(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,333,740 Bi
Kojima (45) Date of Patent: Dec. 25,2001
(54) IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS
(75) Inventor: Kunio Kojima, Funabashi (JP)
(73) Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka (JP)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/219,116
(22) Filed: Dec. 23, 1998
(30) Foreign Application Priority Data
Jan. 6, 1998 (JP) 10-000780
(51) Int. CI.7 G06T 15/00
(52) U.S. CI 345/419; 345/420
(58) Field of Search 345/419, 420,
345/423, 473, 474
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,414,801 * 5/1995 Smith et al 395/119
5,694,531 * 12/1997 Golin et al 395/119
5,945,976 * 8/1999 Iwamura et al 345/139
An image processing apparatus which allows for information search from items arranged in virtual space, includes: an intra-visual field polygon discriminating means for determining the polygons constituting the surfaces of 3D shapes displayed in the visual field; a polygon data storing means for storing the polygons which were determined to be within the visual field by the intra-visual field polygon discriminating means; a pre-observed polygon identifying means for judging whether currently observed polygons are the same as those stored in the polygon data storing means; and a display processing means for changing the display state of polygons which have been determined to have been priorly seen.
16 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
