Systems and methods for simulating frames of complex virtual environments

A method for performing simulation operations to facilitate the rendering of frames of a complex virtual environment, the simulation operations being performed as part of a simulation loop to provide interactive displays of the complex environment to a user, the method comprising:

• detecting, for a next frame to be rendered, input from a user;
• determining, based on the user input, desired movements from a current position to a desired position within the complex virtual environment;
• predicting, using a collision detection hierarchy of bounding boxes that contain one or more elements of the complex environment, whether a collision will occur with an element in the complex environment based on the desired movements between the current position and the desired position;
• and
• calculating an adjusted position for rendering the next frame in response to the detection of a collision,
• wherein determining desired movements based on the user input comprises calculating a path between the current position and the desired position based on the user input, and
• further wherein predicting whether a collision will occur comprises:
• performing a proximity query based on the calculated path between the current position and the desired position to identify intersecting bounding boxes;
• and
• analyzing elements contained in each identified bounding box to determine if a collision will occur based on the desired movements.

A computer program product for providing interactive displays of a complex virtual environment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium embodying a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that are executable by a system to perform a simulation method to facilitate the rendering of frames of the complex environment, the method comprising:

• determining, based on user input for a frame to be rendered, desired movements from a current position to a desired position within the complex virtual environment;
• performing, using a collision detection hierarchy of bounding boxes that contain one or more elements of the complex environment, a predictive collision detection operation to determine if a collision will occur with an element represented in the complex environment if the desired movements are performed between the current position and the desired position;
• and
• in response to performing the collision detection operation, setting a viewer position for the frame to be rendered.

In a system for providing interactive displays of a complex virtual environment, a simulation component for performing simulations based on virtual reality (VR) file(s), the VR file(s) including a collision detection hierarchy of bounding boxes that contain elements represented in the complex environment, the simulation component comprising:

• means for determining, based on input from a user, desired movements from a current position to a desired position within the complex virtual environment;
• means for detecting, using the collision detection hierarchy of bounding boxes, whether a collision will occur with an element represented in the complex virtual environment based on the desired movements from the current position to the desired position;
• and
• means for calculating an adjusted position when it is determined that a collision will occur based on the desired movements indicated by the user input.

A method for simulating movement of an avatar in a complex virtual environment, the method comprising:

• determining, based on input from a user, desired movements of the avatar from a current position to a desired position within the complex virtual environment;
• and
• detecting, using a collision detection hierarchy of bounding boxes, whether a collision will occur with an element represented in the complex virtual environment if the avatar is moved from the current position to the desired position, wherein detecting includes:
• performing a proximity query based on the desired movements of the avatar to identify bounding boxes that intersect with the avatar when the avatar is moved to the desired position;
• and
• analyzing elements contained in each identified bounding box to determine if a collision will occur with the avatar.