WO2009015500A1

WO2009015500A1 - A method and device for controlling a movement sequence within the course of a simulated game or sport event

Info

Publication number: WO2009015500A1
Application number: PCT/CH2008/000324
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Müller
Original assignee: Empire Of Sports Developments Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-07-27
Filing date: 2008-07-21
Publication date: 2009-02-05
Also published as: EP2175948A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the control of the movement course of an object (23) represented on a display device (12), which within the framework of a ball game or sport event simulated by a computation unit (11) is to move from a starting point (16) into another region of the environment indicated on the display device (12). The control is improved in that for determining the target, in a first step, a predefined target area (18) of a certain extension and shape is made available by the computation unit, and is represented on the display device, that in a second step the prepared target area is positioned by a playing person by way of an input unit (15), in the environment of the starting point (16) displayed on the display device (12), and that in a third step the object (23) is moved by the computation unit (11) on a movement path (20) from the starting point (16) to an end point lying in the target area (18), wherein the position of the end point within the target area (18) is determined according to a random principle.

Description

A METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A MOVEMENT SEQUENCE WITHIN THE COURSE OF A SIMULATED GAME OR SPORT EVENT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method as well as to a device for the control of a course of movement within the course of a simulated game or sport event.

Thereby, the present invention is chiefly concerned with the improved, optical/visual representation of moved elements or objects which, based on process parameters, are to be moved by an operating person in a quick and precise manner, from a first into a second position.

STATE OF THE ART

The most varied of computer interfaces such as computer mice, keyboard, joysticks, game console controllers etc., are known from the state of the art, which permit the user interactions with the computer, and in particular with the optical display on such computers.

Here, computers are to be understood as actual personal computers, but also as other computer-based apparatus such as notebooks, handhelds, smartphones or game consoles, which have a display device (screen) and person-operated input elements (keyboard, mouse etc.) or interfaces for such.

For example, a method and a device are known from US 7,033,269, which, within the course of a baseball computer game, permit the target direction and type of strike of a ball or other object to be simultaneously set. The target direction and the type of strike thereby are initiated by way of an input apparatus, e.g. a computer mouse, by setting the movement direction of this input apparatus and activating by means of an operating key, e.g. by clicking the left mouse button.

Two further documents are related to the previously mentioned publication, specifically US 7,022,014 and US 6,494,783, which likewise both concern the game control for a baseball game. US 7,022,014 discloses a method for game control with which, in a baseball game computer, the instructions for a strike are influenced and computed by way of the display of a ball contact cursor position within a strike zone. US 6,494,783 also discloses methods for the game control for a baseball game computer, wherein here, the position of a virtual ball relative to a virtual bat may be changed by way of a suitable mouse movement, so that striking the ball is influenced thereby.

A method and an interface are known from US 6,196,917, which, within the course of a computer game, permit several objects (players) to be moved in the direction of a target position. A pointing apparatus thereby indicates on the display the coordinate positions, which determine the movement direction of the objects. That solution is concerned with the movement of a plurality of objects moved independently of one another. After setting of the respective coordinate position, the object concerned moves without further influence of the operating person, to the set coordinate position.

These interfaces and methods for interface control known from the state of the art thus have two different movement principles. Either the objects which may be activated on the graphic interface may be moved in a release-defined manner by the operating person, i.e. the object provided with certain characteristics (e.g. the ball characterised by certain movement attributes) is released at a certain starting point, and the object's movement or target position is computed thereupon, or a precise target point is set in a fixed manner (target defined) for the object, to which target the object moves without further influence on the part of the operating person. It is possible in both cases for hindrance variables (e.g. obstacles or virtual players etc.) to yet influence the object movement after the movement initiation by the player. The operating person himself no longer has any influence on the movement in this phase.

The second case with a fixed setting of a target point of the movement, and this may be a set coordinate or a certain target object, may only be used for very simple simulations or virtual environment (surroundings), since no flexible parameterisation of the object movement is possible. The characteristics of the objects play no part or only a small part in the movement, since the movement is fixed on setting a fixed target point. Such controls may be indicated as "non-parameterised movement" -controls or NPM-controls, and are not considered further within the scope of the invention, since such NPM-controls permit no near-reality simulations or representations of virtual environments, and may only be utilised for trivial systems.

Within the scope of this description, the first group of cases, with which object parameters are fixed at a starting point and from which the object movement is then computed in a computer-aided manner, is indicated as "initial-parameterised release movemenf'-control or IPRM-control for short. IPRM-controls are known with computer games as well as in the field of robotics, and today are typically applied in complex virtual environments. Rules in programmed manner determine the course of movement after the release of the object with IPRM-controls. IPRM-controls have the disadvantage, that with an increasing complexity of the movement parameterisation, on the one hand the operating person is overwhelmed with the cognitive perception and input of the multitude of parameters, i.e. either consciously or subconsciously reduces them or shuts them out, and on the other hand one may only achieve unsatisfactory results for the movement target, on account of the object movement which may no longer be influenced after the object release, specifically in complex simulation environments. Ideas such as disclosed in US 6,196,917, which set a defined target position, are accordingly unsuitable or may be used only in a limited manner when the simulation environment changes after initiation of the NPM-control. Both ideas are accordingly disadvantageous and greatly restricted in complex, dynamic simulation environments or virtual environments. Specifically, the limits of cognition of the operating person for rapid sequences do not permit any near-reality, exact operation of a graphic simulation or virtual reality.

Furthermore, a shooter game under the description "shadow run" is known from the state of the art, with which one may shoot at enemy game figures with different weapons. The playing person is active as an individual player and sees the scenery from the view of a helmet camera, which swings onto the target upon aiming the weapon. One aims by way of a circle which specifies the field in which the fired shot may hit. The size of the circle depends on the skill of the player as well as the selected weapon. The circle furthermore increases briefly (dynamically), when the player carries out a rapid swinging movement before the shot, i.e. shoots whilst swinging. This changing circle is used directly for aiming and is applied where possible on the enemy game figure, directly before the shot is triggered. This does not entail a continuous game sequence as is present with a ball exchange or team-related ball game.

Another known game "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007" is designed as a golf simulation. Here, a circular target area is set before teeing off, whose size depends on the type of selected club and on the skill of the player. The target area may be placed in the whole region of the respective hole, and indicates where the struck ball may strike randomly. In this case too, no longer given is a game between several persons, with which game a dynamically changing activity takes its course within the course of a ball exchange or ball relay, and with which game the playing person himself may target, receive a ball and play a ball whilst taking into account the position of other game figures, within a .short time.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a method and a device for interface-control, which method and device make it possible for an operating person to move complexly parameterised objects on a graphic user surface with an improved accuracy, and to be able to have at the same time an improved influence on movements which change rapidly in a temporal and dynamic manner on a display device.

According to the present invention, these objects are achieved particularly through the features of the independent claims, hi addition, further advantageous embodiments follow from the dependent claims and the description.

The inventive idea is based on the premises that IPR-movements are capable of providing adequate results in simple simulations or virtual environment, but overwhelm the operating person in more complex environments, and specifically do not permit the operating person to react to his intuitively anticipated situation changes. The inventive idea may be described in a simplified manner by way of a "target-parameterised release movement control" or TPRM- control for short. Thereby, different from IPRM-controls, the movement control is not set by way of initial object parameters at the starting point of the object, but the operating person defines object parameters at the target point of the object. Thereby, no fixed target point within the context of a defined target coordinate is set (NPM-controls), but the operating person positions a parameterised target area. It is then essential that the target area in its dimension (extension) and shape is computed in an automated manner by means of hardware and/or software, so that the operating person is not exposed to a cognitive overload for implementing/converting the target parameters.

Thus for determining the target, in a first step, a defined target area of a certain extension (dimension) and shape is prepared by the computation unit (computerized processing unit), and represented on a display device. In a second step, the prepared target area is positioned by a playing person by means of an input unit in the environment of the starting point displayed on the display device, hi a third step, the object is moved by the computation unit on a movement path from a starting point to an end point lying in the target area, wherein the position of the end point within the target area is defined by way of the computation unit according to a random principle.

One embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterised in that the extension and/or the shape of the target area and/or the movement path is changeable and depends on one or more parameters, wherein in particular the extension and/or the shape of the positioned target area changes before the end point lying in the target area is defined.

The starting point thereby may be changed between the second and the third step by the playing person by means of an input unit, whereby the computation unit changes the extension and/or the shape of the positioned target area in accordance with the change of the starting point as a parameter. According to another embodiment of the invention, the playing person sets a quantitative quality of strike for the movement of the object from the starting point to an end point lying in the target area, by means of an input unit, before the third step, whereby the computation unit changes the extension and/or the shape of the target area and/or the movement path in accordance with the set quantitative quality of strike as a parameter. Thus, by setting the quantitative quality of strike, the playing person defines a further dimension influencing the outcome of the game actions. For example, the playing person defines the strength of strike or accuracy, which increase, for example, if the input unit is pressed for a longer period of time, thereby representing a higher level of 'concentration' in a sports context.

Particularly, the extension (size) of the target area is configured to depend on the setting of the quantitative strike quality, defined by the playing person prior to the third step. For example, if the strength of strike is set as the quantitative quality of strike, the extension of the target area is increased with a higher setting of the strength of strike; whereas, if accuracy is set as the quantitative quality of strike, the extension of the target area is reduced with a higher setting of accuracy.

One further embodiment is characterised in that the playing person sets a type of strike for the movement of the object from the starting point to an end point lying in the target area by means of an input unit, and that the extension and/or the shape of the target area and/or the movement path changes in accordance with the set type of strike as a parameter.

Furthermore, it is conceivable within the framework of the invention, within the second step, for the target area to be moved into the desired position in a first partial step, and for the position of the target area to be confirmed by the playing person and thus fixed in a second partial step.

As an input unit, one may particularly use a mouse, wherein the target area is positioned with the movement of the mouse, and subsequently the positioned target area is defined in the reached position by way of pressing a mouse button.

Another embodiment of the invention is characterised in that the starting point of the movement path is determined by a moving figure, which may be moved by the playing person in the environment displayed on the display device, by way of an input device, that the moving figure is designed as an avatar to which changing characteristics and/or attributes are assigned, and that parameters for influencing the extension and/or shape of the target area may be derived from the changing characteristics and/or attributes of the avatar. If the simulated ball game or sport event takes its course on a plane playing field, then the target area is preferably a two-dimensional surface

The target area may however also be a three-dimensional spatial region.

One preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention is characterised in that some of the parameters on which the extension and/or the shape of the target area depend, may be influenced by the input device.

In particular, provided is a parameter device which may be connected to the computation unit. Stored in the parameter device are parameters on which the extension and/or shape of the target area depend, or data for the computation of such parameters.

Preferably the parameter device is equipped with a display for representing a target area dependent on the stored parameters or data, and/or operating keys for independent operation of the naramp.ter rlevir.ft

In addition to a computer-implemented method for an improved control of a course of movement of an object displayed on a display device, and a device for carrying out this method, the present invention also relates to a computer program product including computer program code means for controlling one or more processors of a computational unit, particularly, a computer program product including a computer readable medium containing therein the computer program code means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be explained in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary device for the simulation of a game or a sport event, as is suitable for carrying out the control method according to the invention;

Fig. 2a shows a game situation represented with the example of a tennis game, for explaining the principles of the control method according to the invention

Fig. 2b, shows in an enlarged representation, one exemplary target area as occurring within the framework of the control method according to the invention, the target area having drawn therein end points of the movement path; Fig. 3a to 3d show in several partial figures different steps for controlling the course of the game within the framework of the invention for a tennis game of the type shown in Fig. 2a; and

Fig. 4a to 4b shows in two partial figures, a principle representation of a target-parameterised release movement control, for the general case of a ball played from a first figure to a second figure.

An exemplary device for the simulation of a game or sport event according to the invention is represented in Fig. 1, as is suitable for carrying out the control method according to the invention. The simulation device 10 comprises a display device 12 for representing the game situation with (game) figures 16 acting therein. With a game such as tennis, football, basketball or baseball, for example, having a team of several figures perform therein, or with games or sport events in which several opponents compete against one another, several figures (game figures) 16, 16' are represented simultaneously (concurrently) in the display device 12 (see the tennis game of Fig. 2 and 3). The display device 12 may for example be a computer terminal or TV- screen or the display of a portable computer.

The game action represented on the display device 12 is simulated with the help of a computation unit 11 (computerised processing unit), which is connected to the display device 12 (wireless or wire-connected). The computation unit 11 may for example be a PC - as indicated in Fig. 1. The computation unit 11 may also be a unit integrated into a game console or a portable electronic apparatus. For exterior control of game events by a person, one or more input units 13,.., 15 are connected to the computation unit 11. In the example of Fig. 1, one input unit is formed as a mouse 15, another input unit as a keyboard 13. The keyboard 13 preferably comprises a block with direction keys (arrow keys) which are applied in particular for the control of the movement of the figure (game figure) 16 represented in the display, as is indicated in Fig. 1 by the dotted arrow. The movement of the figure 16 may however also be effected by way of the mouse 15.

The central procedure of the control method according to the invention is to move a moving object, e.g. a ball 23, proceeding from a dynamically changing starting point, to another region of the represented environment, in a manner which may be influenced by the playing person, within the game or sport action simulated by the computation unit 11 and represented on the display device 12. On one hand, this movement is to be burdened with realistic errors and inaccuracies, and, on the other hand, this movement is to be influenced in a rapid and simple manner during execution of the game. In the course of the game of Fig. 1, for the movement path 20 (drawn in a dashed manner) of the ball 23, serving as a starting point is (game) figure 16 which, for example, is a tennis player, a thrower or a football player, who strikes (hits), throws or kicks the ball 23.

The movement path (trajectory) 20 of the ball 23, with the invention, is now not defined through the input of the necessary starting parameters (strike direction, initial speed, engagement point of the strike force with an out-of centre hit on the sphere imaged as a ball etc.) and computed in accordance with the starting parameters by way of the computation unit 11( IPRM- control). Also, an exact target point or end point of the movement path 20 is not defined or set by the controlling player (NPM-control). Rather, the player may displace a target area 18 of a defined extension and shape (circle, ellipse, ball, ellipsoid, etc.). The target area 18 is bound to the cursor 19 and may be displaced together with the mouse cursor 19, in the environment represented by the display device 12, to where the movement path 20 of the ball 23 is to end, or the ball 23 is to hit (see also Fig. 2a). The exact location and/or extension (size) of the target area 18 is subject to more input parameters, e.g. a quantitative quality of strike, set by the playing user by pressing a key or button of a computer mouse, for example.

As to where the end point (El,.., E5 in Fig,. 2b) of the movement path 20 precisely lies in the target area 18, is computed afresh for each movement path 20 of the ball 23 by the computation unit 11 with the help of a random generator and preferably in accordance with a probability distribution within the target area 18. If the end point is finally established (El in Fig. 2b), a movement path 20 is assigned to the ball 23 by the computation unit 11, beginning at the starting point (figure 16) and ending at the established end point (El in Fig. 2b) within the target area 18. The actual movement path 20 thereby preferably depends on parameters such as the type of hit or strike (with tennis e.g. serve, smash, top-spin, etc.), any occurring side wind, the game figure's position with respect to the ball, further input such as a quantitative quality of strike, or a hypothetical physical constitution of game figure 16 etc. (e.g. size, arm length, muscle force, training condition, fatigue, etc.). It is of course, to be understood that obstacles lying in the movement path 20 (in a tennis game, for example, the net 22 in Fig. 2a ) are taken into account, and change the movement path (e.g. by way of the impact of the ball at the net). Likewise, limitations of a playing field are taken into account. If the target area 18 overlaps such a limitation, and the end point selected by the computation unit 11 lies outside the limitation, then consequences are drawn as defined in the rules for the respective game.

Thus, a typical control sequence within a proceeding ball exchange in a tennis game, according to Figs. 3a to 3d, is as follows:

• Firstly, using the mouse 15, the player displaces a target area 18 of a given extension (dimension) and shape on the displayed playing field, to the location where the ball 23 or a comparable moved object is to roughly hit. The extension and the shape of the target area 18 at this point in time result from a default mode which is defined by previous ball movements and movements of figure 16, as well as by parameters which may not be directly influenced by the player (e.g. game duration, physical constitution, or experience of figure 16, etc.). In the default-mode, in a two-dimensional playing field, the target area 18 usually has the shape of a circle (Fig. 3 a).

• The displaced target area 18 is fixed in the reached position by way of clicking the mouse 15 (symbolised in Fig. 3b by the arrow directed perpendicularly on the mouse). Simultaneously, the type of hit or strike may be selected by way of the type of clicking, i.e. by selecting a particular key (e.g. left or right mouse button) and applying a specific keying pattern (e.g. left button once, right button once, left button twice, right button twice, both buttons simultaneously) selected and determined are different types of hitting or striking a ball or another movable game object, e.g. in a tennis game a flat stroke or flat serve or flat smash, topspin stroke or topspin serve or topspin smash, slice shot or slice serve or slice smash, drop shot, lob, etc. The selected type of the hit or strike then essentially enters and determines the evaluation of the later movement path 20. Alternatively, a selection display 24 (Fig. 1) may be provided alternatively on the display device 12 in the manner of a menu, from which an option for the type of strike may be selected with the help of the mouse 15. It should be pointed out that, depending on the game, the type of clicking cannot only be applied to defining the hitting or striking of a ball, but also to specify other game relevant aspects such as how to attack an opponent player in a team sport game such as soccer, football, basket ball or hockey, for example.

• A quantitative quality of strike, e.g. the intensity with which the ball 23 is played, may be increased in a type of "charging procedure" by way of pressing a key (e.g. the space bar) of the keyboard 13 or clicking on the mouse 15. The strength of strike or accuracy increases for as long as this key (or mouse) is held pressed. A bar next to the figure 16 , which increases in length, for example, serves as an intensity or accuracy display 17 (Fig. 1). If the strength or accuracy of strike increases, the extension of the target area changes (e.g. the target area 18 in Fig. 2a or 2b increases to the target area 18' with increased strength of strike). In other sports games, such as basketball, the charging procedure can lead to the opposite effect (narrower, more accurate target area with increased accuracy).

• A ball 23 is then played on the movement path 20 into the players own area (Fig. 3c) by the opponent figure 16'. In anticipation of the possible movement path or on account of the represented movement path 20, the player firstly moves the figure 16 by way of the direction keys of the keyboard 13, to where it stands close to the movement path or in the movement path, in order to be able to return the ball 23. By positioning figure 16, determined is also the starting point of the subsequent movement path 20 of the ball 23 to the desired position in the represented environment. The type and speed of the movement of the figure 16 may thereby be stored, and be used as parameters for influencing the extension and the shape of the target area 18 in the next step (e.g. a rapid, late movement of the figure 16 before the strike, increases the extension of the target area 18, since the inaccuracy of a strike out of a movement is greater in reality). The starting point of the movement path is only defined in this manner, after the target area for the possible end point of the movement path has already been placed and fixed.

• If figure 16 is in reach of the approaching ball, the strike is carried out and the computation unit 11 simulates a movement of the ball 23 on the virtual movement path 20 from the starting point to the end point, subjected to randomness, in the positioned target area 18 or 18'. It is alternatively also conceivable for the execution of the strike to be effected by way of pressing the mouse button (or the space bar), or - after the effected charging of the strength of strike - by way of releasing the pressed mouse button (arrow in Fig. 3d pointing away from the mouse 15) or the pressed space bar.

If the simulated game is a game of tennis, as is shown for example in Fig. 2 and 3, then two figures 16 and 16' playing against one another are present, which hit the ball to and fro within a limited plying field 21 over a net 22. The one figure 16 is moved and positioned by the playing person via the four (or more) direction keys (e.g. arrow keys) 14 of the keyboard 13, wherein preferably 8 different directions may be selected with the four keys (the four main directions of the individual keys and four diagonal directions by way of combination of in each case two keys offset by 90° to one another). One may also use another input unit instead of the keyboard 12. In particular, the mouse 15 itself or a joystick may be used for positioning the figure 16. The other opponent figure 16' is either controlled by another playing person, or is moved autonomously by the computation unit 11 according to programmed procedures.

The target for the ball to be played is set with the mouse curser 19 (pointer) of the mouse 15. A circle represented below the mouse cursor 19 and moved together with the mouse cursor 19 symbolises the target area 18 for the standard strike (the flat stroke). The shape of the target area 18 may be dependent on the selected position (the closer the target area 18 to an edge boundary, the greater the risk of striking the ball out). If the target area 18 is positioned in the desired manner (Fig. 3), then the positioning is confirmed (Fig. 3b) by way of clicking on the mouse 15. If the player selects a different type of strike instead of the standard strike (e.g. a topspin smash instead of a flat stroke), then the target area 18 changes in its extension and/or shape (the target area may e.g. be oval for a lob). The movement path of the ball 23 may also change (from 20 to 20' in Fig. 2a) with the selection of another type of strike, in as much as this changed movement path is permissible on account of the given constraints. A player may increase the intensity and the speed of his strike by way of the type of charging procedure. He must predict to where the ball 23 moves, in order to displace the figure played by him into the movement path 20 of the ball 23 (Fig. 3c). Simultaneously, he must begin the "charging procedure" early enough, in order to carry out a forceful or more accurate strike. The "charging procedure" is preferably carried out by way of pressing and keeping pressed the space bar (or a button of the mouse 15), whereby the target area 18 changes in dependence on the charging process (from 18 to 18' in Fig. 3d). The setting of the strength, accuracy or any other quantitative quality and characteristic of strike may however also be effected with the mouse.

Basically, the following may be said of the dependence of the target area 18 on the other parameters in the game of tennis:

• the extension of the target area 18 depends on the selected stroke type, on the position of the target area in the game field, on the "charged" strength/accuracy of strike, on the movements of the figure before the strike, and the time between the target positioning and strike,

• the target area 18 reduces in size when the player playing the figure does nothing,

• the target area 18 increases in size when the strength of strike is increased by "charging" or when the figure is rapidly moved.

A further important dependency of the target area on other parameters may be introduced by way of designing or seeing the game figures 16, 16' of the game as avatars, which have certain partially changing characteristics and attributes. Selected characteristics or attributes of the avatar may then influence the extension and shape of the target area 18 in a direct manner or via parameters derived therefrom. Thus, for example, the target accuracy may be improved by way of undergone training units or already completed games of the avatar (size reduction of the target area). The avatar may, however, also be equipped with a metabolism, which has an effect on the daily performance, the fatigue during the game or the overall constitution. Thus for example, the force of the avatar which reduces after a long duration of game may have an effect on the maximal force of strike which is available, and further on the target area.

Furthermore, also used for parameterising the target area may be equipment objects such as bats or shoes, which interact with the ball or the surface of the playing field, and may influence the targeting accuracy.

The parameterisation of the target area is of course not limited to special games such as tennis, but may also be used in particular with football, baseball, basketball or similar sports/games. With a game such as tennis, the target area is usually two-dimensional, i.e. it is a region defined in the plane of the playing field. With football, the target area may likewise be two-dimensional, but here one must already use two different planes, specifically the plane of the playing field (for ball movements between the goals) and the planes of the goal opening, limited by the goal posts and the crossbar (for shots at the goal) which are perpendicular thereto, hi other cases, (e.g. with the game of basketball) it is useful and advantageous to use a 3-dimensional target area which in the simplest case may be designed as a sphere, and in other cases as a body of revolution (e.g. ellipsoid).

Apart from the exemplary tennis game shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with which two opponents or figures 16 and 16' play against one another, other game procedures, such as for example a team game, are of course also conceivable, in which two game figures pass the ball in a conscious manner, hi Figs. 4a to 4b, the principle of the target-parameterised release movement control TPRM-control is schematically shown by way of a simulation environment with two game figures of a team and a ball played between the two game figures. ,

For an operating person (not shown), the display device 12, already known from Fig. 1, can be recognised with a graphic user interface. The display device 12 is represented in Fig. 4a at a first point in time to, in Fig. 4b at a subsequent second point in time t] .

Visible on the user interface are a first active object AO₁ and a second active object AO₂, which are represented in an abstract manner as a pentagon, and may be seen as game figures. Both active objects AOj and AO₂ may be stationary or static or also movable. In the present case, both active objects AO₁ and AO₂ are movable, and at the first point in time are also effective in movement, which is indicated by movement arrows 1, 2 and 3. The first active object AOi is moved in the direction of the arrow 1 and the second active object AO₂ is moved in the direction of the arrow 2.

Each of the two active objects AO₁ and AO₂ have characteristics which may temporally change, i.e. the object characteristics are not necessarily identical at the first and at the second point in time. For a better understanding, the two active objects AOi and AO₂ may be viewed here as avatars, for example. Each avatar has a multitude of characteristics, such as e.g. age, energy, speed, movement, etc. The term "active object" thus describes the possibility that these objects AO₁ and AO₂ are controllable by the operating person, such that they, in the context of a subject, may influence other objects in the simulation environment.

In contrast to this are so-called passive objects, such as e.g. a passive object PO₁ which is represented in Figure 4 as a circle object. For a better understanding, the passive object PO₁ is to be assumed here as a ball, which moves in the direction of the arrow 3. It may, however, be a sports apparatus, such as a spear or an arrow shot with a bow. In this specific example, the ball PO₁ could not be controlled directly by the operating person, but only by way of its avatar, for example the active object AO₂.

It may be recognised that the simple virtual environment shown in Fig. 4a and 4b is already very difficult to cognitively perceive for the operating person. If it is assumed that the operating person himself may only control the avatar AO₂, and the avatar AOj is controlled by computer or activated by another operating person, then this first operating person must survey all characteristics of the avatar AO₂, and basically also all other characteristics of the remaining objects AO₁ and POj, including their movement, hi reality however, this is comparatively simple for the characteristics of the avatar AO₂, since the human sensory system itself renders these characteristics "feelable" as a whole and in a rapid manner. In a virtual environment or a simulation environment, these characteristics may only be conveyed to the operating person via an interface, typically via an optical display with numbered details, e.g. on energy reserve, speed, "feel-well points", etc. With conventional interfaces then, as has been initially described, one assumes that the operating person perceives all parameters of his own avatar AO₂ (and the ball PO₁ as the case may be) in a quasi permanent manner, and combines these functionally in a continuous manner, in order to activate an initial-parameterised release movement. The conventional IPRM-control is thus effected in such a manner that the operating person at the moment concerned, i.e. at the point in time to, perceives all characteristic of the avatar AO₂ via display units (or has called up or memorised these previously), combines these with one another, and thereupon carries out an action via an input device, e.g. by way of a computer mouse, which influences the movement of the passive object POi, so that it is moved to a target point 7. As a reminder, it shall be repeated that although the alternative NBM-controls permit the passive object PO₁ to be controlled directly onto a target point 7, they ignore, however, the object characteristics of the avatar AO₂. In the case of the IPRM-control, the target position is thereby predefined by the initial parameters at the point in time to, and a spot-on, defined target at the point in time tj is predefined with NPM-controls.

A person skilled in the art recognises the fact that both possibilities of an IPRM- and NPM-control may only be used with very simplified models and simulation environments. It is evident that the operating person at a certain point in time only has a very limited overview of all parameters and characteristics of the various objects, particularly, when there are far more characteristics than are shown in the present Figures 4a to 4b. With conventional methods and devices, this has the consequence that the operating person bases his influence on the very few parameters he is able to perceive at all. Due to this fact, conventional simulations or virtual environments must undergo a very simple parameterisation or slow operating sequences, in order to remain operable at all. The alternative conventional possibility of fixedly setting a target point 7 leads to an extraordinarily great, unacceptable simplification of the simulation environment, since in reality, it is not possible to regularly control an object movement in a spot-on manner. Accordingly, it would be a drastic simplification which is unusable within the framework of the invention, if one wanted an avatar to position a ball at the point in time ti in a spot-on manner, because in this case one would assume the first to have an absolute target accuracy.

It is here that - as already mentioned further above - the inventive concept of a target- parameterised release movement control comes into play. In the following paragraphs, this type of control will be described departing from Figure 4a, again on the basis of the present example with a first and second avatar AO₁, AO₂ and a ball PO₁. The operating person optically perceives both avatars AOj, AO₂ and recognises their movement direction and possibly a few - but not necessarily all - further characteristics of these avatars, such as their size and speed. If it is now the intention of the operating person to play the moved ball PO₁ with his avatar AO₂ to the first avatar AO₁, at first, the operating person needs to recognise only that the first avatar AOj is going to get to an (estimated) local region 2, represented by an elliptical region indicated with a dotted line, at a temporally successive moment t_\ (cf. Fig. 4b). It is essential to recognise that this local region 2 may not be fixedly predicted by the operating person and thus may also not be exactly determined. Rather, the local region is, corresponding to real life, an intuitive zone assumed by the operating person and usually not represented on the display device 12.

Then, differently from the state of the art, the operating person does not activate his own avatar AO₂ in order to move the ball POj, and also does not move the ball PO₁ directly to a target point 7, but with an input device (e.g. a computer mouse, by way of pointing and/or pressing a key or button of the mouse), as is shown in more detail in Figure 4b, controls a parameterised target area 5 into the vicinity of this local region 2. The parameterised target area 5 is preferably defined by a circular geometry, but may also have an elliptical, square or other 2-dimensional or spatially (3 -dimensional) defined geometry in a particular embodiment. The shape and size of the parameterised target area 5 thereby depend on the technical conditions and are determined by way of modelling real conditions.

The particularity of the TPRM-control then lies in the fact that the size of the parameterised target area and its possible position are not set in a fixed manner, but are computed with the aid of a computer depending on the characteristics of the avatar AO₂ (and of the ball POi as the case may be) or, expressed generally, of the second active object AO₂ (and of the passive object PO₁ as the case may be), or their characteristics. In other words, the operating person does not need to know or even cognitively process all these characteristics, as with the state of the art, but recognises directly from the size of the parameterised target area 5 or the possibilities of its positioning, as to where the ball POi or the passive object POi may be moved. The centre 6 of the parameterised target area 5 is represented for this purpose. It is furthermore possible for a possible zone of this centre 6 to be indicated to the operating person by optical markers (not represented in Figure 4b), wherein this zone is determined by the previously mentioned characteristics. The operating person may now move the parameterised target area 5 into the local region 2 recognised by him, or place it there. This parameterised target area may be placed in a direct manner by a pointing device, or be drawn to the desired region on the display device with inertias imitating reality, depending on the simulation or the virtual environment.

In Figure 4b, represented is the status of the game action at a moment tj which is successive to that of Figure 4a. The operating person here has placed the parameterised target area 5 overlapping with the local region 2. One may easily recognise that the parameterised target area 5 neither coincides with the local region 2 nor is it centred to this, but it intersects the local region 2 in an overlapping manner. The blurring results on account of real cognitive, but also physical inaccuracies of the operating person.

It may be recognized easily that the ball PO₁ does not lie in the parameterised target area 5 in a centred manner, i.e. in its centre 6, but eccentrically within the target area 5. This behaviour is intended by the invention. Since, within the framework of the invention, simulations are to be imitated as true as possible to reality, it would be unnatural to permit the operating person an exact positioning of the ball PO₁. It is indeed on purpose that the parameterisation of the target area 5 is determined in dependence, amongst other things, on the characteristics of the avatar AO₂ controlled by the operating person. A hundred percent accuracy is however not true to reality. Here, one may think of a footballer who plays a ball with professional accuracy. His pass too, with a degree of variation, would reach a target in a largely accurate manner, but not in a spot-on manner - and depending on the application, this inaccuracy may lie in the range of meters or millimetres. In the example according to Figure 4b, a dot-dashed pentagon is assigned to the first active object or the avatar AO₁, and this represents the active region 8 of the avatar AOj. One may recognise that the ball PO₁ here still just overlaps the active region 8 of the avatar AO₁, and, therefore, may be affected or played by the avatar AO₁ in a subsequent time interval t₂. The movement directions 1, 2, 3 of the objects AO₁, AO₂, PO₁ at the point in time t_\ are likewise indicated in Figure 4b.

It is clear on account of this description of the basics, that the operating person at a certain point in time t_n needs only to perceive comparatively few simulation parameters. The parameterised target area 5 indirectly shows him the possibilities or characteristics of the active object AO₂ controlled by him. In other words, thanks to the TPRB-control, the operating person may concentrate at a point in time t_Oj on a successive condition of the game action at a point in time ti. The conversion of the object characteristics into a parameterised target area is handled by a computer. This interface control imitating an "intuitive feeling/foresight" thus represents in a new way an effective reality in a significantly more accurate manner. This in turn is comparable to a football player who "feels" that he may kick the ball into a certain goal corner, wherein he intuitively "perceives" the movements of other players or the ball, without naturally for his part, having to make computations, having to concentrate on the playing leg, or computing individual physical parameters.

It is rather a computation unit (cf. Fig. 1) which continuously computes the target parameters and the parameterised target area 5 depending on the parameters influencing the target area. In particular cases, the target area may additionally be dependent on environmental parameters such as wind speed, temperature etc.

The previously mentioned eccentric positioning of the passive object PO₁ (a ball in the example) within the parameterised target area 5, is defined by the operating person after the confirmation of the parameterised target area. The exact position may be determined by the computation unit after this confirmation, or, in order not to cause any latent times, already previously relative to the parameterised target area. Thereby, the definitive position of the object PO₁ in the parameterised target area is determined whilst applying a random function.

The interface control according to the invention thus simulates reality, and permits an operating person much more accurate object movements, however, without an unnatural exactness (in the context of a spot-on coordinate) entering into the method. With the method, the operating person is permitted to carry out true-to-life object movements on a display device, with a reduction of the cognitive effort, which leads to a greater recognition speed and a more accurate and closer-to-reality movement control on the display device. As a whole, a significantly better and quicker perception of a simulation or virtual environment is effected.

According to Fig. 1, the device for carrying out the method according to the invention comprises a computation unit 11 which may be formed by a local computer, such as a personal computer, a game console etc., but also by way of a computer or server which may be connected via a network (not shown). A keyboard 13, a pointer device 15 (trackball, mouse or suitable pointing devices) a display device 12, e.g. a screen and/or as the case may be, a helmet display or a suitable display unit (console screen) are provided with the computation unit 15. Furthermore, preferably a special joystick for the activation of the parameterised target area 5 may be provided on the display device 12 or the helmet display. According to the invention, a special parameter device 25 with or without an optical display are provided for particular embodiment forms. This parameter device 25, depending on the application, serves for different purposes. In the simplest case, the parameter device 25 consists of a memory unit which may be connected via a standard interface, such as USB, bluetooth, firewire or suitable interfaces. The parameter device 25 permits the storage of characteristics of certain objects or system environments. For example, the characteristics of one or more active objects AO_n, e.g. the characteristics of a certain avatar, may be stored in the parameter device. Preferably, the parameter device 25 has an encoding, e.g. a biometric security system, so that the concerned data are not easily accessible to third parties. A certain operating person may thus take this parameter unit separate from the computation unit 11, and may apply the parameter unit 25 e.g. at a different computer. A write/read memory contained in the parameter unit 25 furthermore permits the feeding of data, or lets the data be fed to third apparatus. In the case of computer games, it is possible for example to purchase or obtain free of cost certain characteristic in dedicated shops. These new or supplementary characteristics may then be applied on connecting the parameter unit 15 to the computer. It is furthermore possible for the parameter unit 25 to contain data about the simulation environment or virtual environment. On application, the necessary functions of the parameter unit 25 may be operated separate from the computation unit 11 by way of special operating keys.

The parameter device 2 may also have a display 27. Characteristics and parameters in the framework of a text display may be represented on this display. In a preferred embodiment, the parameter device 25 permits the optical-graphic display of a parameterised target area. A continuous and extremely rapid recognition of the target parameters may be recognised by the display of the size, here in the form of a circle 28. The "inexactness" of the target environment may be perceived by way of the size of the circle. By way of this optical representation, the operating person at a glance may recognise on the display device 12 the central target parameters for the parameterised target area 5, before fixing this, without having to evaluate any text information.

The person skilled in the art recognises that the display 27 of the parameter device 25 may also be issued directly on the display device 12 in simpler embodiments. The functionality of this display region corresponds to the display 27, but as a rule does not allow data to be simply adopted by other computers via hardware interfaces. It is of course possible for respective data to be played in via network connections, but such a transmission is not desired, depending on the application, e.g. for security reasons. A corresponding display region may be provided in a corresponding manner also with a helmet display.

It is to be noted that the display 27 or the display regions on the display device 12 or in the helmet display is to be distinguished clearly from the parameterised target area 5. The former serve for the optical pre-display and control by the operating person, before the target area is positioned by him. The positioning and possible change/control of individual target parameters may be carried out by the operating person via input units 13, 14, 15 or, as the case may be, via operating keys 26 of the parameter unit 25.

In particular with the application of a helmet display or with several display devices 12, it is possible to separate the environment display or the display of the virtual reality from the pre- display of the target parameters or, with the application of a display device 12 and a helmet display, to optically superimpose these. The same is also possible for the parameterised target area 5.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1, 2, 3 arrow

4 local region

5 target area

6 centre (target area)

7 target point

8 active region

10 simulation device

11 computation unit

12 display device

13 keyboard

14 direction key

15 mouse

16, 16' figure

17 intensity display

18, 18' target area

19 mouse pointer (cursor)

20, 20' movement path (trajectory)

21 playing field

22 net

23 ball

24 selection display (e.g. type of strike)

25 parameter device

26 operating key

27 display

28 circle

AO₁, AO₂ active object (e.g. avatar)

El, ..E5 end point

PO₁ passive object (e.g. ball) point in time

Claims

1. A method for an improved control of a course of movement of an object (23) displayed on a display device (12), whereby, in the course of a ball game or sport event, being simulated by a computation unit (11) and in particular comprising a plurality of game figures playing with or against one another, the object (23) is to move from a starting point (16) to another region of an environment displayed on the display device (12), characterised in that for determining an arrival point, a predefined target area (5, 18, 18') of a certain extension and shape is provided by the computation unit (11) and displayed on the display device (12) in a first step, that in a second step, the provided target area (5, 18, 18') is positioned by a playing person by way of an input unit (15), in the environment of a starting point (16) displayed on the display device (12), and that in a third step, the object (23) is moved by the computation unit (11) on a movement path (20, 20') from the starting point (16) to an end-point (E1,..,E5) lying in the target area (5, 18, 18'), the position of the end point (E1,..,E5) within the target area (5, 18, 18') being defined by the computation unit (11) according to a random principle.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterised in that the extension and/or the shape of the target area (5, 18, 18') and/or the movement path (20, 20') is changeable, and depends on one or more parameters.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterised in that the extension and/or the shape of the positioned target area (5, 18', 18') changes before the end point (El, .., E5) lying in the target area (18, 18') is defined.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterised in that the starting point (16) is changed between the second and the third step by the playing person by way of an input unit (13, 14, 15), and that the computation unit (11) changes the extension and/or the shape of the positioned target area (5, 18, 18') in accordance with the change of the starting point (16) as a parameter.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterised in that the playing person sets a quantitative quality of strike (17) for the movement of the object (23) from the starting point (16) to an end point (E1,..,E5) lying in the target area (5, 18. 18'), before the third step, by way of an input unit (15), and that the computation unit changes at least one of extension of the target area (5, 18, 18'), shape of the target area (5, 18, 18') and movement path (20, 20'), in accordance with the set quantitative quality of strike (17) as a parameter.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterised in that the extension of the target area (5, 18, 18) changes with the set quantitative quality of strike, a quantitative quality of strike representative of a strength of strike resulting in an increase of the extension of the target area (5, 18, 18) with an increased level of the quantitative quality, and a quantitative quality of strike representative of accuracy of strike resulting in a decrease of the extension of the target area (5, 18, 18) with an increased level of the quantitative quality.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterised in that the playing person by way of an input unit (5) sets a type of strike (24) for the movement of the object (23) from the starting point (16) to an end point (E1,..,E5) lying in the target area (5, 18, 18'), and that the extension and/or the shape of the target area (5, 18, 18') and/or the movement path (20, 20') changes in accordance with the set type of strike (24) as a parameter.

8. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterised in that within the second step, in a first partial step, the target area (5, 18, 18') is moved into the desired position, and that in a second partial step, the position of the target area (5, 18, 18') is confirmed by the playing person and thus fixed.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterised in that a mouse (15) is used as an input unit, that the target area (5, 18, 18') is positioned with the movement of the mouse (15), and that subsequently the positioned target area (5, 18, 18') is fixed in the reached position by way of pressing a mouse button.

10. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the starting point of the movement path (20, 20') is determined by a moving figure (16, 16'; AO₁, AO₂) which may be moved by the playing person in the environment displayed on the display device (12) by the playing person, by way of an input device (13, 14, 15).

11. The method according to claim 10, characterised in that the moving figure (16, 16'; AOi, AO₂) is designed as an avatar, to which changing characteristics and/or attributes are assigned, and that parameters for influencing the extension and/or the shape of the target area (5, 18, 18') are derived from the changing characteristics and/or attributes of the avatar.

12. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the simulated ball game or sport event takes its course on a plane playing field (21), and that the target area (5, 18, 18') is a two-dimensional surface.

13. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the target area (5, 18, 18') is a spatial region.

14. A device for carrying out the method according to one of the claims 1 to 13, comprising a computation unit (11), a display device (12) connected to the computation unit (11) as well as at least one input device 13, 14, 15) for positioning an object displayed on the display device (12), wherein the computation unit (11) is configured to compute a target area (5, 18, 18') which is changeable in its extension and/or shape and is dependent on one or more parameters, to represent the target area (5, 18, 18') on the display device (12), the position of the represented target area (5, 18, 18') being changeable by way of the input device (13, 14, 15), and to fix a point within the target area (5, 18 18') according to a random principle and turn it into an end point (E1,..,E5) of an object movement represented on the display device (12).

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein some of the parameters, on which the extension and/or shape of the target area (5, 18, 18') depend, are controllable by the input device (13, 14, 15).

16 The device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein provided is a parameter device (25) which is connectable to the computation unit (11), the computation unit (11) having stored therein parameters, on which the extension and/or the shape of the target area (5 18, 18') depend, or data for the computation of such parameters.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the parameter device (25) is equipped with a display (27) for representing a target area (5, 18, 18') dependent on the stored parameters or data, and/or operating keys (26) for the independent operation of the parameter device (25).

18. A computer program product comprising computer program code means for controlling one or more processors of a computation unit configured to simulate a ball game or sport event, which ball game or sport event in particular comprises a plurality of game figures playing with or against one another, and which ball game or sport event includes an object (23) being displayed on a display device and, in the course of a ball game or sport event, having to move from a starting point (16) to another region of an environment displayed on the display device (12), wherein the computer program code means are configured to control the processors such that the computation unit, for determining an arrival point, in a first step, provides, a predefined target area (5, 18, 18') of a certain extension and shape, and displays the target area (5, 18, 18') on the display device (12), in a second step, positions the provided target area (5, 18, 18') in the environment of a starting point (16) displayed on the display device (12), responsive to signals received from a playing person by way of an input unit (15), and in a third step, moves the object (23) on a movement path (20, 20') from the starting point (16) to an end-point (El,.., E5) lying in the target area (5, 18, 18'), the position of the end point (E1,..,E5) within the target area (5, 18, 18') being defined by the computation unit (11) according to a random principle.