Filtering and parental control methods for restricting visual activity on a head mounted display

• US 9,779,554 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2015
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Stafford, Jeffrey Roger, Umminger, Frederick, Osman, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Mazumder, Tapas
• Application Number:
  US14/844,466
• Publication Number:
  US 20160300388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/212 using sensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat or leg activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/24 Constructional details thereof, e.g. game controllers with detachable joystick handles
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/69 by enabling or updating specific game elements, e.g. unlocking hidden features, items, levels or versions
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/75 Enforcing rules, e.g. detecting foul play or generating lists of cheating players
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5586 for enforcing rights or rules, e.g. to prevent foul play
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/609 for unlocking hidden game elements, e.g. features, items, levels
• 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: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/45452 applied to an object-based stream, e.g. MPEG-4 streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 Games

Abstract

A method for executing computer instructions for presenting an interactive environment in a head-mounted display (HMD) is described. The method includes identifying content associated with the interactive environment to be presented on the HMD for a user and determining whether an interactive object within the identified content satisfies a threshold for presentation to the user. The method includes augmenting the interactive object with augmentation data. The augmented data acts to change a characteristic of the interactive object. The operation of augmenting the interactive object is performed after determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation to the user. The augmentation data modifies the interactive object to conform the interactive object to be within the threshold.

Claims

1. A method for executing computer instructions for presenting an interactive environment in a head-mounted display, comprising:

identifying content associated with the interactive environment to be presented on the head-mounted display for a user;

determining whether an interactive object within the identified content satisfies a threshold for presentation to the user, wherein determining whether the interactive object satisfies the threshold is performed by analyzing one or more parameters regarding the user, a rating associated with the interactive object, and a content level that is set by an administrator;

augmenting the interactive object with augmentation data, the augmented data acting to change a characteristic of the interactive object, wherein augmenting the interactive object is performed after determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation to the user, wherein the augmentation data modifies the interactive object to conform the interactive object to be within the threshold, wherein said augmenting is performed to display the interactive object as being augmented on the head-mounted display for presentation to the user;

sending via a network the interactive object for approval to an administrator for the user,

wherein the display of the interactive object as being augmented continues until the approval by the administrator for presenting the interactive object without being augmented is received.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

buffering data regarding the interactive object upon determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation to the user, wherein buffering the data regarding the interactive object is performed to facilitate augmenting the interactive object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein augmenting the interactive object with augmentation data is performed while preserving functionality of the interactive object, wherein the functionality is preserved when there is substantially no change in an action performed by the interactive object before and after the interactive object is augmented.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the augmented data includes a look and feel of the interactive object, the method further comprising associating a position of the look and feel of the interactive object with a position of the interactive object to facilitate a movement of the look and feel with a movement of the interactive object in an interactive environment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether each of other interactive objects of the identified content satisfies the threshold; and

determining not to augment the other interactive objects in response to determining that each of the other interactive objects satisfies the threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the content level includes a content control level that is selected from within a range of industry standard ratings.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters regarding the user include a profile stored within a user account assigned to the user, or biometric information of a body part of the user, or a history of types of interactive environments viewed by the user, or a combination of two or more thereof.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters regarding the user include information identifying an age of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the augmentation data changes a look and feel of the interactive object, wherein the characteristic include a visual characteristic, wherein the look and feel includes the visual characteristic of the interactive object, or a feel provided by the interactive object to the user, or a smell provided by the interactive object when displayed on the HMD, or a taste provided by the interactive object when displayed on the HMD, or a sound output by the interactive object when displayed on the HMD, or a combination of two or more thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive object is content displayed in a virtual object of a virtual scene of a video game.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said augmenting is performed to cover the interactive object with the augmentation data such that the interactive object is not visible on the head-mounted display.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining based on the interactive object that is approved by the administrator whether an additional interactive object is similar to the interactive object;

determining that the additional interactive object satisfies the threshold upon determining that the additional interactive object is similar to the interactive object; and

providing the additional interactive object to the head-mounted display for display upon determining that the additional interactive object satisfies the threshold.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the additional interactive object has a rating that is within a range from a rating assigned to the interactive object.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the display of the interactive object as being augmented continues during the sending of the interactive object for approval.

15. A method comprising:

identifying content associated with an interactive environment to be presented on a head-mounted display for a user;

determining whether an interactive object within the identified content satisfies a threshold for presentation on the head-mounted display for the user, wherein determining whether the interactive object satisfies the threshold is performed by analyzing information regarding the user and a rating of the interactive object;

sending for approval to an administrator via a network, information associated with the interactive object in response to determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation on the head-mounted display, the information associated with the interactive object identifying a display characteristic of the interactive object, the user, and the rating of the interactive object;

augmenting the interactive object in response to determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation on the head-mounted display, wherein the interactive object is augmented to display the interactive object as being augmented on the head-mounted display for the user, wherein the display of the augmented interactive object continues until the approval from the administrator of the information associated with the interactive object is received.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a disapproval from the administrator, wherein the presentation of the augmented interactive object continues during and after the reception of the disapproval from the administrator.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving the approval from the administrator; and

sending interactive object data to render the interactive object at a position of the augmented interactive object upon receiving the approval.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending the augmented interactive object with an instruction for the presentation on the head-mounted display for the user, wherein the instruction indicates that the augmented interactive object will be presented until the approval is received from the administrator.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending a message to the head-mounted display to inform the user to wait until the approval is received from the administrator.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving the approval from the administrator; and

continuing to provide data for rendering the interactive environment in response to receiving the approval from the administrator.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a disapproval from the administrator;

continuing said augmenting the interactive object with augmented data in response to receiving the disapproval from the administrator, wherein augmenting of the interactive object includes changing a look and feel of the interactive object to remove one or more elements of the interactive object that do not satisfy the threshold.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether the interactive object satisfies the threshold is performed by analyzing information regarding interactive environments previously accessed by the user.

23. A method comprising:

identifying content associated with a shared interactive environment, the shared interactive environment to be presented on a display device of a first head-mounted display, the shared interactive environment shared between a first user and a second user;

determining whether an interactive object in the identified content satisfies a threshold for presentation on the display device of the first head-mounted display for the first user and satisfies a threshold for presentation on a display device of a second head-mounted display for the second user;

augmenting the interactive object after determining that the interactive object does not satisfy the threshold for presentation to the first user;

sending for approval to a third user via a network, information associated with the interactive object; and

providing the augmented interactive object to be displayed on the first head-mounted display for the first user, wherein the display of the augmented interactive object on the first head-mounted display continues until the approval of a display of the interactive object without being augmented is received from the third user; and

providing the interactive object to the second head-mounted display for the second user without augmenting the interactive object after determining that the interactive object satisfies the threshold for presentation to the second user.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein augmenting the interactive object is performed while preserving functionality of the interactive object, wherein the functionality is preserved when there is substantially no change in an action performed by the interactive object before and after the interactive object is augmented.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein augmenting the interactive object is performed using augmented data, wherein the augmented data includes a look and feel of the interactive object, the method further comprising associating a position of the look and feel of the interactive object with a position of the interactive object to facilitate a movement of the look and feel with a movement of the interactive object in an interactive environment.