Three-dimensional virtual tour method and system
First Claim
1. In a computing environment, a method comprising:
- dividing a site comprised of polygons into a plurality of visibility regions, wherein each visibility region may include a plurality of viewing angles;
for each visibility region, determining which polygons of the site are potentially visible from within that visibility region;
constructing a visibility map in a computer readable storage medium for each visibility region, each map indicating the polygons of the site that are potentially visible from within that visibility region wherein constructing a visibility map for each visibility region comprises providing a bitmap having a plurality of bits, including at least one bit for each polygon in the site and corresponding to one of the polygons in the site, wherein the bits in the bitmap have a value indicative of whether their corresponding polygon is visible from within the visibility region; and
causing a change in a display based upon the visibility map.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system that archive a three-dimensional site in a highly-compact manner such that real-time, three-dimensional exploration and interaction with the site with high-resolution graphics is enabled. During authoring, information is collected about a site, and processed into a walkmap comprising a number of maps. A visibility map indicates which ones of the many polygons that make up a site are potentially visible from a given region. A collision map establishes where a can navigate in the site. A ground map tracks the terrain for reproducing camera heights and viewing angles, and a trigger map causes scripts to be fired from locations in the site. During navigation, only the maps relevant to a user'"'"'s current position are active, whereby rapid rendering of an appropriate image for the user'"'"'s current perspective is possible in real-time, providing a first person, perspective tour of the site in a perceived three-dimensional environment.
31 Citations
33 Claims
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1. In a computing environment, a method comprising:
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dividing a site comprised of polygons into a plurality of visibility regions, wherein each visibility region may include a plurality of viewing angles; for each visibility region, determining which polygons of the site are potentially visible from within that visibility region; constructing a visibility map in a computer readable storage medium for each visibility region, each map indicating the polygons of the site that are potentially visible from within that visibility region wherein constructing a visibility map for each visibility region comprises providing a bitmap having a plurality of bits, including at least one bit for each polygon in the site and corresponding to one of the polygons in the site, wherein the bits in the bitmap have a value indicative of whether their corresponding polygon is visible from within the visibility region; and causing a change in a display based upon the visibility map. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for presenting a virtual tour of a site comprised of visible polygons, comprising:
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an archiving process that
1) divides the site into a plurality of visibility regions that may each correspond to a plurality of viewing angles, and
2) for each visibility region, determines which polygons of the site are potentially visible from within that visibility region;a walkmap constructed via the archiving process, the walkmap including a visibility map corresponding to each visibility region, each visibility map indicating the polygons of the site that are potentially visible from the corresponding region, wherein each visibility map corresponds to a bitmap, each bitmap including, for each polygon of the site, at least one bit representing whether or not that polygon is potentially visible from the visibility region that corresponds to the visibility map; a transfer medium for recording the walkmap in association with polygon data; executable program code that receives commands from an input mechanism, the commands positioning a user camera in a position in a current visibility region of the site; and a visible surface determination engine in communication with the executable program code to obtain the position, the visible surface determination engine configured to
1) access a current visibility map corresponding to the current visibility region,
2) determine which polygons identified via the current visibility map are visible from the position, and
3) communicate corresponding polygon data to a graphics subsystem to render an image corresponding to the polygon data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:
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a plurality of polygons of a site, each polygon comprising polygon data that enables that polygon to be rendered on a display; a plurality of visibility maps, each visibility map corresponding to a distinct region of the site, each visibility map including data indicative of whether each polygon of the site is potentially viewable from the region that corresponds to that visibility map, wherein each visibility map corresponds to a bitmap, each bitmap including, for each polygon of the site, at least one bit representing whether or not that polygon is potentially visible from the visibility region that corresponds to the visibility map; and wherein for any position in the site, a corresponding one of the visibility maps is accessible to determine the polygons of the site that are potentially visible from that position. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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receiving a request to navigate to a location in a site; in response to the request, establishing a position and viewing perspective corresponding to the location; accessing a visibility map based on the position, the visibility map indicating polygons of the site that are potentially visible from the viewing perspective, wherein each visibility map may include a plurality of viewing perspectives, wherein each visibility map corresponds to a bitmap, each bitmap including, for each polygon of the site, at least one bit representing whether or not that polygon is potentially visible from the visibility region that corresponds to the visibility map; determining from the position and viewing perspective which of the polygons of the site that are potentially visible are within a viewing angle corresponding to the viewing perspective; and providing data corresponding to the polygons that are within the viewing angle to the graphics subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification