Integrated real and virtual environment display system
First Claim
1. A display system for presenting a composite image to a user'"'"'s eyes, said image comprised of a real portion provided by a video camera means and a complementary computer-generated synthetic portion said system including stored reference data indicative of the real portion and the synthetic portion, said user having a field of view in a direction, the system comprising:
- visual display means for presenting the composite image;
direction sensor means for producing a direction signal indicative of the direction of the user'"'"'s field of view;
video camera means for producing a sequence of video signals which in combination are representative of a field of view thereof;
camera mounting means for mounting said video camera means such that the field of view of the video camera means is substantially coincident with and follows movement of the field of view of the user;
image generating means responsive to said direction signal for producing synthetic signals representing a computer-generated portion of the composite image; and
,image selecting and combining means, responsive to said video camera means, to said image generating means and to said direction sensor means and providing an output to said visual display means, for analyzing each of said video signals and determining, by comparison with said stored reference data, whether each video signal is indicative of an area of the field of view of the video camera means which said computer-generated portion is to occupy and for correspondingly selecting one of said video signals and said synthetic signals, and for combining said video and synthetic signals to form a composite video signal representing the composite image and for applying said composite video to said visual display means for presentation of the composite image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to improvements in so-called "virtual reality" computer systems. The display system described enables the effective integration of computer generated images and real, naturally occurring images in the visual display units which provide the user with his entire visual stimulation. Areas of the user'"'"'s notional field of view where computer-generated imagery is required (for example the cockpit canopy in an aircraft flight simulator) are coloured with a predetermined colour or intensity. Two video cameras are provided, each of which is mounted so that its field of view corresponds to a respective one of the notional fields of view of the user'"'"'s eyes. The signals from the video cameras are analysed to determine the presence of the predetermined colour or intensity, thereby giving an indication that a computer generated image is required for that part of the video camera'"'"'s field of view. If the predetermined colour or intensity is not present, the signal from the video camera is relayed directly to the appropriate one of the visual display units.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A display system for presenting a composite image to a user'"'"'s eyes, said image comprised of a real portion provided by a video camera means and a complementary computer-generated synthetic portion said system including stored reference data indicative of the real portion and the synthetic portion, said user having a field of view in a direction, the system comprising:
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visual display means for presenting the composite image; direction sensor means for producing a direction signal indicative of the direction of the user'"'"'s field of view; video camera means for producing a sequence of video signals which in combination are representative of a field of view thereof; camera mounting means for mounting said video camera means such that the field of view of the video camera means is substantially coincident with and follows movement of the field of view of the user; image generating means responsive to said direction signal for producing synthetic signals representing a computer-generated portion of the composite image; and
,image selecting and combining means, responsive to said video camera means, to said image generating means and to said direction sensor means and providing an output to said visual display means, for analyzing each of said video signals and determining, by comparison with said stored reference data, whether each video signal is indicative of an area of the field of view of the video camera means which said computer-generated portion is to occupy and for correspondingly selecting one of said video signals and said synthetic signals, and for combining said video and synthetic signals to form a composite video signal representing the composite image and for applying said composite video to said visual display means for presentation of the composite image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification