Title: Information processing apparatus, method and computer program for virtual reality aura setting
Abstract: According to the present invention, there are provided an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and a computer-readable medium for use with a virtual reality environment. The information processing apparatus includes a sensing-area setting means for setting an area used to sense information on objects, and a transmission-area setting means for setting an area used for transmitting information on an object. The transmission area may be set wider than the sensing area. Thus, according to the present invention, information on an object can be reported to another object located at a remote position with a higher degree of reliability.
Patent Number: 6,933,938 Issued on 08/23/2005 to Matsuda
| Inventors:
|
Matsuda; Satoru (Kanagawa, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Sony Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
389803 |
| Filed:
|
September 3, 1999 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Sep 30, 1998[JP] | P10-277064 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
345/419 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G06T 015/00 |
| Field of Search: |
345/419,418,633,706,758,422,473,474
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Chen; Shih-Chao
Assistant Examiner: Cao; Huedung X
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLC
Claims
1. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a sensing-area setting means for setting a sensing area used for a sensing object
to sense information on one or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
a transmission-area setting means for setting a transmission area used for a
transmitting object to transmit information to one or more receiving objects within
said transmission area, wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting
object is associated with a server, and wherein one of said sensing area and said
transmission area is wider than the other of said sensing area and said transmission area.
2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
interaction means for exchanging data between said sensing object and said one
or more sensed objects based on said sensing area, and between said transmitting
object and said one or more receiving objects based on said transmission area.
3. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a sensing-area setting means for setting a sensing area used for a sensing object
to send information on one or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
a transmission-area setting means for setting a transmission area used for a
transmitting object to transmit information to one or more receiving objects within
said transmission area, wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting
object is associated with a server, and wherein said transmitting object is said
sensing object.
4. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a sensing-area setting means for setting a sensing area used for a sensing object
to sense information on one or more sensed objects within said sensing area;
a transmission-area setting means for setting a transmission area used for a
transmitting object to transmit information to one or more receiving objects within
said transmission area; and
determination means for determining whether said one or more sensed objects are
within said sensing area, and for determining whether said one or more receiving
objects are within said transmission area, and wherein at least one of said sensing
object and transmitting object is associated with a server.
5. An information processing method for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing method comprising
the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission area, wherein at least
one of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated with a server,
and wherein one of said sensing area and said transmission area is wider than the
other of said sensing area and said transmission area.
6. The information processing method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:
exchanging data between said sensing object and said one or more sensed objects
based on said sensing area, and between said transmitting object and said one or
more receiving objects are within based on said transmission area.
7. An information processing method for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing method comprising
the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission, wherein at least one
of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated with a server, and
wherein said transmitting object is said sensing object.
8. An information processing method for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing method comprising
the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area;
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission area; and
determining whether said one or more sensed objects are within said sensing area,
and whether said one or more receiving objects are within said transmission area,
and wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated
with a server.
9. A computer-readable medium for presenting a program executable by a computer
to operate an information processing apparatus for management of information on
objects placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said program to carry out processing
including the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission area, wherein at least
one of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated with a server,
and wherein one of said sensing area and said transmission area is wider than the
other of said sensing area and said transmission area.
10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein said program further comprises
the step of:
exchanging data between said sensing object and said one or more sensed objects
based on said sensing area, and between said transmitting object and said one or
more receiving objects based on said transmission area.
11. A computer-readable medium for presenting a program executable by a computer
to operate an information processing apparatus for management of information on
objects placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said program to carry out processing
including the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area; and
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission area, wherein at least
one of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated with a server,
and wherein said transmitting object is said sensing object.
12. A computer-readable medium for presenting a program executable by a computer
to operate an information processing apparatus for management of information on
objects placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said program to carry out processing
including the steps of:
setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information on one
or more sensed objects within said sensing area;
setting a transmission area used for a transmitting object to transmit information
to one or more receiving objects within said transmission area; and
determining whether said one or more sensed objects are within said sensing area,
and whether said one or more receiving objects are within said transmission area,
and wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting object is associated
with a server.
13. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a storage element configured to store information related to a sensing object,
information related to one or more sensed objects, information related to a sensing
area, information related to a transmitting object, information related to one
or more receiving objects, and information related to a transmission area, wherein
said sensing area is used for said sensing object to sense said information related
to said one or more sensed objects within said sensing area, wherein said transmission
area is used for said transmitting object to transmit said information related
to said transmitting object to said one or more receiving objects within said transmission
area, and wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting object is
associated with a server; and
a processor, coupled to said storage element, said processor configured to selectively
set said sensing area and said transmission area such that one of said sensing
area and said transmission area is wider than the other of said sensing area and
said transmission area.
14. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a storage element configured to store information related to a sensing object,
information related to one or more sensed objects, information related to a sensing
area, information related to a transmitting object, information related to one
or more receiving objects, and information related to a transmission area, wherein
said sensing area is used for said sensing object to sense said information related
to said one or more sensed objects within said sensing area, wherein said transmission
area is used for said transmitting object to transmit said information related
to said transmitting object to said one or more receiving objects within said transmission
area, and wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting object is
associated with a server; and
a processor, coupled to said storage element, said processor configured to selectively
set said sensing area and said transmission area, wherein said transmitting object
is said sensing object.
15. The information processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein:
said processor is further configured to exchange data between said sensing object
and said one or more sensed objects based on said sensing area, and between said
transmitting object and said one or more receiving objects based on said transmission area.
16. An information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, said information processing apparatus comprising:
a storage element configured to store information related to a sensing object,
information related to one or more sensed objects, information related to a sensing
area, information related to a transmitting object, information related to one
or more receiving objects, and information related to a transmission area, wherein
said sensing area is used for said sensing object to sense said information related
to said one or more sensed objects within said sensing area, wherein said transmission
area is used for said transmitting object to transmit said information related
to said transmitting object to said one or more receiving objects within said transmission
area, and wherein at least one of said sensing object and transmitting object is
associated with a server; and
a processor, coupled to said storage element, said processor configured to selectively
set said sensing area and said transmission area, wherein said processor is further
configured to determine whether said one or more sensed objects are within said
sensing area, and to determine whether said one or more receiving objects are within
said transmission area.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is related to five other applications commonly assigned
and concurrently filed therewith: Application Ser. No. 09/389,812 now U.S. Pat.
No. 6,493,001; Application Ser. No. 09/389,801 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,306; Application
Ser. No. 09/389,773 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,007; application Ser. No. 09/390,035
now U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,885; and application Ser. No. 09/340,036, all of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus,
an information processing method and a presentation medium. More particularly,
the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information
processing method and a presentation medium which allow information on an application
object (abbreviated hereafter to an AO) in a 3-dimensional virtual space to be
reported to an avatar.
In a 3-dimensional virtual space on the Internet, a plurality of objects are
provided
with information on a position and a "Dive" system is known as a system which allows
the objects to share the information on position. Details of the "Dive" system
are described in a reference entitled "DIVE-A Platform for multi-user Virtual Environments"
authored by C. Carlsson and O. Hagsand, 18(6) Computers and Graphics, pages 633-669 (1993).
In the "Dive" system, however, the information is shared among all objects existing
in the world, so that as the number of objects rises, there is raised a problem
of an increased number of messages (an increased amount of information) exchanged
among the objects.
In order to solve this problem, an area referred to as an aura is defined for
each object. An aura is a spatial area perceivable by an object defined for each
object in which the object is capable of sensing other objects. Since only objects
placed in the same area share information, the amount of information shared by
objects can be suppressed even if the number of objects existing in the world increases.
Details of this aura technique are described in a reference entitled "Virtual Society:
Extending the WWW to Support a Multi-user Interactive Shared 3D Environment" authored
by Yasuaki Honda et al., Proceedings of VRML '95, pages 109 to 116 (ACM Press 1995).
Details of the aura concept are described in a reference entitled "A Spatial
Model of Interaction in Large Virtual Environments" authored by S. Benford and
L. Fahlen in September 1993, in proceedings of G. DeMichelis et al. (Eds.) presented
to a Third European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, pages 109
to 124 (Kluwer Academic Publishers).
By the way, an AO (application object) also exists in a 3-dimensional virtual
space. An AO is a program having a variety of additional functions in the 3-dimensional
virtual space. The program is executed on an AO server.
In the technique utilizing the aura as described above, however, when a certain
object (including an avatar) wants to sense an AO, such as a clock tower which
is far away from the object, there is raised a problem that the object is not capable
of sensing the AO if the AO is located outside the aura of the object.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention allows information of an AO in a 3-dimensional virtual
space to be reported to an avatar.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
information processing apparatus for management of information on objects placed
in a 3-dimensional virtual space, the information processing apparatus including:
a sensing-area setting means for setting a sensing area used for a sensing object
to sense information on one or more sensed objects within the sensing area; and
a transmission-area setting means for setting a transmission area used for a transmitting
object to transmit information to one or more receiving objects within the transmission area.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided
an information processing method for management of information on objects placed
in a 3-dimensional virtual space, the information processing method including the
steps of: setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information
on one or more sensed objects within the sensing area; and setting a transmission
area used for a transmitting object to transmit information to one or more receiving
objects within the transmission area.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a computer-readable medium for presenting a program executable by a computer to
operate an information processing apparatus for management of information on objects
placed in a 3-dimensional virtual space, the program to carry out processing including
the steps of: setting a sensing area used for a sensing object to sense information
on one or more sensed objects within the sensing area; and setting a transmission
area used for a transmitting object to transmit information to one or more receiving
objects within the transmission area.
According to the present invention, the transmission area may be set wider
than the sensing area. This allows information on an object to be reported to another
object located at a remote position with a higher degree of reliability.
A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention
will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying
drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments in which the principles of the
invention are utilized.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a typical configuration of a system presenting
a shared virtual space to which the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a typical configuration of a client PC employed
in the system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram used for describing the operation of the system
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram used for describing the operation of the system
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram used for describing the operation of the system
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram used for describing an aura;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram used for describing sensing of an object accompanying
a movement of an avatar;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram used for describing mismatching in sensing
of avatars;
FIGS. 9A-9B are explanatory diagrams used for describing a transmission aura
and a reception aura of an AO;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram used for describing management information
of objects held in a shared server employed in the system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 11 shows a flowchart representing movement notification processing;
FIGS. 12A-12B show flowcharts representing departure detection processing carried
out at a step S1 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11; and
FIGS. 13A-13B show flowcharts representing inclusion detection processing carried
out at a step S3 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a typical configuration of a system presenting
a shared virtual space to which the present invention is applied. It should be
noted that the system cited in this specification means an entity obtained as a
result of logically putting a plurality of apparatuses in a set without regard
to whether or not the apparatuses are physically accommodated in a box.
As shown in FIG. 1, client PCs (personal computers)
1 to
3 are
connected
to the Internet
7 through IPs (Internet connection service providers)
4
to
6 respectively. In each of the client PCs
1 to
3, a VRML
browser and a WWW browser are installed and ready to be operated.
The client PCs
1 to
3 each have two functions, namely, a 3D client
function and a 2D client function. The function for a 3D client is used to notify
a shared server
12 periodically or if necessary of data such as information
on the location of the client PC, to receive information shared by other 3D objects
from the shared server
12 supplied thereto, and to display the information.
On the other hand, the function for a 2D client is executed to transmit a request
for information to a WWW server
10 in accordance with an HTTP, to receive
a response to the request from the WWW server
10 and to display mainly 2-dimensional
information. When a URL is included in information received from the shared server
12, the 3D-client issues a request for an access to the URL to the 2D-client.
At this request, the 2D-client makes an access to the URL (in actuality to the
WWW server
10) to download data such as the shape of an object and forward
the data to the 3D-client.
A LAN (Local Area Network)
9 is connected to the Internet
7 through
a router
8. Connected to the LAN
9 are the WWW server
10,
a WLS (World Location Server)
11, the shared server
12, AO (Application
Object) servers
13 and
14, a mail server
15 and a communication
server
16. The WWW server
10 has hard discs (HDDs)
10a
and
10b whereas the other servers
11 to
16 have
HDDs
11a to
16a, respectively.
It should be noted that the AO server
13 has a program for communicating
with the shared server
12 to present for example an application object (AO)
such as a robot or an electronic pet which moves autonomously in a virtual space.
Much like the 3D-client function, the AO server
13 communicates with the
shared server
12 to report information on itself and to receive information
shared by other 3D objects.
The communication server
16 is connected to a telephone
18 or a
facsimile
19 through a public telephone line network
17, and is radio-connected
to a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) terminal
23 through a PHS service
provider
20 and to a pocket-bell terminal
24 through a pager service
provider
21.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a typical configuration of hardware of the
client PC
1. In this configuration, a CPU
30 carries out various
kinds of processing by executing a program stored in a ROM
34. A HDD
31
is used for storing, among other information, VRML contents such as VRML2.0 files
and predetermined script programs written in the Java (a trademark of Sun Microsystems,
USA). A CD-ROM drive
32 reads out VRML contents stored in a CD-ROM disc
33.
Connected to a microphone
36 as well as right and left speakers
37 and
38, a sound processing circuit
35 inputs a sound from
the microphone
36 or outputs sounds such as music and sound effects to the
speakers
37 and
38. A modem
39 (or other interface device)
connected to the Internet
7 is used for exchanging data with the Internet
7. An I/O (input/output) interface
40 receives operation signals
from a mouse
41 and a keyboard
42. A graphics circuit
43 includes
an embedded VRAM
44 for storing picture data completing various kinds of
processing. The graphics circuit
43 reads out data from the VRAM
44,
outputting the data to a CRT monitor
45.
A WWW browser such as Netscape Navigator, a Java interpreter and the Community
Place Browser are loaded into a RAM
46 to be executed by the CPU
30.
Netscape Navigator is a WWW browser running under the Windows 95 (a trademark of
Microsoft Corp.) and the Community Place Browser is a VRML2.0 browser developed
by Sony Corporation, the assignee of the present application.
The VRML2.0 browser implements QvLib (which is a library [or a parser] for interpreting
the VRML syntax developed and gratuitously released by Silicon Graphics, Inc.)
and RenderWare (which is a software renderer developed by Criterion Software Ltd.,
UK) or a parser and a renderer having capabilities equivalent to those of QvLib
and RenderWare respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, the Community Place Browser exchanges various kinds of data
with the Netscape Navigator serving as a WWW browser in accordance with a NCAPI
(Netscape Client Application Programming Interface, a trademark).
The Netscape Navigator browser receives an HTML file and VRML contents (including
a VRML file and a script program written in the Java language) transmitted by the
WWW server
10 by way of the Internet
7, storing the HTML file and
the VRML contents in the local HDD
31. The Netscape Navigator browser processes
the HTML file, displaying a text and a picture obtained as a result of the processing
on a CRT monitor
45. On the other hand, the Community Place Browser processes
the VRML file to display a 3-dimensional virtual space on the CRT monitor
45
and changes behaviors of objects in the 3-dimensional virtual space and other display
states in accordance with a result of execution of the script program by the Java interpreter.
It should be noted that the other client PC
2 and PC
3 each have
the same configuration as the client PC
1 even though the configurations
of the PC
2 and PC
3 are not shown explicitly in the figure.
Next, the operation of the embodiment described above is explained by referring
to FIGS. 3 to 5. In the state shown in FIG. 3, first of all, a homepage on a web
site providing VRML contents is browsed by using the WWW browser as shown by reference
number A
1. In this example, the homepage is accessed at
1 or PC 2 downloads VRML contents
including a VRML2.0 file and a script program written in the Java language to enable
autonomous motions in a VRML space as shown by reference number A2.
It is needless to say that VRML contents can also be obtained by letting the
CD-ROM
drive 32 read out the contents from the CD-ROM disc 33.
Then, the Community Place Browser serving as a VRML2.0 browser in the client
PC 1 or PC 2 interprets and executes the VRML2.0 file downloaded
and temporarily stored in the local HDD 31 as shown in FIG. 4 and, as indicated
by reference number A3, an inquiry about the URL of the shared server 12
is transmitted to the WLS 11 in accordance with a VSCP (Virtual Society
Server Client Protocol). Upon receiving the inquiry, the WLS 11 searches
a shared server URL management table stored in the HDD 11a for the
URL inquired and transmits the URL of the shared sever 12 to the client
PC 1 or 2 in response to the inquiry as indicated by reference number A4.
The URL thus found is used to connect the client PC 1 and 2 to
the shared server 12 as shown in FIG. 5. As a result, a shared message on
attributes of a shared 3D object such as the position and the motion thereof is
transmitted by way of the shared server 12 as indicated by reference number
A5 and the shared message is forwarded to other client PC as indicated by
reference number A6. In this way, a multi-user environment is implemented.
For a detailed description of the above connection procedure, refer to U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 08/678,340.
While the 3-dimensional virtual space is used under a multi-user environment
in this case, the 3-dimensional virtual space may be used under an environment
other than a multi-user environment as well. That is to say, the 3-dimensional
virtual space may be used under an environment which is referred to hereafter as
a single-user environment for the sake of convenience. In a single-user environment,
the avatar of another user is not allowed to appear in the 3-dimensional virtual
space and the avatar of the user herself/himself is not allowed to appear in the
3-dimensional virtual space of the client PC of a user other than this particular
user initiating the pieces of processing indicated by reference numbers A1
and A2. For the sake of convenience, the avatar of another user and the
avatar of the particular user are referred to as a drawn avatar and a pilot avatar
respectively. In order to establish a single-user environment, it is not necessary
to carry out the pieces of processing indicated by reference numbers A3
to A6.
Next, an aura is explained by referring to FIG. 6. As shown in the figure,
an aura 52 with a spherical shape having a predetermined radius is formed
around a pilot avatar 51 with the center of the sphere coinciding with pilot
avatar 51. The pilot avatar 51 is capable of receiving information
from another object located inside the aura 52. That is to say, the pilot
avatar 51 is capable of visually recognizing a drawn avatar 53-1
and an application object (AO) 54-1 which are located inside the
aura 52. To put it concretely, the pictures of the drawn avatar 53-1
and the object 54-1 are displayed on the CRT monitor of the client
PC of the pilot avatar 51. However, the pilot avatar 51 is capable
of visually recognizing neither a drawn avatar 53-2 nor an application
object (AO) 54-2 which are located outside the aura 52. To
put it concretely, the pictures of the drawn avatar 53-2 and the
object 54-2 are not displayed on the CRT monitor of the client PC
of the pilot avatar 51.
By the same token, an aura is also set for each of the other objects, namely,
the drawn avatar 53-1 and the object 54-1, the drawn
avatar 53-2 and the object 54-2. In this system, the
size of each aura is uniform for all client PCs. It should be noted, however, that
the aura of an AO can be set with a size different from the aura of the avatar
if necessary. Furthermore, the use of a spherical aura is merely for convenience
and an irregularly-shaped aura may be used if so desired.
With the aura 52 prescribed as described above, it becomes necessary
for the pilot avatar 51 to acquire information from the drawn avatar 53-1
and the object 54-1 but not from the drawn avatar 53-2
and the object 54-2 which are located outside the aura 52.
The amount of information to be received can thus be reduced.
Consider an example shown in FIG. 7. When the avatar 51 moves, information
on its new position is transmitted to the shared server 12. Upon receiving
the information on the new position of the avatar 51, the shared server
12 identifies what objects (including avatars) are located inside the aura
52 centered at the new position of the avatar 51 and transmits information
on the objects to the client PC of the avatar 51. In the example shown in
FIG. 7, since an object 54-1 is identified as an object located inside
the aura 52 centered at the new position of the avatar 51 after its
movement, the shared server 12 transmits information on the object 54-1
to the client PC of the avatar 51. Upon receiving the information on the
object 54-1, the client PC of the avatar 51 displays the picture
of the object 54-1, allowing the user of the avatar 51 to
visually recognize the object 54-1.
If a large number of objects exist in the world (the virtual space), there may
also be many objects located inside the aura 52, increasing the amount of
information to be received. In order to prevent the amount of information to be
received from exceeding what is really required, a maximum number of objects in
an aura that can be visually recognized by the avatar of the aura is set in advance
to be controlled by the shared server 12. As a result, only information
on a number of objects not exceeding the selected maximum is transmitted. For example,
assume that the maximum number of objects in the aura 52 that can be visually
recognized by the avatar 51 is set at two and there are three or more objects
located inside the aura 52. In this case, only two objects that are included
first or at earliest times are taken into account. That is to say, information
on the third and subsequent objects entered the aura 52 after the second
one are not reported to the avatar 51. The maximum number of objects in
the aura 52 that can be visually recognized by the avatar 51 is set
in advance at a value predetermined by, among other limiting factors, a restriction
on resources in the client PC for the avatar 51 and a limit on a transmission
bandwidth of a network between the client PC and the shared server 12.
It should be noted, however, that the maximum number of objects in the aura 52
that can be visually recognized by the avatar 51 may exclude AOs (application
objects) moving autonomously in the world. Thus, the avatar 51 is always
capable of visually recognizing such an AO, even if the number of objects included
in the aura 52 has already reached the maximum.
By the way, if a maximum limit value is imposed on the number of objects in an
aura that can be visually recognized by the avatar of the aura as described above,
it will be quite within the bounds of possibility that imposition of such a limit
results in a state of mismatching, that is a state in which the avatar of the aura
is not capable of visually recognizing another avatar in spite of the fact that
the other avatar is capable of visually recognizing the avatar of the aura.
The state of mismatching cited above is exemplified by the following case. Assume
that an avatar 51 enters an aura 62 of an avatar 61 after
avatars 63 and 64 have already been included in the aura 62
as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, the avatar 51 visually recognizes the
avatar 61 due to the fact that the avatar 61 is the only avatar in
an aura 52 of the avatar 51. On the other hand, the avatar 61
is not capable of visually recognizing the avatar 51 due to the fact that,
when the avatar 51 enters the aura 62, the maximum number of avatars
that can be recognized by the avatar 61 in the aura 62 has been reached
by the existence of the two other avatars 63 and 64 in the aura 62.
Thus, when the third avatar 51 newly enters the aura 62, the avatar
count exceeds the maximum number 2, making the avatar 61 incapable of visually
recognizing the third avatar 51. As a result, the avatar 61 is not
capable of visually recognizing the other avatar 51, in spite of the fact
that the other avatar 51 is capable of visually recognizing the avatar 61.
Thus, for example, the avatar 51 is capable of requesting the avatar 61
to have a chat with the avatar 61, but the avatar 61 is not capable
of accepting the request for the chat made by the avatar 51.
In order to avoid such a state of mismatching, the system is designed, so that,
if the avatar 51 is capable of visually recognizing the avatar 61,
the avatar 61 is also made capable of visually recognizing the newly entering
avatar 51, even in a state in which the presence of the avatar 51
causes the avatar count in the aura 62 to exceed the maximum value thereof.
It is thus possible to avoid a state of mismatching in which a specific avatar
in an aura is not capable of visually recognizing another avatar in the aura in
spite of the fact that the other avatar is capable of visually recognizing the
specific avatar.
So far, a reception aura of an avatar has been mainly explained. Next, a transmission
aura of an AO provided by the present invention is described by referring to FIG.
9A. In this system, while only a reception aura is set for an avatar, reception
and transmission auras are set for an AO. As shown in FIG. 9A, a reception aura
83 and a transmission aura 84 having a radius larger than that of
the reception aura 83 are set for an AO 81. The transmission aura
84 is capable of informing an avatar existing at a farther location of information
on the AO 81. (Note that transmission may also occur within the reception
aura 83.) A reception aura 85 of an avatar 82 has a radius
equal to the reception aura 83. If desired, the reception aura 85
may have a radius different from that of the reception aura 83. Without
setting the transmission aura 84, that is, with only the reception aura
83 set for the AO 81, the avatar 82 will not be capable of
sensing the AO 81, which is a clock tower in this example, since the AO
81 is located outside the reception aura 85 of the avatar 82.
By setting also the transmission aura 84 having a radius greater than that
of the reception aura 83, however, it is more positively within the bounds
of possibility that the avatar 82 is located inside the transmission aura
84, even if the avatar 82 is far away from the AO 81, so that
the avatar 82 is capable of sensing the AO 81.
FIG. 9B shows details similar to that of FIG. 9A, with the reception aura 83b
wider than the transmission aura 84b. Such a configuration is
useful when the AO 81b is desired to receive information from the
avatar 82 from a greater distance than the AO 81b is desired
to transmit information. As an example, the AO 81b may be a VR police
station that is able to receive information from avatars at a wide distance throughout
the VR world.
FIG. 11 shows a flowchart representing movement notification processing which
is carried out by the shared server 12 when the shared server 12
is informed of a movement of the avatar 82 in the virtual space shown in
FIG. 9A. (Similar steps are undertaken with regard to the virtual space shown in
FIG. 9B.) It should be noted that the shared server 12 has information listed
in a table shown in FIG. 10 for each object Z, namely a shared object management
table. In the shared object management table shown in FIG. 10, a list (set) A is
a set of other objects aware of the object Z. A list (set) B is a set of other
objects known by the object Z. A transmission-aura validity flag indicates whether
the transmission aura of the object Z is valid or invalid.
As shown in FIG. 11, the flowchart begins with a step S1 in which the
shared
server 12 carries out departure detection processing when the avatar 82
moves. In the processing, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not another object such as the AO 81 is no longer sensed by the avatar
82, that is, whether or not the other object is no longer included in the
reception aura 85 of the avatar 82 due to the movement of the avatar
82. In the processing, the shared server 12 also forms a judgment
as to whether or not the movement of the avatar 82 causes the avatar 82
to depart from the auras of other objects including the AO 81.
The flow of the processing then goes on to a step S2 in which the shared
server 12 transmits a message on the movement of the avatar 82 to
other objects in the world. This message may include information on the AO 81
to other VR objects within the transmission aura 84. The message may also
include information to the avatar 82 on other VR objects within the reception
aura 85.
The flow of the processing then goes on to a step S3 in which the shared
server 12 carries out inclusion detection processing. In the processing,
the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether or not another object
gets newly included in the reception aura 85 of the avatar 82 due
to the movement of the avatar 82. In the processing, the shared server 12
also forms a judgment as to whether or not the avatar 82 enters the auras
of other objects such as the AO 81 due to the movement of the avatar 82.
The formation of the judgment at the step S1 is explained by referring
to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 12A-12B as follows.
As shown in FIG. 12A, the flowchart begins with a step S11 in which the
shared server 12 selects an object from those in the set B of the avatar
82 as an object X.
The flow of the processing then goes on to a step S12 in which the shared
server 12 forms a judgment as to whether or not all objects in the set B
of the avatar 82 have completed the subsequent processing following step
S12. If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S12 indicates
that all objects in the set B of the avatar 82 have not yet completed the
subsequent processing, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S13.
At the step S13, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
the transmission-aura area of the object X is valid or invalid. If the outcome
of the judgment formed at the step S13 indicates that the transmission-aura
area of the object X is invalid, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S14.
At the step S14, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not the object X is still included in the reception-aura area of the avatar
82 after the movement of the avatar 82. If the outcome of the judgment
formed at the step S14 indicates that the object X is no longer included
in the reception-aura area of the avatar 82, the flow of the processing
goes on to a step S15.
At the step S15, the shared server 12 deletes the object X from
the set B of the avatar 82 and deletes the avatar 82 from the set
A of the object X since the object X is no longer in the reception-aura area of
the avatar 82. That is to say, the shared sever 12 updates the shared
object management tables (see FIG. 10) of the avatar 82 and the object X.
After the shared object management tables have been updated at the step S15,
the flow of the processing goes back to the step S11 to repeat the processing
described so far.
It should be noted that, if the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S14
indicates that the object X is still included in the reception-aura area of the
avatar 82, on the other hand, it is not necessary to delete the object X
from the set B of the avatar 82 nor the avatar 82 from the set A
of the object X. In this case, the flow of the processing goes back to the step
S11, skipping the processing of the step S15.
If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S13 indicates that the
transmission-aura area of the object X is valid, on the other hand, the flow of
the processing goes on to a step S16. At the step S16, the shared
server 12 forms a judgment as to whether or not the avatar 82 is
still included in the transmission-aura area of the object X after the movement
of the avatar 82. If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S16
indicates that the avatar 82 is no longer included in the transmission-aura
area of the object X, the flow of the processing goes on to the step S15
in which the shared sever 12 updates the shared object management tables
as described above. After the shared object management tables have been updated
at the step S15, the flow of the processing goes back to the step S11
to repeat the processing described so far. It should be noted that, if the outcome
of the judgment formed at the step S16 indicates that the avatar 82
is still included in the transmission-aura area of the object X, on the other hand,
it is not necessary to update the shared object management tables. In this case,
the flow of the processing goes back to the step S11, skipping the processing
of the step S15.
Thereafter, the pieces of processing of the steps S11 to S16
are carried out repeatedly as long as the outcome of the judgment formed at the
step S12 indicates that all the objects in the set B of the avatar 82
have not yet been selected. When all objects in the set B of the avatar 82
have been selected, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S17. At
the step S17, the shared server 12 selects an object from those in
the set A of the avatar 82 as an object X. The flow of the processing then
goes on to a step S18.
At the step S18, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not all objects in the set A of the avatar 82 have completed the processing
steps following step S18. If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step
S18 indicates that all objects in the set A of the avatar 82 have
not yet completed the subsequent processing, the flow of the processing goes on
to a step S19.
At the step S119, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
the transmission-aura area of the avatar 82 is valid or invalid. If the
outcome of the judgment formed at the step S19 indicates that the transmission-aura
area of the object X is invalid, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S20.
At the step S20, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not the avatar 82 is still included in the reception-aura area of the
object X after the movement of the avatar 82. If the outcome of the judgment
formed at the step S20 indicates that the avatar 82 is no longer
included in the reception-aura area of the object X, the flow of the processing
goes on to a step S21.
At the step S21, the shared server 12 deletes the avatar 82
from the set B of the object X and deletes the object X from the set A of the avatar
82 since the avatar 82 is no longer in the reception-aura area of
the object X. That is to say, the shared sever 12 updates the shared object
management tables (see FIG. 10) for the object X and the avatar 82. After
the shared object management tables have been updated at the step S21, the
flow of the processing goes back to the step S17 to repeat the processing
described so far.
It should be noted that, if the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S20
indicates that the avatar 82 is still included in the reception-aura area
of the object X, on the other hand, it is not necessary to delete the avatar 82
from the set B of the object X and delete the object X from the set A of the avatar
82. In this case, the flow of the processing goes back to the step S17,
skipping the processing of the step S21.
If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S19 indicates that the
transmission-aura area of the avatar 82 is valid, on the other hand, the
flow of the processing goes on to a step S22. At the step S22, the
shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether or not the object X is still
included in the transmission-aura area of the avatar 82 after the movement
of the avatar 82. If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S22
indicates that the object X is not included in the transmission-aura area of the
avatar 82 anymore, the flow of the processing goes on to the step S21
in which the shared sever 12 updates the shared object management tables
as described above. After the shared object management tables have been updated
at the step S21, the flow of the processing goes back to the step S17
to repeat the processing described so far. It should be noted that, if the outcome
of the judgment formed at the step S22 indicates that the object X is still
included in the transmission-aura area of the avatar 82, on the other hand,
it is not necessary to update the shared object management tables. In this case,
the flow of the processing goes back to the step S17, skipping the processing
of the step S21.
Thereafter, the pieces of processing of the steps S17 to S22
are carried out repeatedly as long as the outcome of the judgment formed at the
step S18 indicates that objects in the set A of the avatar 82 have
not yet all completed the subsequent processing. When all objects in the set A
of the avatar 82 have completed the subsequent processing, the flow of departure
detection processing is terminated and the flow of processing goes back to the
step S2 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11.
Next, the inclusion detection processing is explained by referring to flowcharts
shown in FIGS. 13A-13B as follows.
As shown in FIG. 13A, the flowchart begins with a step S31 in which the
shared server 12 selects an object from those in the shared object management
table as an object X. The flow of the processing then goes on to a step S32.
At the step S32, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not all objects in the shared object management table have completed the subsequent
processing. If all objects in the shared object management table have not yet completed
the subsequent processing, the flow of the processing then goes on to a step S33.
At the step S33, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
or not the object X is the avatar 82 itself. If the object X is the avatar
82 itself, the flow of the processing goes back to the step S31.
If the object X is not the avatar 82 itself, on the other hand, the flow
of the processing goes on to a step S34.
At the step S34, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
the transmission-aura area of the object X is valid or invalid. If the outcome
of the judgment formed at the step S34 indicates that the transmission-aura
area of the object X is invalid, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S35.
At the step S35, the shared server 12 finds out if information
in
the shared object management table indicates that the avatar 82 is not aware
of the object X and forms a judgment as to whether or not the object X is actually
located in the reception-aura area of the avatar 82 after the movement of
the avatar 82. If the information in the shared object management table
shows that the avatar 82 is not aware of the object X but the outcome of
the judgment formed at the step S35 indicates that the object X was included
in the reception-aura area of the avatar 82 after the movement of the avatar
82, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S37.
At the step S37, the shared server 12 adds the object X to the
set
B of the avatar 82 and adds the avatar 82 to the set A of the object
X in the shared object management tables since the object X is now included in
the reception-aura area of the avatar 82 due to the movement of the avatar
82. The flow of the processing then goes on to a step S38.
If the information in the shared object management table shows that the avatar
82 is aware of the object X or the outcome of the judgment formed at the
step S35 indicates that the object X is not included in the reception-aura
area of the avatar 82 after the movement of the avatar 82, on the
other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to the step S38, skipping
the processing of the step S37 since updating is not required. The flow
of the processing from the step S35 to the step S38 skipping the
step S37 may represent a case in which the object X has been excluded from
the reception-aura area of the avatar 82 due to the movement of the avatar 82.
If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S34 indicates that the
transmission-aura area of the object X is valid, on the other hand, the flow of
the processing goes on to a step S36.
At the step S36, the shared server 12 finds out if information
in
the shared object management table indicates that the avatar 82 is not aware
of the object X and forms a judgment as to whether or not the avatar 82
has entered the transmission-aura area of the object X after the movement of the
avatar 82. If the information in the shared object management table shows
that the avatar 82 is not aware of the object X, but the outcome of the
judgment formed at the step S35 indicates that the avatar 82 has
entered the transmission-aura area of the object X after the movement of the avatar
82, the flow of the processing goes on to the step S37 to update
the shared object management table as described above. If the information in the
shared object management table shows that the avatar 82 is aware of the
object X or the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S36 indicates
that the avatar 82 is not in the transmission-aura area of the object X
after the movement of the avatar 82, on the other hand, the flow of the
processing goes on to the step S38, skipping the processing of the step
S37 since updating is not required. The flow of the processing from the
step S36 to the step S38 skipping the step S37 may represent
a case in which the avatar 82 has departed from the transmission-aura area
of the object X due to the movement of the avatar 82.
At the step S38, the shared server 12 forms a judgment as to whether
the transmission-aura area of the avatar 82 is valid or invalid. If the
outcome of the judgment formed at the step S38 indicates that the transmission-aura
area of the avatar 82 is invalid, the flow of the processing goes on to
a step S39.
At the step S39, the shared server 12 finds out if information
in
the shared object management table indicates that the object X is not aware of
the avatar 82 and forms a judgment as to whether or not the avatar 82
has actually entered the reception-aura area of the object X after the movement
of the object X. If the information in the shared object management table shows
that the object X is not aware of the avatar 82 but the outcome of the judgment
formed at the step S35 indicates that the avatar 82 has entered the
reception-aura area of the object X after the movement of the object X, the flow
of the processing goes on to a step S41.
At the step S41, the shared server 12 adds the avatar 82
to the set B of the object X and adds the object X to the set A of the avatar 82
in the shared object management tables since the avatar 82 is now included
in the reception-aura area of the object X due to the movement of the avatar 82.
The flow of the processing then goes back to the step S31.
If the information in the shared object management table shows that the object
X is aware of the avatar 82 or the outcome of the judgment formed at the
step S39 indicates that the avatar 82 is not included in the reception-aura
area of the object X after the movement of the avatar 82, on the other hand,
the flow of the processing goes back to the step S31, skipping the processing
of the step S41 since updating is not required. The flow of the processing
from the step S39 back to the step S31 skipping the step S41
may represent a case in which the avatar 82 has departed from the reception-aura
area of the object X due to the movement of the avatar 82.
If the outcome of the judgment formed at the step S38 indicates that
