METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MAKING THE USE OF HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS LESS OBVIOUS TO NON-USERS

• US 20140078175A1
• Filed: 01/03/2013
• Published: 03/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Forutanpour, Babak, Baker, Daniel S., Yamakawa, Devender A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,310,611 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/633
• 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 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence

Abstract

Various arrangements are presented for positioning virtual objects displayed by a head-mounted display. A location of a person within a real-world scene may be determined. A virtual object may be displayed to a user such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

Claims

1. A method for positioning virtual objects displayed by a head-mounted display, comprising:

determining a location of a face of a person within a real-world scene; and

displaying, via the head-mounted display, a virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

2. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein content of the virtual object is unrelated to the person.

3. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an identity of the person; and

selecting the virtual object from among a plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

4. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving a set of person rankings from a user for a plurality of persons; and

receiving a set of virtual object rankings from the user for the plurality of virtual objects, wherein

selecting the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person is based on the set of person rankings and the set of virtual object rankings.

5. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, further comprising:

after displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, relocating the virtual object to being superimposed over a second face of a second person after a threshold period of time.

6. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, further comprising:

after displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, determining a user is looking up at greater than a threshold angle; and

in response to determining the user is looking up at greater than the threshold angle, relocating the virtual object such that the virtual object is not superimposed over the face of the person.

7. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the virtual object is presented by the head-mounted display such that the virtual object is visible only to a user of the head-mounted display.

8. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, wherein the virtual object is transparent such that the face of the person and the virtual object are simultaneously visible to a user of the head-mounted display.

9. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of motion by the person; and

after displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, displaying, via the head-mounted display, the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of a second person due to the determined amount of motion by the person.

10. The method for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 1, further comprising:

before displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, selecting the person from a plurality of persons using brightness levels of each person of the plurality of persons.

11. A system for presenting virtual objects, comprising:

an image capture device;

a head-mounted display;

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the processor and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

determine a location of a face of a person within a real-world scene using an image captured by the image capture device; and

cause, via the head-mounted display, a virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

12. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein content of the virtual object is unrelated to the person.

13. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine an identity of the person; and

select the virtual object from among a plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

14. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 13, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a set of person rankings from a user for a plurality of persons; and

receive a set of virtual object rankings from the user for the plurality of virtual objects, wherein the processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to select the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person further comprises;

processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to use the set of person rankings and the set of virtual object rankings to select the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

15. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, relocate the virtual object to being superimposed over a second face of a second person after a threshold period of time.

16. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, determine a user of the head-mounted display is looking up at greater than a threshold angle; and

in response to determining the user is looking up at greater than the threshold angle, cause display of the virtual object to be relocated such that the virtual object is not superimposed over the face of the person.

17. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the virtual object is presented by the head-mounted display such that the virtual object is visible only to a user of the head-mounted display.

18. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the virtual object is transparent such that the face of the person and the virtual object are simultaneously visible to a user of the head-mounted display.

19. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine an amount of motion by the person; and

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of a second person due to the determined amount of motion by the person.

20. The system for presenting virtual objects of claim 11, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

before causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, select the person from a plurality of persons using brightness levels of each person of the plurality of persons.

21. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable medium for positioning virtual objects displayed by a head-mounted display, the computer program product comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to:

determine a location of a face of a person within a real-world scene; and

cause, via the head-mounted display, a virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

22. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein content of the virtual object is unrelated to the person.

23. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine an identity of the person; and

select the virtual object from among a plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

24. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 23, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a set of person rankings from a user for a plurality of persons; and

receive a set of virtual object rankings from the user for the plurality of virtual objects, wherein the processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to select the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person further comprises;

processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to use the set of person rankings and the set of virtual object rankings to select the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

25. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, relocate the virtual object to being superimposed over a second face of a second person after a threshold period of time.

26. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, determine a user of the head-mounted display is looking up at greater than a threshold angle; and

in response to determining the user is looking up at greater than the threshold angle, cause display of the virtual object to be relocated such that the virtual object is not superimposed over the face of the person.

27. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the virtual object is presented by the head-mounted display such that the virtual object is visible only to a user of the head-mounted display.

28. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the virtual object is transparent such that the face of the person and the virtual object are simultaneously visible to a user of the head-mounted display.

29. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine an amount of motion by the person; and

after causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of a second person due to the determined amount of motion by the person.

30. The computer program product for positioning virtual objects displayed by the head-mounted display of claim 21, wherein the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

before causing the virtual object to be displayed such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person, select the person from a plurality of persons using brightness levels of each person of the plurality of persons.

31. An apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects, comprising:

means for determining a location of a face of a person within a real-world scene; and

means for displaying a virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

32. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, wherein content of the virtual object is unrelated to the person.

33. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining an identity of the person; and

means for selecting the virtual object from among a plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person.

34. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 33, further comprising:

means for receiving a set of person rankings from a user for a plurality of persons; and

means for receiving a set of virtual object rankings from the user for the plurality of virtual objects, wherein

selecting the virtual object from among the plurality of virtual objects based on the identity of the person is based on the set of person rankings and the set of virtual object rankings.

35. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, further comprising:

means for relocating the virtual object to being superimposed over a second face of a second person after a threshold period of time, wherein relocating occurs after displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.

36. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining a user is looking up at greater than a threshold angle, wherein determining occurs after displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person; and

means for relocating the virtual object such that the virtual object is not superimposed over the face of the person, wherein relocating occurs in response to determining the user is looking up at greater than the threshold angle.

37. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, wherein the virtual object is presented such that the virtual object is visible only to a user of the apparatus.

38. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, wherein the virtual object is transparent such that the face of the person and the virtual object are simultaneously visible to a user of the apparatus.

39. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining an amount of motion by the person; and

means for displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of a second person due to the determined amount of motion by the person.

40. The apparatus for positioning displayed virtual objects of claim 31, further comprising:

means for selecting the person from a plurality of persons using brightness levels of each person of the plurality of persons prior to displaying the virtual object such that the virtual object is superimposed over the face of the person.