Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-13
2004-06-22
Vo, Cliff N. (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
active
06753857
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a 3-dimensional virtual environment communication system, in which a number of users are connected to a central control equipment through communication lines to share the 3-D virtual environment created by 3-D computer graphics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been available television conferencing systems to enable a plurality of users located in different locations to confer with each other under the control of a central control equipment, or shared 3-D virtual environment communication systems based on 3-dimensional computer graphics technique (referred to as 3-D computer graphics hereinbelow). Television conferencing systems are used only for a very specialized purpose of conducting discussions among the users, and in the 3-D virtual shared environment communication based on 3-D computer graphics, there are systems that are based on text communications through chat-type format.
It has been difficult to introduce television conferencing systems based on central control equipment, because of the high cost of the equipment itself and communications cost associated with the conference. Also, although the 3-D virtual shared environment communications based on 3-D computer graphics have an advantage that the user is free to move about and the methodology is intuitive so that the system is user-friendly, however, because of the degree of user mobility is too high, the system is not suitable for use in the specialized purpose of conferencing, when it is desirable to face the person in conversation with or to have many users to confer with each together while viewing facial expressions of other participants on screen in real-time.
Therefore, it is important in those conferencing systems used for business purposes to hear each other's voices as well as to view the actual expressions on the users faces, and from the viewpoint of wider applicability of the communication system, it is desirable to increase the flexibility of the communication system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for communication to enable a plurality of participants to share a 3-D virtual environment so that real-time facial expressions of other participants can be seen and voices of other participants heard on one's own terminal, thus making the system applicable to a virtual conferencing communication system.
Also, a second object is to realize a television conferencing capability that has been limited only to televising technology, by utilizing system and method customized to a conferencing format, and the system and method can be executed readily by providing computer-readable recorded medium containing executable application programs that enable to realize the communication system in a more flexible 3-D virtual environment that can be shared by a number of participants by displaying users' real-time facial images and reproducing voices on real-time on user terminals.
To realize the object, the present invention provides a method for displaying a three-dimensional shared virtual environment comprising the steps of: displaying a first display state of a virtual environment, generated by using a three-dimensional computer graphics technique, to be displayed in individual user terminals of a plurality of users so that a computer generated graphic object representing a subject user may be moved in accordance with instructions give by the subject user; and displaying a second display state of the virtual environment so that computer generated graphic objects representing the plurality of users are always located in constant positions within the virtual environment.
The method may further include a step of selecting either the first display state or the second display state according to instructions given by a user so as to display a selected virtual environment on the user terminal.
Accordingly, the method has an advantage that motion of the users within the virtual environment is natural and can be accepted intuitively, and when necessary, other users whose images are assigned to fixed locations may be reference for conferencing purpose, therefore, the system can be made quite flexible in meeting users' needs.
It is preferable that the method further includes the steps of: displaying pasted images of individual users by pasting corresponding real-time facial images on respective computer generated graphic objects representing the individual users so that, when displaying the second display state on a user terminal, front views of the computer generated graphic objects and corresponding pasted images are displayed. It is also preferable that a plurality of motion states for expressing intentions of a user represented by the computer generated graphic object be stored, so that a motion state selected uniquely according to a user instruction is pasted onto the computer generated graphic object and a pasted image is displayed.
The present invention also provides a three-dimensional shared communication system connecting a plurality of user terminals to central control means through communication lines, wherein each of the user terminals is comprised by: image inputting means for inputting real-time images of a user; voice audio inputting means for inputting voice data of the user; motion information inputting means for inputting motion information of the user within a virtual environment described by three-dimensional computer graphics; action indicating means for indicating actions of a computer generated graphic object representing the user to be displayed on terminal display means of other users; simple program outputting means for outputting a pre-determined simple program according to an instruction given by the action indicating means; user information input/output means for broadcasting received real-time image data, voice data, motion data and simple program data to other user terminals through the central control means, and receiving real-time image data, voice data, motion data and simple program data of the other users through the central control means; voice audio reproduction means for reproducing voices of the other users received by the user information inputting/outputting means; virtual environment control means for generating information required for displaying computer generated graphic objects representing the other users according to motion information and the simple program received by the user information input/output means from other user terminals, and controlling images displayed in such a way that the computer generated graphic objects are always displayed in assigned positions and facing frontward; and virtual environment display means for pasting real-time facial images of the other users in the computer generated graphic objects according to information generated by the virtual environment control means and displaying a combined image of the virtual environment and the pasted images.
It should be noted that the computer-generated graphic objects may be represented in two-dimensions or in three-dimensions. The motions of computer-generated graphic objects indicate users' intentions, such as “raise hand”, “agree”, and “reject”. Front view of the computer-generated graphic object means that the pasted facial images are displayed so as to face the other users viewing the virtual environment on the monitor screen.
According to the present communication system, user terminals show virtual environment produced by computer graphics as well as facial images of other users who are participating in the virtual environment, which are pasted into computer-generated graphic objects corresponding to these users, and displayed along with their voices. It is also possible to express gestures of the participants through the computer-generated graphic objects. The system also allows the motion information input section to notify any changes in the position of the users so that, in spite of the moti
Matsuura Norihiko
Sugawara Shohei
Krebs Robert E.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
Vo Cliff N.
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