JP3407294B2 - 3D virtual space communication service system and center device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a plurality of user terminals are connected to the center device via the communication line, the three-dimensional virtual multiple users share the three-dimensional virtual space by 3-dimensional computer graphics Spatial communication service system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an electronic conferencing system as a system in which users existing in remote areas generate a group and cooperate with each other. An electronic conference system, which is a collaborative work support tool on a computer, realizes a group by scheduling a conference time with conference participants in advance by telephone or the like, and thus dynamic group generation is impossible. In addition, in a multi-participatory communication service represented by Fujitsu's Habitat, there is only a mode in which each individual can move freely, and no technology regarding group formation and group control is included.

[0003]

In the conventional virtual space communication service, it is not possible to perform processing such as dynamically forming a group and leaving a group in association with an object in the virtual space. . In addition, when a group is generated, it is not possible to linguistically describe processing such as synchronizing the visual field movements of users included in the group in the virtual space.

An object of the present invention is to dynamically generate a group in a shared virtual space and control the group view, for example, to move all the members of the group to another virtual space, or to make all the members of the group in the virtual space. It is to provide a three-dimensional virtual space communication service system that a user can easily define by using a simple language (script) provided by the system to realize a virtual space roller coaster that synchronizes the field of view.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In the three-dimensional virtual space communication service system of the present invention, the user terminal detects a contact between the communication control unit, an object representing the user himself and a group control field which is another object in the virtual space. A collision detection unit, a virtual space generation unit that realizes a virtual world by three-dimensional computer graphics from three-dimensional virtual world model data, a data table management unit that manages the three-dimensional virtual world model data, and the contact is detected. Then, the ID of the group control field in which the collision is detected from the data table management unit and the user terminal I of the user terminal.
D, and the contact time are passed, and a script processing unit that creates a group participant expression script including these and transmits to the center device via the communication control unit and the network is provided. Is a communication control unit, a script processing unit, and a group control field I
D, includes a group control script that can be defined by the user and is sent to the group member, issued to the group member, the maximum number of members of the group, the maximum waiting time for group creation, and the participant list The group data table is used to count the number of participants and the waiting time based on the contact time, and when the maximum number of members constituting the group or the maximum waiting time for group generation described in the group data table is reached, the script is executed. The center device has a group data table management unit that requests the processing unit to transmit the group control script.
When the script processing unit receives the participation expression script from the user terminal via the communication control unit, the script processing unit requests the group data table management unit to count the participants and the waiting time, and transmits the participation expression script. The group control script is transmitted to the user terminal via the communication control unit.

In the present invention, each user interacts with the three-dimensional object existing in the virtual space to execute the participation expression in the group associated with the object. As a result, it is possible to dynamically generate a group without changing the operation method for moving in the virtual space and the information search, and without impairing the uniformity of the user interface. In addition, group definition conditions and object definitions for asserting participation are made possible by a simple language (script) provided by the system, the management information created by this is managed by the center device, and the management information is updated from the user terminal. Allows processing by sending a script. As a result, the participation announcement of each user is transmitted to the center device in the form of a script, and the group generation condition can be referred to by updating the management information held by the center device. Further, by activating the service to the group when the group generation condition is met and changing the state such as the position and shape change due to the service by transmitting a script from the center device to the user terminal that has become a group member, Group members can receive services at the same time.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, as an example of a multi-participation type communication service, each user terminal shares a virtual city model, and the user uses the input device of the terminal to identify his own coordinates in the city. Each terminal is moved to display the cityscape viewed from the corresponding coordinate position on its display device by using three-dimensional computer graphics, and further displays the coordinate position and orientation of itself to other participants and the center terminal. Each participant's terminal uses the received other participant's location and orientation to symbolize another participant moving within the same city.
The present invention relates to a virtual space communication service that also displays and displays a G image in a virtual city to realize communication among a plurality of participants and services in the virtual space.

As an embodiment, a user of this service existing in a room in a virtual space expresses his / her intention to participate in a virtual space game, and the participant enters another virtual space at the time when the participants gather. We will show a method to realize group generation in a multi-user game in a virtual space where everyone moves and participants start the game at the same time.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a three-dimensional virtual space communication service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The three-dimensional virtual space communication service system comprises a center device 1, a user terminal 2, and a network 3 connecting the center device 1 and the user terminal 2.
Although only one user terminal 2 is shown here, a plurality of user terminals 2 actually exist.

The center device 1 has a communication control unit 11, a script processing unit 12 that interprets a script transmitted from the user terminal 2 and executes a process, a group data table 13, and an update of the group data table 13. The group data table management unit 14 performs processing.

Table 1 is a table showing the contents of the group data table 13.

[0015]

[Table 1] Group data management table 14 is the group ID
A group control field ID that indicates the group control script, a group control script issued when a group generation condition described later is satisfied, the maximum number of members of the group, and a user who first made an expression of participation in the group in the system. The maximum waiting time for group generation, which is the maximum waiting time until the service is started after the confirmation is made, the participant list which is an attribute that the group data table management unit 14 updates at any time, and the waiting time count. The "service world" in the group control field means a world for the group, and for example, considering moving the capacity to the game room when the group is configured, this game room becomes the service world.

Upon receipt of the participation expression script from the user terminal 2 via the communication control unit 11, the script processing unit 12 notifies the group data table management unit 14 of the fact. The group data table management unit 14 refers to the group control field ID included as an argument in the participation assertion script to check whether the data is currently being updated in the memory. If the data is not being updated, the group data table 13 is read into the memory and the participant list and the waiting time count are initialized. After the initialization is completed, the reception of the participation expression script from the other user to the group is waited for, and the waiting time count is incremented every unit time.
When the current number of participants H reaches the maximum group number Hmax of the group data table 13 or the waiting time count T reaches the maximum group creation waiting time Tmax, it is determined that the group creation condition is satisfied and the group data table management is performed. The part 14 is the script processing part 1.
2 is requested to send the group control script of the group data table 13 concerned. The script processing unit 12 transmits the group control script to the user terminal 2 which has transmitted the participation expression script.

The user terminal 2 includes a communication control unit 21, a script processing unit 22 that interprets and executes a script transmitted from the center apparatus 1, three-dimensional virtual world model data (world data table 25 and group control field data). A virtual space generation unit 23 that realizes a virtual world by three-dimensional computer graphics on the user terminal 2 from the table 26), an object representing the user himself and other objects in the virtual space (in this case, A collision detection unit 24 that detects a collision (contact) of a group control field, and when the collision is detected, the current world ID, the group control field ID of the group control field in which the collision is detected, the user terminal 2 Data table management unit that passes the user ID of the user, contact time, etc. to the script processing unit 22 Consists of 7, the script processing unit 22 creates a group control field ID, a user ID, and participation representations script containing such contact time, and transmits the communication control unit 21, via the network 3 to the center device 1. The world data table 25 is table data for generating a certain world (room).

Tables 2 and 3 are world data table 25 and group control field data table 26 shown in FIG.
A configuration example of is shown. Table 2 is an example of a room in which the group control field is present. Further, "1" of the field data in Table 2 indicates the data table of the group control field shown in Table 3.

[0019]

[Table 2]

[0020]

[Table 3] The tables shown in Tables 2 and 3 are read in order to obtain information (field identifier in this case) necessary for initialization processing in the user terminal 2 and transmission of the user participation expression script to the center terminal 1. Be done.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the world generation initialization process.

The data table is managed by the adjacent world data table existing in the world data table before the movement, in order to read the additional data (here mainly the data relating to the group control field) of the world in which the user should exist. The unit 27 reads the world data table 25 after the movement (step 31).
Next, the virtual space generation unit 23 uses the world data table 2
A virtual world is generated by three-dimensional computer graphics from the three-dimensional virtual world model data in 5 (step 32). Next, when the field data (information) exists in the world data table 25, the data table management unit 27 and the virtual space generation unit 23 refer to these and refer to the object file in the field data and the coordinates in the virtual space. Then, a field is generated in the virtual space (steps 33 and 34). That is, regarding the group data table 13, the field (for example, existing on the floor of the world) exists only when the field data attribute of the corresponding world data table 25 has a value (that is, the group control field exists in that field). Matt).

FIG. 3 shows a group control field existing in the virtual space. FIG. 3 (1) is an objective view of a three-dimensional object symbolizing two users A and B existing in a room included in a virtual world and a group control field attached to the floor of the room. 3 (2) shows the state of the room as seen from the user's A field of view. The user represented by the three-dimensional object moves in the virtual space and contacts the group control field. By this processing, the user who comes into contact with the group control field expresses the intention to participate in the application associated with the field. As a result, the center apparatus 1 starts the management of the time and the number of people by referring to the maximum group generation waiting time and the maximum number of members of the group in the group data table 13 of the contacted field. In the fields shown in this embodiment, the maximum waiting time for group generation is 1 minute, and the maximum number of members in the group is 3. Further, when the user B contacts this group control field, the number of participants matches the condition set in the group control field, and the center device 1 sends a virtual world movement command script indicating the service content. The group data table management unit 14 sends a move command script to another virtual world held by the application associated with this field to these users based on the participant list that generated the group. The user terminal 2 interprets and executes the received script, moves the field of view to another virtual world, and further transmits a virtual space game service start script to these user terminals.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the group generation process. When one of the users belonging to the virtual world in which the group control field exists contacts the group control field, the participation expression script is transmitted from the user terminal 2 to the center device 1 (steps 41 and 42). The participation expression script has the group control field ID, user ID, and field contact time as its arguments. If the group associated with the field is already in the standby state, the group data table 13 of the group is updated (steps 43, 4).
5). Otherwise, the center device 1 that receives the participation expression script initializes the number of participants in the group,
The system waits for other users to make an announcement to the group (steps 43 and 44). Specifically, the number of participants and the group generation waiting time count are initialized. After the initialization is completed, the service start condition in the current group data table 13 is referred to (step 46), and if they match, the service content script is transmitted to the user terminal 2 (step 50). If they do not match, it enters a state of waiting for another user to announce that they will join the group. In the waiting state, waiting to receive the participation expression script from another user,
Further, the group generation waiting time count in the group data table 13 is updated (steps 47 and 48). When the participation expression script from another user is received, the number of participants in the group data table 13 is updated. If the group composition condition is met, that is, the number of participants reaches the maximum number of members of the group, or the group creation waiting time count reaches the group creation maximum waiting time,
The center apparatus 1 transmits the service start script (movement to another service world and game start script in this embodiment) in the group data table 13 (step 50). The script processing unit 22 on the user terminal 2 will process the received script and start the service (the game service in this embodiment).

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Communication with the center device is established by the user's interaction with the object in the virtual space, and the contents allow the group management information held by the center device to be updated. Dynamically create a group in a virtual space by predefining the time, referring to the participation expression script sent from each user terminal, and the group creation condition by the group creation waiting time that the center device updates from time to time. Since it is possible to realize generation and simultaneous service start to group members, and to check the information of the group participants who want to participate in the server, only the users who meet the characteristic conditions are accepted as group members, or those who want It is easy to add processing such as presenting conditions and requesting confirmation. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a three-dimensional virtual space communication service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a world data table initialization process.

FIG. 3 is a diagram (FIG. 2 (2)) showing a group control field (FIG. 1 (1)) existing in the virtual space, a group control field in the field of view of the user A, and another user object. .

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a group generation process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Center device 2 user terminals 11 Communication control unit 12 Script processing part 13 group data table 14 Group Data Table Management Department 21 Communication control unit 22 Script processing section 23 Virtual space generator 24 Data Table Management Department 25 World Data Table 26 Group control field data table 27 Collision detector 31-34 steps 41-50 steps

Front Page Continuation (56) References JP-A-7-163752 (JP, A) JP-A-8-77255 (JP, A) Yuichi Kojima, Cyber Space, FUJITSU, Japan, Fujitsu Limited, January 1995 10, Vol. 46, No. 1, p. 54 to 59 (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 13/00 G06F 3/14 G06F 17/60

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A three-dimensional virtual space communication service system in which a plurality of user terminals are connected to a center device via a communication line and a plurality of users share a three-dimensional virtual space by three-dimensional computer graphics. The user terminal includes a communication control unit, a collision detection unit that detects contact between an object that represents the user himself and a group control field that is another object in the virtual space, and 3D virtual world model data. A virtual space generation unit that realizes a virtual world by three-dimensional computer graphics, a data table management unit that manages the three-dimensional virtual world model data, and a collision is detected from the data table management unit when the contact is detected. Group control field ID, user terminal ID of the user terminal,
And a contact time are passed, and a script processing unit that creates a group participation expression script including these and transmits to the center device via the communication control unit and the network, the center device, Communication control part, script processing part, group control field ID, user can define,
A group control script including an instruction issued to the group member, issued to the group member, a maximum number of members of the group, a maximum waiting time for group generation, and a group data table including a participant list. , Counting the number of participants and waiting time based on the contact time, and when the maximum number of members of the group or the maximum waiting time for group generation described in the group data table is reached, the script processing unit is notified of the group. The group data table management unit has a group data table management unit that requests transmission of a control script, and when the script processing unit of the center device receives the participation expression script from the user terminal via the communication control unit, the group data table management unit Ask the department to count participants and waiting time, and join the participation table 3-dimensional virtual space communication service system sends a group control script to the user terminal transmitting the script via the communication control unit. 2. A third-order computer graph in which a plurality of users
3D virtual sky sharing a 3D virtual space
The inter-communication service system is configured, and multiple user terminals
A center device connected via a communication line, including a communication control unit, a script processing unit, and a group control file.
Field ID and user can be defined,
Sent to the group members sent by
Group control script including the command
Large number of members, maximum waiting time for group creation, participant list
Group data table including
And the waiting time is counted based on the contact time.
Yes, the groups listed in the group data table above
The maximum number of members or the maximum waiting time for group creation has been reached.
Then, the group processing screen is sent to the script processing unit.
Group data table management unit that requests sending of replies
And the script processing unit is configured to use the communication controller via the communication control unit.
From the user terminal, with the object that means the user
Another object in the virtual space where the collision was detected.
Group control field ID, use of the user terminal
Participation expression script including the person's terminal ID and contact time
To the group data table management unit
Ask participants to count their waiting time,
A group control screen is sent to the user terminal that sent the crypto.
A center device that transmits a lip via the communication control unit.