AR Inserted Content Lighting Using Local Image Parameters

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing augmented reality (AR) systems struggle to apply lighting to inserted content in a realistic manner without prior knowledge of environmental lighting conditions, requiring excessive computational resources and power consumption, especially in battery-operated mobile devices.

Innovation Solution

An AR system determines lighting parameters by extracting brightness, hue, and saturation values from image regions, scaling these values based on inserted content data, and using fewer processor cycles to render content with overhead and lower light sources, allowing for realistic lighting without prior environmental knowledge.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Illumination intensity

If traditional lighting estimation methods are used for inserted content, then lighting realism is improved, but computational resources and power consumption increase excessively

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelighting realismVSAvoidpower consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Illumination intensityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential lighting parameters (brightness, hue, saturation) from the image data, rather than performing complete environmental lighting analysis. This selective extraction of critical illumination characteristics reduces computational overhead while maintaining sufficient lighting realism for augmented reality content

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies partial lighting estimation by focusing on key image regions and essential color properties rather than analyzing the entire scene comprehensively. This partial action approach provides adequate lighting realism without the excessive computational resources required for complete environmental analysis

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

2Measurement precision

If complete environmental lighting analysis is performed, then lighting accuracy is improved, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelighting accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the lighting analysis task by dividing the image into specific regions of interest and analyzing only those areas relevant to the inserted content. This segmentation allows the system to achieve sufficient lighting accuracy without processing the entire image, thereby reducing processing time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary identification of key image properties (brightness, hue, saturation) before rendering the inserted content. By pre-extracting these essential lighting parameters, the system avoids time-consuming analysis during the rendering phase, achieving both accuracy and efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Illumination intensity

If advanced lighting estimation algorithms are used, then lighting quality is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelighting qualityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Illumination intensityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by focusing computational effort on the specific regions where inserted content will appear, rather than analyzing the entire scene uniformly. This localized approach maintains high lighting quality for relevant areas while reducing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the approach from complex environmental analysis to extracting and scaling fundamental color parameters (brightness, hue, saturation). By transforming the problem into parameter extraction and scaling operations, the system achieves good lighting quality with simpler algorithms and reduced device complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3692710B1Lighting for inserted content
Publication Date: 2026.01.14 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3692710B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3692710B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3692710B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3C

AI summary

Systems and methods for lighting inserted content are provided. For example, the inserted content may include augmented reality content that is inserted into an image of a physical space. An example system and method may include determining a location within an image to insert content. For example, the image may be captured by a camera device. The example system and method may also include identifying a region of the image based on the determined location to insert the content, determining at least one lighting parameter based on the identified region, and rendering the content using the determined at least one lighting parameter.