Display control device and display control program

• US 20080188301A1
• Filed: 03/22/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Kawamoto, Kouichi, Takahata, Satoru
• Granted Patent: US 9,092,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/36 Level of detail

Abstract

A game device stores data of news information related to a plurality of news locations on a map. The game device divides the news locations into groups, and sets a determination region for each group. Further, the game device receives an input of designating a position in a display region from the user. When the designated position is within a determination region, news information related to one or more news locations included in a group corresponding to the determination region is displayed on a display device.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium storing a display control program which is executed by a computer of a display control device for displaying a virtual space and display information on a display device, wherein

the display control device comprises a storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of the display information in relation to locations in the virtual space,

the program causes the computer to execute:

a display position comparing step of comparing positions in a display region of the display device of the locations to which the plurality of pieces of display information are related;

a group setting step of setting a group of pieces of display information for which a distance between the locations is smaller than a predetermined first reference, based on a result of the comparison in the display position comparing step, thereby dividing the plurality of pieces of display information into a plurality of groups;

a region setting step of setting a determination region corresponding to each of the groups in the display region;

a first display control step of displaying an image of the virtual space on the display device;

a first input receiving step of receiving an input designating a position in the display region from a user; and

a second display control step of, when the designated position is present within the determination region, displaying the display information included in a group corresponding to the determination region on the display device using data stored in the storage means.

2. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, in the group setting step, the computer repeatedly executes a process of newly setting one group for predetermined display information for which a group has not been set, and putting, into the group, display information related to a location having a smaller distance from a location related to the display information in the display region than a predetermined distance, until no display information for which a group has not been set remains.

3. The storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the storage means further stores a predetermined second reference for setting a region with respect to a position in the display region of each location,

in the group setting step, the computer sets the predetermined distance based on the second reference,

in the region setting step, the computer sets a region for a location to which a predetermined piece of display information included in a group is related, based on the second reference, as a determination region corresponding to the group.

4. The storage medium according to claim 3, wherein the determination region is a circular region having a radius of a first length, and the storage means stores the first length as the second reference, and

in the group setting step, the computer sets the predetermined distance to be a length two times larger than the first length.

5. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the determination region is a circular region having a position in the display region of the location as a center thereof.

6. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, in the region setting step, the computer sets a region including all locations to which display information included in a group is related, as a determination region for the group.

7. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the storage means further stores a predetermined second reference for setting a region for a position in the display region of each location, and

in the region setting step, the computer sets a region for each location to which display information included in a group is related, based on the second reference, and sets each set region as a determination region corresponding to the group.

8. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, in the region setting step, the computer calculates a position in the display region based on a display position of each location to which display information included in a group is related, and sets a region including the calculated position as a determination region corresponding to the group.

9. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, in the first display control step, the computer displays an image of the virtual space and an image representing a group in relation to a position of the determination region corresponding to the group.

10. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, in the second display control step, the computer displays a list of display information included in a group corresponding to the determination region when the designated position is present within the determination region.

11. The storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the display control program causes the computer to further execute:

a second input receiving step of receiving an input of selecting display information from the list of display information displayed in the second display control step, and

a third display control step of, when display information is selected in the second input receiving step, displaying the selected display information on the display device.

12. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the virtual space is a three-dimensional space, and

the display control program causes the computer to further execute:

a camera setting step of changeably setting at least one of a position, an attitude, and a visual field angle of a virtual camera provided in the three-dimensional space; and

a display position calculating step of calculating a display position of the location based on the setting of the virtual camera,

in the group setting step, the computer sets a group based on the display position calculated in the display position calculating step, and

in the first display control step, the computer generates an image of the three-dimensional space based on the setting of the virtual camera and displays the image on the display device.

13. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the virtual space is a two-dimensional space,

the display control program causes the computer to further execute a display setting step of changeably setting a size of a region to be displayed in the two-dimensional space, and

in the first display control step, the computer displays an image in the region set in the display setting step on the display device.

14. A display control device for displaying a virtual space and display information on a display device, comprising:

a storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of the display information in relation to locations in the virtual space;

a display position comparing means for comparing positions in a display region of the display device of the locations to which the plurality of pieces of display information are related;

a group setting means for setting a group of pieces of display information for which a distance between the locations is smaller than a predetermined first reference, based on a result of the comparison in the display position comparing step, thereby dividing the plurality of pieces of display information into a plurality of groups;

a region setting means for setting a determination region corresponding to each of the groups in the display region;

a first display control means for displaying an image of the virtual space on the display device;

a first input receiving means for receiving an input designating a position in the display region from a user; and

a second display control means for, when the designated position is present within the determination region, displaying the display information included in a group corresponding to the determination region on the display device using data stored in the storage means.

15. A data distributing system comprising a display control device for displaying a virtual space and display information on a display device, and a server capable of communicating with the display control device, wherein

the server transmits distribution data indicating relations between locations in the virtual space and a plurality of pieces of the display information, to the display control device, and

the display control device comprises:

a display position comparing means for comparing positions in a display region of the display device of the locations to which the plurality of pieces of display information are related;

a group setting means for setting a group of pieces of display information for which a distance between the locations is smaller than a predetermined first reference, based on a result of the comparison in the display position comparing step, thereby dividing the plurality of pieces of display information into a plurality of groups;

a region setting means for setting a determination region corresponding to each of the groups in the display region;

a first display control means for displaying an image of the virtual space on the display device;

a first input receiving means for receiving an input designating a position in the display region from a user; and

a second display control means for, when the designated position is present within the determination region, displaying the display information included in a group corresponding to the determination region on the display device using data stored in the storage means.