JP3193263B2 - 3D image display system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional virtual space which is shared by a plurality of users and which can be freely moved by each user's own will. The present invention relates to a virtual space type three-dimensional image display system that maps and displays the user's alter ego object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a three-dimensional video display system shared by a plurality of users and which can be freely moved by each user. In the figure, a plurality of user terminals 1
Is connected to the control server 2 through the communication line 3.
The user of each user terminal 1 shares the virtual space transmitted from the control server 2 in advance, and operates the operation device to move freely in the virtual space. Each user terminal 1 transmits to the control server 2 the position information and the direction information of the user in the virtual space input by the operation device. The control server 2 transmits the position information and the orientation information of all the users collected from each user terminal 1 to the other user terminals 1. Each user terminal 1
Displays the alter ego object of each user in the virtual space based on the position information and the direction information of the own user and the partner user.

In such a virtual space type three-dimensional image display system, in the conventional method, only the front face image of each user is registered in advance, and this front face image is mapped to the alter ego object of each user. (For example, IEICE Technical Report IE92-
120 "Cyber Community Study", 1993 2
Month).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the positions of three users A, B, and C viewed from above in a three-dimensional virtual space that can be shared by a plurality of users. FIG. 4 is an example of a view of the user C in the virtual space, that is, an example of a screen in a conventional method on a display device used by the user C. ', A frontal face image is mapped and displayed.

[0005]

In the prior art,
When the user faces obliquely (example of the user A in FIG. 4), the alter ego object of the front face image is displayed obliquely as it is, so that the face image of the user is difficult to see, and There was a problem that it was difficult to understand where you were looking.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide a virtual space type three-dimensional video display system that maps a face image corresponding to the orientation of each user to a self-alteration object and displays it. It is in.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of users share and are input by an operating device in a three-dimensional virtual space in which each user can move freely. In the three-dimensional virtual space display system that displays the alter ego object of each user in the three-dimensional virtual space based on the position information and the orientation information of each user, face images captured from various angles of each user are stored. A face image database, means for measuring a relative angle between users existing in the virtual space, and, based on the measured relative angle, outputting a face image of the corresponding angle of each user from the face image database. And a means for mapping the output face image to the alter ego object of each user.

[0008]

According to the present invention, since a face image corresponding to the direction of each user can be mapped to the alter ego object and displayed,
It is easy to see the face image of the user, and it is easy to see where the user is looking.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a user terminal in the three-dimensional video display system of the present invention. The position information input unit 11 is for inputting information for controlling which position the user places in the virtual space and in which direction in the virtual space, and is constituted by an operating device such as a joystick. The position information and the direction information of the own user input by the position information input unit 11 are provided to the virtual space generation unit 12 and transmitted to the control server via the communication line 31 at the same time.
The control server transmits the position information and the direction information collected from each user terminal to each of the other user terminals. Position information and orientation information of other users transmitted from the control server through the communication line 32 are input to the virtual space generation unit 12. The virtual space generation unit 12 updates the display screen of the virtual space in accordance with an instruction from the own position information input unit 11, and also uses another user in the virtual space in accordance with position information from another user terminal of the communication partner. Generate alter ego object of. Further, the virtual space generation unit 12 calculates a relative angle based on the direction information of the own user and the direction information of the other user, and generates a face image of each user selected from the face image database 13 based on the relative angle. To instruct. The face image database 13 stores face images of all users captured in various directions in advance. The image mapping unit 14 maps the face images in the corresponding directions of the corresponding user output from the face image database 13 to the alter ego objects of the other users generated by the virtual space generation unit 12. The state of the person in the virtual space including the mapped face image is displayed on the display device 15 in a perspective. In addition, in the image mapping unit 14, the face image of another user located far away is reduced, and the face image of another user located nearby is enlarged according to the relative position of the own user and another user. Mapping may be performed.

FIG. 5 shows users A, B, and C in a virtual space.
3 shows the position of the person on the xy plane. FIG. 6 shows a view of the user C in the present invention, that is, an example of a screen on a display device used by the user C.

The virtual space generation unit 12 measures the relative position and orientation between each of the alter ego objects in the virtual space, based on the world coordinate values (Xi, Yi, θi). Here, Xi and Yi are position coordinates on the x and y planes, respectively, and θi is a rotation angle with respect to the y axis. For example, in FIG. 5, the relative angle θac between the users A and C is θ
ac = θa−θc. In this case, as the face image of the user A, a face image having an angle θac ′ = (180 ° −θac) is output from the face image database 43, and is converted to the alter ego object A ′ of the user A as shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to map and display. Here, when θac ′ is 0 °, a face image directly facing user A is mapped to user C. In addition, the alter ego object A ′ of the user A is always at a position orthogonal to the line of sight of the user C, that is,
The position is indicated by the broken line A 'in FIG. The same applies to user B. The face image mapped to each alter ego object is sequentially updated each time the viewpoint changes and the relative angle changes. In addition, the face image of the partner located far from the user is reduced, and the face image of the partner located near is enlarged and mapped.

As described above, in the description of the embodiment, each user terminal has a face image database for storing face images taken from various directions of all users, but the control server has the face image database. Then, the control server may calculate the relative position and the relative angle between the users, read the corresponding face image of each user from the database, and transmit the face image to each user terminal. In this case, since it is not necessary for each user terminal to have a face image database, the cost of the entire system can be reduced.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the orientation of the user in the three-dimensional virtual space, a face image to be mapped to the alter ego object of the user composed of a plane is selected. There is an advantage that a display method that makes it easy to see a face image and that is easy to understand wherever the user is looking is possible. Further, there is an advantage that realism in a real space can be realized by enlarging / reducing a face image to be mapped to the alter ego object in accordance with the relative position between the users.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional video display system targeted by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a user terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating face image mapping according to a conventional method.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screen on a display device according to a conventional method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating face image mapping according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of a screen on a display device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 User terminal 2 Control server 3 Communication line 11 Position information input part 12 Virtual space generation part 13 Face image database 14 Image mapping part 15 Display device

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 15/00-17/50 G06F 13/00 H04N ⁷ /14-7/22

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: using a user in a three-dimensional virtual space that is shared by a plurality of users and is freely movable based on position information and orientation information of each user input by an operation device. In a three-dimensional video display system for displaying an alter ego object of a user in the three-dimensional virtual space, a face image database storing face images captured from various angles of each user, and a relative image between users existing in the virtual space. A means for measuring an angle, a means for outputting a face image of the corresponding angle of each user from the face image database based on the measured relative angle, and a copy object of the user for the output face image. A three-dimensional video display system comprising: 2. The three-dimensional video display system according to claim 1, wherein in addition to a relative angle between the users existing in the virtual space, a relative position between the users is measured, and based on the measured relative position. A three-dimensional video display system characterized in that a face image output from a face image database is enlarged / reduced and mapped to a user's alter ego object.