Integrated community of augmented reality environments

• US 9,349,217 B1
• Filed: 09/23/2011
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Worley, William Spencer III, Crump, Edward Dietz, Weatherford, William Thomas, Coley, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Xiao
• Assistant Examiner(s): Akhavannik, Mohammad H
• Application Number:
  US13/243,634
• Time in Patent Office: 1,705 Days
• Field of Search: 345/633
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images

Abstract

An architecture is provided to integrate multiple augmented reality environments to expand user experiences that might otherwise be limited in a single augmented reality environment. The architecture includes multiple augmented reality functional nodes located in separate locations to generate augmented reality environments within respective locations. The nodes are communicatively coupled together through a peer network, via cloud services, or other arrangements. The community of environments allows data, such as captured images, to be ported from one location to another, thereby allowing users to share in common experiences. Examples of such experiences might include team software coding, playing software games, virtually extending line-of-sight beyond physical boundaries, and controlling remote locations by virtually placing oneself in those locations.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

multiple augmented reality functional nodes located in separate locations, each of the multiple augmented reality functional nodes having a projector and a camera for use in generating an augmented reality environment within a corresponding location, the projector projecting one or more images onto surfaces of one or more objects within the augmented reality environment and the camera capturing the one or more images projected onto the surfaces of the one or more objects; and

a computing system to facilitate communication among the multiple augmented reality functional nodes, such that a first of the multiple augmented reality functional nodes at a first location of the separate locations is configured to;

receive a plurality of images captured by a second of the multiple augmented reality functional nodes at a second location of the separate locations, wherein one or more of the plurality of images depict one or more objects at the second location,

identify a subset of the plurality of images that depict one or more objects at the second location that are not duplicative of one or more physical objects at the first location, and

project, at the first location, the subset of the plurality of images using the projector of the first augmented reality functional node located at the first location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the augmented reality functional nodes generates an augmented reality environment at least partly through use of structured light, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), optical time-of-flight, ultrasonic ranging, stereoscopic imaging, or radar.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system comprises computer devices associated with corresponding augmented reality functional nodes, the computer devices communicating with one another over a network.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system comprises a remote computing system having processors and data storage separate from the augmented reality environments created by the augmented reality functional nodes, the remote computing system collecting data from one or more of the augmented reality functional nodes and distributing the data to others of the augmented reality functional nodes.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to execute a game application to enable users in multiple different augmented reality environments to participate in playing a common game.

6. A method comprising:

creating a first augmented reality environment at a first location using one or more first augmented reality functional nodes, the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes including at least one projector and at least one camera and the creating of the first augmented reality environment comprising;

projecting one or more images onto surfaces of one or more objects within the first location with use of the at least one projector; and

capturing, with use of the at least one camera, the one or more images;

receiving data from one or more second augmented reality functional nodes used to create a second augmented reality environment at a second location, the data comprising a plurality of images captured by the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes at the second location, wherein one or more of the plurality of images depict one or more objects at the second location;

identifying a subset of the plurality of images that depict one or more objects at the second location that are not duplicative of one or more physical objects at the first location; and

using the subset of the plurality of images to modify the first augmented reality environment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein creating the first augmented reality environment further comprises projecting structured light within the first location.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the data comprises images captured by at least one camera of the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the data comprises audio captured by at least one microphone of the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes, and further comprising:

outputting the audio with use of the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes at the first location.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving data from one or more second augmented reality functional nodes comprises directly communicating from the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes with the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving data from one or more second augmented reality functional nodes comprises providing a request for the data to a central computing resource configured to receive the data from the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more first augmented reality functional nodes at a first location, a plurality of images captured by one or more second augmented reality functional nodes at a second location that is remote from the first location, wherein one or more of the plurality of images depict one or more objects at the second location;

identifying a subset of the plurality of images that depict one or more objects at the second location that are not duplicative of one or more physical objects at the first location; and

projecting, at the first location, the subset of the plurality of images using the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

creating a first augmented reality environment at the first location using the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes, the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes including at least one projector and at least one camera, and the creating of the first augmented reality environment comprising;

projecting one or more images onto surfaces of one or more objects within the first location with use of the at least one projector, and

capturing, with use of the at least one camera, the one or more images.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein creating the first augmented reality environment further comprises projecting structured light within the first location.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein creating the first augmented reality environment further comprises using light detection and ranging (LIDAR), optical time-of-flight, ultrasonic ranging, stereoscopic imaging, or radar.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of images comprises images captured by at least one camera of the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising outputting, by the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes at the first location, audio captured by at least one microphone of the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the plurality of images comprises directly communicating from the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes with the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing, by the one or more first augmented reality functional nodes, a request for the plurality of images to a central computing resource configured to receive the plurality of images from the one or more second augmented reality functional nodes.

20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving a plurality of images from at least one augmented reality functional node at a remote location, wherein one or more of the plurality of images depict one or more objects at the remote location;

identifying a subset of the plurality of images that depict one or more objects at the remote location that are not duplicative of one or more physical objects at a first location corresponding to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media; and

projecting the subset of the plurality of images.