Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Graphic manipulation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-23
2003-03-04
Jankus, Almis R. (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Graphic manipulation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06529210
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to the field of manipulation of 3-D objects on computer displays. More particularly, the present invention relates to techniques for simulating life-like user interaction with 3-D objects displayed in computer simulated environments. In accordance with the invention, the 3-D objects are subjected to conflicting goals including the goal of desired object movement by the user such that a resolution of these conflicting goals during user manipulation and resultant movement of the 3-D object creates the impression that the 3-D object is influenced by conflicting physical forces, such as gravity, object initiated motion, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The techniques used in our invention stem from several different backgrounds. Within the domain of 3-D CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design, Computer Aided Manufacture), a 3-D workspace containing data representations is presented to the user, with the objective of fashioning more 3-D data in accordance with a set of user commands. One manner of interaction in this medium is via a 2-D cursor, where a variety of operations may be performed upon 3-D data. The 3-D position associated with the cursor is derived in a variety of manners, including: use of a secondary form of input; associating the cursor with some additional piece of geometry in the 3-D workspace; interpreting cursor motion as gestures; and augmenting the cursor with additional visual representations inferring additional positioning control. These commands are carried out in a static environment - one where the user selected data and that to which it holds a direct relationship is altered. While the user is interacting with a subset of the data in these environments, other data is not continuously updated in position or orientation unless as a consequence of user interaction. The commands are also carried out as a direct response to the positioning of the cursor. For example, if the cursor is used to select data and then the cursor is moved to a different location, the position of the data is set via a direct mapping from the 2D cursor coordinate to the 3-D data coordinates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,703 describes a technique for operating a system to produce the perception of control of an object in a 3-D workspace presented on a computer display. A mouse or keyboard is used to input movement changes which are directly applied to the 3-D object via a logarithmic function and/or an acceleration function.
Some CAD research has highlighted the use of constraint based systems, whereby 2-D input may be mapped in a manner to 3-D allowing much easier completion of tasks by the user. Explicit relationships are formulated between objects being manipulated and other elements of their environment.
For example, Bukowski, Richard W. and Soquin, Carlo H., “Object Associations: A Simple and Practical Approach to Virtual 3D Manipulation”, University of California at Berkeley, 1995
Symposium on Interactive
3
D Graphics,
Monterey Calif. USA, 1995, describes a process by which an object may be moved above a table and wherein a constraint is inferred attaching the object to the table by some form of pseudo gravity. In the same manner, objects may be attached to other objects or to walls. The viewpoint may be moved while focused upon a specified point upon an object, to enable easy close-up and distant views of the point. Objects may also be moved by applying force, in the same manner as moving them using a rubber band. A similar technique for producing the perception of a moving viewpoint within a 3-D space on a computer display is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,785.
It should be noted that all these advanced proposals still hold the same goal in mind, that to goal being to facilitate the construction and manipulation of objects in a 3D environment by a user, where the user's goals are to be attained in the easiest possible manner, with minimal interference from other data and entities present (e.g., other users). The prior art techniques described above are inadequate to represent conflicts between entities concerning the manipulation of objects, or to represent entities aiding each other in picking up and moving objects. Moreover, the techniques disclosed in the prior art noted above do not provide a physical sense of actually holding an object, with feedback as to whether the object is heavy or light, or has other such physical properties.
Additional interpretations of 2-D input to create a 3-D position by the use of additional on-screen information are known from the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,979 discloses one such method involving symbols to tether a cursor and an object. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,098 discloses a method for manipulating an object by use of a displayed bounding region.
These and many other techniques, such as those described in Foley, James and van Dam, Andies, and Feiner, Steven, and Hughes, John, “Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, Second Edition”, Addison Wesley Publishing Company Inc., 1990, all provide improved object manipulation in a 3-D workspace using 2-D input devices. However, these methods are unsuitable for an entertainment product, where the user's imagination is immersed in the environment. In most of these contexts, such symbols would not be considered a natural part of the environment, breaking the illusion of immersion.
In contrast with the above-described 3-D CAD/CAM domain of interaction, there is real-time 3-D first person perspective entertainment software (referred to as ‘first-person’) that involves the interaction of a user represented as a collection of data within a 3-D environment. Examples of such ‘first person’ entertainment software include the products detailed in Abrash, Michael, “Quake: a Post-Mortem and a Glimpse into the Future”,
Id Software, Computer Game Developers Conference Proceedings,
1997, and the implementation described in Kolb, Jason, “Win32 Game Developer's Guide with DirectX 3”, The Waite Group, 1997.
In the known 3-D first person entertainment software games, the state of the 3-D environment is being continuously updated at a rate which provides the illusion of a real life occurrence happening at a realistic rate, hence the term “real-time”. It is viewed from a first person perspective, as if the viewpoint represents eyes which are a component of the user's simulated body. The simulation takes place independently to some degree of user interaction. Data representing objects and states in the 3-D space may react to user actions. However, through computer code instructions, objects may also follow a set of objectives in which the user has no part, or which the user must oppose. Codified rules exist as to what should occur when user data and other data interacts, for example, due to proximity. These rules generally involve the collision and repulsion of data, or setting of a given state in either data set via a direct, or physical model. For example, a switch may be thrown.
Input from a mouse, trackball, or keyboard is applied to specify a change in orientation and position of the user viewpoint. In many first-person games, when some form of selection or manipulation input is generated, changes are made to the environment on the basis of what is closest to the center of the entire viewing area at or around that instant in time. Within or about this region, a piece of data is selected by an algorithm, such as proximity to the line of the user viewpoint orientation. The resulting state change is normally bounded by a small series of discrete state changes, often a simple activated/deactivated change.
Such interaction is well suited to conflict in large environments, wherein the objects to be manipulated are widely separated, so as not to be confused if many are present in the user's view. However, such interaction is poorly suited to the manipulation of detailed spaces containing closely positioned devices or objects which can be controlled. Hence, this type of environment is avoided in the design of such games
Altor Systems Inc.
Jankus Almis R.
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