Synchronized, interactive augmented reality displays for multifunction devices

• US 8,625,018 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2013
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bilbrey, Brett C., King, Nicholas V., Pance, Aleksandar
• Primary Examiner(s): HANNETT, JAMES M
• Application Number:
  US13/768,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20130155307A1
• Time in Patent Office: 326 Days
• Field of Search: 348/333.01
• US Class Current: 348/333.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/004 Annotating, labelling
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/125 wherein one of the images is motion video
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00323 with a measuring, monitoring or signaling apparatus, e.g. for transmitting measured information to a central location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42202 environmental sensors, e.g. for detecting temperature, luminosity, pressure, earthquakes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/632 : for displaying or modifying preview images prior to image capturing, e.g. variety of image resolutions or capturing parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 : Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/222 : Studio circuitry; Studio devices; Studio equipment cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors, or control thereof H04N23/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/272 : Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay

Abstract

A device can receive live video of a real-world, physical environment on a touch sensitive surface. One or more objects can be identified in the live video. An information layer can be generated related to the objects. In some implementations, the information layer can include annotations made by a user through the touch sensitive surface. The information layer and live video can be combined in a display of the device. Data can be received from one or more onboard sensors indicating that the device is in motion. The sensor data can be used to synchronize the live video and the information layer as the perspective of video camera view changes due to the motion. The live video and information layer can be shared with other devices over a communication link.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions that, in response to being executed on a computing device, cause the computing device to:

capture live video of a real-world, physical environment, and display the live video on a touch sensitive surface of the computing device;

combine an information layer and the live video, the information layer related to one or more objects in the live video;

generate computer-generated imagery based on the live video;

display the computer-generated imagery representing one or more objects in the live video on the touch sensitive surface;

overlay the information layer on the computer-generated imagery;

receive sensor data from one or more onboard motion sensors indicating that the computing device is in motion; and

synchronize the display of the live video, the computer-generated imagery, and the information layer on the touch sensitive surface using the sensor data.

2. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

share at least one of the synchronized live video, the computer-generated imagery, and information layer with a second device over a communication link.

3. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

generate a split screen display having first and second display areas, the first display area configured for displaying the live video combined with the information layer and the second display area for displaying the computer-generated imagery combined with the information layer.

4. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

display a navigation control for navigating the computer-generated imagery on the touch sensitive surface.

5. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

perform object recognition on the live video;

obtain object information for one or more recognized objects; and

generate the information layer for the one or more recognized objects.

6. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 5, where the instructions that cause the computing device to generate the information layer, further comprise instructions that cause the computing device to:

include in the information layer one or more links to one or more network resources providing information related to the one or more recognized objects.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 5, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

label the recognized one or more objects in the live video display.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, where at least one object is labeled with a bar code for identifying the object during the object recognition.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, where at least one object is labeled with one or more markers for identifying an orientation of the object in the live video during object recognition.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, where at least one label includes content related to the recognized object.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

receive input through the touch sensitive display, the input identifying an object in the live video;

perform object recognition on the live video to identify the identified object;

obtain object information for the recognized object; and

generate an information layer based on the object information.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, where the computing device is a mobile device.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, where at least one of the computing device and the second device is an electronic tablet.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

determine a route between the computing device and a destination; and

display the route with the computer-generated imagery.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, where an object in the real-world, physical environment captured by the live video is a document, the machine-readable storage medium further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

generate annotations related to the document; and

overlay the annotations proximate the document on the live video.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, where an object in the real-world, physical environment captured by the live video is a machine, circuit board or part thereof, the machine-readable storage medium further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

generate annotations related to the object; and

overlay the annotations on the live video or computer-generated imagery.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, where the instructions that cause the computing device to generate the computer-generated imagery based on the live video includes instructions that cause the computing device to generate a three-dimensional model of the one or more objects in the live video.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, where the instructions that cause the computing device to combine the information layer includes instructions to generate one or more annotations for display in response to a touch input at a location on the touch sensitive surface corresponding to the object.

19. An augmented reality system, comprising:

a touch sensitive surface configured for receiving touch input;

one or more onboard motion sensors configured for sensing motion;

a video camera for capturing live video of a real-world, physical environment, for display on the touch sensitive surface;

a processor coupled to the touch sensitive surface, the motion sensor and the video camera, the processor configured for,

combining an information layer and the live video for display on the touch sensitive surface,

modeling computer-generated imagery based on the live video,

displaying computer-generated imagery representing one or more objects in the live video on the touch sensitive surface,

overlaying the information layer on the computer-generated imagery for display on the touch sensitive surface,

receiving sensor data from the one or more onboard motion sensors indicating that the apparatus is in motion, and

synchronizing the live video, computer-generated imagery, and the information layer using the sensor data; and

a communication interface configured for sharing the live video over a communication link.

20. The system of claim 19, where modeling the computer-generated imagery based on the live video includes generating a three-dimensional model of the one or more objects in the live video.

21. The system of claim 19, where the processor is further configured for:

generating a split screen display having first and second display areas, the first display area configured for displaying the live video combined with the information layer and the second display area for displaying the computer-generated imagery combined with the information layer; and

displaying the split screen on the touch sensitive surface.

22. The system of claim 19, where the processor is further configured for:

accessing an information resource via the communication interface; and

retrieving information to be presented on the touch sensitive surface as the information layer.

23. The system of claim 19, where the information layer includes one or more annotations related to an object in the live video, the one or more annotations being displayed in response to the touch input at a location on the touch sensitive surface corresponding to the object.

24. The system of claim 23, where the one or more annotations may include any one of:

specifications, directions, recipes, data sheets, images, video clips, audio files, schemas, user interface elements, thumbnails, text, references, hyperlinks, telephone numbers, notes, part numbers, dictionary definitions, catalog data, serial numbers, order forms, marketing material or advertisements.

25. A mobile device comprising:

a touch sensitive display configured for displaying a graphical user interface and receiving touch input;

a sensor configured to generate data related to position of the mobile device;

a video camera to capture live video for display on the touch sensitive display; and

a processor coupled to the touch sensitive display, the sensor and the video camera, the processor configured to,

generate an information layer including data related to an object within the live video captured by the video camera,

integrate the information layer and the live video for display on the touch sensitive display,

model computer-generated imagery based at least in part on the live video,

display the computer-generated imagery representing one or more objects in the live video on the touch sensitive display,

overlay the information layer on the computer-generated imagery for display on the touch sensitive display,

process sensor data from the sensors indicating that the mobile device is in motion, and

synchronize the live video, computer-generated imagery, and the information layer using the sensor data.