JPH0734234B2 - Figure instruction method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a graphic designating method, and is particularly suitable for a multidimensional graphic display device even when the display means can display a graphic of a lower dimension than the display target. The present invention relates to a method for designating a multidimensional figure.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in a display device, a two-dimensional CRT is used to display a figure.
A display, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, etc. are used, and a mouse or other device is used to indicate the display graphic.
Dimensional pointing devices and tablets are used. On the other hand, due to the progress of graphic display processing, it has become relatively easy to display a three-dimensional graphic on such a two-dimensional plane display.

Regarding the display of three-dimensional information on a two-dimensional plane display, for example, PIXEL No.32 (1985-5) "Special Issue on Realistic Image Generation by Computer Graphics and Its Application Technology" is applied to shade / shadow processing and reflected light processing. It is described that it will be realized in.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

For example, when a pointing device is used to instruct a three-dimensional figure displayed by shading / hidden line processing or reflected light processing, a two-dimensional plane display displays a three-dimensional space by projecting it onto a two-dimensional plane. Since the pointing device can also specify only two-dimensional coordinates, the depth coordinates cannot be specified. That is, when two figures separated in the three-dimensional space are overlapped and projected on the two-dimensional display surface, the distinction cannot be given. The prior art does not consider such a point.

An object of the present invention is to provide a figure pointing method capable of accurately and easily specifying a three-dimensional figure in a display device for projecting and displaying a three-dimensional figure (generally a multi-dimensional figure) on a two-dimensional plane. It is in.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention displays, on a display surface, a radial multidimensional figure (cone, pyramid, etc.) for designating a figure having a position designated by the operator as a vertex in response to an operation by the operator, and the designating radial pattern is displayed. To determine that the figure closest to the vertex (generally, the figure closest to the nth) inside the multi-dimensional figure (hereinafter simply referred to as the indicating radial figure) is the figure indicated by the operator. is there.

[Work]

The operator operates a joystick or the like to set the vertices and directions of the radial multidimensional graphic (radial graphic for designating) so as to be effective for specifying the graphic desired to be designated. In this case, it is desirable that the display device indicate which figure is designated according to the setting of the pointing radial figure. When the target figure can be designated, the operator inputs the fact to complete the designation of the figure.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the outline of the figure designating method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this example, it is assumed that the vertices of the pointing radial graphic are placed in the display space and the setting is performed by the vector cursor. The vertex is the vector cursor itself, and the direction of the opening of the radial graphic (hereinafter, simply referred to as “direction”) is made to coincide with the direction of the velocity vector of the vector cursor that continues to move in the display space. The vector cursor gives a velocity vector in addition to the position coordinates, which is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-1089.

In FIG. 1, a cube 103 and a cube 104 on the front side in the three-dimensional space being displayed are displayed on the display screen 100. It is assumed that the operator intends to instruct the vertex on the back right side of the upper surface of the cube 104 and input it to the host device. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the graphic interface between the host device and the display device is a graphic command of a level close to that specified by the user and is not expanded into pixels or minute graphics.

In order to specify the above-mentioned apex, the operator operates the three-dimensional instruction input device 105 to move the vector cursor 102, selects “point” from the icon at the top of the screen, and then selects the point near the desired apex. (102 'shows a vector cursor after the movement), and the pointing radial graphic 101 having its tip as a vertex may be set so as to include the target vertex inside. The three-dimensional pointing input device 105 has a joystick 108 for controlling the direction of the vector cursor and a slide volume 109 for controlling the speed of the vector cursor.
On the joystick 108, there are an input instruction switch 106 and a “next closest” instruction switch 107. The moving speed vector (speed and direction) of the vector cursor can be changed by the joystick 108 and the slide volume 109.

Operator displays vector cursor 102 to 102 'on screen
When it is moved to, depending on the positional relationship with the cubes 103 and 104 in the three-dimensional space and the direction of the indicating radial diagram 101,
The following cases occur.

(1) The pointing radial graphic 101 includes the target vertex of the cube 104, and of the included vertices, it is the closest to the vertex of the pointing radial graphic. In this case, the three sides of the cube 104 forming the target apex are displayed with high brightness. Figure 1 illustrates this.

(2) The pointing radial graphic 101 includes a vertex of the cube 103 that overlaps the vertex of the target cube 104 on the display screen, and is the closest to the vertex of the pointing radial graphic among the included vertices. In this case, the two sides of the cube 103 are displayed with high brightness. Figure 2 illustrates this.

(3) The pointing radial graphic 101 does not include any vertex of the cube 103 or 104. FIG. 3 shows this, and there is no high brightness display.

(4) Other cases When the operator presses the input instruction switch 106 in the state of (1), it is assumed that the operator has designated the vertex indicated by the high-intensity display, and the coordinates of the vertex are reported to the host device. Also,
Even in the case of (2) or (4), if the target vertex is included in the pointing radial graphic 101, the designation to the target vertex is performed by operating the “next closest” designation switch 107. Can be transferred (for example, from FIG. 2 to FIG. 1). If you press the input instruction switch 106 here, the cube 104
The coordinates of the target vertex of are reported to the host device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the display device according to the present invention.

The graphic command from the host device is the communication interface 40
The control / calculation unit 402 of the whole receives through 1 and stores it in the graphic command storage unit 404. When the reception is completed, the graphic command in the graphic command storage unit 404 is expanded into dot information by the control / calculation unit 402, and three-dimensional processing such as shading is performed, and the graphic command expansion / three-dimensional processing result storage unit (screen buffer 1) Stored in 405. The three-dimensional graphic display control unit 408 scans the screen buffer 405 and passes a display signal to the display control unit 410.

On the other hand, when the operator operates the three-dimensional pointing input device 105, the information is received by the control / arithmetic unit 402 through the input device interface 403. If the information is related to the vector cursor, it is used for the vector cursor / pointing radial graphic parameter. It is stored in the register 407. This register 407
When the is updated, the control / calculation unit 402 changes the velocity vector of the vector cursor accordingly (the position / direction of the pointing radial graphic also changes accordingly).

The vector cursor / indication radial graphic drawing result storage unit (screen buffer 2) 406 stores the drawing result of the vector cursor / indication radial graphic that changes momentarily in accordance with the contents update in the register 407. The contents of the screen buffer 406 are read by the vector cursor / indication radial graphic display control unit 409 and passed to the display control unit 410 in the form of a display signal. The display control unit 410 synthesizes the display signals from the three-dimensional graphic display control unit 408 and the vector cursor / indication radial graphic display control unit 409, and displays them on the display 411.

FIG. 5 shows the contents of the vector cursor / pointing radial graphic parameter register 407. The # 1 vector cursor position (pointing radial figure vertex) indicates the vector cursor position in the three-dimensional space being displayed by coordinates (Pcx, Pcy, Pcz). This point is also the starting point of the indicating radial graphic. The vector cursor velocity vector of # 2 (the direction is the same as the direction of the pointing radial graphic) indicates the moving velocity and direction of the vector cursor as a vector (Vx, Vy, Vz). The vector cursor has its velocity vector changed by the three-dimensional pointing input device 105. When the joystick 108 and the slide volume 109 are set to the neutral state, the velocity vector set immediately before that is maintained and the display 3
Keep moving in the dimensional space. The direction of the pointing radial graphic matches the direction of this velocity vector. In # 3, the type (point, straight line, plane ...) Of the figure to be instructed is coded and stored. This setting can be changed by pointing the icon at the top of the screen with the vector cursor. #
In 4, an integer n is stored which indicates the closest figure to the apex of the indicating radial figure. This value is changed by the switch 107 of the three-dimensional pointing input device 105. #
Reference numeral 5 is an identifier on the upper-level interface of the "instructed figure" determined by the conditions of # 1 to # 3. When the type of the figure to be instructed is “point”, the coordinates are stored in # 6.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of this embodiment.
This is processing for moving the vector cursor (steps 601 to 603), detection and processing of the pointing radial graphic and a graphic or icon included therein (steps 604 to 60).
6), "input" instruction processing (steps 607 to 612).

First, the type of input from the three-dimensional instruction input device 105 is determined (step 601), and if the input is related to the vector cursor (by steps 108 and 109), after the processing of step 602, the subsequent input is performed. If yes, step 602
Then, the processing after step 603 is immediately performed by skipping.

Information related to the vector cursor is stored in the fifth register 407.
It is stored according to the figure (step 602), and the movement of the vector cursor changes accordingly. According to the velocity vector of the vector cursor indicated by the register 407, the next position of the vector cursor and the position / direction of the pointing radial graphic are determined (step 603), and it is determined whether the graphic or icon being displayed is designated (step). 604). Whether or not the figure being displayed is inside the indicating radial figure is determined by the vector information of the register 407, the aperture of radiation (set as a constant parameter in the system), and the equation of the figure being displayed (40
Figure command stored in 4).

Hereinafter, an example of determining whether or not the displayed point is inside the pointing radial graphic will be described. The radial pattern for indication is a cone, and its aperture is defined by using k shown in FIG. That is, when a cone forming a part of a radial figure is considered and its height is 1, the radius of the bottom surface is kl (k is a positive constant, for example, 1/4). Radial figure for indication 101
Is expressed as a set of circles at the bottom of the cone when changing from 0 to ∞ with l as a variable. A point X in the display space
Does not enter the inside of the pointing radial graphic 101. When the perpendicular line XH is drawn from this point to the pointing radial graphic 101, the distances ▲ ▼ and ▲ ▼ between the origins (that is, vector cursors) P and H of the radial drawing. Determined by the relationship of
Figure). If the following inequalities hold, the target point is inside the pointing radial graphic.

▲ ▼ ≦ k ▲ ▼ If there is a specified type of graphic or icon in the pointing radial graphic, the specified one is the icon (display at the top of the screen to specify the graphic type to be specified). In this case (step 105), when the "input" instruction is received (step 609), # 3 "type of instructed figure" of the register 407 is rewritten (step 610), and the process returns to the beginning of the loop.

If the designated one is a figure, it is displayed in high brightness and the figure ID is stored in the register 407 (step 606).
When there is no figure or icon, steps 605 and 606 are skipped. Next, it is determined whether or not there is a "next closest" instruction (by the switch 107) from the three-dimensional instruction input device 105 (step 607), and if there is, the value of n in the register 407 is incremented by 1 ( Steps 608) and 604 and subsequent steps are performed again. Input device if there is no "next" instruction
Whether or not there is a final "input" instruction (by the switch 106) from the 105 is determined (step 611), and if there is, the graphic ID stored in the register 407 at that time (if the instruction is a point, The coordinates of the points) are reported to the host device (step 612).

The above process is repeated by forming a loop to display the momentary movement of the vector cursor. In the present embodiment, the vector cursor is always kept moving according to the vector stored in the register 407. It is also possible to provide an additional function for temporarily stopping the graphic instruction according to the operator's instruction when the graphic instruction is not performed.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately and easily indicate a three-dimensional figure even in a display device that projects and displays a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. Also, when displaying a two-dimensional figure on a two-dimensional plane, the same effect can be obtained by the same method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 to 3 are views for explaining the outline of a figure designating method of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of the vector cursor / indicating radial graphic parameter register of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a conical radial graphic for designating. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a method of expressing the degree of aperture.
The figure is a diagram showing a method of determining whether or not a certain point is inside the radial pattern for instruction. 100 ... Display screen, 101 ... Radial figure for indication, 102 ... Vector cursor, 103,104 ... Display figure, 105 ... Input device for three-dimensional indication, 106 ... Input indication switch, 107 ... "Instruction switch.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A graphic designating method in a display device for projecting and displaying a multidimensional graphic on a two-dimensional display surface, for designating a position designated by an operator as an apex according to an operation of the operator. Displaying the radial multi-dimensional figure on the display device, and presenting the figure inside the radial multi-dimensional figure for instructing, which is near the n-th (n is a natural number) to the vertex of the radial multi-dimensional figure for instructing, the operator. A figure designating method characterized by recognizing that the figure is a figure designated by. 2. The graphic designating method according to claim 1, wherein the recognized graphic is displayed with high brightness, and is present inside the radial multi-dimensional graphic for designating in accordance with the next operation of the operator. Then, the figure designating method is characterized in that the figure closest to the vertex of the designating radial multidimensional figure next to the identified figure is identified as the figure designated by the operator next.