TRANSITION BETWEEN VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY

• US 20170262045A1
• Filed: 03/13/2017
• Published: 09/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Original Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Inventors: Rouvinez, Thomas, Kehoe, Aidan, Gutierrez, Mario, Jalil, Vincent, O'Sullivan, Damien, Meissier, Mathieu, Ramond, Nicolas, Croisonnier, Regis
• Granted Patent: US 10,317,989 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

In an embodiment there is provided a user interface device for interfacing a user with a computer, the computer comprising at least one processor to generate instructions for display of a graphical environment of a virtual reality simulation. The user interface device includes a sensor for detecting activation and/or a sensor for detecting proximity of a body part of the user (e.g., hand). At least partially based on detection by one of these sensors, a transition between virtual reality states is triggered.

Claims

1. A user interface device for interfacing a user with a computer, the computer comprising at least one processor to generate instructions for display of a graphical environment of a simulation in a virtual reality system having a plurality of states, including at least a virtual reality state and an augmented reality state, the user interface device comprising:

an input element;

a proximity sensor to detect one of a proximity and a touching of the user interface device by a user body part; and

a non-transitory, computer readable media including instructions for sending a trigger signal to the virtual reality system for use to transition between two of the states based on at least one of an activation of the input element and a detected proximity of the user body part.

2. The user interface device of claim 1 wherein the proximity sensor is arranged to determine in respect of the body part any one or more of:

a geometry of one or more portions of the body part;

an orientation of one or more portions of the body part;

a position of one or more portions of the body part.

3. The user interface device of claim 1 wherein the non-transitory, computer readable media further includes instructions for sending an image of the user interface device to the virtual reality system, the image comprising a composite of a plurality of layers.

4. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the plurality of layers includes at least two of an indicia layer, an input element layer, a device body layer, a proximal layer, a body part layer and a highlight layer.

5. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein at least one of the layers is modified upon the transition between states.

6. The user interface device of claim 1 wherein the non-transitory, computer readable media further includes instructions for generating a first trigger signal based upon a signal from the proximity sensor and a second trigger signal based upon a signal from the input element.

7. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the image of the user interface device has one of the layers modified a period of time after the transition.

8. The user interface device of claim 7 wherein the one layer is modified by fading the appearance after a period of nonuse indicating a transition from augmented reality to virtual reality.

9. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the image of the user interface device is a video image and includes an image of a user body part captured by a camera.

10. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the non-transitory, computer readable media further includes instructions for altering a spatial order of the layers upon the transition.

11. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the non-transitory, computer readable media further includes instructions for:

obtaining an identifier from the user interface device;

indexing into a lookup table with the identifier;

obtaining from the lookup table images for a plurality of the layers.

12. The user interface device of claim 3 wherein the non-transitory, computer readable media further includes instructions for modifying one of the layers based upon an input received from the virtual reality system.

13. A user interface device for interfacing a user with a computer, the computer comprising at least one processor to generate instructions for display of a graphical environment of a simulation in a virtual reality system having a plurality of states, including at least a virtual reality state and an augmented reality state, the user interface device comprising:

an input element;

a proximity sensor to detect one of a proximity and a touching of the user interface device by a user body part; and

a non-transitory, computer readable media including instructions for;

sending a trigger signal to the virtual reality system for use to transition between two of the states based on at least one of an activation of the input element and a detected proximity of the user body part;

sending an image of the user interface device to the virtual reality system, wherein the image of the user is a video image and includes an image of a user body part captured by a camera, the image comprising a composite of a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers includes at least two of an indicia layer, an input element layer, a device body layer, a proximal layer, a body part layer and a highlight layer, wherein at least one of the layers is modified upon the transition between states, wherein the image of the user interface device has one of the layers modified a period of time after the transition;

generating a first trigger signal based upon a signal from the proximity sensor and a second trigger signal based upon a signal from the input element;

obtaining an identifier from the user interface device;

indexing into a lookup table with the identifier; and

obtaining from the lookup table images for a plurality of the layers.

14. A method for interfacing a user interface device with a computer, the computer comprising at least one processor to generate instructions for display of a graphical environment of a simulation in a virtual reality system having a plurality of states, including at least a virtual reality state and an augmented reality state, the method comprising:

detecting activation of an input element;

detecting one of a proximity and a touching of the user interface device by a user body part with a proximity sensor on the user interface device; and

sending a trigger signal to the virtual reality system for use to transition between two of the states based on at least one of an activation of the input element and a detected proximity of the user body part.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising determining, using the proximity sensor, any one or more of:

a geometry of one or more portions of the body part;

an orientation of one or more portions of the body part;

a position of one or more portions of the body part.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising sending an image of the user interface device to the virtual reality system, the image comprising a composite of a plurality of layers.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the plurality of layers includes at least two of an indicia layer, an input element layer, a device body layer, a proximal layer, a body part layer and a highlight layer.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein at least one of the layers is modified upon the transition between states.

19. The method of claim 14 further comprising generating a first trigger signal based upon a signal from the proximity sensor and a second trigger signal based upon a signal from the input element.

20. A non-transitory, computer readable media including instructions for:

detecting activation of an input element of a user interface device;

detecting one of a proximity and a touching of the user interface device by a user body part with a proximity sensor on the user interface device; and

sending a trigger signal to a virtual reality system for use to transition between two virtual reality states based on at least one of an activation of the input element and a detected proximity of the user body part.