VIRTUAL OBJECT MANIPULATION

• US 20100241998A1
• Filed: 03/20/2009
• Published: 09/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Geisner, Kevin, Markovic, Relja, Bennett, Darren Alexander, Latta, Stephen G, Tomlin, Arthur Charles
• Granted Patent: US 9,256,282 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/862
• 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 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for manipulating virtual objects. A user may utilize a controller, such as his hand, in physical space to associate with a cursor in a virtual environment. As the user manipulates the controller in physical space, this is captured by a depth camera. The image data from the depth camera is parsed to determine how the controller is manipulated, and a corresponding manipulation of the cursor is performed in virtual space. Where the cursor interacts with a virtual object in the virtual space, that virtual object is manipulated by the cursor.

Claims

1. A method for manipulating a virtual object in a virtual space, comprising:

determining at least one controller that a user utilizes to manipulate the virtual object;

mapping the controller to a cursor in the virtual space;

determining controller input indicative of the user manipulating the virtual object with the cursor; and

displaying the result of said manipulation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a physical object or at least one body part of the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the physical object comprises a baton, a disc or a ball.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual space comprises a representation of the user'"'"'s physical space, a virtual sub-space, a representation of a second user'"'"'s physical space, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein there is a scale of movement, and determining controller input indicative of the user manipulating the virtual object with the cursor includes:

determining controller input indicative of the user manipulating the virtual object with the cursor in proportion to the scale of movement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual object corresponds to a physical object in a physical space of the user or a physical object in a second physical space.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual object corresponds to a physical object, and the result of said manipulation comprises:

displaying an arrangement of said virtual object so that it corresponds to an arrangement of said physical object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual space is presented to the user in a first-person perspective or a third-person perspective.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one second controller that a second user utilizes to manipulate the virtual object;

mapping the second controller to a second cursor in the virtual space;

determining second controller input indicative of the second user manipulating the virtual object with the second cursor; and

displaying the result of said manipulation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual object has a plurality of dimensions and the first user manipulates a first dimension of the plurality of dimensions and the second user manipulates a second dimension of the plurality of dimensions.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a dimension comprises an axis.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the second user is represented to the first user as an avatar.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first user and the second user are in the same physical space or in separate physical spaces and communicating across a communications network.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the cursor has at least one dimension, and determining that controller input indicative of the user manipulating the virtual object with the cursor in proportion to the scale of movement, includes:

determining that controller input indicative of the user manipulating the virtual object with the cursor in proportion to the scale of dimension.

15. A system for interacting with a virtual object in a virtual environment, comprising:

a processor;

a component that associates a controller of a user with a cursor in the virtual environment;

a component that receives an indication of the user manipulating the controller;

a component that determines a manipulation of the cursor based on the controller manipulation;

a component that determines that the cursor interacts with the virtual object; and

a component that displays the result of the interaction on the virtual object.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuitry for a component that determines that the cursor interacts with the virtual object further comprises:

a component that determines that the cursor interacts with the virtual object based on a physics model.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a component that halts an animation of the cursor upon detecting that the cursor interact with the virtual object to cause a collision.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the virtual object corresponds to a physical object in a second user'"'"'s physical space.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a component that determines that the cursor interacts with the virtual object such that the virtual object interacts with a second virtual object; and

a component that displays the result of the interaction on the second virtual object.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer-readable instructions that when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of:

associating a physical controller of a user with a virtual cursor in a virtual environment;

receiving image data from a depth camera comprising an indication of the user manipulating the controller;

determining a manipulation of the cursor based on the controller manipulation;

determining that the cursor interacts with the virtual object; and

displaying the result of the interaction on the virtual object on a display device.