Scene description framework for global haptic data storage

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for providing haptics experiences. In an example embodiment, a 3D scene description file is obtained, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object, the first node object including a reference to at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file. More than one node object may reference the same haptic element. A root-level haptics object may be used that includes an array of material elements that may be referenced by different mesh objects. More than one mesh object may reference the same material element.

Description

SCENE DESCRIPTION FRAMEWORK FOR GLOBAL HAPTIC DATA STORAGECROSS REFERENCE

[0001] This application claims the priority of European Patent Application No. 23306226.4, filed 17 July 2023, entitled “Scene Description Framework for Global Haptic Data Storage,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure relates to encoding, delivery, decoding, and processing of haptics data.

[0003] Haptics refers to the sense of touch and includes two dimensions, tactile and kinesthetic. The first one relates to tactile sensations such as friction, roughness, hardness, temperature and is felt through the mechanoreceptors of the skin (Merkel cell, Ruffini ending, Meissner corpuscle, Pacinian corpuscle), and thermoreceptors. The second one is linked to the sensation of force / torque, position, motion / velocity provided by the muscles, tendons, and the mechanoreceptors in the joints.

[0004] Haptics can be considered as a top-level medium such as images or audio. It is now part of the MPEG standardization process that standardizes a haptic codec and associated information.SUMMARY

[0005] A method according to some embodiments comprises: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file.

[0006] An apparatus according to some embodiments comprises one or more processors configured to perform at least: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file;at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file.

[0007] In some embodiments, the information associating the first node object with the first one of the haptic elements includes an index associated with the first node object, the index identifying the first one of the haptic elements.

[0008] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements; wherein presenting the 3D scene to a user comprises presenting the first mesh object is presented with a haptic property described by the first material element.

[0009] In some embodiments, each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map. In some such embodiments, the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

[0010] In some embodiments, the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

[0011] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

[0012] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format, such as a gITF format.

[0013] A method according to some embodiments comprises: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and

[0014] information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

[0015] An apparatus according to some embodiments comprising one or more processors configured to perform at least: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and

[0016] information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

[0017] In some embodiments, the information associating the first node object with the first one of the haptic elements includes an index associated with the first node object, the index identifying the first one of the haptic elements.

[0018] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements.

[0019] A computer-readable medium according to some embodiments stores a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0021] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

[0022] FIG. 1 C is a functional block diagram of a system used in some embodiments described herein.

[0023] FIG. 1 D illustrates an example gITF data structure with all MPEG extensions to gITF (including haptics).

[0024] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a grid of tactile pixels, or taxels, in which different pixels are mapped to different haptic textures.

[0025] FIG. 3 illustrates an example gITF data structure with MPEG extensions to gITF (including haptics).

[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of structure of a gITF scene using MPEG Haptic extensions.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a JSON schema corresponding to the MPEG_haptic extension according to some embodiments.

[0028] FIGs. 6A-6C illustrate an example of a JSON schema corresponding to the gITF MPEG_material_haptic extension.

[0029] FIG. 7 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic extension at the root level according to some embodiments.

[0030] FIG. 8 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic.haptic elements from the haptics array of the root level MPEG_haptic extension according to some embodiments.

[0031] FIG. 9 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic extension at the node level according to some embodiments.

[0032] FIG. 10 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material extension at the root level according to some embodiments.

[0033] FIGs. 11A-11C illustrate an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material. material elements from the materials array of the root level MPEG_haptic_material extension according to some embodiments.

[0034] FIG. 12 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material extension at the mesh level according to some embodiments.EXAMPLE NETWORKS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0035] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104, a ON 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or a “STA”, may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things(loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0037] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0038] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0039] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0040] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish theair interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSU PA).

[0041] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE- A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0042] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0043] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., a eNB and a gNB).

[0044] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0045] The base station 114b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellularbased RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106.

[0046] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and / or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0047] The CN 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0048] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0049] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0050] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0051] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0052] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0053] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11 , for example.

[0054] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0055] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickelzinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0056] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0057] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0058] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0059] Although the WTRU is described in FIGs. 1A-1 B as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0060] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0061] In view of FIGs. 1A-1 B, and the corresponding description , one or more, or all, of the functions described herein may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0062] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0063] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.Example Systems.

[0064] The embodiments described herein are not limited to being implemented on a WTRU. Such embodiments may be implemented using other systems, such as the system of FIG. 1C. FIG. 1 C is a block diagram of an example of a system in which various aspects and embodiments are implemented. System 1000 can be embodied as a device including the various components described below and is configured to perform one or more of the aspects described in this document. Examples of such devices, include, but are not limited to, various electronic devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, smartphones, tablet computers, digital multimedia set top boxes, digital television receivers, personal video recording systems, connected home appliances, and servers. Elements of system 1000, singly or in combination, can be embodied in a single integrated circuit (IC), multiple ICs, and / or discrete components. For example, in at least one embodiment, the processing and encoder / decoder elements of system 1000 are distributed across multiple ICs and / or discrete components. In various embodiments, the system 1000 is communicatively coupled to one or more other systems, or other electronicdevices, via, for example, a communications bus or through dedicated input and / or output ports. In various embodiments, the system 1000 is configured to implement one or more of the aspects described in this document.

[0065] The system 1000 includes at least one processor 1010 configured to execute instructions loaded therein for implementing, for example, the various aspects described in this document. Processor 1010 can include embedded memory, input output interface, and various other circuitries as known in the art. The system 1000 includes at least one memory 1020 (e.g., a volatile memory device, and / or a non-volatile memory device). System 1000 includes a storage device 1040, which can include non-volatile memory and / or volatile memory, including, but not limited to, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), flash, magnetic disk drive, and / or optical disk drive. The storage device 1040 can include an internal storage device, an attached storage device (including detachable and non-detachable storage devices), and / or a network accessible storage device, as non-limiting examples.

[0066] System 1000 includes an encoder / decoder module 1030 configured, for example, to process data to provide an encoded video or decoded video, and the encoder / decoder module 1030 can include its own processor and memory. The encoder / decoder module 1030 represents module(s) that can be included in a device to perform the encoding and / or decoding functions. As is known, a device can include one or both of the encoding and decoding modules. Additionally, encoder / decoder module 1030 can be implemented as a separate element of system 1000 or can be incorporated within processor 1010 as a combination of hardware and software as known to those skilled in the art.

[0067] Program code to be loaded onto processor 1010 or encoder / decoder 1030 to perform the various aspects described in this document can be stored in storage device 1040 and subsequently loaded onto memory 1020 for execution by processor 1010. In accordance with various embodiments, one or more of processor 1010, memory 1020, storage device 1040, and encoder / decoder module 1030 can store one or more of various items during the performance of the processes described in this document. Such stored items can include, but are not limited to, the input video, the decoded video or portions of the decoded video, the bitstream, matrices, variables, and intermediate or final results from the processing of equations, formulas, operations, and operational logic.

[0068] In some embodiments, memory inside of the processor 1010 and / or the encoder / decoder module 1030 is used to store instructions and to provide working memory for processing that is needed during encoding or decoding. In other embodiments, however, a memory external to the processing device (for example, the processing device can be either the processor 1010 or the encoder / decoder module 1030) is used for one or more of these functions. The external memory can be the memory 1020 and / or the storage device 1040, for example, adynamic volatile memory and / or a non-volatile flash memory. In several embodiments, an external non-volatile flash memory is used to store the operating system of, for example, a television. In at least one embodiment, a fast external dynamic volatile memory such as a RAM is used as working memory for video coding and decoding operations, such as for MPEG-2 (MPEG refers to the Moving Picture Experts Group, MPEG-2 is also referred to as ISO / IEC 13818, and 13818- 1 is also known as H.222, and 13818-2 is also known as H.262), HEVC (HEVC refers to High Efficiency Video Coding, also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2), or WC (Versatile Video Coding, a new standard being developed by JVET, the Joint Video Experts Team).

[0069] The input to the elements of system 1000 can be provided through various input devices as indicated in block 1130. Such input devices include, but are not limited to, (i) a radio frequency (RF) portion that receives an RF signal transmitted, for example, over the air by a broadcaster, (ii) a Component (COMP) input terminal (or a set of COMP input terminals), (iii) a Universal Serial Bus (USB) input terminal, and / or (iv) a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) input terminal. Other examples, not shown in FIG. 1C, include composite video.

[0070] In various embodiments, the input devices of block 1130 have associated respective input processing elements as known in the art. For example, the RF portion can be associated with elements suitable for (i) selecting a desired frequency (also referred to as selecting a signal, or band-limiting a signal to a band of frequencies), (ii) downconverting the selected signal, (iii) band-limiting again to a narrower band of frequencies to select (for example) a signal frequency band which can be referred to as a channel in certain embodiments, (iv) demodulating the downconverted and band-limited signal, (v) performing error correction, and (vi) demultiplexing to select the desired stream of data packets. The RF portion of various embodiments includes one or more elements to perform these functions, for example, frequency selectors, signal selectors, band-limiters, channel selectors, filters, downconverters, demodulators, error correctors, and demultiplexers. The RF portion can include a tuner that performs various of these functions, including, for example, downconverting the received signal to a lower frequency (for example, an intermediate frequency or a near-baseband frequency) or to baseband. In one set-top box embodiment, the RF portion and its associated input processing element receives an RF signal transmitted over a wired (for example, cable) medium, and performs frequency selection by filtering, downconverting, and filtering again to a desired frequency band. Various embodiments rearrange the order of the above-described (and other) elements, remove some of these elements, and / or add other elements performing similar or different functions. Adding elements can include inserting elements in between existing elements, such as, for example, inserting amplifiers and an analog-to-digital converter. In various embodiments, the RF portion includes an antenna.

[0071] Additionally, the USB and / or HDMI terminals can include respective interface processors for connecting system 1000 to other electronic devices across USB and / or HDMI connections. It is to be understood that various aspects of input processing, for example, Reed-Solomon errorcorrection, can be implemented, for example, within a separate input processing IC or within processor 1010 as necessary. Similarly, aspects of USB or HDMI interface processing can be implemented within separate interface ICs or within processor 1010 as necessary. The demodulated, error corrected, and demultiplexed stream is provided to various processing elements, including, for example, processor 1010, and encoder / decoder 1030 operating in combination with the memory and storage elements to process the datastream as necessary for presentation on an output device.

[0072] Various elements of system 1000 can be provided within an integrated housing, Within the integrated housing, the various elements can be interconnected and transmit data therebetween using suitable connection arrangement 1140, for example, an internal bus as known in the art, including the Inter-IC (I2C) bus, wiring, and printed circuit boards.

[0073] The system 1000 includes communication interface 1050 that enables communication with other devices via communication channel 1060. The communication interface 1050 can include, but is not limited to, a transceiver configured to transmit and to receive data over communication channel 1060. The communication interface 1050 can include, but is not limited to, a modem or network card and the communication channel 1060 can be implemented, for example, within a wired and / or a wireless medium.

[0074] Data is streamed, or otherwise provided, to the system 1000, in various embodiments, using a wireless network such as a Wi-Fi network, for example IEEE 802.11 (IEEE refers to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). The Wi-Fi signal of these embodiments is received over the communications channel 1060 and the communications interface 1050 which are adapted for Wi-Fi communications. The communications channel 1060 of these embodiments is typically connected to an access point or router that provides access to external networks including the Internet for allowing streaming applications and other over-the-top communications. Other embodiments provide streamed data to the system 1000 using a set-top box that delivers the data over the HDMI connection of the input block 1130. Still other embodiments provide streamed data to the system 1000 using the RF connection of the input block 1130. As indicated above, various embodiments provide data in a non-streaming manner. Additionally, various embodiments use wireless networks other than Wi-Fi, for example a cellular network or a Bluetooth network.

[0075] The system 1000 can provide an output signal to various output devices, including a display 1100, speakers 1110, and other peripheral devices 1120. The display 1100 of various embodiments includes one or more of, for example, a touchscreen display, an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) display, a curved display, and / or a foldable display. The display 1100 can be for a television, a tablet, a laptop, a cell phone (mobile phone), or other device. The display 1100 can also be integrated with other components (for example, as in a smart phone), or separate (for example, an external monitor for a laptop). The other peripheral devices 1120 include, in various examples of embodiments, one or more of a stand-alone digital video disc (ordigital versatile disc) (DVR, for both terms), a disk player, a stereo system, and / or a lighting system. Various embodiments use one or more peripheral devices 1120 that provide a function based on the output of the system 1000. For example, a disk player performs the function of playing the output of the system 1000.

[0076] In various embodiments, control signals are communicated between the system 1000 and the display 1100, speakers 1110, or other peripheral devices 1120 using signaling such as AV.Link, Consumer Electronics Control (CEC), or other communications protocols that enable device-to-device control with or without user intervention. The output devices can be communicatively coupled to system 1000 via dedicated connections through respective interfaces 1070, 1080, and 1090. Alternatively, the output devices can be connected to system 1000 using the communications channel 1060 via the communications interface 1050. The display 1100 and speakers 1110 can be integrated in a single unit with the other components of system 1000 in an electronic device such as, for example, a television. In various embodiments, the display interface 1070 includes a display driver, such as, for example, a timing controller (T Con) chip.

[0077] The display 1100 and speaker 1110 can alternatively be separate from one or more of the other components, for example, if the RF portion of input 1130 is part of a separate set-top box. In various embodiments in which the display 1100 and speakers 1110 are external components, the output signal can be provided via dedicated output connections, including, for example, HDMI ports, USB ports, or COMP outputs.

[0078] The embodiments can be carried out by computer software implemented by the processor 1010 or by hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. As a non-limiting example, the embodiments can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits. The memory 1020 can be of any type appropriate to the technical environment and can be implemented using any appropriate data storage technology, such as optical memory devices, magnetic memory devices, semiconductor-based memory devices, fixed memory, and removable memory, as nonlimiting examples. The processor 1010 can be of any type appropriate to the technical environment, and can encompass one or more of microprocessors, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, and processors based on a multi-core architecture, as non-limiting examples.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONScene description files for haptics data.

[0079] The present disclosure relates to the use of a 3D scene description file, such as a gITF file, to support haptic experiences. gITF is currently the file format used in the MPEG-I Scene description technical solution. The present disclosure provides systems and methods for including haptics in a standards-based scene description format. As illustrated in FIG. 1 D, the proposed integration of haptics in the scene description format is based on two gITF extensions, MPEG_haptic and MPEG_material_haptic.

[0080] FIG. 1 D illustrates an example gITF data structure with MPEG extensions to gITF (including haptics).

[0081] The MPEG_haptic extension represents haptics data as defined in some example by MPEG Haptics Phase 1. It is an independent haptic media, analogous to an audio content or an image. This extension is attached at the node level to indicate that the node refers to haptic data. Table 1 illustrates example semantics of the MPEG_haptic extension.

[0082] An example of a JSON schema corresponding to the MPEG_haptic extension is illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0083] In example embodiments, the MPEG_material_haptic extension provides information indicating a type of material, where the material type is defined to associate a haptic texture to a 3D object. The texture does not contain RGB values (as in conventional texture mapping), but rather contains haptic values. These haptic values are available to be exploited directly by the haptic Tenderer. Example embodiments may also provide haptics information for each of a plurality of regions of tactile information, which may be referred to as “taxels,” analogous to the use of pixels as an element of a picture. Using this principle, each pixel of the texture can be mapped to a distinct spatial (or temporal) signal as illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a grid of tactile pixels, or taxels, in which different pixels are mapped to different haptic textures.

[0084] In some embodiments, different types of haptic texture representations are combined using an array of textures for each haptic property. In such embodiments, a haptic texture can be provided both as a traditional 2D texture and as a taxel map in the same file. In such embodiments, the rendering engine may operate to choose the most appropriate.

[0085] In some embodiments, additional information is added to each element of the haptic texture arrays for the rendering engine to adequately interpret a texture. For example, each array element may contains a haptic texture and a texture type expressed as an Enumeration. Example values of the enumeration include:• High_Resolution: The haptic texture is a high resolution 2D texture directly storing haptic values• Low_Resolution: The haptic texture is a low resolution 2D texture directly storing haptic values• Reference: The haptic texture is a 2D taxel map containing references to haptic signals. Each pixel of the texture corresponds to an index in the Media_reference array of the MPEG_haptic extension.• Other: May indicate a proprietary texture format.

[0086] In some embodiments, to interpret the data contained in 2D textures, the bit depth and range of these textures are specified according to the following tables.

[0087] The following table gives examples of bit depth and range values for each haptic property for low resolution haptic textures:

[0088] The following table gives examples of bit depth and range values for each haptic property for high resolution haptic textures:

[0089] In some embodiments, for the high resolution texture, values of each texture map pixel are divided in two: the first byte contains the magnitude value and the second byte contains the frequency.

[0090] The following table describes the list of haptic properties of the extension:

[0091] An example of a JSON schema corresponding to this gITF MPEG_material_haptic extension is illustrated in FIGs. 6A-6C.Issues addressed in some embodiments.

[0092] As seen in the example of FIG. 1 , the MPEGJHaptic extension and the MPEG_material_haptic extensions are respectively attached at the node level and at the mesh level. This structure may present some limitations. First, it does not allow for the description of haptic data if it is not attached to a specific node in the scene. This limits the usage of haptic for specific applications. Typically, it makes the use of haptic feedback for a user interface much more complicated.

[0093] Another potential limitation of the foregoing approach is the redundancy of the data. If the same haptic data is to be used on multiple nodes or meshes, this approach calls for defining this data multiple times. For instance, if there are multiple instances of the same object in the scene, the haptic data associated to this object will have to be copied for every instance of theobject. This limitation may prove very limiting for most gaming applications where many instances of a 3D object are typically used to populate the virtual environment.Overview of example embodiments.

[0094] Example embodiments address one or more potential problems with the foregoing approach by defining a new framework for haptic support in a scene description format. For the sake of simplicity, example embodiments are described in the present disclosure using the gITF format presented before, but the disclosure is not limited to a specific file format. Embodiments as described herein can be implemented in any other scene description format.

[0095] Example embodiments provide a haptic data structure, which may be referred to herein as a generic haptic data structure, at the root level of the scene. In some embodiments, this data structure contains all the haptic data of the scene. The data may then be referenced at the node level or mesh level. An example of this structure is illustrated in FIG. 3, where the boxes MPEG_haptic and MPEG_haptic_material contain all the haptic data of the scene. Instead of storing the MPEG_haptic data at the node level and the MPEG_haptic_material data at the mesh level, the data is stored at the root level and is referenced at respectively the node and mesh level. In some embodiments, the MPEG_haptic data is only referenced at the node level and the MPEG_haptic_material data is only referenced at the mesh level.

[0096] FIG. 3 illustrates an example gITF data structure with MPEG extensions to gITF (including haptics).

[0097] The two extensions MPEG_haptic and MPEG_haptic_material are then both defined at two distinct levels, which may be done in some examples as follows:MPEG_haptic:• At the root level: The extension contains an array defining all media related haptic data.• At the node level: The extension contains a single reference to the array of the same extension at the root level.MPEG_haptic_material:• At the root level: The extension contains an array defining all texture related haptic data.• At the mesh level: The extension contains a single reference to the array of the same extension at the root level.

[0098] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a scene using the proposed framework for haptic support according to some embodiments. This example illustrates how the data is structured in the scene. All the haptic data is defined at the root level with the MPEG_haptic and MPEG_haptic_material extensions. In the scene graph, the nodes can then directly reference elements of the root level extensions using respectively the node and mesh level extensions. This solution allows multiple nodes to reference the same data without having to duplicate the information. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of structure of a gITF scene using MPEG Haptic extensions.

[0099] In an example method according to some embodiments, a 3D scene description file such as that shown in FIG. 4 is obtained, e.g. by a user device capable of rendering haptics experiences. The present disclosure is not limited to the use of any particular device for presenting the haptics experience, and any such device may be used in example embodiments. As shown in FIG. 4, the scene description file 400 includes at least a first one root-node haptic object 402, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements 404a, 404b, etc. Each haptic element includes at least one reference to a media file (e.g. using a respective mediajndex). The scene description file 400 further includes at least a first node object 406, the first node object 406 including a reference (e.g. using MPEG_haptic_index 407, through an MPEG_haptic element 409) to at least a first one 404a of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file 408. Based on the information in the scene description file 400, the 3D scene may be presented to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file. In some embodiments, more than one node in the scene description file includes a reference to the same haptic element, allowing for a reduced file size when different nodes have the same haptic properties. For example both a first node and a second node may reference the same haptic element.

[0100] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file 400 further includes at least a second root-level haptic object 410. The second root-node haptic object includes an array of material elements, 412a, 412b, etc. Each material element describes a haptic property of a material. The scene description file 400 further includes at least a first mesh object 414, the first mesh object including a reference (e.g. using an MPEG_haptic_material_index 415, through an MPEG_haptic_material element 417) to at least a first one 412a of the material elements in the array of material elements. When the 3D scene is presented to a user, the first mesh object 414 is presented with a haptic property described by the first material element 412a. In some embodiments, more than one mesh object in the scene description file includes a reference to the same material element, allowing for a reduced file size when different mesh objects have the same haptic properties. For example, both a first mesh and a second mesh may reference the same haptic element.

[0101] While the example of FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment that uses both an MPEG_haptic object and an MPEG_haptic_material object, some embodiments may only use one of those objects.

[0102] The following description provides semantic information that may be used in some embodiments of an example extension to a scene description format for generic haptic support.Semantics of an example MPEG_haptic extension.

[0103] As described in Table 3, at the root level, the MPEG_haptic extension contains an array of media related haptic data. The data for each element of the array is described in Table 4, itcontains a list of indices to medias from the media array of the MPEG_media (analogous to the former MPEGJHaptic extension described in Table 1).Table 4. Semantic description of the MPEG_haptics. haptic items of the haptics array from the root level MPEG_haptic extension.

[0104] As described in Table 5 at the node level, the MPEG_haptic extension contains a single reference to an element of the haptics array described in Table 3.Table 5. Description of the MPEG_haptic extension at the node level.Semantics of an example MPEG_haptic_material extension.

[0105] As described in Table 6, at the root level, the MPEG_haptic_material extension contains an array of texture haptic data. The data for each element of the array is described in Table 7, it contains multiple list of textures (combined with an enum) attached to different haptic properties (analogous to the former MPEG_material_haptic extension described in Table 2). In some embodiments, the specifications provided in the former MPEG_material_haptic extension for the interpretation of the textures remain the same.Table 6. Semantic description of the MPEGJHaptic extension at the root level.materials array from the Root level MPEGJHaptic extension.

[0106] As described in the example of Table 8 at the mesh level, the MPEG_haptic_material extension contains a single reference to an element of the materials array described in Table 6.Table 8. Description of the MPEG_Haptic_material extension at the mesh level.Example scene description implementations.

[0107] As noted above, example embodiments are described herein using the gITF scene description format, but example embodiments are not limited to the use of gITF. The framework may alternatively be used with other formats without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0108] FIG. 7 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic extension at the root level.

[0109] FIG. 8 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic.haptic elements from the haptics array of the root level MPEG_haptic extension according to some embodiments.

[0110] FIG. 9 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic extension at the node level according to some embodiments.

[0111] FIG. 10 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material extension at the root level according to some embodiments.

[0112] FIGs. 11A-11C illustrate an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material. material elements from the materials array of the root level MPEG_haptic_material extension according to some embodiments.

[0113] FIG. 12 illustrates an example JSON schema of the MPEG_haptic_material extension at the mesh level according to some embodiments.Further Embodiments.

[0114] A method according to some embodiments comprises: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object, the first node object including a reference to at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file.

[0115] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements; wherein presenting the 3D scene to a user comprises presenting the first mesh object is presented with a haptic property described by the first material element.

[0116] In some embodiments, each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map.

[0117] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

[0118] In some embodiments, the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

[0119] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

[0120] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format.

[0121] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a gITF format.

[0122] A method according to some embodiments comprises: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first root-level haptic object, the first root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first first mesh object is presented with a haptic property described by the first material element.

[0123] In some embodiments, each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map.

[0124] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

[0125] In some embodiments, the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

[0126] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

[0127] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format.

[0128] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a gITF format.

[0129] A method according to some embodiments comprises: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object, the first node object including a reference to at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

[0130] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements.

[0131] In some embodiments, each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map.

[0132] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

[0133] In some embodiments, the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

[0134] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

[0135] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format.

[0136] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a gITF format.

[0137] A method according to some embodiments comprises: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first root-level haptic object, the first root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements.

[0138] In some embodiments, each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map.

[0139] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

[0140] In some embodiments, the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

[0141] In some embodiments, the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

[0142] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format.

[0143] In some embodiments, the 3D scene description file is in a gITF format.

[0144] Some embodiments include an apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform the method of any of the methods described herein.

[0145] Some embodiments include an apparatus comprising a computer-readable medium storing instructions for causing one or more processors to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0146] Some embodiments include an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for causing the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0147] Some embodiments include a computer-readable medium storing a scene description file generated according to any of the methods described herein.

[0148] Some embodiments include a signal including a scene description file generated according to any of the methods described herein.

[0149] Encoder and decoder apparatus are provided to perform the methods described herein. An encoder or decoder apparatus may include a processor configured to perform the methods described herein. The apparatus may include a computer-readable medium (e.g. a non-transitory medium) storing instructions for performing the methods described herein. In some embodiments,a computer-readable medium (e.g. a non-transitory medium) stores haptic data encoded using any of the methods described herein.

[0150] One or more of the present embodiments also provide a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for performing bi-directional optical flow, encoding or decoding video data according to any of the methods described above. The present embodiments also provide a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a bitstream generated according to the methods described above. The present embodiments also provide a method and apparatus for transmitting the bitstream generated according to the methods described above. The present embodiments also provide a computer program product including instructions for performing any of the methods described. This disclosure describes a variety of aspects, including tools, features, embodiments, models, approaches, etc. Many of these aspects are described with specificity and, at least to show the individual characteristics, are often described in a manner that may sound limiting. However, this is for purposes of clarity in description, and does not limit the disclosure or scope of those aspects. Indeed, all of the different aspects can be combined and interchanged to provide further aspects. Moreover, the aspects can be combined and interchanged with aspects described in earlier filings as well.

[0151] The aspects described and contemplated in this disclosure can be implemented in many different forms. While some embodiments are illustrated specifically, other embodiments are contemplated, and the discussion of particular embodiments does not limit the breadth of the implementations. At least one of the aspects generally relates to video encoding and decoding, and at least one other aspect generally relates to transmitting a bitstream generated or encoded. These and other aspects can be implemented as a method, an apparatus, a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for encoding or decoding video data according to any of the methods described, and / or a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a bitstream generated according to any of the methods described.

[0152] In the present disclosure, the terms “reconstructed” and “decoded” may be used interchangeably, the terms “pixel” and “sample” may be used interchangeably, the terms “image,” “picture” and “frame” may be used interchangeably. Usually, but not necessarily, the term “reconstructed” is used at the encoder side while “decoded” is used at the decoder side.

[0153] Various methods are described herein, and each of the methods comprises one or more steps or actions for achieving the described method. Unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for proper operation of the method, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified or combined. Additionally, terms such as “first”, “second”, etc. may be used in various embodiments to modify an element, component, step, operation, etc., such as, for example, a “first decoding” and a “second decoding”. Use of such terms does not imply an ordering to the modified operations unless specifically required. So, in this example, the first decoding need not be performed before the second decoding, and may occur, for example, before, during, or in an overlapping time period with the second decoding.

[0154] Various numeric values may be used in the present disclosure, for example. The specific values are for example purposes and the aspects described are not limited to these specific values.

[0155] Embodiments described herein may be carried out by computer software implemented by a processor or other hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. As a nonlimiting example, the embodiments can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits. The processor can be of any type appropriate to the technical environment and can encompass one or more of microprocessors, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, and processors based on a multi-core architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0156] Various implementations involve decoding. “Decoding”, as used in this disclosure, can encompass all or part of the processes performed, for example, on a received encoded sequence in order to produce a final output suitable for display. In various embodiments, such processes include one or more of the processes typically performed by a decoder, for example, entropy decoding, inverse quantization, inverse transformation, and differential decoding. In various embodiments, such processes also, or alternatively, include processes performed by a decoder of various implementations described in this disclosure, for example, extracting a picture from a tiled (packed) picture, determining an upsampling filter to use and then upsampling a picture, and flipping a picture back to its intended orientation.

[0157] As further examples, in one embodiment “decoding” refers only to entropy decoding, in another embodiment “decoding” refers only to differential decoding, and in another embodiment “decoding” refers to a combination of entropy decoding and differential decoding. Whether the phrase “decoding process” is intended to refer specifically to a subset of operations or generally to the broader decoding process will be clear based on the context of the specific descriptions.

[0158] Various implementations involve encoding. In an analogous way to the above discussion about “decoding”, “encoding” as used in this disclosure can encompass all or part of the processes performed, for example, on an input video sequence in order to produce an encoded bitstream. In various embodiments, such processes include one or more of the processes typically performed by an encoder, for example, partitioning, differential encoding, transformation, quantization, and entropy encoding. In various embodiments, such processes also, or alternatively, include processes performed by an encoder of various implementations described in this disclosure.

[0159] As further examples, in one embodiment “encoding” refers only to entropy encoding, in another embodiment “encoding” refers only to differential encoding, and in another embodiment “encoding” refers to a combination of differential encoding and entropy encoding. Whether the phrase “encoding process” is intended to refer specifically to a subset of operations or generally to the broader encoding process will be clear based on the context of the specific descriptions.

[0160] When a figure is presented as a flow diagram, it should be understood that it also provides a block diagram of a corresponding apparatus. Similarly, when a figure is presented as a block diagram, it should be understood that it also provides a flow diagram of a corresponding method / process.

[0161] Various embodiments refer to rate distortion optimization. In particular, during the encoding process, the balance or trade-off between the rate and distortion is usually considered, often given the constraints of computational complexity. The rate distortion optimization is usually formulated as minimizing a rate distortion function, which is a weighted sum of the rate and of the distortion. There are different approaches to solve the rate distortion optimization problem. For example, the approaches may be based on an extensive testing of all encoding options, including all considered modes or coding parameters values, with a complete evaluation of their coding cost and related distortion of the reconstructed signal after coding and decoding. Faster approaches may also be used, to save encoding complexity, in particular with computation of an approximated distortion based on the prediction or the prediction residual signal, not the reconstructed one. A mix of these two approaches can also be used, such as by using an approximated distortion for only some of the possible encoding options, and a complete distortion for other encoding options. Other approaches only evaluate a subset of the possible encoding options. More generally, many approaches employ any of a variety of techniques to perform the optimization, but the optimization is not necessarily a complete evaluation of both the coding cost and related distortion.

[0162] The implementations and aspects described herein can be implemented in, for example, a method or a process, an apparatus, a software program, a data stream, or a signal. Even if only discussed in the context of a single form of implementation (for example, discussed only as a method), the implementation of features discussed can also be implemented in other forms (for example, an apparatus or program). An apparatus can be implemented in, for example, appropriate hardware, software, and firmware. The methods can be implemented in, for example, a processor, which refers to processing devices in general, including, for example, a computer, a microprocessor, an integrated circuit, or a programmable logic device. Processors also include communication devices, such as, for example, computers, cell phones, portable / personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), and other devices that facilitate communication of information between endusers.

[0163] Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “one implementation” or “an implementation”, as well as other variations thereof, means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, and so forth described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or “in one implementation” or “in an implementation”, as well any other variations, appearing in various places throughout this disclosure are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0164] Additionally, this disclosure may refer to “determining” various pieces of information. Determining the information can include one or more of, for example, estimating the information, calculating the information, predicting the information, or retrieving the information from memory.

[0165] Further, this disclosure may refer to “accessing” various pieces of information. Accessing the information can include one or more of, for example, receiving the information, retrieving the information (for example, from memory), storing the information, moving the information, copying the information, calculating the information, determining the information, predicting the information, or estimating the information.

[0166] Additionally, this disclosure may refer to “receiving” various pieces of information. Receiving is, as with “accessing”, intended to be a broad term. Receiving the information can include one or more of, for example, accessing the information, or retrieving the information (for example, from memory). Further, “receiving” is typically involved, in one way or another, during operations such as, for example, storing the information, processing the information, transmitting the information, moving the information, copying the information, erasing the information, calculating the information, determining the information, predicting the information, or estimating the information.

[0167] It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following 7”, “and / or”, and “at least one of’, for example, in the cases of “A / B”, “A and / or B” and “at least one of A and B”, is intended to encompass the selection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of the second listed option (B) only, or the selection of both options (A and B). As a further example, in the cases of “A, B, and / or C” and “at least one of A, B, and C”, such phrasing is intended to encompass the selection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of the second listed option (B) only, or the selection of the third listed option (C) only, or the selection of the first and the second listed options (A and B) only, or the selection of the first and third listed options (A and C) only, or the selection of the second and third listed options (B and C) only, or the selection of all three options (A and B and C). This may be extended for as many items as are listed.

[0168] Also, as used herein, the word “signal” refers to, among other things, indicating something to a corresponding decoder. For example, in certain embodiments the encoder signals a particular one of a plurality of parameters for region-based filter parameter selection for deartifact filtering. In this way, in an embodiment the same parameter is used at both the encoder side and the decoder side. Thus, for example, an encoder can transmit (explicit signaling) a particular parameter to the decoder so that the decoder can use the same particular parameter. Conversely, if the decoder already has the particular parameter as well as others, then signaling can be used without transmitting (implicit signaling) to simply allow the decoder to know and select the particular parameter. By avoiding transmission of any actual functions, a bit savings is realized in various embodiments. It is to be appreciated that signaling can be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example, one or more syntax elements, flags, and so forth are used to signalinformation to a corresponding decoder in various embodiments. While the preceding relates to the verb form of the word “signal”, the word “signal” can also be used herein as a noun.

[0169] Implementations can produce a variety of signals formatted to carry information that can be, for example, stored or transmitted. The information can include, for example, instructions for performing a method, or data produced by one of the described implementations. For example, a signal can be formatted to carry the bitstream of a described embodiment. Such a signal can be formatted, for example, as an electromagnetic wave (for example, using a radio frequency portion of spectrum) or as a baseband signal. The formatting can include, for example, encoding a data stream and modulating a carrier with the encoded data stream. The information that the signal carries can be, for example, analog or digital information. The signal can be transmitted over a variety of different wired or wireless links, as is known. The signal can be stored on a processor-readable medium.

[0170] We describe a number of embodiments. Features of these embodiments can be provided alone or in any combination, across various claim categories and types.

[0171] Note that various hardware elements of one or more of the described embodiments are referred to as “modules” that carry out (i.e., perform, execute, and the like) various functions that are described herein in connection with the respective modules. As used herein, a module includes hardware (e.g., one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more microchips, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more memory devices) deemed suitable for a given implementation. Each described module may also include instructions executable for carrying out the one or more functions described as being carried out by the respective module, and it is noted that those instructions could take the form of or include hardware (i.e., hardwired) instructions, firmware instructions, software instructions, and / or the like, and may be stored in any suitable non-transitory computer-readable medium or media, such as commonly referred to as RAM, ROM, etc.

[0172] Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magnetooptical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method comprising: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file.

2. An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform at least: obtaining a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file; and presenting the 3D scene to a user, wherein the first node object is presented with a haptic property described by the first media file.

3. The method of claim 1 or the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the information associating the first node object with the first one of the haptic elements includes an index associated with the first node object, the index identifying the first one of the haptic elements.

4. The method of claim 1 or claim 3 as it depends from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claim 2 or claim 3 as it depends from claim 2, wherein the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements;wherein presenting the 3D scene to a user comprises presenting the first mesh object is presented with a haptic property described by the first material element.

5. The method of claim 1 or claims 4-3 as they depend from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claim 2 or claims 3-4 as they depend from claim 2, wherein each of the material elements includes a reference to a 2D texture map.

6. The method of claim 5 as it depends from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claim 5 as it depends from claim 2, wherein the 2D texture map associates each of a plurality of taxels with at least one physical property.

7. The method of claim 6 as it depends from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claim 6 as it depends from claim 2, wherein the at least one physical property comprises one or more of: stiffness, friction, vibrotactile texture, temperature, or vibration.

8. The method of claim 6 as it depends from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claim 6 as it depends from claim 2, wherein the 2D texture map associates at least one of the taxels with an associated media source.

9. The method of any of claims 3-8 as they depend from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claims 3-8 as they depend from claim 2, wherein the 3D scene description file is in a JSON format.

10. The method of any of claims 3-9 as they depend from claim 1 , or the apparatus of claims 3-9 as they depend from claim 2, wherein the 3D scene description file is in a gITF format.11 . A method comprising: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

12. An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform at least: generating a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes:at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

13. The method of claim 11 or the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the information associating the first node object with the first one of the haptic elements includes an index associated with the first node object, the index identifying the first one of the haptic elements.

14. The method of claim 11 or claim 13 as it depends from claim 11 , or the apparatus of claim 12 or claim 13 as it depends from claim 12, wherein the 3D scene description file further includes: at least a second root-level haptic object, the second root-node haptic object including an array of material elements, each material element describing a haptic property of a material; and at least a first mesh object, the first mesh object including a reference to at least a first one of the material elements in the array of material elements.

15. A computer-readable medium storing a 3D scene description file, wherein the scene description file includes: at least a first one root-node haptic object, the first root-level haptic object including an array of haptic elements, each haptic element including at least one reference to a media file; and at least a first node object; and information associating the first node object with at least a first one of the haptic elements in the array of haptic elements, the first one of the haptic elements including a reference to a first media file.

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