COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD

• US 20110304699A1
• Filed: 06/06/2011
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HAL Laboratory, Inc., Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: HAL Laboratory, Inc., Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ito, Yuichiro, Nishimura, Yuki
• Granted Patent: US 8,970,678 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/47
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5252 using two or more virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character changes room or displaying a rear-mirror view in a car-driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5255 according to dedicated instructions from a player, e.g. using a secondary joystick to rotate the camera around a player's character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/655 by importing photos, e.g. of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/306 for displaying a marker associated to an object or location in the game field
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6669 using a plurality of virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character change rooms
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6676 by dedicated player input
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/69 Involving elements of the real world in the game world, e.g. measurement in live races, real video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/695 Imported photos, e.g. of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/117 the virtual viewpoint locations being selected by the viewers or determined by viewer tracking

Abstract

First, a stereoscopic vision reference distances is individually determined for each virtual object disposed in a virtual space, based on a depth position of each of the virtual objects. Next, each of the virtual objects is rendered and combined based on one pair of virtual cameras such that a relative position, with respect to the screen of a stereoscopic display device, of a virtual object, viewed by a user through a screen of the stereoscopic display device, matches a relative position of the virtual object with respect to a stereoscopic vision reference surface for the virtual object in the virtual space.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon An image display program for stereoscopically displaying a virtual object, which is disposed in a virtual space, on a screen of a stereoscopic-viewing-enabling stereoscopic display device via a rendition of the virtual object with a usage of one pair of virtual cameras, the image display program causing a computer to operate as:

stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means for determining a stereoscopic vision reference distance, which is a distance in an imaging direction from the one pair of virtual cameras and which is used as a reference for a sense of depth of stereoscopic vision, so as to change in accordance with an imaging distance which is a distance from the virtual cameras to the virtual object in the imaging direction;

virtual camera setting means for setting the one pair of virtual cameras such that each of which obtains a view volume providing a predetermined sense of depth for the stereoscopic vision reference distance determined by the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means; and

stereoscopic display control means for stereoscopically displaying the virtual object on the screen of the stereoscopic display device by using one pair of virtual images generated by imaging the virtual object with the one pair of virtual cameras set by the virtual camera setting means.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined sense of depth is a sense of depth matching that obtained from the screen of the stereoscopic display device.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the image display program further causes the computer to operate as:

recognition means for recognizing, among one pair of real world images taken by one pair of imaging sections, a predetermined recognition target from at least one of the real world images; and

positional relationship determination means for determining a relative positional relationship between the one pair of virtual cameras and a predetermined point corresponding to the recognition target in the virtual space, based on a position of the recognition target in the at least one of the real world images, and

the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance in accordance with a difference between the imaging distance and a distance from the one pair of virtual cameras to the predetermined point in the imaging direction.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance in accordance with a difference between the imaging distance and a first basis distance which is a basis for determining the stereoscopic vision reference distance.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein, as the imaging distance becomes larger than the first basis distance, the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance so as to be closer to the imaging distance than the first basis distance.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein

when a plurality of virtual objects exist in the virtual space, the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means individually determines a stereoscopic vision reference distance for each of the plurality of virtual objects, and

the stereoscopic display control means generates the virtual image by respectively generating images of the plurality of virtual objects by individually rendering the plurality of virtual objects based on respective stereoscopic vision reference distances, and by combining the obtained images of the plurality of virtual objects.

7. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein as a depth position of the virtual object shifts closer from a first depth position to a second depth position that is disposed on a side on which the one pair of virtual cameras exist with respect to the first depth position, the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object such that a position at the stereoscopic vision reference distance shifts closer to that of the one pair of virtual cameras and such that a relative position of the virtual object with respect to the stereoscopic vision reference distance shifts toward a side on which the one pair of virtual cameras exist.

8. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein when the virtual object is disposed at a predetermined depth position, the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object such that a relative position of the virtual object with respect to the stereoscopic vision reference distance becomes a predetermined relative position.

9. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 wherein,

the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means,

when the virtual object is disposed at a first depth position, determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object such that a relative position of the virtual object with respect to the stereoscopic vision reference distance becomes a first relative position,

when the virtual object is disposed at a second depth position, determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object such that the relative position of the virtual object with respect to the stereoscopic vision reference distance becomes a second relative position, and

when the virtual object is disposed between the first depth position and the second depth position, determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object in accordance with a relative position of the virtual object with respect to the first depth position and the second depth position.

10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein when the virtual object is disposed between the first depth position and the second depth position, the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance for the virtual object based on a ratio of a distance between the first depth position and the second depth position and a distance between the depth position of the virtual object and the second depth position.

11. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein

the second depth position is disposed further toward a side of the one pair of virtual cameras than the first depth position, and

the second relative position is disposed further toward a side of the one pair of virtual cameras than the first relative position.

12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the second relative position is a relative position in which a depth position at the stereoscopic vision reference distance is identical to that of the virtual object.

13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein a relative positional relationship between the first depth position and the second depth position changes depending on a situation.

14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein a relative position of the first depth position with respect to the one pair of virtual cameras is variable, and the relative position of the second depth position with respect to the one pair of virtual cameras is fixed.

15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the image display program further causes the computer to operate as:

recognition means for recognizing, among one pair of real world images taken by one pair imaging sections, a predetermined recognition target from at least one of the real world images; and

positional relationship determination means for determining a relative positional relationship between the one pair of virtual cameras and the first depth position, based on a position of the recognition target in the at least one of the real world images.

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the stereoscopic display control means generates a stereoscopic image to be displayed on the stereoscopic display device, by sequentially combining the one pair of the real world images respectively with one pair of images of the virtual object sequentially generated by using the one pair of virtual cameras.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the image display program further causes the computer to operate as first relative position determination means for determining the first relative position in accordance with a distance between the one pair of virtual cameras and the first depth position.

18. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic display control means generates a stereoscopic image of the virtual object in accordance with the stereoscopic vision reference distance determined by the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means by changing a stereoscopic vision reference point which is a point at the stereoscopic vision reference distance and which is distant equally from the one pair of virtual cameras.

19. An image display apparatus for stereoscopically displaying a virtual object, which is disposed in a virtual space, on a screen of a stereoscopic-viewing-enabling stereoscopic display device via a rendition of the virtual object with a usage of one pair of virtual cameras, the image display apparatus comprising:

stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means for determining a stereoscopic vision reference distance, which is a distance in an imaging direction from the one pair of virtual cameras and which is used as a reference for a sense of depth of stereoscopic vision, so as to change in accordance with an imaging distance which is a distance from the virtual cameras to the virtual object in the imaging direction;

virtual camera setting means for setting the one pair of virtual cameras such that each of which obtains a view volume providing a predetermined sense of depth for the stereoscopic vision reference distance determined by the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means; and

stereoscopic display control means for stereoscopically displaying the virtual object on the screen of the stereoscopic display device by using one pair of virtual images generated by imaging the virtual object with the one pair of virtual cameras set by the virtual camera setting means.

20. An image display system for stereoscopically displaying a virtual object, which is disposed in a virtual space, on a screen of a stereoscopic-viewing-enabling stereoscopic display device via a rendition of the virtual object with a usage of one pair of virtual cameras, the image display system comprising:

stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means for determining a stereoscopic vision reference distance, which is a distance in an imaging direction from the one pair of virtual cameras and which is used as a reference for a sense of depth of stereoscopic vision, so as to change in accordance with an imaging distance which is a distance from the virtual cameras to the virtual object in the imaging direction;

virtual camera setting means for setting the one pair of virtual cameras such that each of which obtains a view volume providing a predetermined sense of depth for the stereoscopic vision reference distance determined by the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means; and

stereoscopic display control means for stereoscopically displaying the virtual object on the screen of the stereoscopic display device by using one pair of virtual images generated by imaging the virtual object with the one pair of virtual cameras set by the virtual camera setting means.

21. The image display system according to claim 20, further comprising:

a predetermined recognition target;

recognition means for recognizing, among one pair of real world images taken by one pair of imaging sections, the predetermined recognition target from at least one of the real world images; and

positional relationship determination means for determining a relative positional relationship between the one pair of virtual cameras and a predetermined point in the virtual space corresponding to the recognition target, based on a position of the recognition target in the at least one of the real world images, and

the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination means determines the stereoscopic vision reference distance in accordance with a difference between the imaging distance and a distance from the one pair of virtual cameras to the predetermined point in the imaging direction.

22. An image display method for stereoscopically displaying a virtual object, which is disposed in a virtual space, on a screen of a stereoscopic-viewing-enabling stereoscopic display device via a rendition of the virtual object with a usage of one pair of virtual cameras, the method comprising:

a stereoscopic vision reference distance determination step of determining a stereoscopic vision reference distance, which is a distance in an imaging direction from the one pair of virtual cameras and which is used as a reference for a sense of depth of stereoscopic vision, so as to change in accordance with an imaging distance which is a distance from the virtual cameras to the virtual object in the imaging direction;

a virtual camera setting step of setting the one pair of virtual cameras such that each of which obtains a view volume that provides a predetermined sense of depth for the stereoscopic vision reference distance determined at the stereoscopic vision reference distance determination step; and

a stereoscopic display control step of stereoscopically displaying the virtual object on the screen of the stereoscopic display device with a usage of one pair of virtual images generated from images of the virtual object obtained by the one pair of virtual cameras set at the virtual camera setting step.