Apparatus and method for three dimensional manipulation of point of view and object
First Claim
1. For use with a programmable digital computer having a visual display means capable of displaying a pointer, and a user-operated pointing device for controlling the location of said pointer on said display means, a virtual reality program comprisingcode to cause said computer to display on said display means a three dimensional scene as seen from a selected point of view and containing a representation of at least one object;
- code to cause said computer to display on said display means at least a first button area and a second button area;
and code to cause said computer to change the selected point of view of said scene in a prescribed manner when said first button area is invaded by said pointer, and to move said object within said scene in a prescribed manner when said object is selected in a prescribed manner and said second button area is invaded by said pointer.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and related method permit viewer navigation and object manipulation within a three-dimensional graphical experience or "virtual world" displayed by a programmable digital computer. The apparatus and method include the display of a series of six buttons. Twenty-four operations are divided among the six buttons, with each button having two pairs of cooperating or complementary operations. Three of the buttons are used to accomplish movement of the viewer in relation to the three-dimensional virtual world, and the other three buttons are used to manipulate selected objects within the virtual world. A mouse cursor is used to select one of the buttons and to activate one of four quadrants associated with the selected button to accomplish the operation associated with the activated quadrant. When a button is selected, it expands from its inactivated or "at rest" state to a larger, activated state. Two adjacent quadrants may be activated to perform two operations concurrently. The speed of the movement is directly proportional to the distance of the mouse cursor from a dead zone in the selected button, thereby allowing the user to regulate the movement speed by appropriately positioning the mouse cursor. A software program displays the buttons, determines which of the buttons is activated, and calculates the amount, speed and direction of viewer movement or object manipulation as a function of the position of the mouse cursor.
102 Citations
34 Claims
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1. For use with a programmable digital computer having a visual display means capable of displaying a pointer, and a user-operated pointing device for controlling the location of said pointer on said display means, a virtual reality program comprising
code to cause said computer to display on said display means a three dimensional scene as seen from a selected point of view and containing a representation of at least one object; -
code to cause said computer to display on said display means at least a first button area and a second button area; and code to cause said computer to change the selected point of view of said scene in a prescribed manner when said first button area is invaded by said pointer, and to move said object within said scene in a prescribed manner when said object is selected in a prescribed manner and said second button area is invaded by said pointer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a programmable digital computer having a visual display means capable of displaying a pointer, coupled with a user-operated pointing device for controlling the location of the pointer on the display means, a method comprising:
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displaying on the display means a three dimensional scene as seen from a selected point of view and containing a representation of at least one object; displaying on the display means at least a first button area and a second button area; and changing the selected point of view of the scene in a prescribed manner when the first button area is invaded by the pointer, and moving the object within the scene in a prescribed manner when the object is selected in a prescribed manner and the second button area is invaded by the pointer. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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Specification