Rapid terrain model generation with 3-D object features and user customization interface

• US 6,229,546 B1
• Filed: 09/08/1998
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Geosoftware, Inc.
• Inventors: Lancaster, J. Justin, Bell, Christopher J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Cliff N.
• Application Number:
  US09/149,475
• Time in Patent Office: 973 Days
• Field of Search: 345/418, 345/419, 345/420, 345/423, 345/424, 345/425, 345/427, 345/429, 345/430, 345/431
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics

Abstract

A method and system 5 for generating a three-dimensional world model for simulated real terrain optimized for a personal computer. Terrain data and other environmental data are acquired from at least one of a plurality of digital data sources 9 through an acquisition step 20 and the acquired data are processed in a transformation and formatting step 25 to construct a predetermined intermediate database format 30, from which intermediate database, in response to a user query 40, introduced through a query interface program 45 that is visible on a personal computer monitor 11, the data are further extracted, processed and composited in a formatting step 32 to create a three-dimensional world model file 35. The 3-D world model format 35 is optimized for a particular imaging system, preferably a browser that renders standard Virtual Reality Modeling Language 2.0 specification files, that allows the 3-D model to be viewed and navigated on the computer monitor 11. In formatting step 32 the terrain surface can be colored and textured automatically by the system corresponding to geographic database layers, and natural and man-made structures can be made to populate the terrain skin as 3-D objects in the composited world model 35. The method and system 5 allow a personal computer user to query the system for any geographic location for which source data are available and to adjust the geographic extent of the 3-D world 35 per the user'"'"'s preference aided by expert system guidance.

Claims

1. In a computer system having (i) a digital processor, (ii) working memory and (iii) input/output units including input means and a display monitor, a terrain model rapid generation system, comprising:

an intermediate data file holding indications/representations of elevation vertices;

an extractor and formatter responsive to user input and loosely coupled to the intermediate data file for extracting a subset of vertices from the intermediate data file, combining these vertices into an array and formatting said array into an output specification for a three-dimensional geometric configuration, said specification supporting display of a three-dimensional world model including geographic terrain details; and

a user interface coupled to the extractor and formatter for enabling user input of instructions through the input means, said instructions directing the extractor and formatter;

wherein the digital processor executes the extractor and formatter and user interface in the working memory to generate and display the three-dimensional world model through the display monitor for user viewing.

2. A terrain model rapid generation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a translator coupled to the intermediate data file, the translator for translating elevation vertices in input files from a standard United States government format into a format of the intermediate data file.

3. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 2, wherein the extractor and formatter further merge a plurality of input files to produce a single output file of different extent than any one of the input files, said output specification being formed of the output file.

4. A terrain model rapid generation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

means for acquiring remote terrain data files; and

a transformer coupled between the acquiring means and the intermediate data file for transforming acquired remote terrain data files into the intermediate data file.

5. A terrain model rapid generation system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user interface enables user input of latitude and longitude coordinates of a centering point and latitude and longitude areal extent about said center point;

and

wherein the extractor and formatter generate a specification that supports display of a three-dimensional model of said longitude and latitude coordinate centering point and surrounding area, including geographic terrain details of said area.

6. A terrain model rapid generation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

a query manager subsystem coupled between the user interface and the extractor and formatter, the query manager subsystem defining the subset of vertices to be extracted from the intermediate data file.

7. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 6, wherein said query manager subsystem includes means for overlaying a bitmap image upon the displayed 3D world model.

8. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 6, wherein said query manager subsystem further creates and inserts computer programming objects that simulate 3D real-world objects, including color and texture for simulating real-world appearances, for installation upon the displayed 3D world model.

9. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 6, wherein said query manager subsystem further selects a specified location.

10. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 6, wherein said query manager subsystem further selects output features and appearance of surface of the terrain.

11. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 6, wherein said query manager subsystem further selects vertical exaggeration.

12. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 1, wherein format of the output specification is one of OpenFlight, VRML 2.0, *.xyz, *.obj, *.3ds, *.dxf, *.dgn, and *.pgn.

13. A terrain model rapid-generation system as in claim 1, wherein the user input instructions include location and extents specified by one of a conventional GIS (Geographic Information System) means and a GPS (Geographic Positioning System) means.

14. A method for rapidly generating a computer-based terrain model comprising the steps of:

providing computing means including an intermediate database of terrain vertices;

using a query manager executed by the computing means, extracting a set of terrain vertices from the intermediate database based on a latitude-longitude center location and geographic extents, the extracted set of terrain vertices corresponding to said latitude-longitude center location and geographic extents; and

constructing a three-dimensional world model format instruction based on the extracted terrain vertices, said constructed instruction supporting display of a three-dimensional terrain model of a geographic area defined by said latitude-longitude center location and said geographic extents.

15. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, further comprising:

rendering from the format instructions an image of the three-dimensional model, and displaying said image.

16. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 15, further comprising:

implementing format instructions for building a 3D model in at least one of the formats of “

*.3ds”

, “

*.dxf”

, “

*.obj”

, “

*.dgn”

, “

*.png”

, “

*.max”

, “

*.wrl”

, “

*xyz”

, “

OpenFlight”

, and “

LightWave”

.

17. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, further comprising:

writing the three-dimensional world model format instruction to a file on a storage disk.

18. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 17, further comprising:

implementing format instructions for building a three-dimensional model in at least one of the formats of “

*.3ds”

, “

*.dxf”

, “

*.obj”

, “

*.dgn”

, “

*.png”

, “

*.max”

, “

*.wrl”

, “

*xyz”

, “

OpenFlight”

, and “

LightWave”

.

19. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, wherein said intermediate database is greater in latitude extent than one degree latitude and/or is greater in longitudinal extent than one degree of geographic data.

20. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, wherein the intermediate database comprises “

3-arc-second”

USGS terrain data for the 48 contiguous states on less than about 1300 Mbytes.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20 further comprising the step of merging a plurality of input files from a standard U.S. government format of the terrain data to produce a single output file of different geographic extent than any one of the input files, said constructed instruction being formed of the output file.

22. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14 wherein the extracting and constructing of a three-dimensional world-model format instruction is accomplished by the computing system in less working time than the time required for accessing and building similar output from an original terrain data source file.

23. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, further comprising:

preparing any two-dimensional image in a geographic information system; and

applying said two-dimensional image via one of a standard format of “

*.bmp”

, “

*.jpeg”

, “

*.gif”

, and “

*.tiff”

to the terrain surface as a terrain skin.

24. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 14, further comprising:

creating a library of three-dimensional objects described and stored in object-oriented computer programming code;

instancing the computer code objects singly or repeatedly within the 3D terrain model;

coloring and texturing the instances of computer code objects to simulate real-world appearance; and

placing the colored and textured objects in the three-dimensional terrain model at specific geographic coordinates.

25. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 23, further comprising:

revising the two-dimensional image based on movement of a user'"'"'s viewpoint during navigation within the three-dimensional terrain model, such revising including updating format instructions from an environmental systems model coupled to the query manager.

26. A method for rapidly generating a terrain model as in claim 23, wherein the two-dimensional image is downloaded from the Internet, World Wide Web or combination of WWW calls assisted by a geographic information system interface.

27. A method for using a rapidly generated computer-based terrain model to visualize geographic locations and navigate through simulations of the geographic locations, comprising the steps of:

accessing an intermediate database through a query manager interface to extract elevation vertices of a desired geographic location;

converting the extracted elevation vertices into a three-dimensional world terrain model in a specified output format;

navigating through an image of the three-dimensional world terrain model using a standard WWW browser interface; and

hyperlinking from within the three-dimensional world terrain model via a universal resource locator address.

28. A method for using a rapidly generated terrain model as in claim 27, further comprising:

exporting output models in a specified format to a conventional three-dimensional model authoring tool for enhancing and/or revising the three-dimensional world terrain model; and

revisualizing the revised three-dimensional world terrain model in a computer display device.

29. A method for using a rapidly generated terrain model as in claim 27, further comprising:

choosing a surface color for the output format of the three-dimensional world terrain model from a selection of multiple alternative choices presented by the query manager.

30. A method for using a rapidly generated terrain model as in claim 27, further comprising:

choosing an appropriate vertical exaggeration for the elevation vertices as desired by the user.

31. A method for using a rapidly generated terrain model as in claim 27, further comprising:

choosing a two-dimensional image to be overlayed on the surface of the three-dimensional world terrain model, and

merging the two-dimensional image onto the three-dimensional world terrain model surface within the output format.

32. A method of populating a three-dimensional terrain model surface with three-dimensional computer objects based upon a percentage of spatial density for each object type, comprising:

starting at a geographic point on a given model surface, to evaluate for placement of one or more three-dimensional object types;

for one or more three-dimensional object types of an available three-dimensional object library, specifying as a percentage an appropriate spatial density corresponding to said geographic point or geographic region containing said point;

obtaining a random value between zero and one;

comparing the random value to the spatial density specified for a first object type;

placing a first three-dimensional object of the first object type at a point on the given model surface if the random value is not greater than the spatial density for said first object type;

placing subsequent three-dimensional object types if the random value is greater than the sum of the spatial densities for the previous object types and not more than that sum plus the spatial density for the current object type; and

advancing to a subsequent geographic point within the model surface for the next evaluation cycle.

33. A method of populating a three-dimensional terrain surface with three-dimensional computer objects based upon percentage spatial density for each object type as in claim 32, wherein the three-dimensional object types are trees, rocks, building or other natural or manmade objects.