System and method for camera navigation

• US 6,995,788 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2002
• Issued: 02/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment America (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: James, Gavin Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, TUNG T
• Application Number:
  US10/268,495
• Publication Number:
  US 20030107647A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 348/113, 348/143, 348/211.9, 348/152, 348/169, 345/419, 701/3
• US Class Current: 348/169
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• 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 13/5258 by dynamically adapting the position of the virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6653 for altering the visibility of an object, e.g. preventing the occlusion of an object, partially hiding an object
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6661 for changing the position of the virtual camera
• 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 2300/6684 by dynamically adapting its position to keep a game object in its viewing frustrum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A system and method for camera navigation that provides a player with an unobstructed, non-disorienting view of a target. The system includes a memory for storing a camera navigation/control model, a central processing unit for executing the camera navigation/control model to provide unobstructed and non-disorienting target character views, and a graphics processing unit configured to render the unobstructed views of the target in an image for display. In addition, the camera navigation/control model includes an object detection model, line-of-sight restoration models to restore a line-of-sight view of an obstructed target, and a camera navigation path model. In the method, a collision probe is sent on a straight line path between a camera and a target whereby line-of-sight obstructions are detected if the probe intersects with polygonal sides of an object. A line-of-sight restoration method is used to move the camera to provide an unobstructed view of the target.

Claims

1. A method for camera navigation, comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein the restoration method displaces the camera by a resultant displacement vector R, the resultant displacement vector R constructed from unit normal vectors r to the one or more intersected polygonal sides.

2. A method for camera navigation, comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein one of the restoration method rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, wherein if the one or more intersected polygonal sides consist either of clockwise polygonal sides, or straddling and clockwise polygonal sides, then the camera is rotated counterclockwise by the angle θ

about the target.

3. A method for camera navigation, comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein one of the restoration method rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, wherein if the one or more intersected polygonal sides consist either of counterclockwise polygonal sides, or straddling and counterclockwise polygonal sides, then the camera is rotated clockwise by the angle θ

about the target.

4. A method for camera navigation, comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein the restoration method moves the camera closer to the target, then rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, if the collision probe detects at least one clockwise polygonal side and at least one counterclockwise polygonal side.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the camera is moved between one of the at least one clockwise polygonal sides and one of the at least one counterclockwise polygonal sides.

6. A method for camera navigation, comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target;

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target; and

smoothing a camera navigation path to reduce viewer distortion wherein smoothing the camera navigation path comprises;

computing velocity attenuation vectors t based on the wiggling of the camera navigation path;

adding each velocity attenuation vector t to an associated camera velocity vector to generate attenuated camera velocity vectors; and

using the camera navigation path and the attenuated camera velocity vectors to generate a smoothed camera navigation path.

7. An electronic-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a machine to perform a method for camera navigation, the method comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein one of the the restoration method displaces the camera by a resultant displacement vector R, the resultant displacement vector R constructed from unit normal vectors r to the one or more intersected polygonal sides.

8. An electronic-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a machine to perform a method for camera navigation, the method comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein the restoration method rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, wherein if the one or more intersected polygonal sides consist either of clockwise polygonal sides, or straddling and clockwise polygonal sides, then the camera is rotated counterclockwise by the angle θ

about the target.

9. An electronic-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a machine to perform a method for camera navigation, the method comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein the restoration method rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, wherein if the one or more intersected polygonal sides consist either of counterclockwise polygonal sides, or straddling and counterclockwise polygonal sides, then the camera is rotated clockwise by the angle θ

about the target.

10. An electronic-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a machine to perform a method for camera navigation, the method comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target, wherein the line-of-sight obstruction is detected if the collision probe intersects one or more polygonal sides of one or more objects; and

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target, wherein one of the the restoration method moves the camera closer to the target, then rotates the camera by an angle θ

about the target based upon types of the one or more intersected polygonal sides, if the collision probe detects at least one clockwise polygonal side and at least one counterclockwise polygonal side.

11. The electronic-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the camera is moved between one of the at least one clockwise polygonal sides and one of the at least one counterclockwise polygonal sides.

12. An electronic-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a machine to perform a method for camera navigation, the method comprising:

sending a collision probe on a straight line path between a camera and a target;

detecting a line-of-sight obstruction between the camera and the target;

moving the camera according to a line-of-sight restoration method to provide an unobstructed view of the target; and

smoothing a camera navigation path to reduce viewer distortion, wherein smoothing the camera navigation path comprises;

computing velocity attenuation vectors t based on the wiggling of the camera navigation path;

adding each velocity attenuation vector t to an associated camera velocity vector to generate attenuated camera velocity vectors; and

using the camera navigation path and the attenuated camera velocity vectors to generate a smoothed camera navigation path.