Augmented Reality Interface for Intuitive 3D Location Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current graphical user interfaces for locating individuals, such as those using digital maps on smartphones, are non-intuitive, especially in unfamiliar environments, as they display users and targets as mere dots, which is ineffective in three-dimensional spaces and crowded areas.
Innovation Solution
A graphical user interface that monitors the location and orientation of a portable device to display individuals of interest as recognizable representations within an orienting background, providing positional cues and allowing users to intuitively locate and orient towards them, even in 3D environments like buildings or crowds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If digital maps with dot representations are used to display individuals, then the interface can show location information, but the interface becomes non-intuitive and difficult to use in unfamiliar environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the physical environment by capturing images with a camera and overlaying virtual representations of individuals onto the real-world view. This allows users to see both the actual environment and location information simultaneously, making the interface intuitive while preserving complete location data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an image processing system as an intermediary between the camera feed and the user. This intermediary detects individuals, determines their positions, and overlays appropriate visual indicators on the image, bridging the gap between raw visual data and meaningful location information.
2Loss of information
If dot representations are used to show individuals on a map, then location data can be displayed, but the interface fails to provide intuitive direction and orientation cues in 3D spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a 2D map representation to a 3D augmented reality view by overlaying virtual indicators on a live camera feed. This allows the interface to adapt to three-dimensional environments like buildings and crowds by presenting location information in the context of the actual physical space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses different colored indicators (arrows, circles, rectangles) to represent different types of individuals and their orientations. These visual cues provide intuitive directional information, with the orientation of indicators matching the physical orientation of individuals in the environment.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional map interfaces are used to locate individuals in crowded areas, then all individuals can be tracked, but the interface becomes difficult to interpret and use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different visual indicators to different individuals based on their specific characteristics and positions. Each individual is represented with appropriate visual cues (arrows for direction, circles for locations, rectangles for orientations) that are localized to their position in the field of view, making it easy to distinguish and track multiple individuals simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus and computer program for presenting locations of individuals in an interface are described. A location and an orientation of a portable device with respect to an environment are monitored. A set of locations of one or more individuals of interest with respect to a region of interest in the environment is determined. An orienting background and a set of representations against the orienting background are presented in an interface on the display. Each representation is of a respective individual of interest in the region of interest. The interface presented according to the location and orientation of the display. The orienting background contains a positional cue of a landmark of the environment which the portable device is oriented toward. A representation of a respective individual of interest is displayed only if the portable device is oriented toward the respective individual of interest.