Methods and apparatus to provide user a somatosensory experience for thrill seeking jumping like activities

Abstract

A method of providing user somatosensory experience for “thrill seeking jumping like activities” (for purposes such as but not limited to training, game, or entertainment) involves:Providing means for changing elevation of user that rapid enough for user to feel the difference of gravity feeling or “G force” with feelings of user under stationary situation, wherein the facing direction relative to the direction of movement and / or pose of the user can be changed, and the speed of elevation change provide by the means can be controlled / adjusted;While the user using the elevation changing means, using a computer-implemented virtual reality system to present to the user a virtual reality environment. The view point and / or direction changes in the virtual reality environment are consistent with the position changes and / or self motion of the user in the elevation changing means;So that the user experiences the virtual reality environment under a “variable gravity” condition or “G-Force” provided by the elevation changing means in a synchronized way, such “variable gravity” condition enhancing experience of the virtual reality environment. It is also possible for users to interact with the system by means such as game controller or gesture and etc, so that the output of the elevation means could be affected / changed by user input.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patents Application Ser. No. 61 / 210,107 filed Mar. 14, 2009, the full disclosures of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention generally relates to simulates or enhance user experiences in “thrill seeking jumping like activities”—free fall or speed controlled descend / ascend—such as sky-diving, bungee jumping, ski-jumping, jet pack, “turbo drop” and etc. In such activities user's (or rider's) elevation can be changed rapidly, and more particularly by using VR(virtual reality) and / or MR (Mixed reality) systems to provide visual sensation and / or “scene substitution” that is synchronized with the movement of user in the activities, thus providing an integrated somatosensory experience for user.BACKGROUND ART[0003]Bungee jumping and sky diving are 2 examples of many popular ways to generate thrilling experiences (for the passenger / ri...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]It is an objective of this invention is to provide an amusement / training / game ride that: 1) capable of quickly changing the elevation of a passenger(rider) so that rider can feel different “G force”(gravity) than he / she perceived in stationary situations 2) provide virtual reality / mixed reality image(scenes) display to rider during the process, the image displayed to rider synchronize (on force feed back or “G-Force feelings”) with the movement of the rider so that the visual sensation of the rider correspond to the G force feeling and other movements he / she feels.

[0010]It is another objective of the present invention to provide an to provide a safe yet exciting amusement / training / game ride experience which allows passengers to “free fall” or experience similar “G Force changes” in a controlled descend / ascend for a short duration (for example several seconds), while provide flexibility in “scenes” or “surrounding environment” selection by providing a simulated visual environment for virtual reality / mixed reality space, enable rider to feel like “jumping” at “impossible” places, and also minimizing the space requirements and costs of constructing the ride.

[0012]A first embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of providing a user with an free fall or controllable descend / ascend somatosensory experience, which is similar to the G force feeling and visual sense in “thrill seeking jumping like” activities such as but not limited to: bungee jumping / sky diving / parachuting / jet pack flying / ski jumping / X bike jumping / ATV or snow mobile jumping. The method in this embodiment includes equipping the user with means for rapid changing user's elevation, using a computer-implemented virtual reality / mixed reality / augmented reality system to present to the user a virtual reality environment modeling “virtual” environment (such as extraterrestrial). The virtual reality(VR) / mixed reality (MR) system provides user a visual experiences of “virtual” environment under a “acceleration” or “G Force” feeling provided by the simulation environment—elevation changing means plus other possible mechanisms such as direction changing means—, in which the rapid changing “G force”—such as controlled descend / ascend or free fall—enhancing the experience of the virtual reality environment.

[0030]It is desirable that the HMD have shock absorber elements like cushions / soft resilient pads and linkage(s) with the head and ear to prevent injuries / hurt in motion / acceleration / deceleration and etc. Or some kind of weight relief means for the HMD can be used.

[0040]In some embodiment additional “props” or equipment appropriate to the simulation or game can be use to increase realistic feeling and enhance user experience. For example in a “Jet pack” simulation or game, mockups for Jet pack or real jet packs can be use, and the equipment can even provide some “vector thrusting” to change user movements to create additional fun.

[0041]In a related embodiment the trampoline, air cushion, air bed Air-spring like jumping / cushion system can be used to enhance user experience and provide additional safety.

Problems solved by technology

However they have their limitations such as expose to out door weather, scenes are limited to local area (for the amusement park machines), very limited continues “Zero-G” time span due to limited moving range (for flight simulator).

And also significantly limiting user's activity in theses situations—user are basically fixed on the seats and the seats are usually fixed directions (relative to the vehicle) and not changing during the ride.

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