JPH08315172A - Virtual body display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a virtual body display device which enables a user to easily interact with a virtual body over a look at a display screen. CONSTITUTION: This device is equipped with an interface part consisting of a viewer 1 equipped with a video display screen 2, a position sensor lever 3 which detects the position of the virtual body, and a data transmitter 6 which sends detected position data and a graphic generation part consisting of a data receiver 8 which receives the sent position data, a graphic processor 9 which calculates video data on the basis of the received position data, and a video transmitter 10 which sends video data. The viewer 1 is equipped with a video receiving antenna 7 which receives the video data sent from the video transmitter 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a virtual object display device using three-dimensional real-time graphics, and more particularly to a virtual object display device capable of easily interacting with a display object in a virtual space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of virtual reality and computer graphics, a large-scale device has been used for displaying and manipulating a three-dimensional object. It is hoped that this will not be a burden on us.

The conventional technology is to use an HMD on the display unit.
(Head Mounted Display) device for interacting with a virtual object (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-289615) Device for interacting with a virtual object using a three-dimensional sensor and a data globe device (Japanese Patent Publication No.
-63089 gazette) etc. are known.

The HMD device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-289615 adopts a method of blocking the light from the outside world and presenting only the image plane of the graphics to the user's field of view. It is very effective in gaining a sense of immersion, but on the other hand, due to the nature of the head-mounted system, it becomes a physically large device and it is hard to say that it is a device with a good user interface. Is the reality.

The data glove device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-63089 is an input device for realizing an important element of reflecting the user's intention (interaction) in a virtual reality space. This is a glove-shaped device, each finger is equipped with a bending sensor that detects the bending condition of the finger, and the detected value is sent to a computer that generates graphics, and a magnetic sensor that detects position information etc. We are creating computer graphics that can interact in real time with a sensor that uses.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above prior art,
It is composed of an excessively large system, the user has to wear many devices, and the feeling of use varies depending on the individual physical differences, and there are many cases where there is a problem as a human interface.

[0007] The HMD device has a great advantage in that it can provide an immersive feeling as described above, but on the other hand, since the image is forcibly presented in front of the user's eyes at a close distance, the user's discomfort, There is a concern about fatigue and the like when used for a long time, and there is a demand for an image display device that can be handled with ease and which does not cause discomfort to the user.

Further, the data glove device as an interface device with the object displayed in the virtual space is considered to cause a great discomfort to the user because the user must wear a glove-like device. It can be a factor to hesitate to use. Moreover, even if you want to use the system while carrying it,
Since there are many cases that are physically unreasonable, an image display device and an operation device that can more easily interact with a virtual object and are relatively easy to use while moving are desired.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. By adding a mechanism for operating a virtual display object to a small-sized image display device,
An object of the present invention is to provide a virtual object display device capable of easily interacting with a virtual object while looking at a display screen.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a portable video display device having a video display screen and a three-dimensional detection of the position of a virtual object mounted on the video display device are provided. An interface unit including a three-dimensional position sensor receiver and a data transmitter that wirelessly transmits the position data of the virtual object detected by the three-dimensional position sensor receiver, and the position data wirelessly transmitted by the data transmitter A data receiver, a graphics processor for calculating video data based on position data received by the data receiver, and a video transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the video data calculated by the graphic processor A virtual object display device including a generation unit, wherein the video display device is wirelessly transmitted from the video transmitter. A virtual object display device characterized in that it includes a video receiver for receiving video data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the interface section includes a three-dimensional position sensor transmitter which is mounted on the user and detects the position of the user three-dimensionally. The virtual object display device is characterized in that the position data of the user detected by the position sensor transmitter is wirelessly transmitted to the data receiver via the data transmitter.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the video display device is equipped with an ON / OFF binary value switch, and when the switch is turned on, the virtual space is dragged based on the position data. When the switch is turned off and the switch is turned off, the viewpoint is moved in the virtual space based on the position data.

[0013]

According to the virtual object display device of the present invention, since the data is transmitted and received wirelessly, the user only needs to mount the interface section independent of the graphics generation section, and the physical restrictions such as cables. It can be operated anywhere within the reach of radio waves.

According to the virtual object display device of the second aspect, since the coordinates of the virtual space are based on the position of the user, the same virtual space always exists around the user regardless of the place of movement. .

According to the virtual object display device of the third aspect, while the switch mounted on the video display device is being pressed (O
N) The mode becomes a mode in which the coordinates of the virtual space are dragged, and the entire virtual space can be rotated and moved.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a virtual object display device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the virtual object display device according to the present invention comprises an interface unit and a graphic generation unit, and the interface unit has a video display screen 2 for displaying a liquid crystal image on a portable video display. A device 1 (liquid crystal handy viewer, hereinafter simply referred to as viewer), a three-dimensional position sensor receiver 3 mounted on the viewer 1 and three-dimensionally detecting the position of a virtual object, and attached to a user and used. 3D position sensor transmitter 5 for detecting the position of a person in 3D and both 3D position sensors 3
And a data transmitter 6 for wirelessly transmitting the position data of the virtual object detected by the user and the position data of the user, and an ON / OFF two-value switch 4 mounted on the viewer 1.

On the other hand, the graphic generation unit includes a data receiver 8 for receiving the position data wirelessly transmitted by the data transmitter 6 of the interface unit, and the data receiver 8
The graphic processor 9 calculates video data based on the position data received by and the video transmitter 10 wirelessly transmits the video data calculated by the graphic processor. Further, the viewer 1 of the interface unit includes a video reception antenna 7 that receives the video data wirelessly transmitted from the video transmitter 10 of the graphic generation unit. Thereby, the received video data is displayed on the video display screen 2 as an image.

When the switch 4 is turned on, the virtual object display device is in the viewing mode, and the virtual space is dragged based on the position data.
When is turned off, the virtual object display device is in the drag mode, and the viewpoint is moved in the virtual space based on the position data. These switch data are wirelessly transmitted to the data receiver 8 of the graphic generation unit via the data transmitter 6 of the interface unit.

Based on the three-dimensional position data received by the data receiver 8 and the ON / OFF data of the switch 4, a real-time computer graphics (CG) image from the user's intended viewpoint in the virtual space is displayed by the graphic processor 9. The calculated video data is wirelessly transmitted to the interface unit via the video transmitter 10. Although the graphic processor 9 is an existing graphic workstation as an example, the real time C
It also includes a device provided with a circuit specialized for G drawing.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a usage state of the virtual object display device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the user wears the three-dimensional position sensor transmitter 5 and the data transmitter 6 on the upper half of the body, and holds and operates the viewer 1 by hand. As a result, an interactive CG image can be viewed on the image display screen 2 and desired information can be obtained.

The operation method is as follows: the viewer 1 is moved and rotated three-dimensionally, and the switch 4 is pressed with a finger (ON),
Alternatively, by releasing (OFF), the operation mode is switched, whereby it becomes possible to peep at an object in the virtual space from any viewpoint. The operation mode has two processing patterns, namely, (1) a viewing mode in which the three-dimensional position / tilt of the viewer 1 in the real space corresponds to the viewpoint in the virtual space by CG, and (2) the virtual space or the virtual space There is a drag mode in which an object inside is grabbed and moved / rotated. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating state in the viewing mode and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating state in the drag mode.

The graphic processor 9 of the graphic generation unit carries out the processing shown in FIG. That is, the state in which the user has released the switch 4 (OFF)
Then, it is determined that the switch click is the viewing mode, the viewpoint position / tilt in the virtual space is determined based on the position data from the position sensors 3 and 5, and the drawing is performed without changing the coordinates of the virtual space and the virtual object. To do. At this time, the coordinates of the virtual space / virtual object maintain a fixed position in the virtual space corresponding to the position of the three-dimensional position sensor transmitter 5 in the real space, and the virtual space The coordinates of the virtual object do not change. A pre-programmed location on the graphics processor, eg
The position translated in the front Y direction of the user in FIG. 3 is the reference coordinate in the virtual space of the displayed object.

On the other hand, since the viewer 1 held by the user's hand corresponds to the viewpoint position in the virtual space, the images displayed by moving the hand are from different angles, and the virtual space viewer is displayed. Function as. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the CG displayed by moving left, right, front and back in the real space moves within the display screen 2.
It is possible to reduce and enlarge the image and obtain an image from a desired angle. Although only the left and right movements are shown in the figure, the virtual object display device according to the present invention can actually cope with movements of 6 degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, yow, pitch, roll). By using the coordinates of the viewer 1 as the field of view coordinates and performing the viewing conversion (projection conversion) on the pre-programmed reference coordinates of the object in the virtual space, the function of the virtual space viewer can be realized.

The three-dimensional position sensor transmitter 5, which is the reference point of the sensor, is attached to the user's body by avoiding the user being restricted to a certain position in real space and using it at any place. This is so that However, since the data of the three-dimensional position sensor receiver 3 is limited to the movable range of the hand, there is a problem that many blind spots occur in the virtual space.

In order to deal with this problem, a drag mode is provided in the present invention. The state where the switch 4 provided on the viewer 1 of the interface unit is pushed down (ON)
Then, the process is changed to this drag mode (see FIG. 5). The position / inclination of the virtual space / virtual object and the viewpoint is determined based on the position data from the position sensor receiver 3, and the graphic processor 9 draws to perform a three-dimensional operation similar to the drag operation of the mouse as the pointing device. The virtual object can be scrolled. At that position, the mode is changed to the viewing mode again (switch is turned off) and the viewer 1 is moved to the original position, and an image from a different angle than before is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image displayed on the image display screen 2 does not change, but the reference coordinates in the preprogrammed virtual space are coordinate-converted (based on the three-dimensional vector amount moved in the real space). By moving, rotating, and enlarging / reducing, it is possible to obtain images from different viewpoints in the next viewing mode. It should be noted that, although the drawing is an explanatory view in the case of moving in one direction, in actuality, it is possible to cope with movements of 6 degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, yow, pitch, roll). By performing the series of operations described above, the virtual object display device according to the present invention can peep at various information in the virtual space.

In the present embodiment, the switch for switching between the drag mode and the viewing mode has been described as an example, but a plurality of switches may be provided. For example, a specific viewing mode in the virtual space may be set, and a switch for switching from that mode to the drag mode may be set.

Finally, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an application example of the virtual object display device according to the present invention. This is a variety of 3
It is an example of interactively looking around a virtual object of a three-dimensional CG model using the interaction display device of the present invention, and shows a case of looking around a model of a car and a building. Moving the viewer in the real space changes the angle of the picture displayed on the video display screen. Therefore, for example, if this viewer is used as an encyclopedia, it is possible to obtain detailed shape information that cannot be grasped with a simple two-dimensional image or a text at any place at any time.

[0029]

According to the virtual object display device of claim 1,
A handy type video display device is used as a computer graphics display device, and a three-dimensional position sensor receiver for further interactivity is mounted on the video display device, so that display and operation of virtual objects can be performed easily with one hand. It can be carried out. That is, it is possible to operate the virtual object placed in the virtual space while viewing it through the video display device. Since data is transmitted and received wirelessly, the user only has to attach the interface section independent of the graphics generation section, and it is possible to move and operate in the virtual space without physical restrictions such as cables, and it is also portable. Because it is there, you can easily collect information wherever you are.

According to the virtual object display device of the second aspect, the image display device in the virtual space has the three-dimensional position sensor transmitter for detecting the three-dimensional position using the position data whose source is the position of the user. When rotated up and down and left and right, this image display device plays the role of a viewfinder in the virtual space, and it is possible to look around objects in the space from various angles.

According to the virtual object display device of claim 3, 3
Dimensional position sensor and ON / OFF binary switch are used in combination, and when the switch is pressed (ON), the virtual space is dragged based on the 3D position data, and when the switch is not pressed (OFF), it is 3D. By allowing the viewpoint to move in the virtual space based on the position data, the user can see all the objects in the virtual space on the spot. Therefore, it is possible to provide a sense of viewing and manipulating an unknown object with a hand, which cannot be obtained with a two-dimensional image, and the user can acquire more reliable knowledge of a desired object.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a virtual object display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a usage state of the virtual object display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the virtual object display device according to the present invention is operated in a viewing mode.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the virtual object display device according to the present invention is operated in a drag mode.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing procedure of the virtual object display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an application example of a virtual object display device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 LCD Handy Viewer 2 Video Display Screen 3 3D Position Sensor Receiver 4 Switch 5 3D Position Sensor Transmitter 6 Data Transmitter 7 Video Reception Antenna 8 Data Receiver 9 Graphic Processor 10 Video Transmitter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A portable video display device having a video display screen, and a three-dimensional position sensor receiver mounted on the video display device and three-dimensionally detecting the position of a virtual object.
An interface unit including a data transmitter that wirelessly transmits position data of the virtual object detected by the three-dimensional position sensor receiver; a data receiver that receives the position data wirelessly transmitted by the data transmitter; A graphics processor including a graphic processor that calculates video data based on position data received by the data receiver and a video transmitter that wirelessly transmits the video data calculated by the graphic processor is provided. A virtual object display device, further comprising a video reception unit that receives video data wirelessly transmitted from the video transmitter. 2. The interface unit includes a three-dimensional position sensor transmitter, which is attached to the user and detects the position of the user three-dimensionally, and the user's position detected by the three-dimensional position sensor transmitter is measured. The virtual object display device according to claim 1, wherein the position data is wirelessly transmitted to the data receiver via the data transmitter. 3. The image display device is equipped with an ON / OFF binary switch, and when the switch is turned on,
The virtual object according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the switch is turned off by dragging the virtual space based on the position data, the viewpoint is moved in the virtual space based on the position data. Display device.