Conventionally, a method is known of displaying a stereoscopically viewable image using an image having a predetermined parallax. The method creates, as a left-eye image and a right-eye image, images of a virtual space viewed from a left virtual camera and a right virtual camera placed in the virtual space so as to be separate from each other at a predetermined distance in a left-right direction. Then, the method displays the created left-eye image and right-eye image on a display apparatus, and thereby displays a stereoscopically viewable image on the display apparatus.
Here, generally, to display a stereoscopic image on a display apparatus capable of performing stereoscopic display, it is necessary to generate a left-eye image and a right-eye image so as to have a parallax. In the left-eye image and the right-eye image, however, even a change in the parallax or the adjustment of the parallax does not change parameters other than the parallax. Thus, even if images having different parallaxes are displayed, it is difficult to perform three-dimensional display so as to provide a feeling that the senses of perspective in the images differ significantly.
Therefore, it is a main object of an exemplary embodiment to provide a storage medium having stored therein a display control program that, when displaying a predetermined virtual world on a display apparatus capable of performing stereoscopic display, can further emphasize the sense of perspective in the virtual world, and a display control apparatus, a display control method, and a display control system that, when displaying a predetermined virtual world on a display apparatus capable of performing stereoscopic display, can further emphasize the sense of perspective in the virtual world.
To achieve the above object, the exemplary embodiment can employ, for example, the following configurations. It should be noted that it is understood that, to interpret the descriptions of the claims, the scope of the claims should be interpreted only by the descriptions of the claims. If there is a conflict between the descriptions of the claims and the descriptions of the specification, the descriptions of the claims take precedence.
In an exemplary configuration of a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a display control program according to the exemplary embodiment, the display control program is executed by a computer of a display control apparatus for displaying a predetermined virtual world on a display apparatus capable of performing stereoscopic display, and the display control program causes the computer to execute: setting a parallax with which the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed; setting, in accordance with the parallax, a level of blurring with which the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed; and generating, on the basis of the parallax, a stereoscopic image in which the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed, by blurring at least part of the virtual world in accordance with the level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to display at least part of a virtual world to be stereoscopically displayed, so as to be blurred in accordance with a level of blurring set in accordance with a parallax. This makes it possible to, when displaying a stereoscopic image, further emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the parallax with which the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed may be allowed to be changed without changing a position of an object in the virtual world. In this case, the level of blurring may be set by changing the level of blurring in accordance with the changed parallax.
On the basis of the above, the level of blurring is adjusted in conjunction with a change in the parallax, whereby the state of blurring of at least part of the virtual world changes with the position of an object in the virtual world being unchanged. This makes it possible to display an image in which the sense of perspective is further emphasized.
In addition, in accordance with the parallax set for a partial region of the virtual world, the level of blurring with which the partial region is displayed may be set. The stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by blurring the partial region in accordance with the level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to display a partial region of the virtual world to be stereoscopically displayed, by changing the level of blurring of the partial region in accordance with the parallax set for the partial region. This makes it possible to, when displaying a stereoscopic image, further emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, at least one object included in the virtual world may be used as the partial region, and the level of blurring with which the object is displayed may be set in accordance with the parallax set for the object. The stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by blurring the object with which the level of blurring has been set, in accordance with the set level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to display at least one object to be stereoscopically displayed, by changing the level of blurring of the object in accordance with the parallax of the object. This makes it possible to, when displaying a stereoscopic image, further emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the display control program may further cause the computer to execute acquiring an output from a parallax adjustment mechanism for, in accordance with a user operation, adjusting a parallax with which the stereoscopic image is displayed on the display apparatus. In this case, the parallax with which the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed may be changed in accordance with the output from the parallax adjustment mechanism. The level of blurring may be set by changing the level of blurring in accordance with the parallax changed in accordance with the output from the parallax adjustment mechanism.
On the basis of the above, the level of blurring is adjusted in conjunction with the parallax adjustment made by a parallax adjustment mechanism, whereby it is possible to obtain a feeling as if adjusting a stereoscopic effect by further increasing and decreasing it using the parallax adjustment mechanism. This makes it possible to display an image in which the sense of perspective is further emphasized.
In addition, the level of blurring may be set by changing the level of blurring so as to have a linear relationship with a change in the parallax.
On the basis of the above, the level of blurring is linearly adjusted in conjunction with a change in the parallax. This makes it possible to realistically obtain a feeling as if the state of blurring is adjusted on the basis of the change in the parallax.
In addition, the stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by combining a first image and a second image together to blur the combined image, the first image unblurred or blurred in at least part thereof to a relatively small degree, the second image blurred in at least part thereof to a relatively large degree.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to generate an image represented so as to be blurred, only by combining a first image and a second image together. This eliminates the need of the process of generating an image by sequentially performing a blurring process on the virtual world.
In addition, the stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by combining the first image and the second image together in a blending ratio based on the level of blurring to blur the combined image.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to create images having various levels of blurring by combining the first image and the second image together while changing the blending ratio of the first image and the second image.
In addition, an image brighter than the first image may be used as the second image.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to represent a blurred image more realistically.
In addition, the stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by combining a first image and a second image together to blur the combined image, the first image unblurred relative to the object with which the level of blurring has been set, or blurred relative to at least part of the object to a relatively small degree, the second image blurred relative to the at least part of the object to a relatively large degree.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to, in accordance with the level of blurring, generate an image in which part of the object is blurred.
In addition, a third image may be further used that is blurred in at least part thereof in a different manner from the blurring of the second image and blurred in the at least part thereof to a larger degree than the blurring of the first image, and the second image or the third image is, in accordance with the level of blurring, selected to be combined with the first image.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to generate images having various states of blurring.
In addition, the level of blurring with which the partial region is displayed may be set using as the partial region a portion displayed in the virtual world at a position further in a depth direction than a reference depth position where no parallax is produced when the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed. The stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by blurring the partial region with which the level of blurring has been set, in accordance with the set level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, a stereoscopic image is displayed such that the partial region that appears to be displayed further in the depth direction than a screen is blurred in accordance with the parallax. This enhances the difference in the state of blurring between the partial region and an image that appears to be displayed near the screen, which makes it possible to emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the level of blurring with which the partial region may be displayed is set using as the partial region a portion to be displayed at the furthest position in the depth direction from the reference depth position when the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed.
On the basis of the above, a stereoscopic image is displayed such that a portion that appears to be displayed at the furthest position from the screen in the depth direction is blurred in accordance with the parallax. This enhances the difference in the state of blurring between an image that appears to be displayed near the screen and an image that appears to be displayed at the furthest position from the screen in the depth direction, which makes it possible to emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the level of blurring may be set for an image to be displayed in the virtual world at a position further in a depth direction than a display screen of the display apparatus when the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed on the display apparatus. The stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by blurring the image to be displayed at the position further in the depth direction, in accordance with the set level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, a stereoscopic image is displayed such that a portion that appears to be displayed at a position relatively far from the screen in the depth direction is blurred in accordance with the parallax. This enhances the difference in the state of blurring between an image that appears to be displayed at the relatively far position and other images, which makes it possible to emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the level of blurring with which the partial region is displayed may be set using as the partial region a portion to be displayed in the virtual world at a position closer in a depth direction than a reference depth position where no parallax is produced when the virtual world is stereoscopically displayed. The stereoscopic image may be generated on the basis of the parallax by blurring the partial region with which the level of blurring has been set, in accordance with the set level of blurring.
On the basis of the above, a stereoscopic image is displayed such that the partial region that appears to be displayed at a position closer than a screen in the depth direction is blurred in accordance with the parallax. This enhances the difference in the state of blurring between the partial region and an image that appears to be displayed near the screen, which makes it possible to emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
In addition, the display control program may further cause the computer to execute placing objects on surfaces arranged at different depth distances in a depth direction in the virtual world. In this case, in accordance with the parallax set for an entirety of the object placed on the surface arranged at a predetermined depth distance among the depth distances, the level of blurring with which the object placed on the surface arranged at the predetermined depth distance is displayed may be set.
On the basis of the above, virtual objects are placed in the virtual world on surfaces (for example, planes) arranged at different depth distances, whereby it is possible to easily display as a stereoscopic image the virtual world where a plurality of objects are placed on different surfaces, and to display the object placed on at least one of the different surfaces, by blurring the entirety of the object in accordance with the parallax.
In addition, the entirety of the object placed on the surface arranged at the predetermined depth distance may be placed as one two-dimensional image perpendicular to the depth direction. A two-dimensional image in which the object is blurred may be generated by combining together a plurality of the two-dimensional images in which the object is represented so as to be blurred in different manners, and the stereoscopic image may be generated by placing the two-dimensional image including the blurred object on the basis of the parallax.
On the basis of the above, when an object is represented as a two-dimensional image, the two-dimensional images represented so as to be blurred in different manners are combined together. This makes it possible to easily generate an image in which the object is blurred.
In addition, the exemplary embodiment may be carried out in the forms of a display control apparatus and a display control system that include units for performing the above processes, and a display control method including the above operations.
The exemplary embodiment makes it possible to display at least part of a virtual world to be stereoscopically displayed, so as to be blurred in accordance with a level of blurring set in accordance with a parallax. This makes it possible to, when displaying a stereoscopic image, further emphasize the sense of perspective in the stereoscopic image.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the exemplary embodiment will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds