MAPPING ARENA MOVEMENTS INTO A 3-D VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20180043247A1
• Filed: 11/04/2016
• Published: 02/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zero Latency Pty., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Zero Latency Pty., Ltd.
• Inventors: Vandonkelaar, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 10,751,609 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality

Abstract

A virtual reality system maps primarily 2-D arena movements into 3-D virtual worlds. Movement into specific physical arena areas or directions triggers virtual world effects such as changing elevation, moving on a different elevation, walking on walls or walking on the outer surface of an object. The 3D-VR system supports multiple simultaneous people at different virtual elevations and provides a realistic, interesting and exciting simulation experience.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a virtual reality server in communication with a plurality of cameras and a plurality of displays, the virtual reality server comprising a memory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executable code having stored thereon instructions for operating a control system comprising at least one processor coupled to the memory,

wherein the plurality of cameras are configured to record images of an arena in which at least one person is participating in a virtual reality simulation,

wherein the virtual reality server constructs a 3-dimensional virtual world model representing the virtual reality simulation,

wherein the virtual reality server receives images from at least two of the plurality of cameras, determines arena movements for each person in the received images, maps each person'"'"'s arena movements into 3-dimensional movements within the 3-dimensional virtual world model, and outputs a representation of the 3-dimensional virtual world model for display on at least one of the plurality of displays.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server receives input from at least one sensory enhancement device, updates the 3-dimensional virtual world model based on that input, and outputs information to at least one sensory enhancement device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server provides a mapping of the at least one person'"'"'s arena movement into a 3-dimensional virtual world movement, wherein the mapping depends on the person'"'"'s physical arena location.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one person'"'"'s arena movement corresponds to movements to different elevations within the same virtual world.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the mapping depends on the at least one person'"'"'s location within the 3-dimensional virtual world.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein movements into a specified arena area triggers simulation of an elevation change movement selected from the group of an elevator, lift, escalator, spiral staircase, and a transporter.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the simulation of elevation change includes sensory stimulation of people within the specified arena area.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the sensory stimulation comprises sound.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the sensory stimulation comprises vibration.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the arena movement corresponds to walking an outer surface of an object in the 3-dimensional virtual reality world.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the arena movement corresponds to circumnavigation of the outer surface of the object in the 3-dimensional virtual reality world.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server is configured to map people movements in a specified area of the arena or 3-dimensional virtual reality world to walking on a virtual wall.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server is configured to map people movements within the arena to gradual changes of elevation within a 3-dimensional virtual reality world.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server is configured to support the plurality of people in the arena by monitoring each person'"'"'s arena movement, updating the 3-dimensional virtual reality world model and outputting information each person'"'"'s display and sensory enhancement devices.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional virtual reality world orientation of the at least one person is vertical to the surface in specific areas of the virtual reality world.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality server is configured to detect tracking marker locations, and uses the tracking marker locations to detect people movements within the arena.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein tracking markers are attached to limbs of the at least one person, and the tracking marker movements indicate virtual reality world actions.

18. The system of claim 2, wherein the virtual reality server is configured to send commands to the at least one sensory enhancement device to enhance the experience of the at least one person in the virtual reality experience.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein each person has one of the plurality of displays, and wherein each said one of the plurality of displays shows a view of the 3-dimensional virtual world based on the corresponding person'"'"'s location and orientation in the 3-dimensional world.

20. A computerized method for mapping movements in an arena into a 3-dimensional virtual world comprising:

receiving location information for at least one person in the arena;

receiving status from at least one sensory enhancement device;

determining that a motion or stimulation status change event has occurred corresponding to a movement in the arena or a sensory enhancement device status change;

if a motion or stimulation status change event has occurred, updating a virtual reality model with new motion and sensory stimuli schedules, the new motion corresponding to a 3-dimensional movement in the 3-dimensional virtual world;

updating the virtual reality model with new virtual locations corresponding to the 3-dimensional movement; and

outputting information to update at least one display and the at least one sensory enhancement device for each person in the 3-dimensional virtual world.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the motion change event corresponds to a movement to a different physical area of the arena.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein different physical areas of the arena represent different elevations within the virtual world.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the outputting comprises triggering simulation of an elevation change movement selected from the group of an elevator, lift, escalator, spiral staircase, and a transporter when movements into a specified arena area are detected.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the simulation of elevation change includes sensory stimulation.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the sensory stimulation comprises sound.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the sensory stimulation comprises vibration.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the physical areas of the arena correspond to different elevations or elevation transition areas depending on the context of the 3-dimensional virtual model.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving location information comprises receiving tracking marker locations.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving tracking marker locations and status comprise receiving tracking marker locations and sensor status for a plurality of people in the arena.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein an orientation of a person in the arena is vertical to a surface in the virtual reality world.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising attaching tracking markers to limbs of a person in the arena, wherein receiving tracking marker locations comprises receiving images from a camera that detect the tracking markers.