JP2000099225A - Device and method for processing information and distribution medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily recognize a chat text corresponding to an avatar by controlling the text of chat to be performed in a virtual space by a virtual life object so as to be displayed in an image of the virtual space. SOLUTION: A serif data display area 151 is provided above a world picture 140 for displaying an avatar and a chat text 1 of 'Taro: Hi!' of avatar 'Taro' is displayed in a balloon above the position of the avatar 'Taro'. Inside the serif data display area 151, the world picture is displayed in the area where the balloon is not displayed. Thus, when the balloon is not displayed in the serif data display area 151, a user can visually recognize the image of the world picture 140 as it is. The chat text 1 is displayed so that the center position of the avatar 'Taro' coincides with the center position of the balloon of chat text 1 in the row direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a providing medium, and more particularly, to a method for displaying a text of a chat performed by a virtual life object on an image in the same virtual space as the virtual life object. Accordingly, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a providing medium that improve the effect of recognizing a chat text of a virtual life object when a user performs a text chat using the virtual life object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of users share a virtual space, and in the virtual space, communication is performed between users by using a virtual life object (hereinafter, referred to as an avatar) which is an alter ego of each user. There is a virtual space sharing system that can do it. In such a conventional virtual space sharing system, an avatar chat text at the time of performing a text chat is provided separately from a virtual space screen (hereinafter, referred to as a world screen 1) for displaying an avatar as shown in FIG. Is displayed on a dedicated screen (hereinafter referred to as dialogue data display area 2).

In the dialog data display area 2, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the number of displayable lines of the chat text is set in advance, and within that range, the chat text of the avatar is displayed left-justified one line at a time from top to bottom. For example, 1
Assuming that the address on the top line is Y = 0, the next chat text is displayed on the line below address Y = 1.

[0006] As shown in FIG. 16, when the number of displayable lines is set to five, the line at address Y = 4 fills the dialog data display area 2. When the chat text is to be displayed further, the chat text “Taro: Yoo!” At the address Y = 0 is deleted, and the four lines of the chat text displayed at the addresses Y = 1 to Y = 4 (FIG. 16). The portion surrounded by the dotted line is copied and displayed in the dialog data display area 2 at addresses Y = 0 to Y = 3. Thereafter, the chat text displayed at the address Y = 4 is deleted.

That is, scrolling is performed. With this scroll function, a display area of the newly displayed chat text is secured in the line of the address Y = 4, and then, as shown in FIG. 17, the chat text “Taro: recently becomes free. Is displayed on the line with the address Y = 4. Such processing is repeatedly performed, and new chat texts are sequentially displayed in the dialogue display area 2.

[0006]

However, a plurality of avatars usually exist in a shared virtual space. Therefore, if the chat text of the avatar is displayed in the dialog data display area 2 different from the world screen 1 displaying the avatar, it becomes difficult for the user to intuitively associate the avatar with the chat text. Instead, the viewpoint of the user tends to be fixed to the dialog data display area 2 from the world screen 1, and the effect of text chat using an avatar, which is a feature of the virtual space sharing system, is impaired.

[0007] In addition, since a line feed in the dialog data display area 2 is performed for each chat text, as shown in FIG. 18, when a relatively short chat text continues, the right area of the dialog data display area 2 is blank. Thus, there is a problem that the dialog data display area 2 is not used effectively.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and displays a chat text corresponding to an avatar on a world screen so that a user can easily recognize a chat text corresponding to an avatar. Therefore, the text chat effect using an avatar in the virtual space sharing system is improved.

[0009]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention provides an image of a virtual space in an information processing apparatus that shares a virtual space with another information processing apparatus connected via a network. Providing means, first display control means for controlling the virtual life object to be displayed in the virtual space, and chat text performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space to be displayed in the image of the virtual space. And a second display control means for controlling.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method of an information processing apparatus sharing a virtual space with another information processing apparatus connected via a network, a providing step of providing an image of the virtual space is provided. And a first display control step of controlling the virtual life object to be displayed in the virtual space, and controlling the text of the chat performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space to be displayed in the image of the virtual space. And a second display control step.

[0011] The providing medium according to claim 7 is a providing step of providing an image of a virtual space to an information processing apparatus that shares a virtual space with another information processing apparatus connected via a network; A first display control step of controlling to display in a virtual space, and a second display control of controlling to display a text of a chat performed by a virtual life object in the virtual space in an image of the virtual space. And a computer-readable program for executing a process including steps.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
In the information processing method according to the aspect of the invention and the providing medium according to the aspect, the text chat performed by the virtual life object is displayed in the image of the virtual space.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, each means is described. When the features of the present invention are described by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses later, the following is obtained. However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described.

That is, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, in an information processing apparatus sharing a virtual space with another information processing apparatus connected via a network, providing means for providing an image of the virtual space (for example, Step S in FIG.
13), first display control means for controlling the virtual life object to be displayed in the virtual space (for example, step S14 in FIG. 5), and the text of the chat performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space is displayed in the virtual space. And a second display control means (for example, step S18 in FIG. 5) for controlling the image to be displayed in the image.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a shared virtual space providing system to which the present invention is applied. Server terminal 40-
1, 40-2 have a shared virtual space providing program,
Via the communication network 30, the personal computers 10-1 to 10-3 connected to the communication network 30 are provided with a shared virtual space for the user to communicate.

FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the server terminal 40-1. (Although not shown, the server terminal 40-2 is configured similarly to the server terminal 40-1.) The CPU (Central Process
g Unit) 101, ROM (Read Only Memory) 10
2, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 are connected. This internal bus 104 is also connected to an I / O interface 105. The I / O interface 105 is connected to a hard disk drive (HDD) 106, a communication unit 107, a keyboard 108, a mouse 109, and a display unit 110.

The CPU 101 is a controller that controls each function of the server terminal 40-1, and executes various processes according to a program stored in the ROM 102. The RAM 103 stores data and programs necessary for the CPU 101 to execute various processes as appropriate. The HDD 106 is an external storage device, and stores a virtual space sharing program and the like. Communication unit 1
07 is configured by, for example, a modem, and communicates with an external device via a communication network 30 such as the Internet. The keyboard 108 is operated by the user when performing an external input. The mouse 109 is operated to select a button or the like displayed on the display unit 110. The display unit 110 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal D)
isplay) and displays a predetermined image.

FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of the personal computer 10-1 (although not shown, the personal computers 10-2 and 10-3 have the same configuration). Its basic configuration is the server terminal 40 shown in FIG.
-1 and the CPU 121 to the display unit 130
Correspond to the CPU 101 to the display unit 110 in FIG.

Next, the operation of the virtual space sharing system will be described. First, the processing of the server terminal 40-1 (similarly for the server terminal 40-2) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, the CPU 101
It is determined whether or not the avatar ID (Identification) and the position have been received from the personal computers 10-1 to 10-3 from the communication network 30 via the communication unit 107, and if received, in step S2, the communication unit 10
7 is transmitted to the personal computers 10-1 to 10-3 of all users, the avatar IDs and positions received in step S1. In step S1,
If the CPU 101 determines that the avatar ID and the position have not been received, the process of step S2 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the CPU 101
User personal computers 10-1 to 10-3
It is determined whether or not the avatar ID and the chat text have been received, and if received, the CPU 101 in step S4 sends the received chat text to the personal computers 10-1 to 10-3 of all the users. Send the avatar ID and chat text.
In step S3, the avatar I corresponding to the chat text
If it is determined that D and the chat text have not been received, the process of step S4 is skipped.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the end of the process has been instructed. If not, the process returns to step S1 and the subsequent processes are repeated. Until the end is instructed, the processes of steps S1 to S4 are repeatedly performed, so that a plurality of users can share the virtual space.

Next, the processing contents of the personal computer 10-1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (the same processing is performed in the personal computers 10-2 and 10-3).

In step S11, when newly joining the virtual space sharing system, the user
8 or operating the mouse 129 to select his / her own avatar. In step S12, the CPU 121 controls the communication unit 127 to cause the server terminal 40-1 to transmit the avatar ID selected by the user together with the default position when the user first participates in the virtual space. As described above, the ID and the position are transmitted from the server terminal 40-1 to the personal computer 10-1 in step S2 in FIG.
Is transmitted to the other personal computers 10-2 and 10-3.

In step S13, the CPU 121
Reads the world screen data stored in the HDD 126 and causes the display unit 130 to display it. Step S1
In 4, the CPU 121 transmits the information via the communication unit 127
Receive the avatar's ID and location. This is step S12
In the server terminal 40
-1 is transferred by executing the processing of step S2. The CPU 121 converts this into the HDD 126
And the avatar image data corresponding to the ID is read from the HDD 126 and displayed at a designated position on the world screen of the display unit 130.

With the above processing, the user can participate in the virtual space via the avatar.

Thereafter, in step S15, an input process for changing the position of the user's avatar, in step S16, a process for inputting his / her chat text,
In step S17, a process when the position of another user's avatar is changed, and in step S18, a chat text display process are sequentially performed.

The processing of steps S15 to S18 is repeatedly performed until it is determined in step S19 that termination has been instructed.

Next, the processing for changing the position of the user's avatar in step S15 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S31, the user determines whether or not to change his / her avatar position, and if so, in step S32, inputs his / her avatar position by operating the mouse 129 of the personal computer 10-1. In step S33, the CPU 121 sets the avatar ID and the
Is transmitted to the server terminal 40-1. If it is determined in step S31 that the position of the avatar is not changed, the processing in steps S32 and S33 is skipped.

Further, in step S16 of FIG.
A process for inputting a chat text will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In step S41, the user determines whether or not to input the chat text, and if so, in step S42, the user inputs the chat text to the personal computer 10-.
One keyboard 128 is operated to input. CPU 12
1 transmits the input chat text to the server terminal 40-1 in step S43. In step S41,
If the CPU 121 determines that the chat text is not input, the processing of steps S42 and S43 is skipped.

The process performed when the position of the avatar is changed in step S17 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S51,
The CPU 121 determines whether or not the ID and the position of the moved avatar have been received from the server terminal 40-1, and if received, in step S52, the received avatar ID is determined.
And the position of the avatar are stored in the HDD 126 (if the position of the avatar is already stored, the value is updated). In step S53, the CPU 121 moves the avatar image corresponding to the ID to the received new position and displays it. If the CPU 121 determines in step S51 that the change of the avatar position has not been received, the processing of steps S52 and S53 is skipped.

As described above, when the avatar newly joins (step S12), or when the position of the avatar already participating is changed (step S33),
The avatar ID and position are transmitted to each of the personal computers 10-1 to 10-3 via the server terminal 40-1, and based on this, the personal computer 1
0-1 to 10-3 display an avatar image on the world screen.

Next, the process of displaying the chat text in step S18 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S61,
The CPU 121 determines whether or not the avatar ID corresponding to the chat text has been received from the server terminal 40-1. If the ID has been received, the chat text is displayed in a balloon in step S62. If it is determined in step S61 that the chat text has not been input from the server terminal 40-1, the processing in step S62 is skipped.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show display examples of the world screen 140 of the display unit 130. FIG. In this example, three avatars of three users (Taro, Hanako and White Bear) are displayed.

Note that the button 14 displaying the facial expression below the world screen 140 in FIGS. 10 and 11 is displayed.
Function buttons 1 to 145 are operated when the user changes his / her laughing or angry expression when chatting as an avatar expression to communicate. The button 141 corresponds to a normal expression, the button 142 corresponds to a smiling expression, the button 143 corresponds to an angry expression, the button 144 corresponds to a crying expression, and the button 145 corresponds to a surprised expression. When the user wants to change the expression of the avatar during the chat, after selecting and operating one of the face expression buttons 141 to 145, the user can further change the expression of the avatar's face by operating the ACTION button 146. it can.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The details of the balloon display processing in step S62 in the above will be described. In step S71, the CPU 121 causes the HDD 126 to store the chat text transferred from the server terminal 40-1 by executing the processing in step S4 in FIG.

In step S72, the CPU 121
Determines the length of the speech balloon from the chat text stored in the HDD 126 according to the number of characters of the chat text, and sets the length to disp_length. That is, CP
U121 sets a dialog data display area 151 in a predetermined area inside the world screen 140 (for convenience of description, the dialog data display area 151 (see FIGS. 10 and 11) is a frame in FIGS. 10 and 11. , But the frame is not actually displayed), a balloon is displayed there, and the chat text is displayed in the balloon. Here, the length of the balloon is determined. C
PU 121 is also a world screen 1 for displaying a balloon.
The position on 40 is determined and set to disp_x. The display position disp_x of the balloon is determined from the length disp_length and the center position (hereinafter, referred to as X) of the avatar in the horizontal direction (x-axis direction), the details of which will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .

In step S73, the CPU 121
Sets the balloon of the length determined in step S72 so as not to overlap the balloon already displayed on the current line (the line corresponding to the variable cur_y) where the balloon in the dialog data display area 151 is to be displayed. It is determined whether or not the display can be performed. If the display cannot be performed, in step S74,
Increment the value of the variable cur_y by one. That is, the line that displays the balloon is moved down by one line.

In step S75, the CPU 121
Determines whether the value of the variable cur_y exceeds the maximum number of rows cur_y_max (cur_y_max = 4 in the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11) that can be displayed in the serif data display area 151,
If the value exceeds the maximum number of rows cur_y_max, step S
At 76, the CPU 121 performs a scroll-up process. That is, the CPU 121 shifts the balloons of all the lines displayed in the dialog data display area 151 upward by one line, and sets the variable cur_y to the maximum number of lines cur_y_max. In step S77, the CPU 121
A balloon is displayed on the line set in the variable cur_y, and the chat text stored in step S71 is displayed therein.

In step S73, if it is determined that a new balloon can be displayed without overlapping with the balloon already displayed (including a case where another balloon is not displayed on the line), steps S74 to S74 are performed. The process of S76 is skipped, and when it is determined in step S75 that the variable cur_y is equal to or less than the maximum number of rows cur_y_max, the process of step S76 is skipped. In these cases, a balloon is displayed at the line set in the variable cur_y at that time.

The processing of steps S71 to S77 is performed every time the server terminal 40-1 receives the chat text transferred as a result of executing the processing of step S4.
That is, the process is performed until it is determined in step S78 that the transfer of the new chat text has been completed.

Next, in step S72 of FIG.
FIG. 1 shows details of processing for calculating a display position disp_x of a balloon.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S81, the CPU 121
Is the world screen 140 displayed on the display unit 130
The center position X of the upper avatar (the avatar corresponding to the chat text (corresponding to the ID received in step S61 in FIG. 9)) is calculated.

In step S82, the CPU 121
Calculates the following equation, sets the left end position of the speech balloon at the position disp_x, and matches the horizontal center of the speech balloon with the horizontal center of the avatar. disp_x = X-disp_length / 2

In step S83, the CPU 121
Indicates the left end of the balloon at the position di obtained in step S82.
When displayed in sp_x, it is determined whether the left end or the right end of the balloon is outside the line data display area 151. When the following equation is satisfied, the left end of the balloon overflows from the left end x_min of the dialog data display area 151. disp_x <x_min When the following equation is satisfied, the right end of the balloon overflows from the right end x_max of the dialog data display area 151. disp_x + disp_length> x_max

If any of the above expressions is satisfied, in step S84, the CPU 121 adjusts the position so that the balloon does not extend beyond the dialog data display area 151. That is, when the left end of the speech balloon is outside the left end of the speech data display area 151, the CPU 121 sets the left end position x_min of the speech data display area 151 at the position disp_x of the left end of the speech speech as shown in the following equation. disp_x = x_min Further, when the right end of the speech balloon protrudes from the right end of the speech data display area 151, the CPU 121 calculates the following equation, and sets the position disp_x of the left end of the speech balloon to the length disp_length from the right end position x_max of the speech data display area 151. Set the left position for disp_x = x_max-disp_length

Note that step S8 is performed by the CPU 121.
3, the balloon position adjustment in S84 is performed not only on both ends of the dialogue data display area 151 but also on the line where the balloon is displayed.
If there is already another balloon, the value x_min, x_max
Then, the same processing is performed by setting the position of the right end or the left end of the existing balloon.

In step S83, the CPU 121
However, if it is determined that the balloon does not extend from the dialogue data display area 151, the process of step S84 is skipped. That is, in this case, the value disp_x (X-disp_length / 2) set in step S82 is set as the position of the balloon.

Personal Computers 10-1 to 10
-3, a display example of the world screen 140 when the above-described chat text balloon display processing is performed will be further described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. A dialogue data display area 151 is provided above the world screen 140 for displaying the avatar, and the chat text 1 “Taro: Yo!” Of the avatar “Taro” is displayed in a balloon above the position of the avatar “Taro”. Have been. The world screen is displayed in an area of the dialog data display area 151 where no balloon is displayed. Accordingly, when no balloon is displayed in the dialog data display area 151, the user can visually recognize the image on the world screen 140 as it is. It can be seen that the chat text 1 is displayed such that the center position of the avatar “Taro” and the center position of the balloon of the chat text 1 in the row direction match. Chat text 2 of the avatar "Hanako" which is located to the right of the avatar "Taro", "Hanako: Hello"
Is displayed above the position of the avatar "Hanako" and on the right side of the chat text of the avatar "Taro".

As described above, basically, the chat text corresponding to each avatar is displayed above the position of each avatar. This makes it easy to associate the avatar with the corresponding chat. If the number of characters in the chat text is small, such as chat text 1, chat text 2
Are displayed on the same line as the chat text 1, and the dialog data display area 151 is effectively used.

Next, it is determined from the number of characters of the chat text that the chat text 3 of the avatar "white bear", "white bear: a long time ago" cannot be displayed on the same line as the chat texts 1 and 2, and a line feed is performed on the next line. Is displayed. As described above, when the chat text 1 to the chat text 4 are displayed and the chat text 5 “white bear: yeah, that's it?” Is displayed, the dialogue data display area 15
1, the balloon is displayed up to the maximum number of lines. Therefore, the bottom line of the dialogue data display area 151 is blanked by the scroll-up function shown in step S76 of FIG. 12, and a new chat text is displayed there. In this manner, as shown in FIG. 11, the chat text 6 "Taro: I'm fine now because I'm free now" is displayed at the bottom line.

The chat text 6 "Taro: I'm fine now because I'm free now" has a long disp_length, so let's match the center position X of the avatar "Taro" with the center position of the balloon and display the balloon. Then, the left end of the speech balloon runs off the line data display area 151. Therefore, the balloon position adjustment of step S84 is performed, and the balloon of the chat text 6
It is displayed so as to match the left end of the dialog data display area 151.

In the above description, the text chat is performed via the avatar in the world screen. However, the present invention can be applied to the case where the text chat is performed with a virtual life object other than the avatar. .

In the present specification, a providing medium for providing a user with a computer program for executing the above processing includes an information recording medium such as a magnetic disk and a CD-ROM, and a network such as the Internet and a digital satellite. Transmission media is also included.

[0055]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the sixth aspect, and the providing medium according to the seventh aspect, the chatting performed by the virtual life object is performed. Since the text is displayed in the image of the virtual space, it is easy for the user to intuitively associate the virtual life object with the chat text on the screen of the virtual space. Reduction of the effect can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a shared virtual space providing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server terminal 40-1 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal computer 10-1 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a server terminal 40-1 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the personal computer 10-1 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating details of an own avatar position change input process in step S15 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process of inputting a chat text in step S16 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process of changing an avatar position in step S17 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process of displaying a chat text in step S18 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a world screen on the display unit 130 in FIG. 3;

11 is a diagram showing another display example of the world screen of the display unit 130 in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating details of balloon display processing in step S62 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of processing for determining a balloon position and length in step S72 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example of a conventional world screen.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional screen for displaying an avatar text chat.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional screen for displaying an avatar text chat.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for displaying a conventional avatar text chat.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for displaying a conventional avatar text chat.

[Explanation of symbols]

10-1, 10-2, 10-3 Personal computer, 30 communication network, 40-1, 40-2
Server terminal, 101 CPU, 107 communication unit,
110 display unit, 121 CPU, 127 communication unit, 130 display unit, 141, 142, 143, 14
4,145 face expression button, 146ACTION button

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus that shares a virtual space with another information processing apparatus connected via a network, wherein: a providing unit that provides an image of the virtual space; and a virtual life object is displayed in the virtual space. Display control means for controlling so that the text of the chat performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space is displayed in the image of the virtual space. An information processing apparatus comprising: 2. The text display area according to claim 2, wherein the second display control means sets a text display area within a predetermined range of the image of the virtual space, and displays the text in the text display area. 2. The information processing device according to 1. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second display control means displays the text of the chat in a balloon. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second display control means sets the length of the balloon in accordance with the length of the text. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second display control means controls a display position of the chat text based on a length of the chat text and a position of the corresponding virtual life object. Item 2. The information processing device according to item 1. 6. An information processing method for an information processing device that shares a virtual space with another information processing device connected via a network, wherein: a providing step of providing an image of the virtual space; A first display control step of controlling to be displayed in a space; and a second display of controlling a text of a chat performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space to be displayed in an image of the virtual space. An information processing method comprising: a control step. 7. A providing step of providing an image of the virtual space to an information processing device that shares a virtual space with another information processing device connected via a network, wherein a virtual life object is displayed in the virtual space. A first display control step for controlling so that a text of a chat performed by the virtual life object in the virtual space is displayed in an image of the virtual space. A providing medium for providing a computer-readable program that causes a computer to execute a process including the following.