availability information storage unit 113 indicating that the operation is restricted because it is determined that the lock surface of one solid object is the front. Then, the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 is changed. Then, the operation reception unit 104 returns to a state of waiting for reception of the next operation.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing changed operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113.

  If it is determined that the lock surface of the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” is not the front, the same processing is performed on the other displayed three-dimensional objects, and when the one whose lock surface is the front is detected, the above-described processing is performed. Similarly, the operation availability information is changed.

  If no solid object with the lock surface in front is detected, the operation reception unit 104 returns to a state of waiting for reception of the next operation.

  As described above, in the case where the three-dimensional object is a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped and the rotation angle is fixed in units of 90 degrees, the direction determination unit 107 displays the front surface when the three-dimensional object is rotated in the world space. Is obtained using the positional relationship between the surfaces of the solid object defined by the shape information and the surface that was the front before the rotation, and the surface identification information of the surface that is the front is acquired. It may be determined whether or not this matches the identification information of the surface designated by the lock surface designation information. For example, when the z1 surface of the three-dimensional object before rotation is the front, if the three-dimensional object is rotated upward by 90 °, the y2 surface, which is the bottom surface, becomes the front, indicating the positional relationship of the surfaces indicated by the shape information You may judge from information etc.

  Alternatively, in the case where the three-dimensional object is a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped and the rotation angle is fixed in units of 90 degrees, the direction determination unit 107 uses the coordinate system method of the three-dimensional object on the front surface before the rotation. By calculating back the rotation angle from the line vector, calculating the normal vector of the surface that becomes the front after the rotation, and obtaining the surface identification information of the surface that matches this normal vector, the front surface after the rotation is obtained. The surface identification information of the surface may be acquired, and it may be determined whether this matches the surface identification information designated by the lock surface designation information.

  Here, the operation restriction unit 108 determines whether or not the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 indicates that the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the value of the operation availability information is “1”, indicating that the operation is restricted. For this reason, the operation restriction unit 108 instructs the operation reception unit 104 that only restricted operations may be received. Here, it is instructed that only the operation necessary for releasing the restriction on the operation can be accepted. Here, it is assumed that the operation necessary for releasing the restriction on the operation is an operation of inputting a password designated in advance for releasing the restriction.

  Next, it is assumed that the user performs an operation of placing a pointer on the image of the three-dimensional object and clicking and dragging the mouse button in order to rotate any of the three-dimensional objects. In this case, the operation accepting unit 104 does not accept an operation for rotating the three-dimensional object because the operation restricting unit 108 restricts an acceptable operation. Instead, an instruction for configuring the image information of the password input screen for releasing the operation restriction is output to the image information configuration unit 109 in accordance with the operation of clicking the mouse on the image of the three-dimensional object. The image information configuration unit 109 configures a password input screen, and the output unit 110 displays the configured password input screen.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a password input screen for canceling the operation restriction.

  Next, it is assumed that the user inputs a password for releasing restriction specified in advance on the password input screen in order to release the operation restriction of the three-dimensional object.

  The operation accepting unit 104 determines whether or not the input password is a password for releasing the restriction. If the input password matches the password for releasing the restriction, the operation receiving unit 104 determines that an operation for releasing the restriction has been accepted.

  Since the operation restriction unit 108 has received a restriction release operation from the user, it overwrites the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 with the operation availability information “1” for releasing the operation restriction. Specifically, the operation availability information as shown in FIG. 11 stored in the operation availability information storage unit 113 is changed to the operation availability information as shown in FIG. Then, the operation receiving unit 104 is instructed to end the limitation of operations to be accepted.

  Thereby, the operation reception unit 104 can receive at least a normal operation on the solid object immediately after that. For example, immediately after this, by rotating the three-dimensional object “OBJ1” so that the lock surface does not face the front, it is possible to accept subsequent operations.

  However, if the lock surface is not rotated immediately after the operation, the operation is restricted again. In order to avoid such a situation, do not judge whether or not the lock surface is the front until the change of the arrangement for the first three-dimensional object after the operation restriction is released, especially the rotation operation is performed. Depending on the accepted operation, processing for a three-dimensional object may be performed.

  Here, the user designates a surface to be set as the lock surface of one solid object “OBJ2”, for example, “x1 surface” by clicking the mouse, and selects a menu item or the like for setting this surface as the lock surface. Suppose that The lock surface designation information receiving unit 111 receives lock surface designation information for designating “x1 surface” as the lock surface. The lock surface designation information storage unit 112 is associated with all the displayed three-dimensional objects, and is the same as the surface designated by the lock surface designation information received by the lock surface designation information receiving unit 111, here the same surface designation. Lock surface designation information for designating the surface indicated by the information “x1 surface” as the lock surface is accumulated in the lock surface designation information storage unit 106. Specifically, lock surface designation information for designating “x1 surface” as the lock surface is added to the value of “lock surface” of all the records in the lock surface designation information management table shown in FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a lock name designation information management table in which lock surface designation information is accumulated. In this way, when one surface of one solid object is designated as a lock surface, the same surface of another three-dimensional object, here, a surface having the same surface identification information can be designated as a lock surface. Can be saved.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operation on the three-dimensional object can be restricted by directing the lock surface in the direction designated in advance. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent a third party or the like from rotating the 3D object without permission to view the arrangement information arranged on the 3D object without permission. Therefore, the operation can be limited by a simple operation of directing the lock surface of the three-dimensional object in a predetermined direction, and security can be easily maintained for information output using the three-dimensional object. .

(Embodiment 2)
The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured to limit the operation of the three-dimensional object according to a plurality of operations on the three-dimensional object.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the information processing apparatus 2 in the present embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 2 includes a shape information storage unit 201, an object arrangement information storage unit 202, an arrangement information storage unit 203, an operation reception unit 204, an execution unit 205, an operation information acquisition unit 206, an operation history information storage unit 207, and an appearance pattern. The determination unit 208 includes an operation restriction unit 209, an image information configuration unit 210, an output unit 211, an operation availability information storage unit 212, and an operation pattern definition information storage unit 213.

  Configuration and operation of shape information storage unit 201, object arrangement information storage unit 202, arrangement information storage unit 203, operation receiving unit 204, execution unit 205, image information configuration unit 210, output unit 211, and operation availability information storage unit 212 About the shape information storage unit 101, the object arrangement information storage unit 102, the arrangement information storage unit 103, the operation reception unit 104, the execution unit 105, the image information configuration unit 109, the output unit 110, and the operation according to the first embodiment. Since it is the same as the availability information storage unit 113, description thereof is omitted here.

  The operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires operation information that is information indicating the operation received by the operation reception unit 204. The operation received by the operation receiving unit 204 is, for example, an operation for changing the orientation or position of a three-dimensional object in the virtual three-dimensional space, an operation for changing the size, or the like. The operation information is, for example, information indicating the position of a cursor or the like output according to the operation, information indicating an event output according to the operation, information indicating a command output according to the operation, or the like. . The information indicating the position of the cursor or the like is, for example, information on the coordinates of the position pointed to by the cursor, or information indicating the difference in conversion of the coordinates pointed to by the cursor, which has changed due to the movement of the cursor or the like. The information indicating the event is, for example, an event name. The information indicating the command is, for example, a command name. The operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires operation information as information output in response to these operations. The operation information may be information indicating an operation received by the operation receiving unit 204 in the past as a result. For example, the operation information may be information indicating an operation performed by the operation received by the operation receiving unit 204. The information indicating the operation performed by the operation may be, for example, information indicating a change in the arrangement information of the three-dimensional object whose arrangement is changed by the operation, for example, information recording a difference of the arrangement information. The operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires information indicating an operation performed by the execution unit 205 or the like according to the operation as operation information from, for example, the execution unit 205 or the like. The operation information acquisition unit 206 may accumulate the acquired operation information in a storage medium (not shown) or the like.

  Here, in particular, the operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires operation information that is information indicating the operation received by the operation reception unit 204, configures operation history information including the operation information, and the configured operation history information will be described later. A case where data is stored in the operation history information storage unit 207 will be described as an example.

  The operation history information is information indicating a history of operations accepted by the operation accepting unit 204. Specifically, the operation history information is information including at least operation information that is information indicating an operation received by the operation receiving unit 204 in the past. The operation history information in the present embodiment may be information that can at least indicate the order of operations accepted in the past. Specifically, it may be information that can indicate at least the acquisition order of operation information acquired in the past. The operation history information includes, for example, operation information indicating one or more operations received by the operation receiving unit 204, and information indicating a time when an operation indicated by each operation information is received (or an operation corresponding to the operation is performed). Is information associated with each other. Further, the operation history information may be information in which operation information is accumulated in the order of acquisition so that the order of acquisition of the operation information can be understood, or information that has been accumulated with a number indicating the acquisition order. May be.

  For example, the operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires the operation information as described above, and gives the operation history information by adding the information of the time when the operation is received or the information of the time when the operation information is acquired to the acquired operation information. The operation information thus configured is accumulated in the operation history information storage unit 207. Information indicating the time can be acquired from a time measuring unit such as a clock (not shown). In addition, the operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires operation information as described above, for example, and adds information indicating the order in which the operations are received or information indicating the order in which the operation information is acquired to the acquired operation information. The configured operation history information may be accumulated in the operation history information storage unit 207. In addition, the operation information acquisition unit 206 uses the acquired operation information as operation history information, for example, in accordance with the order in which the operations are received or the order in which the operations are received so that the order in which the operations are received can be determined. You may add to

  The operation information acquisition unit 206 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the operation information acquisition unit 206 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The operation history information storage unit 207 can store the operation history information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206. The operation history information storage unit 207 is preferably a nonvolatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines whether or not the appearance patterns of the latest two or more pieces of operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206 match the appearance patterns of operation information designated in advance. The appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines whether or not the appearance patterns of the latest two or more pieces of operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206 match the appearance patterns of operation information designated in advance. The appearance pattern of operation information is information indicating the order in which one or more pieces of operation information appear. For example, of the operation information acquired by the appearance pattern determination unit 208, the nth operation information (n is a positive integer) from the latest operation information, and the latest operation information indicated by the appearance pattern of the operation information designated in advance. Whether or not the n-th operation information matches is sequentially determined while changing the value of n, and if it is determined that all match, it is determined that the appearance patterns match. However, if all do not match, it is determined that the appearance patterns do not match. Here, as an example, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 includes an operation pattern in which the appearance patterns of the latest two or more pieces of operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206 are stored in advance in an operation pattern definition information storage unit 213 to be described later. It is determined whether or not it matches the appearance pattern indicated by the definition information. The match here may be a complete match or a partial match. The operation pattern definition information is information indicating the appearance order of two or more pieces of operation information, for example.

  Here, as an example, in particular, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines that the appearance pattern of operation information included in the latest two or more operation history information accumulated by the operation information acquisition unit 206 is an appearance pattern of operation information specified in advance. A case where it is determined whether or not they match will be described as an example.

  Specifically, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 sequentially detects two or more pieces of operation history information from the latest operation history information among the operation history information accumulated by the operation information acquisition unit 206, and from the detected operation history information. , Get operation information. Then, it is determined whether or not the appearance pattern of operation information acquired in the same manner as described above matches the appearance pattern of operation information prepared in advance.

  In the present embodiment, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 accumulates operation availability information indicating that the operation is restricted in the operation availability information storage unit 212 when it is determined that the appearance patterns match. Will be described. Since the operation availability information is the same as the operation availability information described in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  It should be noted that the appearance patterns of two or more operation information specified in advance determined by the appearance pattern determination unit 208 are the appearance pattern of operation information instructing movement, the appearance pattern of operation information instructing rotation, and a change in size. Any operation information appearance pattern may be used, such as an appearance pattern of operation information for instructing the above, an appearance pattern based on a combination thereof, or the like. For example, an appearance pattern of operation information indicating a plurality of rotation operations may be used. For example, by using an appearance pattern of operation information indicating a rotation operation, for example, “turn right 2 times, turn 3 left”, etc. This makes it easy to understand the operation when it is communicated to other users and remembered.

  The appearance pattern determination unit 208 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the appearance pattern determination unit 208 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The operation restriction unit 209 restricts the operation on the three-dimensional object when the appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines that the appearance patterns match. Note that the restriction on the operation performed here may be a restriction on the operation set in advance in association with the appearance pattern determined to be the same. For example, when it is determined that it matches the first appearance pattern, the operation associated with the first appearance pattern is restricted, and when it is determined that it matches the second appearance pattern, the second appearance The operation associated with the pattern may be restricted. It should be noted that when the operation restriction unit 209 restricts the operation, or when the operation restriction unit 209 receives an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object, the restriction on the operation is released, or the operation restriction unit 209 However, when the operation availability information for restricting the operation is stored in the operation availability information storage unit 212, the operation restriction is performed when the operation for the three-dimensional object is restricted or the operation to be changed by the operation accepting unit 204 is accepted. Since the unit 209 changes the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 212 to the operation availability information that does not restrict the operation, etc., it is the same as the operation restriction unit 108 of the first embodiment. The description is omitted here.

  The operation restriction unit 209 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the operation restriction unit 209 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The operation pattern definition information storage unit 213 can store operation pattern definition information that is information indicating an appearance pattern of operation information. The operation pattern definition information is information indicating an appearance pattern of two or more pieces of operation information, for example. The operation pattern definition information is information including two or more pieces of operation information and information indicating the appearance order associated with each operation information. Further, the operation pattern definition information may be information in which two or more pieces of operation information are stored in the order in which operations are performed. The operation pattern definition information is information accumulated in advance by a user or the like, for example. The operation pattern definition information may be information associated with information specifying the type of operation restriction performed when an operation that matches the operation pattern indicated by the operation pattern definition information is performed. The operation pattern definition information storage unit 213 is preferably a nonvolatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 15, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or corresponding steps. In these steps, each block of the information processing device 2 corresponding to each block of the information processing device 1 shown in FIG. 1 performs processing.

  (Step S201) The operation information acquisition unit 206 determines whether or not the operation received by the operation reception unit 204 is an operation for rotating a three-dimensional object. For example, it is determined whether or not the command identification information output in response to the operation received by the operation reception unit 204 is one of the command identification information instructing rotation designated in advance. If it is an operation to rotate, the process proceeds to step S202, and if it is not an operation to rotate, the process proceeds to step S105.

  (Step S202) The operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires operation information indicating the operation received by the operation reception unit 204. As the operation information acquired here, for example, identification information of a command output in response to an operation received by the operation receiving unit 204, for example, a command name is acquired.

  (Step S203) The operation information acquisition unit 206 configures operation history information by associating the operation information acquired in step S202 with time information indicating the current time, and the configured operation history information is stored in the operation history information storage unit. Accumulate in 207.

  (Step S204) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 reads one piece of operation pattern definition information stored in the operation pattern definition information storage unit 213. Here, as an example, a case where the operation pattern definition information stored in the operation history information storage unit 207 is one will be described as an example.

  (Step S205) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 counts the number k of operation information constituting the operation pattern defined by the one operation pattern definition information read in step S204.

  (Step S <b> 206) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 acquires the latest k pieces of operation history information from the operation history information stored in the operation history information storage unit 207. The latest k pieces of operation history information is, for example, operation history information obtained when k pieces of time indicated by time information included in the operation history information are selected in order from the newest.

  (Step S207) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 acquires k pieces of operation information included in the k pieces of operation history information acquired in Step S206. Here, for example, the acquired time order or the acquired time is acquired in order.

  (Step S208) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 substitutes 1 for a counter n.

  (Step S209) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines that the operation order of the operation order indicated by the operation history information read in Step S204 is n-th operation and the operation information acquired in Step S207 is n. The second operation information is compared to determine whether or not they match. The n-th order of operation may be the nth counting from the oldest operation or the nth counting from the newest operation. If they match, the process proceeds to step S210. If they do not match, the process returns to step S104.

  (Step S210) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines whether or not the value of the counter n is k. If not k, the process proceeds to step S211, and if k, the process returns to step S212.

  (Step S211) The appearance pattern determination unit 208 changes the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit 212 to operation availability information indicating that an operation on a solid object is restricted. For example, the operation availability information indicating that the operation on the three-dimensional object is restricted is accumulated so as to overwrite the already stored operation availability information. Then, the process returns to step S102.

  Note that the processing is ended by powering off or interruption for aborting the processing in the flowchart in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus 2 in the present embodiment will be described. Note that the processing until the three-dimensional object is displayed on the screen is the same as the specific example of the above-described embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted here.

  For example, as in the specific example of the first embodiment described above, with respect to the image of the three-dimensional object displayed as shown in FIG. 8, using the mouse or the like, the three-dimensional object 801 designated in advance is rotated about the Z axis. Suppose that the user performs an operation for rotating 90 degrees clockwise. For example, assume that the mouse is dragged leftward on the image of the solid object 801.

  The operation accepting unit 204 accepts an operation by the user, and outputs a command for rotating 90 degrees clockwise prepared in advance to the execution unit 205 in accordance with the operation. Here, it is assumed that the command to rotate 90 degrees clockwise around the Z axis is “rotate-R-90”.

  The operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires the command “rotate-R-90” output from the operation reception unit 204 as operation information, and further adds the current time information “12” acquired from the internal clock or the like to this operation information. : 30:24 ”is assigned, and the operation history information is configured and stored in the operation history information storage unit 207.

  FIG. 16 is an operation history information management table for managing operation history information for the three-dimensional object 801, that is, the three-dimensional object OBJ1, stored in the operation history information storage unit 207. Here, it is assumed that the operation history information is managed for each solid object. The operation history information management table has items of “operation information” and “time”. “Operation information” is operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206, and “Time” is information of time acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206. Each record in the operation history information management table is operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206. Note that an aggregate of a plurality of records stored in the operation history information management table may be considered as operation history information.

  And the execution part 205 outputs the image which rotated the solid object according to the command which the operation reception part 204 outputs.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an output example of the rotated three-dimensional object 801. The processing for outputting an image obtained by rotating a three-dimensional object is the same as that in the above specific example, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  Similarly, when the user performs a plurality of operations such as clockwise, counterclockwise, forward rotation, and backward rotation on the solid object 801, the operation history information is stored in the operation history information storage unit 207 each time. An image of the accumulated and rotated solid object 801 is output.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an operation history information management table for the three-dimensional object 801 after a plurality of operations have been performed. “Rotate-L-90” is operation information (command) when a counterclockwise operation is accepted, and “rotate-F-90” is operation information when a forward operation is accepted, “rotate- It is assumed that “B-90” is operation information when a backward operation is accepted.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing operation pattern definition information stored in the operation pattern definition information storage unit 213. The operation pattern definition information has items of “operation information” and “order of appearance”. “Operation information” corresponds to the operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206. The “appearance order” is information indicating the order in which the operation information appears in the operation pattern. Here, the larger the numerical value of the corresponding “appearance order”, the earlier the order of appearance, that is, old operation information. It shows that there is.

  Here, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 stores the operation pattern information stored in the operation pattern definition information storage unit 213 as shown in FIG. 19 every time the operation history information is newly accumulated and the three-dimensional object rotates. get. Then, the number of pieces of operation information included in the operation pattern definition information is counted to obtain the number of pieces of operation information k. Here, k = 3 is acquired. Note that, here, every time operation history information is newly accumulated, the operation pattern definition information is read and the operation information number k is acquired. It is acquired only once when it is read out or when an operation is first performed on a solid object, and is stored in a storage medium such as a memory, and the appearance pattern determination unit 208 acquires the acquired operation. The history information and the number k of operation information may be used as appropriate.

  Next, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 detects the latest k = 3 pieces of operation history information from the operation history information storage unit 207 each time operation history information is newly accumulated and the three-dimensional object rotates. For example, if the current operation history information management table is as shown in FIG. 18, the time value indicated by “time” is new among all the records in the operation history information management table shown in FIG. Three records are detected in order. Here, for example, if the records of the operation history information management table are sorted in ascending order by the value of “time”, three records from the bottom are detected. Then, the operation information is acquired from the detected three records, that is, the three operation history information in order from the oldest value of “time”.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the three pieces of operation information acquired by the appearance pattern determination unit 208. Here, it is assumed that the upper record is the operation information with the older corresponding time, that is, the operation information with the older appearance order.

  Next, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 compares the operation information included in the operation pattern definition information and the latest three pieces of operation information acquired from the operation history information with the same appearance order, and compares the operation information. It is determined whether or not the pattern, that is, the combination of the operation information and the appearance order matches. Here, as an example, it is assumed that perfect match is determined. Here, as an example, first, the operation information with the oldest appearance order among the operation information included in the operation pattern definition information is compared with the operation information with the oldest appearance order acquired from the operation history information. The operation information with the oldest appearance order among the operation information included in the definition information is “rotate-F-90”, and the operation information with the oldest appearance order acquired from the operation history information is “rotate-L-90”. Because there is, it does not match. For this reason, it is determined that the appearance patterns of the operation information included in the operation pattern definition information and the latest three pieces of operation information acquired from the operation history information do not completely match. For this reason, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 does not perform processing for performing operation restriction.

  Here, next, in response to the user's operation for instructing a left turn to the three-dimensional object 801, the “operation information” is “rotate-L-90” and the “time” is “ It is assumed that the operation history information “12:33:58” is added.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an operation history information management table to which records are added.

  Also in this case, the latest three pieces of operation information included in the operation history information are acquired by the appearance pattern determination unit 208 as described above.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the three pieces of operation information acquired by the appearance pattern determination unit 208.

  In the same manner as described above, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 compares the operation information acquired from the operation history information with the operation information included in the operation pattern definition information illustrated in FIG. 19 in the order of appearance. That is, the appearance patterns are compared with each other.

  Here, since all the pieces of operation information having the same appearance order are completely matched, the appearance pattern determination unit 208 determines the appearance pattern of the latest three pieces of operation information included in the operation history information and the operation defined by the operation pattern definition information. It is determined that the appearance pattern of the information matches. Then, the operation availability information for the solid object stored in the operation availability information storage unit 212 is changed to “1” as shown in FIG.

  The process for performing the restriction on the subsequent operation, the process for releasing the restriction, and the like are the same as in the specific example of the above-described embodiment and the description thereof is omitted here.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, operations on a three-dimensional object can be limited by a combination of a plurality of operations on the three-dimensional object. Thereby, for example, it is possible to prevent a third party or the like from rotating the solid object without permission and seeing the arrangement information arranged on the solid object without permission. Therefore, the operation can be limited only by performing a series of operations on the three-dimensional object, and security can be easily maintained for information output using the three-dimensional object.

  In addition, since the operation restriction on the solid object can be executed by a combination of two or more operations normally performed on the solid object, a specific operation for performing the operation restriction, for example, a menu or a button for performing the operation restriction is provided. It is unnecessary. Then, the operation pattern definition information can be freely set by the user, so that the combination of operation restriction operations can be freely determined. Furthermore, by making the combination of the operations itself secret, it is possible to deal with the three-dimensional object without performing password input or the like. Operation restriction can be performed only by operation.

  In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not to restrict the operation of two or more rotation operations on a three-dimensional object based on the appearance pattern. However, in the present invention, an operation other than the rotation operation, for example, movement is performed. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the operation is restricted by a combination of two or more operations on the three-dimensional object including the size change. However, to restrict the operation by a combination of rotational operations, for example, “right two rotations, three left rotations” and the like, the operation can be performed by other users in the same way as the operation of a dial key of a safe or the like. It is easy to understand and preferable for communicating and remembering. In addition, the rotation operation does not require designation of the direction, distance, position, or the like, for example, compared to the operation of moving the position or the like of a three-dimensional object, and the operation is clear and easy to understand. It is preferable as an operation for restricting the operation.

  In the above embodiment, it is determined whether the appearance pattern of the operation information included in the latest two or more operation history information matches the appearance pattern of the operation information indicated by the operation pattern definition information. . However, in the present invention, every time the operation information acquisition unit 206 acquires the operation information, the acquired operation information and the operation information indicated by the appearance pattern of the operation information designated in advance are displayed in the order of appearance. If all of the operation information indicated by the appearance pattern of the operation information specified in advance matches the series of operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 206, it is determined that the appearance pattern matches. You may do it. If they do not match in the middle, the comparison may be performed again from the comparison with the oldest appearance pattern of the operation information designated in advance. Alternatively, when the same operation information as the oldest operation information indicated by the operation information appearance pattern specified in advance appears in the middle of the comparison, the comparison of the appearance patterns of the operation information may be started in parallel. That is, the appearance patterns may be compared using the acquired operation information as it is without using the operation history information.

  In each of the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or by distributed processing by a plurality of devices. May be.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (such as an information transmission unit) existing in one apparatus may be physically realized by one medium.

  In the above embodiment, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, and received by each component. In addition, information such as threshold values, mathematical formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in processing is retained temporarily or over a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown) even when not explicitly stated in the above description. It may be. Further, the storage of information in the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Further, reading of information from the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

  Further, although cases have been described with the above embodiments where the information processing apparatus is a stand-alone, the information processing apparatus may be a stand-alone apparatus or a server apparatus in a server / client system. In the latter case, the output unit or the reception unit receives an input or outputs a screen via a communication line.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

  The software that realizes the information processing apparatus in each of the above embodiments is a program as described below. That is, this program causes the computer to perform an operation including an operation for one or more three-dimensional objects whose shapes are specified by shape information that is information for specifying the shapes of one or more three-dimensional objects stored in the shape information storage unit. An operation accepting unit that accepts, an execution unit that executes processing for one or more three-dimensional objects according to an operation accepted by the operation accepting unit, shape information of the three-dimensional object, and one or more three-dimensional objects Placement information placed on one or more faces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information, stored in a placement information storage unit that can store placement information that is one or more pieces of information placed on the above faces; Of the three-dimensional object in which the arrangement information corresponding to each of the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information is arranged. An image information constituting unit that constitutes image information, an output unit that outputs image information constituted by the image information constituting unit, and a surface of the 3D object that is stored in the lock surface designation information storing unit of the 3D object A direction determination unit that determines whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information that is the information for specifying the lock surface that is a surface for locking the operation of the device is in a predetermined direction; When the determination unit determines that the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information is oriented in the direction designated in advance, the program is made to function as an operation restriction unit that restricts an operation on the three-dimensional object.

  An operation receiving unit that receives an operation including an operation on one or more three-dimensional objects whose shapes are specified by shape information that is information specifying the shape of one or more three-dimensional objects stored in the shape information storage unit. And an execution unit that executes processing for each of the one or more three-dimensional objects according to an operation received by the operation receiving unit, an operation information acquisition unit that acquires operation information that is information indicating the operation received by the operation receiving unit, The appearance pattern determination unit that determines whether the appearance patterns of the latest two or more pieces of operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit match the appearance patterns of the operation information specified in advance, and the appearance pattern determination unit, When it is determined that the appearance patterns match, an operation restriction unit that restricts operations on the solid object, shape information of the solid object, One of the three-dimensional objects indicated by the shape information stored in the arrangement information storage unit in which arrangement information, which is one or more pieces of information arranged on one or more planes constituting each of the one or more three-dimensional objects, can be stored. An image information configuration unit that configures image information of a three-dimensional object in which placement information corresponding to each of the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information is read out. A program for causing an image information configuration unit to function as an output unit that outputs image information.

  In each of the above programs, the function realized by the program does not include a function that can be realized only by hardware. For example, a function that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or an output unit that outputs information is not included in the function realized by the program.

  Further, the computer that executes each program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  23, a computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905 and an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. 24, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. The computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN.

  A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus and the like according to the above embodiment is stored in the CD-ROM 921 or the FD 922, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905 or the FD drive 906, and stored in the hard disk 914. May be forwarded. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921, the FD 922, or the network.

  The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus according to the above-described embodiment. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is suitable as an information processing apparatus for displaying information, and is particularly useful as an apparatus for displaying information using a three-dimensional object. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Information processing apparatus 101, 201 Shape information storage part 102, 202 Object arrangement information storage part 103, 203 Information information storage part 104, 204 Operation reception part 105, 205 Execution part 106 Lock surface designation information storage part 107 Direction determination Unit 108, 209 Operation restriction unit 109, 210 Image information configuration unit 110, 211 Output unit 111 Lock surface designation information reception unit 112 Lock surface designation information storage unit 113, 212 Operation availability information storage unit 206 Operation information acquisition unit 207 Operation history information Storage unit 208 Appearance pattern determination unit 213 Operation pattern definition information storage unit 504 Monitor

Claims (9)

A shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information for designating the shape of one or more three-dimensional objects;
An arrangement information storage unit capable of storing arrangement information which is one or more pieces of information arranged on one or more surfaces constituting each of the one or more solid objects;
An operation receiving unit that receives an operation including an operation on one or more of the three-dimensional objects;
An execution unit that executes processing for each of the one or more three-dimensional objects in accordance with an operation received by the operation reception unit;
Of the surfaces constituting the solid object indicated by the shape information, a lock surface designation information storage unit capable of storing lock surface designation information that is information for designating a lock surface that is a surface for locking the operation;
The shape information of the three-dimensional object and the information for placement arranged on one or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information are read out, and the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information correspond to each An image information configuration unit that configures image information of a three-dimensional object in which the arrangement information is arranged;
An output unit that outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit;
A direction determination unit that determines whether or not a lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information of the three-dimensional object is directed in a predetermined direction;
An information processing apparatus comprising: an operation restricting unit that restricts an operation on a three-dimensional object when the direction determining unit determines that the lock surface specified by the lock surface specifying information faces a direction specified in advance. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation restriction unit releases the restriction on the operation when receiving an operation for releasing the restriction on the operation on the three-dimensional object. An operation availability information storage unit capable of storing operation availability information, which is information indicating whether or not to restrict operations on the solid object indicated by the shape information;
The direction determination unit, when determining that the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information of the three-dimensional object is facing a direction specified in advance, operation enable / disable information indicating that the operation is restricted, Accumulate in the operation availability information storage,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation restriction unit restricts an operation on the three-dimensional object when operation availability information for restricting an operation is stored in the operation availability information storage unit. The operation received by the operation receiving unit includes an operation for changing the operation enable / disable information stored in the operation enable / disable information storage unit to operation enable / disable information that does not limit the operation.
The operation restriction unit changes the operation availability information stored in the operation availability information storage unit to operation availability information that does not limit an operation when the operation accepting unit accepts the operation to be changed. The information processing apparatus described. The direction determination unit determines whether or not the lock surface specified by the lock surface specification information is a front surface,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation restriction unit restricts an operation on the solid object when the direction determination unit determines that the lock surface is a front surface. A lock surface designation information receiving unit for receiving lock surface designation information for one solid object stored in the shape information storage unit;
For each of the one or more solid objects stored in the shape information storage unit, lock surface designation information for designating the same surface as the surface designated by the lock surface designation information received by the lock surface designation information receiving unit is acquired. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a lock surface designation information storage unit that associates the acquired lock surface designation information with each solid object and stores the lock surface designation information in the lock surface designation information storage unit. . An object arrangement information storage unit that can store object arrangement information that is information for designating the arrangement of the one or more three-dimensional objects;
The image information configuration unit reads out the shape information of the three-dimensional object, the arrangement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the three-dimensional object indicated by the shape information, and the object arrangement information corresponding to the three-dimensional object, for one or more surfaces showing the read shape information, it claims a three-dimensional object arranged the placement information corresponding to each of claims 1 to constitute the image information arranged as indicated by the object arrangement information 6 Any one of the information processing apparatuses. A shape information storage unit capable of storing shape information, which is information specifying the shape of one or more solid objects, and one or more pieces of information arranged on one or more surfaces constituting each of the one or more solid objects. A lock surface that is a surface for locking the operation among the surfaces that constitute the solid object indicated by the shape information, the placement information storage unit that can store the placement information, the operation receiving unit, the execution unit, and the shape information An information processing method performed using a lock surface designation information storage unit that can store lock surface designation information that is information for designating an image, an image information configuration unit, an output unit, a direction determination unit, and an operation restriction unit There,
An operation receiving step in which the operation receiving unit receives an operation including an operation on one or more of the three-dimensional objects;
An execution step in which the execution unit executes a process for each of the one or more solid objects according to the operation received in the operation reception step;
The image information configuration unit reads out the shape information of the solid object and the placement information arranged on one or more surfaces of the solid object indicated by the shape information, and the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information On the other hand, an image information configuration step for configuring image information of a three-dimensional object in which the corresponding arrangement information is arranged;
An output step in which the output unit outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration step;
A direction determining step in which the direction determining unit determines whether or not a lock surface specified by the lock surface specifying information of the three-dimensional object faces a direction specified in advance;
When the operation restriction unit determines that the lock surface designated by the lock surface designation information is directed in a direction designated in advance in the direction judgment step, an operation restriction step for restricting an operation on the three-dimensional object; An information processing method comprising: Computer
An operation receiving unit that receives an operation including an operation on one or more of the three-dimensional objects whose shape is specified by shape information that is information specifying the shape of one or more three-dimensional objects stored in the shape information storage unit;
An execution unit that performs processing on each of the one or more three-dimensional objects in accordance with an operation received by the operation reception unit;
The shape information of the three-dimensional object and the arrangement information that is one or more pieces of information arranged on one or more surfaces constituting each of the one or more three-dimensional objects are stored in an arrangement information storage unit. The information for arrangement arranged on one or more surfaces of the solid object indicated by the shape information is read out, and the information for arrangement corresponding to each of the one or more surfaces indicated by the read shape information is arranged. An image information constituting unit constituting image information of the three-dimensional object;
An output unit that outputs the image information configured by the image information configuration unit;
Lock surface designation information that is information for designating a lock surface that is a surface for locking the operation of the surfaces constituting the solid object stored in the lock surface designation information storage unit of the solid object is designated. A direction determining unit that determines whether or not the lock surface to be directed is in a predetermined direction;
A program for causing the direction determining unit to function as an operation restricting unit that restricts an operation on a three-dimensional object when it is determined that the lock surface specified by the lock surface specifying information faces a direction specified in advance.

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