Application specific tracking of projection surfaces
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a memory;
a processor;
a projector to project content onto a surface in an environment;
an infrared (IR) emitter to emit IR light onto the surface in the environment;
a depth sensor to receive at least a portion of the IR light reflected from the surface and to produce depth data at discrete times for use in determining a distance to the surface;
an analysis module stored in the memory and executed on the processor to receive the depth data produced the depth sensor and to average the depth data produced over multiple discrete times to produce averaged depth data, wherein the averaged depth data is used at least in part to focus the projector for projection of the content onto the surface;
a first application stored in the memory and executed by the processor to provide first content for projection by the projector, wherein the analysis module is configured to average the depth data over a first number of the multiple discrete times when the first application is being executed to provide content for projection; and
a second application stored in the memory and executed by the processor to provide second content for projection by the projector, the second content being different from the first content, wherein the analysis module is configured to average the depth data over a second, different number of the multiple discrete times when the second application is being executed to provide content for projection.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A projection, image, and depth capture system projects content into a scene and captures images of the scene as the user interacts with the content. The system uses depth analysis to determine location and distance of available surfaces in the scene onto which the content can be projected. Due to the complexity of this analysis and the inherent imperfections of the electronic and optical components, depth analysis possesses inherent noise that may adversely affect the accuracy of the projected image onto the surface. The system is configured with noise compensation technology that averages depth information over multiple image frames captured from the scene. The averaged information leads to a more consistent measurement of the distance to the surface, which in turn allows for more accurate focus of the projected content.
40 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a memory; a processor; a projector to project content onto a surface in an environment; an infrared (IR) emitter to emit IR light onto the surface in the environment; a depth sensor to receive at least a portion of the IR light reflected from the surface and to produce depth data at discrete times for use in determining a distance to the surface; an analysis module stored in the memory and executed on the processor to receive the depth data produced the depth sensor and to average the depth data produced over multiple discrete times to produce averaged depth data, wherein the averaged depth data is used at least in part to focus the projector for projection of the content onto the surface; a first application stored in the memory and executed by the processor to provide first content for projection by the projector, wherein the analysis module is configured to average the depth data over a first number of the multiple discrete times when the first application is being executed to provide content for projection; and a second application stored in the memory and executed by the processor to provide second content for projection by the projector, the second content being different from the first content, wherein the analysis module is configured to average the depth data over a second, different number of the multiple discrete times when the second application is being executed to provide content for projection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A system comprising:
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one or more components to produce depth data indicative of a distance from the one or more components to at least one surface in an environment onto which content may be projected; and an analysis module to; determine one of (i) an application associated with content being projected by the system or (ii) a type of the content being projected by the system; determine a time over which to average the depth data based at least in part on the application or the type of the content; average the depth data over the time to produce averaged depth information; and determine the distance to the surface based at least in part on the averaged depth information. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
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identifying an application that is used to provide content for projection onto a surface in an environment; capturing a sequence of images over time, the images including at least part of the surface; producing, using each image of the sequence, depth data for use in determining a distance to the surface; selecting, based at least in part on the application, a number of the images over which to average the depth data to produce averaged depth information; and averaging the depth data associated with each image of the sequence to produce averaged depth information, wherein the number of the images in the sequence over which the depth data is averaged is the number of images. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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projecting content onto a surface in an environment; generating depth data indicative of a distance to the surface; determining one of (i) an application associated with the projected content or (ii) a type of the projected content being projected by the system; determining a time over which to average the depth data based at least in part on the application or the type of the projected content; averaging the depth data over the time to produce averaged depth information; determining the distance to the surface based at least in part on averaged depth information; and modifying projection of the content based at least in part on the averaged depth information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method comprising:
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projecting content onto a surface in an environment; generating depth data indicative of a distance to the surface; determining one of (i) an application associated with the projected content or (ii) a type of the projected content being projected by the system; determining a time over which to average the depth data based at least in part on the application or the type of the projected content; averaging the depth data over the time to produce averaged depth information; determining the distance to the surface based at least in part on averaged depth information; and identifying, based at least in part on the averaged depth information, when a user touches the surface or performs a gesture relative to the surface. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification