Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
1996-07-11
2003-05-27
Zimmerman, Mark (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
C345S473000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06570563
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of sharing a three-dimensional virtual reality space, a system of sharing a three-dimensional virtual reality space, a method of information processing, an information recording medium, a method of information recording, an information transmission medium, a method of information transmission, a client terminal, and a shared server terminal and, more particularly, to a method of sharing a three-dimensional virtual reality space, a system of sharing a three-dimensional virtual reality space, a method of information processing, an information recording medium, a method of information recording, an information transmission medium, a method of information transmission, a client terminal, and a shared server terminal which are suitable for generating a virtual reality space for example to be provided to users.
A cyberspace service named Habitat (trademark) is known in the so-called personal computer communications services such as NIFTY-Serve (trademark) of Japan and CompuServe (trademark) of the US in which a plurality of users connect their personal computers via modems and the public telephone network to the host computers installed at the centers of the services to access them in predetermined protocols. Development of Habitat started in 1985 by Lucas Film of the US, operated by Quantum Link, one of the US commercial networks, for about three years. Then, Habitat started its service in NIFTY-Serve as Fujitsu Habitat (trademark) in February 1990 . In Habitat, users can send their alter egos called avatars (the incarnation of a god figuring in the Hindu mythology) into a virtual city called Populopolis drawn by two-dimensional graphics to have a chat (namely, a realtime conversation based on text entered and displayed) with each other. For further details of Habitat, refer to the Japanese translation of “Cyberspace: First Steps,” Michael Benedikt, ed., 1991, MIT Press Cambridge, Mass., ISBN0-262-02327-X, the translation being published Mar. 20, 1994, by NTT Publishing, ISBN4-87188-265-9C0010, pp. 282-307.
In the related art cyberspace system operated on such personal communications servers as mentioned above, a virtual street, a virtual room interior, and the like are drawn in two-dimensional graphics. In such an environment, movement of an avatar backward or forward is realized simply by moving it up or down in a two-dimensional background, providing poor representation for enabling the user to experience walking or movement in the virtual space. Because this scheme makes the user look at the virtual space in which the user's avatar and another user's avatar are shown from the viewpoint of a third person, the sense of the pseudo experience is marred to a large extent. Therefore, realization of the walk-through capability has been awaited by the industry concerned, in which the virtual space is displayed in three-dimensional graphics and an avatar can walk freely in the virtual space from the viewpoint of avatar itself, thus enhancing the sense of pseudo experience.
On the other hand, for a related art example for realizing the sharing of a three-dimensional virtual reality space on a network, a system of
FIG. 42
is known which is constituted by client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
interconnected by the LAN (Local Area Network) installed in companies or laboratories.
First, all client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
read graphics data from a storage device
2
of a server terminal
1
that describes the same three-dimensional space to display the same three-dimensional space. At this point of time, the three-dimensional spaces visually recognized by all users match each other. Namely, the client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
show three-dimensional images according to the viewpoints of the users of these terminals as shown in
FIGS. 43
A through
43
C. In this example, a triangular pyramidal object
101
, a quadrangular prism object
102
, and a cylindrical object
103
.
Meanwhile, if, at a client terminal
3
-
1
, the user changed positions of the conical object
101
, information about the change (change information) is sent from the client terminal
3
-
1
to the server
1
via a LAN
4
. The change information about the movement is then transmitted from the server terminal
1
via the LAN
4
to the client terminals
3
-
2
and
3
-
3
. Then, on the client terminals
3
-
2
and
3
-
3
, the display position of the conical object is changed according to the change information transmitted from the client terminal
3
-
1
.
Likewise, when, on the client terminal
3
-
2
or
3
-
3
, an operation is made to move the quadrangular prism object
102
or the cylindrical object
103
, an image in which the quadrangular prism object
102
or the cylindrical object
103
has been moved accordingly is displayed on the client terminal
3
-
1
.
To be more specific, when a change is made to the virtual reality space on any of the client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
, the change is reflected in the display of the other client terminals, thereby allowing the users of the client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
to share the same virtual reality space.
The above-mentioned objects
101
through
103
and avatar objects representing the users can be moved within a virtual reality space and made to enter or exit the virtual reality space, the states of the objects being changed (or updated) inside the virtual reality space. The objects that can change their states are hereinafter appropriately referred to as update objects. Unlike the update objects, objects representing buildings for example which constitute a town in a virtual reality space are commonly used by a plurality of users, the basic states of such objects remaining unchanged. Even if their states change, such a change is autonomous; namely, the change takes place independently of the operation made on a client terminal. These objects which are used by a plurality of users are hereinafter appropriately referred to as basic objects.
Meanwhile, in the system for sharing a three-dimensional virtual reality space by using the LAN as shown in
FIG. 42
, if objects
101
through
103
each having a simple shape consisting of a single object as shown in
FIG. 43
, it can be implemented by transferring the identification numbers of the objects
101
through
103
and the update information including shift vectors of the objects
101
through
103
for example.
However, moving an object having a complex shape consisting of a plurality of sub objects has to transfer the identification number and update information of each sub object separately, thereby increasing the traffic through the LAN and delaying the transmission of each update information, resulting in a mismatch between the movements of the objects displayed on the client terminals
3
-
1
through
3
-
3
, a delay in a plurality of sub objects, and eventually in a jerky movement in a series of interlocking operations as an object in its entirety.
For example,
FIG. 44
shows principles of operation of representing the walking behavior of an avatar simulating a user in a three-dimensional virtual reality space. In this example, the avatar object is constituted by a total of five sub objects; a body including a head, a right arm, a left arm, a right leg, and a left leg. To make the hands and the legs of this avatar swing to provide a walk behavior along with the movement of this avatar, it is required to transmit the update information at least including the shift vector of the body sub object, the shift vectors of the right-arm, left-arm, right-leg and left-leg sub objects, and the fluctuation angle from the axis provided by the joint to the body, along with the identification numbers of the sub objects.
Consequently, the number of sub objects constituting each object increases. Therefore, as a movement involving more complex operations is expressed, the volume of communication for transmitting the update information of objects increases, thereby increasing the load to the server terminal
1
Sealey Lance W.
Sony Corporation
Zimmerman Mark
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