Planet-scale positioning of augmented reality content

Abstract

Cell-based augmented reality (AR) content positioning systems may include a reference grid of cells, each of which includes a 32-bit intracellular coordinate system based on a respective reference point of the cell. Cell topology is selected such that the intracellular coordinate systems may utilize single-precision floating point numbers while retaining the ability to define content positions with, e.g., millimeter-level precision. Accordingly, rendering of AR content may be performed at a high precision using 32-bit devices and methods.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES[0001]This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 566,185, filed Sep. 29, 2017, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.FIELD[0002]This disclosure relates to systems and methods for positioning computer-generated augmented reality content with improved precision and accuracy.INTRODUCTION[0003]Augmented reality (AR) (also known as mixed reality, or MR) is a live view of a real-world environment that includes supplemental computer-generated elements such as sound, video, graphics, and text. For example, a user can use a mobile device or digital camera to view a live image of a real-world location, and the mobile device or digital camera may create an AR experience by displaying computer-generated elements over the live image of the real world. The device presents the augmented reality to a viewer as if the computer-generated content was a part of the r...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent describes a system for displaying augmented reality content that is precisely positioned in relation to a real-world location. The system uses a mobile device to visualize the first layer of augmented reality content on a live view of the real-world location. The position and orientation of the augmented reality content is defined relative to a local reference point within a grid of cells, each having high precision. The system takes advantage of the reference grid to aggregate cells and define a dimension larger than can be uniquely represented at a millisecond level. This allows for more accurate and precise positioning of augmented reality content in relation to the real-world location.

Problems solved by technology

If the positioning accuracy and / or precision is low, the position of a displayed AR object may fluctuate each time the object is rendered, or simply not align properly with the environment, thereby disrupting the user experience.

However, the positioning accuracy / precision of an AR application may be limited by the graphics systems with which the application's AR objects are rendered.

For large-scale AR applications in which the positioning range covers a significant geographic distance, 32-bit resolution is insufficient.

Using greater bit-precision such as 64-bit doubles, however, would slow even compatible GPUs to unacceptably low performance speeds, increase storage requirements, and cause interoperability issues.

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