Method and apparatus for direct manipulation of 3-D objects on computer displays

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled display system having a computer and a display coupled to the computer, comprising the steps of:

a) providing a user actuated input controller signal for selectively positioning a reference indicator on the display;

b) positioning the reference indicator over the displayed object and signaling the computer to activate a control movement mode;

c) providing on the display a three-dimensional representation of a bounding region including at least two portions which specify respective predefined control movement types, one of said types being rotation around an axis parallel to the portion which specifies rotation around that axis;

d) positioning the reference indicator over one of said portions;

e) signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type specified by the portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator, and while the reference indicator is over said portion, repositioning the reference indicator to define a movement of the specified type; and

f) re-displaying the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement of the specified type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region is a generally rectilinear bounding box, and wherein the step of re-displaying further comprises re-displaying the bounding box in accordance with the defined movement of the predefined control movement type.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the bounding region is reduced in size relative to the displayed object.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the input controller signal is from a mouse.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the reference indicator is a pointer displayed on the display.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of signaling the computer to activate the control movement mode includes the step of activating a switch.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of activating a switch comprises pressing a button on the mouse.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type includes the step of activating a switch.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of activating a switch comprises pressing a button on the mouse.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising, in step (e), after signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type, changing the shape of the reference indicator and thus indicating, to a user of the method, a type and direction of available object manipulations.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the portion of the bounding region is an active zone.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the portion of the bounding region defines a handle which graphically distinguishes said portion from the remainder of the bounding region.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the handle indicates, to a user of the method, a type and direction of available object manipulations.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the handle extends outwardly from the bounding region such that the outwardly extending handle presents an appearance of being available to be selected by the reference indicator.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the handle is shaped like a rod.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the handle is shaped like a cube.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the handle is shaped like an arrow.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the portion of the bounding region is an image of a hand.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the hand indicates to a user of the method a type and direction of available object manipulations.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the hand looks like a human hand.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the hand appears to be grabbing the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the hand looks like a mechanical hand.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the hand appears to be grabbing the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined control movement type is a translation of the displayed object.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the translation of the displayed object is along model space coordinate axes.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the translation of the displayed object in model space is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the translation of the displayed object in model space is perpendicular to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the translation of the displayed object is performed by determining a difference in model space between a position of the reference indicator when the translation operation was activated and a current position of the reference indicator, and transforming the difference into scaled and rotated coordinates using a scale transform and a rotate transform, and adding the transformed difference to a translation transform to create a new translation transform, and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the rotate transform and the new translation transform.

29. The method of claim 24 wherein translation of the displayed object is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region and is limited to a predefined range of translation manipulations.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the axis of rotation of the displayed object is parallel to model space coordinate axes.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the rotation of the displayed object in model space is around an axis of the bounding region.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the axis of rotation is a center line of the bounding region.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the axis of rotation is an edge of the bounding region.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the axis of rotation is around a bounding region edge opposite from the portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein the axis of rotation is outside of the bounding region.

36. The method of claim 1 wherein the rotation of the displayed object is performed by transforming a position of the reference indicator when the rotation operation was activated by a scale transform, and transforming a current position of the reference indicator by the scale transform and determining an angle created thereby versus a center point of the displayed object, and concatenating a rotation matrix of the angle into a rotation transform to create a new rotation transform, and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the new rotation transform and a translation transform.

37. The method of claim 1 wherein a second of the predefined control movement types is a scaling of the displayed object.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the scaling of the displayed object is along model space coordinate axes.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the scaling in model space is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

40. The method of claim 38 wherein the scaling is homogenous.

41. The method of claim 37 wherein the scaling of the displayed object is performed by determining a ratio of a position of the reference indicator versus an origin of the bounding region when the scaling operation was activated and a current-position of the reference indicator versus the origin of the bounding region and multiplying the ratio with a scale transform to create a new scale transform and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the new scale transform, a rotate transform and a translation transform.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein scaling of the displayed object is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region and is limited to a predefined range of scaling manipulations.

43. A method for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled video display system having a computer, a video display and a mouse, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting the displayed object by using the mouse to position a pointer over the displayed object and pressing a button on the mouse;

b) displaying a three-dimensional representation of a bounding box having at least two active zones which specify respective available movement types, one of said types being rotation around an axis parallel to the zone which specifies rotation around that axis, when the displayed object is selected;

c) defining a movement of a type predefined by one of the active zones by using the mouse to position the pointer over an active zone, pressing the button on the mouse, and, while the pointer is over the active zone, repositioning the pointer with the mouse; and

d) re-displaying the bounding box and the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein the available movement types further comprise translation and scaling.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein if the predefined movement type is translation then the translation of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by determining a difference in model space between a position of the pointer when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed and a current position of the pointer, and transforming the difference into scaled and rotated coordinates using a scale transform and a rotate transform and adding the transformed difference to a translation transform to create a new translation transform, and wherein re-displaying the bounding box and the displayed object is in accordance with the scale transform, the rotate transform and the new translation transform.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein if the predefined movement type is rotation then the rotation of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by transforming a position of the pointer when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed by a scale transform and transforming a current position of the pointer by the scale transform and determining an angle created thereby versus a center point of the displayed object and concatenating a rotation matrix of the angle into a rotation transform to create a new rotation transform, and wherein re-displaying the displayed object and the bounding box on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the new rotation transform and a translation transform.

47. The method of claim 44 wherein if the predefined movement type is scaling then the scaling of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by determining a ratio of a position of the pointer versus an origin of the bounding box when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed and a current position of the pointer versus the origin of the bounding box and multiplying the ratio with a scaling transform to create a new scaling transform and wherein re-displaying the displayed object and the bounding box on the video display is in accordance with the new scaling transform, a rotate transform and a translation transform.

48. An apparatus for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled display system having a computer and a display coupled to the computer, the apparatus comprising:

a) means for positioning a reference indicator over the displayed object and signaling the computer to activate a control movement mode;

b) means for generating on the display a three-dimensional representation of a bounding region including at least two portions which specify respective predefined control movement types, one of said types being rotation around an axis parallel to the portion which specifies rotation around that axis;

c) means for signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type specified by a portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator;

d) means for repositioning the reference indicator while the reference indicator is over the portion of the bounding region to define a movement of the predefined control movement type; and

e) means for re-displaying the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement of the predefined control movement type.

49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region is a generally rectilinear bounding box, and further comprising means for re-displaying the bounding box in accordance with the defined movement of the predefined control movement type.

50. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the bounding region is reduced in size relative to the displayed object.

51. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the positioning means and the repositioning means is a mouse.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein the reference indicator is a pointer displayed on the display.

53. The apparatus of claim 52 wherein the means for signaling the computer to activate the control movement mode is a switch.

54. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein the switch is a button on the mouse.

55. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein the means for signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type includes a switch.

56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the switch is a button on the mouse.

57. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the means for signaling the computer further comprises means for changing the shape of the reference indicator when the computer has been signaled to activate a predefined control movement type thus indicating to a user of the apparatus a type and direction of available object manipulations.

58. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the portion of the bounding region is an active zone.

59. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the portion of the bounding region defines a handle which graphically distinguishes said portion from the remainder of the bounding region.

60. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the handle indicates, to a user of the apparatus, a type and direction of available object manipulations.

61. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the handle extends outwardly from the bounding region such that the outwardly extending handle presents an appearance of being available to be selected by the reference indicator.

62. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the handle is shaped like a rod.

63. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the handle is shaped like a cube.

64. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein the handle is shaped like a arrow.

65. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the portion of the bounding region is an image of a hand.

66. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the hand indicates to a user of the apparatus a type and direction of available object manipulations.

67. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the hand looks like a human hand.

68. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein the hand appears to be grabbing the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region.

69. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein the hand looks like a mechanical hand.

70. The apparatus of claim 69 wherein the hand appears to be grabbing the three-dimensional representation of a bounding region.

71. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the predefined control movement type is a translation of the displayed object.

72. The apparatus of claim 71 wherein the translation of the displayed object is along model space coordinate axes.

73. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the translation of the displayed object in model space is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

74. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the translation of the displayed object in model space is perpendicular to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

75. The apparatus of claim 71 wherein the translation of the displayed object is performed by determining a difference in model space between a position of the reference indicator when the translation operation was activated and a current position of the reference indicator and transforming the difference into scaled and rotated coordinates using a scale transform and a rotate transform and adding the transformed difference to a translation transform to create a new translation transform and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the rotate transform and the new translation transform.

76. The apparatus of claim 71 wherein translation of the displayed object is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region and is limited to a predefined range of translation manipulations.

77. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the axis of rotation of the displayed object is parallel to model space coordinate axes.

78. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein the rotation in model space of the displayed object is around an axis of the bounding region.

79. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the axis of rotation is a center line of the bounding region.

80. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein the axis of rotation is an edge of the bounding region.

81. The apparatus of claim 80 wherein the axis of rotation is around a bounding region edge opposite from the portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator.

82. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein the axis of rotation is outside of the bounding region.

83. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein the rotation of the displayed object is performed by transforming a position of the reference indicator when the rotation operation was activated by a scale transform and transforming a current position of the reference indicator by the scale transform and determining an angle created thereby versus a center point of the displayed object, and concatenating a rotation matrix of the angle into a rotation transform to create a new rotation transform, and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the new rotation transform and a translation transform.

84. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein a second of the predefined control movement types is a scaling of the displayed object.

85. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein the scaling of the displayed object is along model space coordinate axes.

86. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein the scaling in model space is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region.

87. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein the scaling is homogenous.

88. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein the scaling of the displayed object is performed by determining a ratio of a position of the reference indicator versus an origin of the bounding region when the scaling operation was activated and a current position of the reference indicator versus the origin of the bounding region and multiplying the ratio with a scale transform to create a new scale transform and wherein re-displaying the displayed object on the video display is in accordance with the new scale transform, a rotate transform and a translation transform.

89. The apparatus of claim 88 wherein scaling of the displayed object is parallel to a plane of a face of the bounding region and is limited to a predefined range of scaling manipulations.

90. An apparatus for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled video display system having a computer, a video display and a mouse, the apparatus comprising:

a) means for selecting the displayed object by using the mouse to position a pointer over the displayed object and pressing a button on the mouse;

b) means for displaying a three-dimensional representation of a bounding box having at least two active zones which specify respective available movement types, one of said types being rotation around an axis parallel to the zone which specifies rotation around that axis, when the displayed object is selected;

c) means for defining a movement of a type predefined by one of the active zones by using the mouse to position the pointer over an active zone, pressing the button on the mouse, and, while the pointer is over the active zone, repositioning the pointer with the mouse; and

d) means for re-displaying the bounding box and the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement.

91. The apparatus of claim 90 wherein the available movement types comprise translation and scaling.

92. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein if the predefined movement type is translation then the translation of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by a means for determining a difference in model space between a position of the pointer when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed and a current position of the pointer, and transforming the difference into scaled and rotated coordinates using a scale transform and a rotate transform and adding the transformed difference to a translation transform to create a new translation transform, and wherein re-displaying the bounding box and the displayed object is in accordance with the scale transform, the rotate transform and the new translation transform.

93. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein if the predefined movement type is rotation then the rotation of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by a means for transforming a position of the pointer when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed by a scale transform and transforming a current position of the pointer by the scale transform and determining an angle created thereby versus a center point of the displayed object and concatenating a rotation matrix of the angle into a rotation transform to create a new rotation transform and wherein re-displaying the displayed object and the bounding box on the video display is in accordance with the scale transform, the new rotation transform and a translation transform.

94. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein if the predefined movement type is scaling then the scaling of the displayed object and the bounding box is performed by a means for determining a ratio of a position of the pointer versus an origin of the bounding box when the pointer was positioned over the active zone and the mouse button was pressed and a current position of the pointer versus the origin of the bounding box and multiplying the ratio with a scaling transform to create a new scaling transform, and wherein re-displaying the displayed object and the bounding box on the video display is in accordance with the new scaling transform, a rotate transform and a translation transform.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of manipulation of 3-D objects on computer displays. More specifically, the present invention relates to the field of manipulation of a 3-D object displayed on a computer display with kinesthetic feedback to the user directing the manipulation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many prior art computer systems include computer controlled display systems which utilize bit-mapped displays which typically present a graphic image to the user of the computer system. In these computer controlled display systems, a bit-mapped image appears on a display means, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD); the bit-mapped image is typically generated and stored in a frame buffer which acts as a memory for the display system. In these display systems, the user typically interacts with the computer system by manipulating a cursor control means, such as a mouse. The user uses the mouse to position a cursor on the bit-mapped image to select options which are displayed under the control of the computer system on the display means.

Advances in computer graphics have extended the range of capabilities for the user. Objects can now be displayed in three-dimensional (3-D) representation, for example in wireframe, solid and/or shaded forms.

While 3-D trackball input controller devices (or other 3+ dimensional input controller devices) have been utilized for manipulating objects displayed in 3-D representation, they are generally complex and expensive.

Various techniques utilizing two-dimensional (2-D) input controllers such as a mouse have been developed for manipulating objects displayed in 3-D representation.

A known technique utilizes graphically displayed X, Y, and Z sliders which are adjusted by the user (for example, with an input controller such as a mouse) to indicate the amount of rotation about each axis independently. Typically, only one slider is adjusted at any given time.

Another known technique involves the menu selection of the axis about which rotation is desired. An input controller such as a mouse is then moved in one dimension to indicate the amount of rotation.

Still another technique involves holding down one of three buttons on a mouse or a keyboard to select the axis of rotation, and then moving a mouse in one dimension to indicate the amount of rotation.

A still further technique involves selecting the object by clicking on it with the mouse pointer and again using the mouse pointer to drag a handle on the selected object in order to move, re-shape, re-size, or rotate the object. Oftentimes, with 3-D objects, only one or two dimensions can be altered with any given handle and rotation only occurs around a central point in a world 3-D space as opposed to rotation around the centerpoint (or other axis) of the 3-D object itself (sometimes referred to as model space).

An even further technique involves selecting a 3-D object by clicking on it with the mouse pointer, using the mouse pointer to make a menu selection as to a predefined type of movement option desired and again using the mouse pointer to drag a handle on the selected object in order to define a movement of the selected predefined type of movement. Typically, with 3-D objects, only one predefined type of movement is available at a time in what is commonly known as a modal form of operation.

An important consideration with known techniques for manipulating displayed objects represented in 3-D form is the lack of kinesthetic correspondence (or stimulus-response compatibility) between the movement of the input controller device and the object movement or direction of object rotation. That is, the required movement of the input controller device does not provide the sense of directly manipulating the displayed object. Stated differently, known techniques for manipulating displayed objects represented in 3-D form typically lack direct manipulation kinesthetic correspondence whereby the 3-D displayed object being manipulated continuously moves (is continuously re-displayed) with the mouse controlled pointer directing the manipulation so that the pointer may remain on the same location of the displayed 3-D object throughout the manipulation.

A still further consideration is the inherent limitation of the modal form of 3-D object manipulation which further separates the user's expectations regarding moving a real world 3-D object from the experience of moving an image of the 3-D object on a computer display due to having to either select between alternative manipulation modes and/or operate in different windows each containing different views of the object to be manipulated.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide an improved technique for manipulating objects displayed in 3-D representation with 2-D input controller devices which provides for kinesthetic correspondence between input controller motion and displayed object movement.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved technique for intuitively manipulating displayed 3-D objects such that the displayed 3-D object manipulation emulates physical 3-D object manipulation.

A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an improved technique for manipulation of displayed 3-D objects which provides for de-coupled object rotation, both homogenous and non-homogenous object scaling and object translation on a plane of the 3-D space.

An even further objective of the present invention is to provide an improved technique for manipulation of displayed 3-D objects which provides for seamless transition from one type of object manipulation to another type of object manipulation whereby explicit manipulation tools need not be selected between the object manipulations.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved technique for manipulation of displayed 3-D objects which provides the user with visual clues as to the manipulations available and to the means to facilitate such manipulations.

The foregoing and other advantages are provided by a method for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled display system having a computer and a display coupled to the computer, the method comprising the steps of providing a user actuated input controller for selectively positioning a reference indicator on the display, positioning the reference indicator over the displayed object and signaling the computer to activate a control movement mode, providing a three-dimensional representation of a bounding region, positioning the reference indicator over a portion of the bounding region sensitive to the presence of the reference indicator, signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type specified by the sensitive portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator and repositioning the reference indicator to define a movement of the predefined control movement type, and re-displaying the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement of the predefined control movement type.

The foregoing and other advantages are provided by an apparatus for manipulating an object displayed in three-dimensional representation on a computer controlled display system having a computer and a display coupled to the computer, the apparatus comprising means for positioning a reference indicator over the displayed object and signaling the computer to activate a control movement mode, means for generating a three-dimensional representation of a bounding region, means for signaling the computer to activate a predefined control movement type specified by the sensitive portion of the bounding region under the reference indicator and repositioning the reference indicator to define a movement of the predefined control movement type, and means for re-displaying the displayed object in accordance with the defined movement of the predefined control movement type.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a generalized block diagram of a computer system as might be used by the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts the object model coordinate system as used by the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a 3-D representation of an object and some alternative embodiments of an object surrounded by a bounding box;

FIG. 4 depicts the active zone layout of the preferred embodiment of the present invention and some of the object and bounding box manipulations supported by the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the sequence of steps preparing to handle a user manipulation;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting the translation manipulation sequence of steps;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting the rotation manipulation sequence of steps;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting the scaling manipulation sequence of steps;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting the sequence of steps to re-display a manipulated object and bounding box;

FIG. 10 depicts the transformation relationships of the present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts the further visual dues of a changing pointer as provided by alternative embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 12 depicts the further visual clues for a rotation manipulation as provided by alternative embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 13 depicts the further visual clues for a translation manipulation as provided by alternative embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 depicts the active zone layout and determination of which active zone was selected by the user;

FIG. 15 depicts the indexing scheme of the active zone layout and determination of which active zone was selected by the user;

FIG. 16 depicts the polarity of the selected bounding box face of the present invention;

FIG. 17 depicts the translate-pull manipulation alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 depicts the rotation manipulation determination of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 19 depicts the scaling manipulation determination of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention generally involves the manipulation of a computer displayed object represented in three-dimensional form, and it would be helpful to provide a brief discussion of the pertinent computer environment. FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram of an appropriate computer system 10 which includes a CPU/memory unit 11 that generally comprises a microprocessor, related logic circuitry, and memory circuits. A keyboard 13 provides inputs to the CPU/memory unit 11, as does two-dimensional input controller 15 which by way of example can be a mouse, a 2-D trackball, a joystick, a stylus, a touch screen, a touch tablet, etc. Disk drives 17, which can include fixed disk drives, are used for mass storage of programs and data. Display output is provided by a video display 19.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the object viewed on the video display 19 can be referenced for convenience relative to an orthogonal coordinate system (having X, Y and Z axes) called the model coordinate system (or model space) that has its origin at the center of rotation of the object.

For ease of understanding, the following discussion will be in the context of using a two-dimensional input controller 15 that is a mouse (used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention), but it should be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that the disclosed techniques can be implemented with other 2-D or 3-D (or even greater numbers of dimensions) input controller devices.

A mouse controls the position of a mouse pointer (e.g., a reference indicator such as a cursor) that is displayed on the video display. The pointer is moved by moving the mouse over a flat surface, such as the top of a desk, in the desired direction of movement of the pointer. Thus, the two-dimensional movement of the mouse on the flat surface translates into a corresponding two-dimensional movement of the mouse pointer on the video display.

A mouse typically has one or more finger actuated control buttons. While the control buttons can be utilized for different functions such as selecting a menu option pointed to by the pointer, the disclosed invention advantageously utilizes a single mouse button to select a 3-D object and to trace the movement of the pointer along a desired path. Specifically, the pointer is located at the desired starting location, the mouse button is depressed to signal the computer to activate a control movement mode, and the mouse is moved while maintaining the button depressed. After the desired path has been traced, the mouse button is released. This procedure is sometimes referred to as dragging the mouse pointer. It should be appreciated that a predetermined key on a keyboard could also be utilized to activate dragging the mouse pointer.

In the present invention, when a 3-D object displayed on a visual display of a computer system is selected by the user, a 3-D "virtual box" or "bounding box" appears on the visual display such that the bounding box completely surrounds the 3-D object. One might view the bounding box as a glass box enclosing the selected object. The bounding box thus signals the user that the 3-D object has been selected. Further, the bounding box allows for direct manipulation of the enclosed 3-D object as will be explained below. Note that it is well within the scope of the present invention to provide a bounding region having a shape other than a generally rectangular or box shape. Such a bounding region could be of any of a great number of shapes including oblong, oval, ovoid, conical, cubic, cylindrical, polyhedral, spherical, etc.

Direct manipulation of the 3-D object, which manipulation generally comprises moving, scaling, or rotating the object, can be accomplished in different ways depending upon which embodiment of the present invention the user has chosen and which implementation is supported by a given computer system.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a 3-D representation of an object 301, in this case a wing back chair, is shown as displayed on the visual display of a computer system. When the user selects chair 301, by moving the mouse until the pointer 302 is on the chair and clicking on the chair by pressing the mouse button (or using a keyboard equivalent), the chair is surrounded by a bounding box 303. Alternative embodiments include a bounding box 305 with hands, a bounding box 307 with handles, and a bounding box 309 with active zones (or hot zones), as is explained more fully below.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bounding box 303, which appears as a result of the user selecting the 3-D object 301 and as was stated above, is a 3-D transparent box which completely surrounds the selected 3-D object 301. The bounding box 303 is thus, at a minimum, a visual clue to the user that the 3-D object has been selected.

With the bounding box 305 with hands embodiment, the user is given further clues as to what manipulations are possible with the selected object. Not only is the user informed that the 3-D object 301 has been selected, but the user is also given indications as to what manipulation operations might be possible with the selected object. The top hand 311 of the bounding box 305 appears to be pulling the bounding box up (or pushing down or both) and thus indicates to the user that the 3-D object can be lifted. The hands 313 around the base of the bounding box 305 appear to be pushing or pulling the bounding box around in a circle and thus indicate to the user that this 3-D object can be spun around if so desired.

A similar situation exists with the bounding box 307 with handles. Again, the user is given clues as to what manipulation operations might be possible with the selected object. The top handle 315 of the bounding box 307 appears to be available for grabbing and pulling the bounding box up (and/or pushing the bounding box down) and thus tells the user that the 3-D object can be lifted up or down. The handles 317 around the base of the bounding box 307 appear to be available for pushing or pulling the bounding box around in a circle and thus tell the user that this 3-D object can be spun around if so desired.

With the bounding box 309 with active zones, the user is given different clues (and, as will be explained below, some of these clues are user selectable to thus lessen any visual clutter which may exist with the visible active zones). Again, the bounding box tells the user that the 3-D object has been selected. Further, additional lines on the bounding box tell the user that there are different active, or hot, zones available to be used.

Placement of manipulation controls directly on the bounding box in positions which mirror those places one would touch a similarly shaped object in the real, physical world makes interaction with the displayed 3-D object more intuitive. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the location of the rotation controls along the edges of the bounding box (where two faces meet) provides users with particularly intuitive rotation control based on the user's real world experiences. It is common to turn real world objects by grabbing onto a good "hand-hold" such as an exposed corner and pushing or pulling the objects around in a desired direction. The edges of a real box shaped object thus function as hand holds for rotation. Similarly, the edges of the bounding box function as intuitive "cursor holds" for rotation. Users intuitively "push" or "pull" on the edges of the displayed bounding box with the reference pointer to achieve object rotation.

Still further embodiments of the present invention would further support spring-loaded object manipulations (as is explained below) by providing additional manipulation clues to the user. FIG. 11 shows the pointer changing to a curved arrow indicating rotation manipulations in the case of a rotation active zone selection, to crossed arrows indicating the plane of movement in the case of a translation active zone selection and to an enlarging arrow indicating that dimensions are to be affected in the case of a scaling active zone selection. FIG. 12 shows a selected object's bounding box 1201 of an alternate embodiment of the present invention displaying a circle 1203 (or ellipse when the object and bounding box are in a perspective view) when a rotation active zone is selected to thus indicate the rotation possibilities with a given rotation active zone. The displayed circle 1203 could further display a curved arrow 1205 around a portion of the circumference of the displayed circle 1203 to thus signal the user as to the manipulations possible with the selected, rotation active zone. Similarly, with translation manipulations, FIG. 13 shows a translucent plane 1301 which would be displayed to thus indicate the plane of translation available with a given selected translation active zone. Again, with spring-loaded active zones (further explained below), whenever the user stops pressing the mouse button the manipulation icon or rotation circle would no longer be displayed and the original pointer would again be displayed.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a bounding box with active zones 401 is shown. It should be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art of the present invention that although the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes a bounding box represented as a wireframe with no back lines visible and with the object remaining visible within the bounding box (e.g., bounding box 309 in FIG. 3), the back lines of the bounding box could also be displayed or the bounding box could even be displayed as a solid (no back faces or lines visible) with the object inside either visible (a transparent solid bounding box), not visible (an opaque solid bounding box), visible yet faint or greyed out (a translucent solid bounding box), etc., all as alternative embodiments which could be user selectable. Note, however, that no object is shown within the bounding box in the figure so as to avoid any potential visual clutter (which option could be user selectable in a still further alternative embodiment of the present invention).

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each face of the bounding box with active zones 401 is divided into 9 active zones. Clicking the pointer in any one of these active zones and dragging will result in moving, rotating, or scaling the bounding box (along with the 3-D object within the bounding box) depending upon which active zone is selected.

The bounding box 401 with active zones allows various paradigms for 3-D object manipulation. To scale the 3-D object the user grabs a corner of the bounding box and pulls. To rotate the 3-D object the user grabs an edge of the bounding box and turns the bounding box. To move (translate) the 3-D object the user grabs a face of the bounding box and slides the bounding box.

And again, with a bounding box, the user need not worry about where within an active zone to grab a particular 3-D object (regardless of object shape) in order to perform any one of the desired manipulations because the bounding box provides a consistent user interface across all object shapes. For example, if the 3-D object is a floor lamp, the user need not worry about whether it is "proper" to pick up the lamp by the shade, the base, or the pole. This is because the bounding box consistently defines the available actions and means to perform those actions. In other words, when faced with individual objects of varying shapes and contours, each user has a different idea of how the object should be "touched" with the reference pointer in order to directly manipulate the object. By allowing the user to control any object by directly manipulating the object's 3-D bounding box upon selection, the user need only learn how to interact with that one simple box shape. This provides for a consistent approach and interface to controlling any object shape. Furthermore, the interface is reinforced by each object manipulation.

Still further, the use of a 3-D bounding box improves user perception of the virtual 3-D scre