Simulated locomotion method and apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for interfacing movements of a user to control the locomotion of an avatar in a virtual environment, comprising:
- a sensing system includinga first position tracker for tracking a position of a first foot and having an output,a second position tracker for tracking a position of a second foot and having an output, andat least one detector for receiving said outputs from said position trackers and thereby determining and generating an output representing a position and orientation of a user'"'"'s foot;
a computer programmed for;
computing a direction and extent of motion in the environment corresponding to the detector output;
providing an avatar output for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment; and
a display for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment, and wherein the computer programming includes equations governing the relation between actual movements of the first foot and the second foot and the movement of the avatar in the virtual environment, said equations comprising;
Δ
d(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
d(Avatar Swing Foot)=S*(Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
Δ
d(Stroking Foot))
Δ
d(Avatar Pelvis)=S*((1−
p)*Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
p*Δ
d(Stroking Foot))where Δ
d (segment) represents a displacement vector in the horizontal plane of motion for the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, S represents a scale factor that may vary with direction, and p is a proportion indicating the extent of movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis that is due to the stroking portion of foot movement;
Δ
a(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
a(Avatar Swing Foot)=R*(Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
Δ
a(Stroking Foot))
Δ
a(Avatar Pelvis)=R*((1−
q)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
q*Δ
a(Stroking Foot)),where Δ
a (segment) represents an angular rotation of the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, R represents a scale factor that scales the rotation of the user'"'"'s foot movement to the rotation of the avatar'"'"'s foot, and q is a proportion indicating how much of the movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis is due to the stroking portion of foot movement; and
wherein a control action for two-footed pivots is performed with both feet in contact with the floor, whereby the relative positional alignment between the feet and the resulting changes is tracked as one or both feet stroke, thereby rotating the avatar'"'"'s pelvis.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for interfacing 3D movements of a user to control the locomotion of an avatar in a virtual environment includes a position tracker for tracking the position of a user'"'"'s feet, with the foot motions including swinging and stroking; a computer programmed for (i) computing a direction and extent of motion of a reference in the virtual environment based on the foot positions and (ii) providing an avatar corresponding to the computed direction and extent of motion; and a display for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment. The apparatus accordingly uses the gestural motion of the user'"'"'s feet while seated to simulate natural human locomotion. The gestural motions of stroking and swinging include translational and rotating movements, and are chosen to correspond to the actions of the feet and legs during natural human locomotion, providing natural control of virtual locomotion. The apparatus is also designed for controlling the locomotion of a remote vehicle.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus for interfacing movements of a user to control the locomotion of an avatar in a virtual environment, comprising:
-
a sensing system including a first position tracker for tracking a position of a first foot and having an output, a second position tracker for tracking a position of a second foot and having an output, and at least one detector for receiving said outputs from said position trackers and thereby determining and generating an output representing a position and orientation of a user'"'"'s foot; a computer programmed for; computing a direction and extent of motion in the environment corresponding to the detector output; providing an avatar output for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment; and a display for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment, and wherein the computer programming includes equations governing the relation between actual movements of the first foot and the second foot and the movement of the avatar in the virtual environment, said equations comprising;
Δ
d(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
d(Avatar Swing Foot)=S*(Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
Δ
d(Stroking Foot))
Δ
d(Avatar Pelvis)=S*((1−
p)*Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
p*Δ
d(Stroking Foot))where Δ
d (segment) represents a displacement vector in the horizontal plane of motion for the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, S represents a scale factor that may vary with direction, and p is a proportion indicating the extent of movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis that is due to the stroking portion of foot movement;
Δ
a(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
a(Avatar Swing Foot)=R*(Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
Δ
a(Stroking Foot))
Δ
a(Avatar Pelvis)=R*((1−
q)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
q*Δ
a(Stroking Foot)),where Δ
a (segment) represents an angular rotation of the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, R represents a scale factor that scales the rotation of the user'"'"'s foot movement to the rotation of the avatar'"'"'s foot, and q is a proportion indicating how much of the movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis is due to the stroking portion of foot movement; and
wherein a control action for two-footed pivots is performed with both feet in contact with the floor, whereby the relative positional alignment between the feet and the resulting changes is tracked as one or both feet stroke, thereby rotating the avatar'"'"'s pelvis.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for interfacing 3D movements of a user to control the locomotion of an avatar in a virtual environment, comprising:
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means for sensing a position of a first foot and a position of a second foot; means for sensing a ground contact force of the first foot and a ground contact force of the second foot; means for receiving outputs from said means for sensing said positions and said means for sensing said ground contact forces; computing means for; computing a direction and extent of motion in the environment corresponding to the outputs; providing an avatar corresponding to the computed direction and extent of motion; and providing an avatar output for displaying the avatar in the virtual environment; and display means for receiving the computer avatar output and displaying the avatar in the virtual environment, and wherein the computing means includes computer executable instructions stored therein including equations governing the relation between actual movements of the first foot and the second foot and the movement of the avatar in the virtual environment, said equations comprising;
Δ
d(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
d(Avatar Swing Foot)=S*(Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
Δ
d(Stroking Foot))
Δ
d(Avatar Pelvis)=S*((1−
p)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
p*Δ
d(Stroking Foot))where Δ
d (segment) represents a displacement vector in the horizontal plane of motion for the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, S represents a scale factor that may vary with direction, and p is a proportion indicating the extent of movement of the avatar'"'"'s that is due to the stroking portion of foot movement;
Δ
a(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
a(Avatar Swing Foot)=R*(Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
Δ
a(Stroking Foot))
Δ
a(Avatar Pelvis)=R*((1−
q)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
q*Δ
a(Stroking Foot)),where Δ
a (segment) represents an angular rotation of the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, R represents a scale factor that scales the rotation of the user'"'"'s foot movement to the rotation of the avatar'"'"'s foot, and q is a proportion indicating how much of the movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis is due to the stroking portion of foot movement; and
wherein a control action for two-footed pivots is performed with both feet in contact with the floor, whereby the relative positional alignment between the feet and the resulting changes is tracked as one or both feet stroke, thereby rotating the avatar'"'"'s pelvis.- View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for controlling the motion of a remote controlled vehicle in an operating environment, comprising:
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a position tracker for tracking the position of a first foot and a second foot, wherein said first and second foot positions each include swinging and stroking; a computer programmed for; computing a desired direction and extent of motion of the remote controlled vehicle in the vehicle operating environment corresponding to the detector output; and generating a corresponding control signal output for controlling a motion of a remote controlled vehicle; a controller; and a display for observing the motion of the remote controlled vehicle, and wherein the computer programming includes equations governing the relation between actual movements of the first foot and the second foot and the movement of the avatar in the virtual environment, said equations comprising;
Δ
d(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
d(Avatar Swing Foot)=S*(Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
Δ
d(Stroking Foot))
Δ
d(Avatar Pelvis)=S*((1−
p)*Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
p*Δ
d(Stroking Foot))where Δ
d (segment) represents a displacement vector in the horizontal plane of motion for the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, S represents a scale factor that may vary with direction, and p is a proportion indicating the extent of movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis that is due to the stroking portion of foot movement;
Δ
a(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
a(Avatar Swing Foot)=R*(Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
Δ
a(Stroking Foot))
Δ
a(Avatar Pelvis)=R*((1−
q)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
q*Δ
a(Stroking Foot)),where Δ
a (segment) represents an angular rotation of the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, R represents a scale factor that scales the rotation of the user'"'"'s foot movement to the rotation of the avatar'"'"'s foot, and q is a proportion indicating how much of the movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis is due to the stroking portion of foot movement; and
wherein a control action for two-footed pivots is performed with both feet in contact with the floor, whereby the relative positional alignment between the feet and the resulting changes is tracked as one or both feet stroke, thereby rotating the avatar'"'"'s pelvis.- View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for interfacing 3D movements of a user to control the locomotion of an avatar in a virtual environment, comprising:
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sensing a position of a first foot, a position of a second foot, and a position of a trunk portion of a user; sensing a ground contact force of the first foot and a ground contact force of the second foot; receiving outputs of said positions and said ground contact forces in a computer; computing a direction and extent of motion in the environment corresponding to said outputs; generating an avatar corresponding to the computed direction and extent of motion; and displaying the avatar in the virtual environment; and
wherein the computing includes applying equations governing the relation between actual movements of the first foot and the second foot and the movement of the avatar in the virtual environment, said equations comprising;
Δ
d(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
d(Avatar Swing Foot)=S*(Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
Δ
d(Stroking Foot))
Δ
d(Avatar Pelvis)=S*((1−
p)*Δ
d(Raised Foot)−
p*Δ
d(Stroking Foot))where Δ
d (segment) represents a displacement vector in the horizontal plane of motion for the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, S represents a scale factor that may vary with direction, and p is a proportion indicating the extent of movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis that is due to the stroking portion of foot movement;
Δ
a(Avatar Support Foot)=0
Δ
a(Avatar Swing Foot)=R*(Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
Δ
a(Stroking Foot))
Δ
a(Avatar Pelvis)=R*((1−
q)*Δ
a(Raised Foot)−
q*Δ
a(Stroking Foot)),where Δ
a (segment) represents an angular rotation of the part of the user'"'"'s physical or avatar body included between the parenthesis, R represents a scale factor that scales the rotation of the user'"'"'s foot movement to the rotation of the avatar'"'"'s foot, and q is a proportion indicating how much of the movement of the avatar'"'"'s pelvis is due to the stroking portion of foot movement; and
wherein a control action for two-footed pivots is performed with both feet in contact with the floor, whereby the relative positional alignment between the feet and the resulting changes is tracked as one or both feet stroke, thereby rotating the avatar'"'"'s pelvis.- View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification