STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING INPUT PROCESSING PROGRAM STORED THEREON AND INPUT PROCESSING DEVICE

• US 20100194752A1
• Filed: 04/19/2010
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: KONNO, Hideki, AJIOKA, Yoshitaka, EBISAWA, Yasushi, MIZUKI, Kiyoshi
• Application Number:
  US12/762,734
• Publication Number:
  US 20100194752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An input processing program for displaying a virtual 3-dimensional space and causing a computer to execute: a virtual plane setting step for setting a virtual plane in the virtual 3-dimensional space; a 2-dimensional coordinate detection step for detecting 2-dimensional coordinates inputted by a pointing device; an on-virtual plane moving step for moving a predetermined object on the virtual plane based on the 2-dimensional coordinates; an in-3-dimensional-space moving step for moving the object in the virtual 3-dimensional space out of the virtual plane, according to a predetermined input condition, and a display control step for displaying the object which is moved in the on-virtual plane moving step and the in-3-dimensional-space moving step and represented in the virtual 3-dimensional space.

Claims

1. A non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon an input processing program executed by a computer in an input processing device for displaying a virtual 3-dimensional space, including a display screen and a pointing device for inputting corresponding 2-dimensional coordinates on the display screen, the input processing program causing the computer to execute:

a virtual plane setting step for setting a virtual plane in the virtual 3-dimensional space;

a 2-dimensional coordinate detection step for detecting the 2-dimensional coordinates inputted from the pointing device;

an on-virtual plane moving step for moving a predetermined object on the virtual plane based on the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step;

an in-3-dimensional-space moving step for moving the object in the virtual 3-dimensional space out of the virtual plane, according to a predetermined input condition, and

a display control step for displaying, on the display screen, the object which is moved in the on-virtual plane moving step and the in-3-dimensional-space moving step and represented in the virtual 3-dimensional space.

2. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the display screen is a touch sensitive display screen.

3. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the 2-dimensional coordinates inputted from the pointing device are inputted as a series of coordinates inputted as the pointing device is dragged across the display screen.

4. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the virtual plane is a two-dimensional plane

5. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the virtual plane is on a virtual curved surface.

6. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the predetermined input condition is lifting the pointing device from the display screen.

7. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the in-3-dimensional-space moving step occurs after the on-virtual plane moving step.

8. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the on-virtual plane moving step includes moving the predetermined object to a position on the virtual plane corresponding to the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step.

9. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 1 wherein the on-virtual plane moving step includes moving the predetermined object to positions on the virtual plane corresponding to a continuous series of the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step, and

the in-3-dimensional-space moving step begins when the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step detects the pointing device ceasing the input of the 2-dimensional coordinates.

10. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 9 wherein in the display control step includes changing a display angle of the predetermined object projected on the virtual plane when an input from the pointing device based on 2-dimensional coordinates continuously inputted by the pointing device.

11. The non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon the input processing program according to claim 9 wherein when an input from the pointing device is determined as being continuously inputted, a display angle of the predetermined object projected on the virtual plane is controlled based on the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step, and

in the in-3-dimensional-space moving step, an initial normal vector of the predetermined object is set according to the display angle, and a motion trajectory in the virtual 3-dimensional space is calculated based on the initial normal vector, wherein the movement of the object in the virtual 3-dimensional space is based on the motion trajectory.

12. An input processing device, comprising:

a display screen adapted to display a projection of a virtual 3-dimensional space;

a pointing device adapted to input corresponding 2-dimensional coordinates on the display screen;

a virtual plane setting means for setting a virtual plane in the virtual 3-dimensional space;

a 2-dimensional coordinate detection means for detecting the 2-dimensional coordinates inputted from the pointing device;

an on-virtual plane moving means for moving a predetermined virtual object in the virtual plane based on the 2-dimensional coordinates detected by the 2-dimensional coordinate detection means;

an in-3-dimensional-space moving means for moving the predetermined virtual object in the virtual 3-dimensional space out of the virtual plane according to a predetermined input condition, and

a display control means for displaying on the display screen the movements of the predetermined virtual object by the on-virtual plane moving means and the in-3-dimensional-space moving means.

13. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein the 2-dimensional coordinates inputted from the pointing device are inputted as a series of coordinates inputted as the pointing device is moved across the display screen.

14. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein the virtual plane is a curved plane.

15. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein the predetermined input condition is lifting the pointing device from the display screen.

16. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein the on-virtual plane moving step includes moving the predetermined virtual object to a position on the virtual plane corresponding to the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step.

17. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein the on-virtual plane moving step includes displaying the predetermined virtual object at positions on the virtual plane corresponding to a continuous series of the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step, and

the in-3-dimensional-space moving step begins when the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step detects the pointing device ceasing the input of the continuous series of 2-dimensional coordinates.

18. An input processing device of claim 12 wherein in the display control step includes controlling a display angle of the predetermined virtual object to be projected on the virtual plane when an input from the pointing device is determined as being continuously inputted.

19. An input processing device of claim 12 when an input from the pointing device is determined as being continuously conducted, a display angle of the predetermined virtual object is projected on the virtual plane in the display control step and the display angle is controlled based on the 2-dimensional coordinates detected in the 2-dimensional coordinate detection step, and

in the in-3-dimensional-space moving step, an initial normal vector of the predetermined virtual object is set according to the display angle, and a motion trajectory in the virtual 3-dimensional space is calculated based on the initial normal vector, wherein the movement of the predetermined virtual object in the virtual 3-dimensional space is based on the motion trajectory.

20. An interactive processing device comprising:

a display screen adapted to display a projection from a virtual three dimensional space;

a pointing device adapted to input to the device 2-dimensional coordinates corresponding to positions on the display screen;

a processor in communication with the display screen and receiving the input from the pointing device, the processor accessing a memory unit storing on non-transitory tangible media a program executed by the processor to generate a virtual object shown on the display screen, the program causing the processor to;

set a virtual plane in the virtual 3-dimensional space;

detect the 2-dimensional coordinates inputted by the pointing device;

moving the virtual object on the virtual plane according to the detected 2-dimensional coordinates;

moving the virtual object out of the virtual plane upon detection of a predetermined input from the pointing device, and

displaying on the display screen the movements of the virtual object in the virtual plane and out of the virtual plane.