Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-14
2003-05-06
Bayerl, Raymond J. (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S419000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06559870
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to a user interface in an interactive application environment and, more particularly, to an agent character supported user interface.
The present invention especially relates to an agent layout determination method in a “three-dimensional space (a virtual reality space and a mixed reality space obtained by superposing the virtual reality space onto a real space)”, which does not impose negative influences (coerced and anxious feelings) on the user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Along with the advance of multimedia information presentation technologies, huge volume of information is presented to the user and it may often become difficult for the user to understand what kind of request is needed to be input to a computer or what is required of him or her by the computer system.
Under these circumstances, conventionally, Windows as an operating system available from Microsoft Corp., or Word as a wordprocessing application program displays an agent character to give a guidance to the user in response to a user request or when a predetermined condition for the program is satisfied.
An agent character provided by such program is the one for a display environment of a two-dimensional image, and does not consider the gazing position of the user on the display screen.
As known technologies pertaining to agent characters, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-153145 (Laid-Open date: Jun. 10, 1997), “Computer which sees, hears, and talks with smile (Multimodal interactive system)”, Electrotechnical Laboratory Press Meeting Reference, and Lewis Johnson, Jeff Rickel, Randy Stiles, & Allen Munro, “Integrating Pedagogical Agents into Virtual Environments”,
Presence
, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 523-546, are known.
An “agent display apparatus” disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-153145 is a technique for agent display implemented as a user interface which makes processes in correspondence with user's purpose, favor, and skill level. More specifically, a plurality of types of agent states (appearances (costumes of agent), modes of expression, and emotional expressions) are prepared, and a combination of agent states is determined in correspondence with user's purpose, favor, and skill level, thus displaying an agent character in the determined combination.
However, the technique disclosed by this reference does not essentially consider any three-dimensional space.
“Computer which sees, hears, and talks with smile (Multimodal interactive system)”, Electrotechnical Laboratory Press Meeting Reference was released at a home page having the world wide web URL address “www.etl.go.jp/etl/mmpress/mmpress.html” (updated Nov. 9, 1996), and pertains to an agent implementation technique present in a three-dimensional space. More specifically, this paper is a study about a prototype agent which comprises real-time image recognition, speech recognition, and speech synthesis functions. This paper aims at exploring specific specifications that a computer must satisfy to implement smooth interactions, and acknowledging technical problems to be solved. In this paper, an agent is present in a virtual space in a display, and interacts with the user via the window (screen). However, in this reference, the agent is always displayed at a given position, and never changes its position in consideration of its position relative to the user.
As for an agent character display technique in a three-dimensional space as an objective of the present invention, “Integrating Pedagogical Agents into Virtual Environments” discloses a study of a system which reconstructs a life-size virtual three-dimensional work space, and allows the user to learn a task process with the help of an agent. When the user who wears an HMD selects a given menu item, the agent responds by synthetic voice. When the user selects a task demonstrate menu (Show Me!), the agent responds by its actions.
However, in this prior art, the agent makes only predetermined actions, and the display layout of the agent character does not consider relative position between the user position and the display position of the agent character.
In order to realize a user interface in a display environment of a three-dimensional image, the agent character must also be displayed as a three-dimensional image. That is, the agent character is also given a three-dimensional display position and scale.
FIG. 1
explains a case wherein the agent character given a certain scale value is displayed in an unexpected size and surprises the user. More specifically, since the agent character is given a three-dimensional display position and scale in a three-dimensional image space, if the user wants to communicate with the agent character at a close distance in a three-dimensional display environment in which the agent character is given the same size as that of a human being, a program that presents the agent character displays the “face” of the agent character in the same size as that of a human face, as shown in FIG.
1
. In some cases, the face of the agent character is displayed in a full size of the display screen, and makes the user feel anxious or coerced.
Or even when the display size of the agent character is not so large, the agent character may occlude an object the user wants to see depending on the viewpoint position of the user, as shown in FIG.
2
.
Such problems do not normally occur in a two-dimensional display space, and occur only in a three-dimensional display space when the viewpoint position/posture of the user, and the position of the agent character are not taken into consideration.
The aforementioned Electrotechnical Laboratory Press Meeting Reference does not pose such problems due to limitations, i.e., since the agent is always displayed at a predetermined position.
Also, in “Integrating Pedagogical Agents into Virtual Environments”, since the agent makes only predetermined actions, as described above, the above problems do not occur.
In other words, in an environment in which a three-dimensional agent character freely moves in a three-dimensional space, the aforementioned prior arts cannot avoid the problems shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been proposed to solve the conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a user interface or an agent character layout determination method, which considers position relative to the user so as not to impose negative influences on the user.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a user interface method which three-dimensionally displays a character designated by a program, and allows the user to interact with a computer system while communicating with the displayed character, comprises the steps of:
estimating a region of interest of the user;
estimating a display purpose of information in an application program; and
determining a three-dimensional display pattern of the character by applying a rule, which aims at preventing display of the character from being against user's interest, to the estimated region of interest of the user and the estimated display purpose of information.
By considering the region of interest of the user, e.g., the position or line-of-sight direction of the user, the user can be free from any negative influences.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the rule a reference value used to determine if display of the character is against user's interests is changed in accordance with a distance from the user.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the rule a reference value used to determine if display of the character is against user's interests is changed in accordance with a distance from the user on a front side of a line-of-sight direction of the user.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, display of the character is inhibited in a first zone which has a distance from the user less than a first distance, and display of the character is permitted in a s
Anabuki Mahoro
Moriya Yuko
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