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Rapid and efficient terrain surface finding system

  • US 5,990,896 A
  • Filed: 09/30/1996
  • Issued: 11/23/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. In a virtual reality environment, in which a virtual reality scene having a 3D terrain with a surface representing ground is displayed on a computer monitor under control of a computer, a system for quickly finding a point on said terrain representing ground so as to permit the location of a graphical object thereon, comprising:

  • means for characterizing said terrain in terms of polygons;

    means for defining as said point the intersection of a ray representing the direction of gravity with the surface of one of said polygons, thus to establish a point on said terrain at which said graphical object is to be located if a point on said graphical object is to rest on said ground; and

    ,means for selecting a subset of said polygons to be examined for the intersection of said ray, thus to eliminate the necessity for examining all polygons making up said terrain, said selecting means including means for rotating said 3D terrain in accordance with a preferred direction and for projecting said rotated terrain into a 2D plane.

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