Digital space control system, digital space control method, and program

Abstract

To instantaneously three dimensionally display an inputted text.SOLUTION: A digital space control system includes a text acquisition unit that acquires a unit text including one or more texts input by an operation performed on a user terminal, an object generation unit that generates a set of text objects obtained by three dimensionalizing each of the one or more texts included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit, and a digital space control unit that causes the text objects generated by the object generation unit to appear in a digital space.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a digital space control system, a digital space control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technique for displaying a stereoscopic image including stereoscopic characters using the stereoscopic character data and stereoscopic video signal extracted by demodulating a stereoscopic video signal including modulated stereoscopic character data (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-289555 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, in order to display three-dimensional characters, it is necessary to include three-dimensional character data in a three-dimensional video signal in advance, which makes it impossible to instantly display three-dimensional text in response to, for example, text input by a user.

[0005] In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to instantly display input text in a three-dimensional form. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems is a digital space control system that includes a text acquisition unit that acquires unit texts consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal, an object generation unit that generates a group of text objects that are three-dimensionalized from each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit, and a digital space control unit that causes the text objects generated by the object generation unit to appear in digital space.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a digital space control method in a digital space control system, the digital space control method including: a text acquisition step in which a text acquisition unit acquires a unit text consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal; an object generation step in which an object generation unit generates a group of text objects by three-dimensionalizing each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit; and a digital space control step in which a digital space control unit causes the text object generated by the object generation unit to appear in digital space.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer in a digital space control system to function as a text acquisition unit that acquires unit texts consisting of one or more pieces of text input by operations performed on a user terminal, an object generation unit that generates a group of text objects that are three-dimensionalized from each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit texts acquired by the text acquisition unit, and a digital space control unit that causes the text objects generated by the object generation unit to appear in digital space. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that input text can be instantly displayed in three dimensions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a digital space control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of 3D text objects that appear in the Metaverse in this embodiment. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of 3D text objects that appear in the Metaverse in this embodiment. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of 3D text objects that appear in the Metaverse in this embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a digital space control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a digital space control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a user terminal according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure executed by the digital space control system of the present embodiment in relation to the display of a 3D text object. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a digital space control system according to this embodiment. The digital space control system of this embodiment includes a digital space control device 100 and a user terminal 200. The digital space control device 100 and the user terminal 200 are communicably connected via a network.

[0012] The digital space control device 100 provides a metaverse as a digital space. A user accesses the digital space control device 100 from a user terminal 200 owned by the user, thereby displaying the metaverse on the user terminal 200. The user can make the avatar corresponding to the user act in the displayed metaverse.

[0013] In the digital space control system of this embodiment, a user using the metaverse can input text as a message by operating the user terminal 200. The text input by the user is rendered as a three-dimensional (3D) object and displayed so that it appears in the metaverse. In the following description, 3D text objects that appear in the Metaverse will also be referred to as 3D text objects.

[0014] With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, examples of 3D text objects that appear in the Metaverse will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of a metaverse screen displayed on a user terminal 200 corresponding to one user. In the metaverse displayed as shown in the figure, an avatar AVT corresponding to the user exists. The avatar AVT can move within the metaverse and change the direction of its line of sight (gaze direction) in response to the user's operation on the user terminal 200. In the figure, the avatar AVT corresponding to the user is positioned so that its gaze direction faces directly in front of the back side of the metaverse. By positioning the avatar AVT in this way, the gaze direction of the avatar AVT and the gaze direction of the user observing the metaverse through the screen are made the same.

[0015] Also, on the metaverse screen in the same figure, a text operation area AR is placed in the center of the foreground facing the user. The text operation area AR is an area where operations related to the appearance of 3D text objects in the Metaverse are performed. The text operation area AR may be displayed so as to switch from a text input declaration button (not shown) arranged on the metaverse screen, for example, in response to a user operating the text input declaration button.

[0016] When the user wishes to make a 3D text object appear in the Metaverse, the user inputs one or more pieces of arbitrary text (unit text) into the input box BX in the text operation area AR. If the user wishes to erase the text input into the input box BX, the user operates the close button BT2 in the text operation area AR. In response to the operation of the close button BT2, the text operation area AR that has been displayed until now closes and switches to displaying a text input declaration button. Even when the display switches to displaying the text input declaration button, the text that was input into the input box BX may remain without being erased. In this case, the previously input text is displayed in the input box BX of the text operation area AR that is redisplayed by operating the text input declaration button again. By leaving the previously input text without being erased in this way, the user does not need to re-input the text from the first character. When the user inputs a unit text into the input box BX and then operates the send button BT1, the unit text input by the user appears as a 3D text object in the metaverse, as shown by the transition from FIG. 2 to FIG.

[0017] As an example, the 3D text object first appears floating in a position (appearance position) in front of the user's avatar AVT as seen from the user, as shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, each text (character) forming the unit text "Hello" input by the user is converted into 3D and appears arranged vertically from top to bottom in the order of the character string "Hello." Note that the arrangement of the character strings as the unit text may be, for example, horizontally or diagonally, and is not particularly limited. The 3D text object that appears at the appearance position as described above may move along a predetermined trajectory. Specifically, the 3D text object may be configured to appear in front of the direction in which the avatar AVT is facing (which may be the direction in which the front of the avatar AVT's body is facing or the line of sight of the avatar AVT), and move from the appearance position to the back of the metaverse along the direction in which the avatar AVT is facing. Furthermore, for example, the movement speed of the 3D text object in the metaverse may be set in accordance with a user operation when inputting unit text. Alternatively, the 3D text object may be displayed moving from the front to the back in an indoor space displayed in accordance with the user's viewpoint, regardless of the position or orientation of the avatar AVT. Furthermore, when a 3D text object is moving, each piece of text (character) that makes up the 3D text object may be given movements such as swaying or rotating, or may be given changes in size, shape, or color, such as expanding or contracting.

[0018] 3, when the metaverse is an indoor space, as described above, the 3D text object may be allowed to come into contact with an object in the indoor space in the metaverse (such as a structure such as a wall or pillar, or another object in the metaverse) at a certain timing as the 3D text object moves toward the back of the metaverse. When the 3D text object comes into contact with an object in the indoor space in this way, the 3D text object may be configured to change its direction of movement so as to reflect off the object it has come into contact with.

[0019] In addition, multiple 3D text objects created by multiple users may exist simultaneously in the metaverse. In this case, multiple users using the metaverse can communicate with each other in a chat-like manner by creating 3D objects of unit texts they have entered in the metaverse.

[0020] Furthermore, in the Metaverse, multiple moving 3D text objects may be allowed to come into contact with each other. When multiple 3D text objects come into contact with each other in this way, the movement direction of each of the contacting 3D text objects may be changed so as to reflect the direction of its own movement up to that point and the direction from which the other 3D object has arrived.

[0021] A 3D text object that appears in the Metaverse may disappear from the Metaverse when a predetermined condition is met. For example, a 3D text object that appears in the Metaverse may disappear after a predetermined time has elapsed. In this case, the predetermined time may be changed depending on the number of characters of the unit text that forms the 3D text object, etc.

[0022] The 3D text object may also be configured to drop from its floating state to the floor and then disappear, as shown in Figure 4. In this case, the 3D text object may be configured to disappear after each text (character) has collapsed from its floating state and become piled up.

[0023] Furthermore, a 3D text object that has appeared in the Metaverse may disappear when the length of the path it has traveled in the Metaverse (movement distance) reaches or exceeds a certain value.

[0024] Furthermore, as described above, the contact between multiple 3D text objects may be used as a trigger to cause the 3D text objects to disappear. In this case, for example, all or some of the contacting 3D text objects may disappear. In the case where some of the contacting 3D text objects disappear, for example, the 3D text object that has existed in the Metaverse for the longest time among the contacting 3D text objects may disappear.

[0025] In this manner, in this embodiment, unit text input by the user can be instantly displayed as a three-dimensional 3D object in the Metaverse. In this embodiment, the display of such a 3D text object can be easily performed by the user operating the user terminal 200 owned by the user. Furthermore, in this embodiment, there is no need to prepare three-dimensional character data in advance, and unit text input by the user can be displayed three-dimensionally, so there is a high degree of freedom in the character string of the 3D text object to be displayed.

[0026] An example of the hardware configuration of the digital space control device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The digital space control device 100 in Fig. 5 includes a communication device 1001, a read only memory (ROM) 1002, a random access memory (RAM) 1003, a storage 1004, a central processing unit (CPU) 1005, and a graphics processing unit (GPU) 1006. The communication device 1001, the ROM 1002, the RAM 1003, the storage 1004, the CPU 1005, and the GPU 1006 are connected by a bus 1007.

[0027] The communication device 1001 is a device that supports communication via a network. The ROM 1002 stores non-rewritable data. The RAM 1003 temporarily stores data used in the calculations executed by the CPU 1005 . The storage 1004 is, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various types of data, including program data. The CPU 1005 executes programs stored in the storage 1004 to perform calculations according to various controls and processes. The GPU 1006 executes processes related to image processing. In addition, functions equivalent to those of the digital space control device 100 may be obtained by multiple network terminals that are distributed so that transactions can be executed in accordance with the blockchain.

[0028] 6 shows an example of the functional configuration of the digital space control device 100. The functions of the digital space control device 100 shown in the figure are realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the digital space control device 100 executing a program. The digital space control device 100 in the figure includes a communication unit 101, a control unit 102, and a storage unit 103. The communication unit 101 communicates with the user terminal 200 via a network.

[0029] The control unit 102 executes various controls in the digital space control device 100. The control unit 102 in the figure includes a text acquisition unit 121, an object generation unit 122, and a digital space control unit 123.

[0030] The text acquisition unit 121 acquires a unit text input by an operation on the text operation area AR in the metaverse displayed on the user terminal 200.

[0031] The object generation unit 122 generates a 3D text object by rendering each text (character) included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit 121.

[0032] The digital space control unit 123 executes control related to the construction of the metaverse environment. As control related to the construction of the metaverse environment, the digital space control unit 123 may cause the 3D text object generated by the object generation unit 122 to appear in the metaverse, and control the movement, motion, size / shape change, color change, disappearance, etc. of the appeared 3D text object.

[0033] The storage unit 103 stores various types of information supported by the digital space control device 100. The storage unit 103 includes a digital space configuration information storage unit 131 and an avatar information storage unit 132.

[0034] Digital space configuration information storage section 131 stores digital space configuration information. The digital space configuration information may include data for reproducing the walls, objects, sounds, etc. of an indoor space, as exemplified in Figs. 2 to 4, for example.

[0035] The avatar information storage unit 132 stores avatar information related to the avatar AVT that the user uses as his or her own avatar. The avatar information storage unit 132 may store avatar information corresponding to each user. The avatar information corresponding to one user may have a structure in which a user ID is associated with a combination of the avatar ID of the corresponding avatar and avatar configuration data. The avatar configuration data may be, for example, data indicating a combination of parts that make up an object as the corresponding avatar. Furthermore, the avatar information may also include the username of the user identified by the user ID. The username is, for example, input when the user logs in to the metaverse of this embodiment.

[0036] It is possible to set multiple avatars for one user, and allow the user to select an avatar from the multiple avatars and have it exist in the metaverse. In this case, the avatar information for one user may store a combination of the avatar ID and avatar configuration data for each of the multiple avatars set.

[0037] An example of the functional configuration of the user terminal 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The hardware configuration of the user terminal 200 may include a communication device, ROM, RAM, storage, and a CPU (and GPU), as well as input devices such as buttons, a keyboard, and a touch panel, and output devices such as a display and sound output, in accordance with Fig. 5. Furthermore, the user terminal 200 may include a camera corresponding to a code reader function that reads code symbols such as two-dimensional codes.

[0038] The user terminal 200 shown in FIG. 7 includes a communication unit 201, an operation unit 202, a display unit 203, a control unit 204, and a storage unit 205. The communication unit 201 is connected to the digital space control device 100 via a network so as to be able to communicate with it.

[0039] The operation unit 202 includes, for example, hardware devices such as a touch panel, keys, and buttons, receives user operations, and outputs operation information corresponding to the received operations to the control unit 204. The operation unit 202 may also be capable of voice operation corresponding to the voice uttered by the user.

[0040] The display unit 203 includes a display device such as a touch panel as hardware, and displays images under the control of the control unit 204 .

[0041] The control unit 204 executes various controls in the user terminal 200 .

[0042] The storage unit 205 stores information related to the user terminal 200, including programs executed by the CPU, GPU, etc. provided in the user terminal 200, for example.

[0043] An example of a processing procedure executed by the digital space control system of this embodiment in relation to the display of a 3D text object in the Metaverse will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, an example of a processing procedure executed by the user terminal 200 will be described.

[0044] Step S100: A user who wants to make a 3D text object appear in the Metaverse performs an operation of inputting unit text consisting of one or more arbitrary character strings into an input box BX in the text operation area AR (unit text input operation). The control unit 204 of the user terminal 200 accepts the unit text input operation performed by the user.

[0045] Step S102: The user inputs a unit text into the input box BX, and then performs an operation (unit text confirmation operation) to confirm the input unit text as a unit text to be displayed in the metaverse as a 3D text object. The unit text confirmation operation may be an operation on the send button BT1 in the text operation area AR. The control unit 204 accepts the unit text confirmation operation performed by the user.

[0046] Step S104: In response to receiving the unit text confirmation operation, the control unit 204 transmits the unit text input by the unit text input operation received in step S100 to the digital space control device 100.

[0047] Next, an example of a processing procedure executed by the digital space control device 100 will be described. Step S200: In the digital space control device 100, the text acquisition unit 121 acquires the unit text transmitted from the user terminal 200 in step S104.

[0048] Step S202: The object generating unit 122 generates a 3D text object by performing rendering so as to 3D the text (characters) for each unit text acquired in step S200.

[0049] Step S204: The digital space control unit 123 sets the appearance position and trajectory in the Metaverse of the 3D text object generated in step S202 based on the position and line of sight direction of the corresponding user's avatar AVT in the Metaverse.

[0050] Step S206: The digital space control unit 123 causes the 3D text object generated in step S202 to appear at the appearance position set in step S204. The digital space control unit 123 starts control to move the 3D text object that has appeared at the appearance position along the trajectory set in step S204.

[0051] Step S208: The digital space control unit 123 waits for a predetermined time to elapse after the 3D text object appears in step S206.

[0052] Step S210: If it is determined in step S208 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the digital space control unit 123 determines whether the 3D text object that started moving in step S206 has come into contact with another object in the Metaverse. If it is determined that the 3D text object has not come into contact with another object, the process returns to step S208.

[0053] Step S212: If it is determined in step S210 that the 3D text object has come into contact with another object, the digital space control unit 123 changes the trajectory of the 3D text object. At this time, the digital space control unit 123 may calculate the changed path using predetermined parameters such as the position, shape, movement direction, and hardness of the contacted object. After the processing of step S212, the process returns to step S208.

[0054] Step S214: If it is determined in step S208 that the predetermined time has elapsed, the digital space control unit 123 causes the 3D text object that was made to appear in step S206 to disappear from the metaverse.

[0055] <Additional Notes> (1) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control system that includes a text acquisition unit that acquires a unit text consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal, an object generation unit that generates a group of text objects by three-dimensionalizing each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit, and a digital space control unit that causes the text object generated by the object generation unit to appear in a digital space.

[0056] (2) One aspect of this embodiment is the digital space control system described in (1), in which the digital space control unit may impart movement to a text object that has appeared in the digital space.

[0057] (3) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control system described in (1) or (2), in which the digital space control unit may set the appearance position of the text object and the trajectory of movement starting from the appearance position based on the position of an avatar in the digital space as an avatar of the user who performed the operation to input text and the direction in which the avatar is facing.

[0058] (4) One aspect of this embodiment is the digital space control system described in (3), in which the digital space control unit may set an appearance position on the near side of the direction in which the avatar is facing and a movement trajectory along the direction in which the avatar is facing, starting from the appearance position.

[0059] (5) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control system as described in (1) or (2), wherein the digital space control unit may cause the text object to appear at the foreground of the displayed digital space in accordance with the viewpoint of a user observing the displayed digital space, and may cause the text object to move toward the background of the displayed digital space.

[0060] (6) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control system described in any one of (1) to (5), wherein the digital space control unit may cause the text object to disappear in response to a predetermined condition being met after the text object appears in the digital space.

[0061] (7) One aspect of this embodiment is the digital space control system described in (4), wherein the digital space control unit may, when causing the text object consisting of multiple pieces of text to disappear, display the multiple pieces of text falling onto the floor of the digital space and piling up.

[0062] (8) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control system described in (1) to (5), in which the digital space control unit may change the trajectory of a text object appearing in the digital space in response to the text object coming into contact with another object.

[0063] (9) One aspect of this embodiment is a digital space control method in a digital space control system, which includes a text acquisition step in which a text acquisition unit acquires a unit text consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal; an object generation step in which an object generation unit generates a group of text objects by three-dimensionalizing each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit; and a digital space control step in which a digital space control unit makes the text object generated by the object generation unit appear in digital space.

[0064] (10) One aspect of this embodiment is a program for causing a computer in a digital space control system to function as a text acquisition unit that acquires unit texts consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal, an object generation unit that generates a group of text objects that are three-dimensionalized from each of the one or more pieces of text included in the unit texts acquired by the text acquisition unit, and a digital space control unit that causes the text objects generated by the object generation unit to appear in digital space.

[0065] A program for implementing the functions of the digital space control device 100 or user terminal 200 described above may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be loaded into a computer system and executed to perform the processing of the digital space control device 100 or user terminal 200 described above. Here, "loading a program recorded on a recording medium into a computer system and executing it" includes installing the program on a computer system. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an operating system and peripheral devices. The term "computer system" may also include multiple computer devices connected via a network, including the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, a dedicated line, or other communication lines. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as floppy disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as HDDs and SSDs built into a computer system. Thus, a recording medium storing a program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The term "recording medium" also includes internal or external recording media accessible from a distribution server for distributing the program. The program code stored on the distribution server's recording medium may be different from the program code executable on a terminal device. In other words, the format in which the program is stored on the distribution server does not matter as long as it can be downloaded from the distribution server and installed in a form that is executable on the terminal device. The program may be divided into multiple parts, each of which may be downloaded at different times and then combined on the terminal device, or each of the divided programs may be distributed by a different distribution server. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" also includes a storage medium that stores a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory (RAM) within a computer system that serves as a server or client when a program is transmitted over a network. The program may also be one that realizes part of the functions described above.Furthermore, the above-mentioned functions may be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, that is, a so-called differential file (differential program). [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 100 Digital space control device, 101 Communication unit, 102 Control unit, 103 Memory unit, 121 Text acquisition unit, 122 Object generation unit, 123 Digital space control unit, 131 Digital space configuration information memory unit, 132 Avatar information memory unit, 200 User terminal

Claims

1. a text acquisition unit that acquires unit texts each consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal; an object generation unit that generates a set of text objects by three-dimensionally representing each of one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit; a digital space control unit that causes the text object generated by the object generation unit to appear in a digital space; A digital spatial control system comprising:

2. The digital space control unit adds movement to the text object that has appeared in the digital space. The digital spatial control system according to claim 1 .

3. The digital space control unit sets an appearance position of the text object and a movement trajectory starting from the appearance position based on a position where an avatar exists in the digital space as an avatar of the user who performed the operation of inputting text and a direction in which the avatar is facing.

3. The digital spatial control system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The digital space control unit sets an appearance position on the near side of the direction in which the avatar is facing and a movement trajectory of the avatar along the direction in which the avatar is facing, starting from the appearance position. The digital spatial control system according to claim 3 .

5. The digital space control unit displays the text object so that it appears at the front side of the displayed digital space and moves toward the back side of the displayed digital space, along the viewpoint of a user observing the displayed digital space.

3. The digital spatial control system according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The digital space control unit causes the text object to disappear in response to a predetermined condition being satisfied after the text object appears in the digital space.

3. The digital spatial control system according to claim 1 or 2.

7. When the digital space control unit causes the text object made up of a plurality of pieces of text to disappear, the digital space control unit displays the plurality of pieces of text so as to fall onto a floor of the digital space and pile up. The digital spatial control system according to claim 6.

8. The digital space control unit changes the trajectory of a text object that has appeared in the digital space in response to the text object coming into contact with another object.

3. The digital spatial control system according to claim 1 or 2.

9. A digital space control method in a digital space control system, comprising: a text acquisition step in which a text acquisition unit acquires unit texts each consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal; an object generating step in which an object generating unit generates a set of text objects by three-dimensionally representing each of one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquiring unit; a digital space control step in which a digital space control unit causes the text object generated by the object generation unit to appear in the digital space; A digital spatial control method comprising:

10. Computers in digital space control systems, a text acquisition unit that acquires a unit text consisting of one or more pieces of text input by an operation performed on a user terminal; an object generation unit that generates a set of text objects by three-dimensionally converting each of one or more pieces of text included in the unit text acquired by the text acquisition unit; a digital space control unit that causes the text object generated by the object generation unit to appear in the digital space; A program to function as a

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