Discrete objects for building virtual environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9576395-B2
Application number	US-201414493084-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2014
Priority date	Dec 2, 2008
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

Described is a virtual environment built by drawing stacks of three-dimensional objects (e.g., discrete blocks) as manipulated by a user. A user manipulates one or more objects, resulting in stack heights being changed, e.g., by adding, removing or moving objects to/from stacks. The stack heights are maintained as sample points, e.g., each point indexed by its associated horizontal location. A graphics processor expands height-related information into visible objects or stacks of objects by computing the vertices for each stack to draw that stack's top surface, front surface and/or side surface based upon the height-related information for that stack. Height information for neighboring stacks may be associated with the sample point, whereby a stack is only drawn to where it is occluded by a neighboring stack, that is, by computing the lower vertices for a surface according to the height of a neighboring stack where appropriate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. In a computing machine that generates output representing a computer-simulated environment, a method comprising:
providing a computer-simulated interactive environment, including a number of three dimensional objects configured to convey to a user that user interaction is with solid objects;
receiving the user interaction to manipulate at least one three dimensional object in the computer-simulated interactive environment;
responsive to the user interaction to manipulate the at least one three dimensional object, communicating a dataset associated with the at least one three dimensional object to graphics hardware, the dataset comprising height-related information of the at least one three dimensional object as a result of the manipulation, the height-related information comprising a height of the at least one three dimensional object relative to a base height and one or more heights of one or more immediate neighboring three dimensional objects relative to the base height, wherein the dataset associated with the at least one three dimensional object is different from a dataset associated with another three dimensional object to be manipulated; and
rendering graphics in real-time based on the user interaction to manipulate the at least one three dimensional object using the dataset communicated, including the height-related information, to output an updated representation of the computer-simulated interactive environment as a result of the user interaction, wherein rendering the graphics comprises computing vertices for at least one of a front surface or a side surface of the at least one three dimensional object, including determining the vertices to render based on the height of the at least one three dimensional object and the height of an immediate neighboring three dimensional object from the dataset communicated, such that non-occluded vertices are rendered and occluded vertices are not rendered.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the user interaction further comprises:
receiving manipulation instructions to add the at least one three dimensional object at a horizontal location within the computer-simulated interactive environment; and
increasing height-related information corresponding to the horizontal location to account for the at least one three dimensional object being added.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the user interaction further comprises:
receiving manipulation instructions to remove the at least one three dimensional object from a horizontal location within the computer-simulated interactive environment; and
decreasing height-related information corresponding to the horizontal location to account for the at least one three dimensional object being deleted.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the user interaction further comprises:
receiving manipulation instructions to move the at least one three dimensional object from a first horizontal location within the computer-simulated interactive environment to a second horizontal location within the computer-simulated interactive environment; and
decreasing first height-related information corresponding to the first horizontal location and increasing second height-related information corresponding to the second horizontal location to account for the at least one three dimensional object being moved.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
computing vertices for a top surface of the at least one three dimensional object to be rendered based upon the height-related information.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
indexing a plurality of horizontal locations of the computer-simulated interactive environment, individual horizontal locations of the plurality of horizontal locations having individual data used to determine a height of a stack of one or more three dimensional objects centered at that individual horizontal location relative to a base height.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the individual data of the individual horizontal locations further comprises height-related information of four immediate neighboring stacks of three dimensional objects in cardinal directions from the stack of one or more three dimensional objects centered at that individual horizontal location.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
computing vertices for at least one of a front or a side surface of the at least one three dimensional object to be rendered based upon the height-related information, including by changing a current base height corresponding to a level associated with a first group of three dimensional objects to provide a new base height corresponding to another level associated with another group of three dimensional objects within the computer-simulated interactive environment.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the level associated with the first group of three dimensional objects corresponds to a first floor of a building within the computer-simulated interactive environment, and the other level associated with the other group of three dimensional objects corresponds to a second floor of the building, the base height of the other group of three dimensional objects corresponding to a top of a wall represented by the first group of three dimensional objects.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
for an individual three dimensional object at a horizontal location, processing the height-related information and a viewing angle associated with the user within the computer-simulated interactive environment to render a stack of three dimensional objects at that horizontal location, including a plurality of non-occluded surfaces of the stack based at least in part on the viewing angle associated with the user within the computer-simulated interactive environment.

11. A system comprising:
a processing unit;
an interactive interface coupled to the processing unit and configured to convey to a user that user interaction is with solid physical material in a virtual environment; and
a mechanism coupled to the interactive interface and configured to receive data responsive to the user interaction with a stack of materials in the virtual environment via a representation of the stack of materials, the stack of materials stacked at a horizontal location upon a base surface or upon one or more other stacks of materials or fractional parts of the one or more other stacks of materials, the mechanism communicating a dataset comprising height-related information associated with the stack of materials from the received data to graphics hardware based upon the user interaction in real-time, the height-related information comprising a height of the stack of materials relative to a base height and one or more heights of one or more immediate neighboring stacks of materials relative to the base height, the graphics hardware rendering the stack of materials at a vertical position that corresponds to the height-related information within the computer-simulated environment, wherein the dataset is indexed by the horizontal location, and wherein the graphics hardware that renders the stack of materials draws at least one of a front surface or a side surface of at least part of the stack of materials by computing vertices that are determined at least in part by the height of an immediate neighboring stack of materials from the dataset communicated, such that non-occluded vertices are rendered and occluded vertices are not rendered.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the user stacks an object representing a material upon a stack of one or more other objects representing the material or another material via the interactive interface, and further comprising:

Assignees

• Finch Mark T
• Maclaurin Matthew B
• Coy Stephen B
• Anderson Eric S
• Cheng Lili
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Finch Mark T
• Maclaurin Matthew B
• Coy Stephen B
• Anderson Eric S
• Cheng Lili

Classifications

• G06T2219/2016

  Rotation, translation, scaling · CPC title

• G06T19/20 Primary

  Editing of three-dimensional [3D] images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts · CPC title

• G06T17/10 Primary

  Constructive solid geometry [CSG] using solid primitives, e.g. cylinders, cubes · CPC title

• G06T2200/24

  involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs] · CPC title

• G06F3/04845

  for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour · CPC title