Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-13
2001-04-17
Zimmerman, Mark (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219057
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to three-dimensional computing. More specifically, the present invention relates to collaboratively manipulating three-dimensional objects by multiple, remote participants.
2. Related Art
As computers and communication networks become increasingly more powerful, users demand the ability to share more and more information. This, coupled with an increasing awareness of the need to develop products in shorter time and for less cost, has led to the development of tools that allow users of remotely located computer systems (“remote participants”) to interact across communications networks.
One such tool is referred to as a collaborative work environment or “shared whiteboard.” The collaborative work environment allows multiple remote participants to work simultaneously on the whiteboard. The whiteboard and its contents are visible to each remote participant through a display of the remote participant' computer system. The whiteboard functions as a single “electronic chalkboard” where each participant uses his “chalk” to write on the chalkboard for all participants to view, modify, and/or delete. The chalkboard is a work area depicted in the display of the computer system. The chalk includes any input device associated with the computer system including, but not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus pen, a data file, an optical scanner, and/or data from any number of sensors or devices that can be received by a computer (e.g., video camera). Each remote participant may use his chalk to write on the chalkboard and each of the other remote participants is able to view simultaneously (or apparently so) what is being written.
Many examples of conventional collaborative work environments exist in the marketplace. Many collaborative work environments allow only text to be entered, viewed, or manipulated. Other collaborative work environments allow two-dimensional images or drawings to be entered, viewed, or manipulated. However, conventional collaborative work environments do not permit remote participants to view or manipulate three-dimensional models of objects.
Some existing technologies allow remote participants to navigate through a three-dimensional scene or “world”. Each remote participant independently navigates his own “camera” through the world thereby viewing the world. In some of these worlds, each remote participant is able to view the camera of the other remote participants. However, one of the remote participants is able view the world through the camera of any other remote participant. In other words, each remote participant views the volume from his own individual perspective. Thus, true collaborative manipulation of a three-dimensional model of an object is not possible using this type of technology because each remote participant is operating from an independent perspective.
What is needed is a collaborative work environment that supports the manipulation of three-dimensional models of objects by multiple remote participants.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a collaborative work environment that supports the manipulation of a three-dimensional model of an object by multiple remote participants. In addition to the three-dimensional model of the object, the collaborative work environment supports conventional manipulation of a two-dimensional image of an object. Furthermore, the remote participants can make annotations associated with the either the models or the images.
Manipulation of the three-dimensional model of the object supported by the present invention is communicated to each of the remote participants in the collaborative work environment thereby allowing remote each participant to view a manipulated model of the object. In particular, rather than communicating a rendered image of the manipulated model of the object to each remote participant, i.e., the manipulated model of the object rendered into individual pixels, information describing the manipulation of the three-dimensional model of object is communicated to each remote participant. Each of the remote participants' workstations uses this information to independently construct the manipulated model of the object. Then, each workstation renders an image of the manipulated model and displays the rendered image. This results in a reduction in a communication bandwidth required between the remote participants.
One of the features of the present invention is that any of the remote participants in the collaborative work environment can manipulate the object. The manipulations include translation, rotation, or scaling. In addition to these manipulations, each participants is able to import or export three-dimensional models of objects generated by a local instance of a three-dimensional authoring tool operating on the workstation of the remote participant. This process is often referred “cutting-and-pasting” the three-dimensional model of the object, or simply “cut-and-paste.”
Another feature of the present invention is that the rendered image of the object is generated locally by each of the remote participants' workstations. This allows the three-dimensional coordinate information describing the three-dimensional model of the object and any manipulations to be communicated over the communication network rather than communicating the rendered image of the object. This significantly reduces the amount of network bandwidth required in order to facilitate the collaborative work environment.
Still another feature of the present invention is that the remote participants can ultimately share the three-dimensional model of the object. Remote participants can place models into the work area and other remote participants can retrieve them.
Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Debabelizer: The Graphics Processing ToolBox: Reference Guide, 1993.
Carey Richard
Marrin Christopher F.
Mott David C.
Padmanabhan Mano
Silicon Graphics Inc.
Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.
Zimmerman Mark
LandOfFree
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