AR Smart-Home Device Placement for Field-of-View Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation and optimization of smart-home devices are challenging due to invisible fields of view, such as sensor ranges and communication areas, which are difficult for non-expert users to visualize and optimize, leading to inefficient placement and potential gaps or overlaps in coverage.
Innovation Solution
A method using a mobile computing device with a camera to render and display virtual objects representing the fields of view of smart-home devices, allowing users to visualize and optimize device placement through augmented reality, including obstruction clipping and sensitivity adjustments, to ensure effective coverage and interference identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If smart-home devices are installed without visualization tools, then installation process is simple, but device placement optimization is difficult and coverage gaps occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary visualization system that includes virtual representations of smart-home devices and their fields of view. This intermediary layer allows users to see and optimize device placement without adding physical complexity to the actual installation process. The virtual model acts as a mediator between the physical device and the user's decision-making process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of smart-home devices and their operational fields within a digital environment. These copies allow users to simulate and optimize placement scenarios before actual installation, improving placement precision without requiring complex physical prototypes or test installations.
2Loss of information
If augmented reality visualization is added to show field of view, then device placement optimization improves, but user interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs color-coded visual representations to indicate different aspects of device fields of view. Virtual objects change color or display different visual properties to represent coverage areas, detection zones, and operational parameters. This allows rich information communication through intuitive visual cues rather than complex text or data interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses virtual copies of devices and their fields of view to represent invisible operational characteristics. Instead of requiring users to interpret technical data, the system creates visual replicas that directly display coverage areas and detection zones, making invisible information visible without complicating the user interface.
3Productivity
If virtual objects representing fields of view are rendered in real-time, then placement optimization efficiency improves, but computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent renders virtual objects and fields of view selectively based on user needs and device positions. Rather than continuously rendering all possible visualizations, the system activates rendering only when devices are being positioned or adjusted, reducing unnecessary computational overhead while maintaining optimization efficiency during critical moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-calculates and stores field of view parameters and coverage characteristics for smart-home devices. This preliminary computation allows real-time visualization to be generated quickly during placement optimization without requiring intensive on-the-fly calculations, reducing energy consumption during the actual optimization process.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for guiding installation of smart-home devices may include capturing, by a camera of a mobile computing device, a view of an installation location for a smart-home device; rendering, by the mobile computing device, a view of a virtual object that represents a real-world obstruction that will interfere with the operation or installation of the smart-home device; and displaying, by the mobile computing device, the view of a virtual object that represents real-world obstruction with the view of the installation location on the display of the mobile computing device.