Systems and methods for augmented reality

• US 10,678,324 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2018
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magic Leap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Magic Leap, Inc.
• Inventors: Miller, Samuel A., Woods, Michael J., Lundmark, David C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yang, Ryan R
• Application Number:
  US16/220,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20190155374A1
• Time in Patent Office: 543 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 7/004 for measuring coordinates of points
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/02 Measuring direction or magnitude of magnetic fields or magnetic flux G01R33/20 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/02 Systems using reflection of radio waves, e.g. primary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/08 for measuring distance only indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0112 comprising device for genereting colour display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0125 Field-of-view increase by wavefront division
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0127 comprising devices increasing the depth of field
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0132 comprising binocular systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10028 Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20221 Image fusion; Image merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/174 : involving the use of two or more images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/521 : from laser ranging, e.g. using interferometry; from the projection of structured light
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/55 : from multiple images

Abstract

An augmented reality display system includes an electromagnetic field emitter to emit a known magnetic field in a known coordinate system. The system also includes an electromagnetic sensor to measure a parameter related to a magnetic flux at the electromagnetic sensor resulting from the known magnetic field. The system further includes a depth sensor to measure a distance in the known coordinate system. Moreover, the system includes a controller to determine pose information of the electromagnetic sensor relative to the electromagnetic field emitter in the known coordinate system based at least in part on the parameter related to the magnetic flux measured by the electromagnetic sensor and the distance measured by the depth sensor. In addition, the system includes a display system to display virtual content to a user based at least in part on the pose information of the electromagnetic sensor relative to the electromagnetic field emitter.

Claims

1. An augmented reality (AR) display system, comprising:

a hand-held component coupled to an electromagnetic field emitter, the electromagnetic field emitter emitting a magnetic field;

a head-mounted component having a display system that displays virtual content to a user, the head mounted component coupled to an electromagnetic sensor measuring a parameter related to a magnetic flux at the electromagnetic sensor resulting from the magnetic field, wherein a head pose of the head-mounted component in a known coordinate system is known;

a depth sensor measuring a distance in the known coordinate system, wherein the depth sensor comprises a depth camera having a first field of view (FOV);

a world capture camera, wherein the world capture camera has a second FOV at least partially overlapping with the first FOV;

a picture camera, wherein the picture camera has a third FOV at least partially overlapping with the first FOV and the second FOV; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the hand-held component, the head-mounted component, and the depth sensor, the controller receiving the parameter related to the magnetic flux at the electromagnetic sensor from the head mounted component and receiving the distance from the depth sensor,

wherein the controller determines a hand pose of the hand-held component based at least in part on the parameter related to the magnetic flux measured by the electromagnetic sensor and the distance measured by the depth sensor,

wherein the depth camera, the world capture camera, and the picture camera are configured to capture respective first, second, and third images,

wherein the controller is programmed to

segment the second and third images, and

fuse the second and third images after segmenting the second and third images to generate a fused image, and

wherein measuring the distance in the known coordinate system comprises;

generating a hypothetical distance by analyzing the first image from the depth camera; and

generating the distance by analyzing the hypothetical distance and the fused image.

2. The AR display system of claim 1, wherein the depth camera, the world capture camera, and the picture camera have respective different first, second, and third resolutions.

3. The AR display system of claim 2, wherein the first resolution of the depth camera is sub-VGA, the second resolution of the world capture camera is 720p, and the third resolution of the picture camera is 2 megapixels.

4. The AR display system of claim 1, wherein the depth camera, the world capture camera, and the picture camera form a single integrated sensor.

5. The AR display system of claim 1, wherein the hand pose comprises a position and an orientation of the hand-held component in the known coordinate system.

6. The AR display system of claim 1, wherein the world capture camera is a grayscale camera.

7. The AR display system of claim 1, wherein the picture camera is a color camera.

8. The AR display system of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the fused image to generate a plurality of stereo correspondences.

9. The AR display system of claim 8, wherein generating the distance by analyzing the hypothetical distance and the fused image comprises analyzing the hypothetical distance and the plurality of stereo correspondences.