It is simple to do - simple 'render' the text into a texture map
buffer, and apply that texture to a surface. Hey Presto, 2D text in
a 3D world. Most interactive systems include vertex-level collision
detection, so detecting where the pointer (hand, ma>
e, glove etc.)
hits the virtual panel is also simple, and transforming this 3D
location into 2D is simply a matter of applying the inverse transform
for the base object to the collision coordinate - you end up with a
2D coordinate (relative to the top of the p if things are set up
correctly) and this can be used to find an index into the text.
Dynamic update of textures is a trick regularly used in real-time
simulation and VR systems - animation and special effects like flames
etc. are provided by cycling through a number of texture images at
some pre-defined rate.
Putting 'dynamic' text like HTML onto a polygon is exactly the same.
Of cour
e, you have to render the text into the texture buffer, but
that is not too hard.
=========================
Steve Ghee ( [email protected] )
Director of Technology
Division Ltd
19 Apex Court
Woodlands
Almondsbury
Bristol, UK
BS12 4JT
Tel : +44 1454 615554
Fax : +44 1454 615532
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