AR Passable World Mapping via Raycast Exploration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current augmented and virtual reality systems face challenges in providing a realistic experience by accurately correlating virtual objects with real-world environments and maintaining user position data, while also managing energy costs and performance.
Innovation Solution
The system employs an AR display with an outward-facing camera and a hardware processor that generates raycasts from the user's head location, analyzes them to identify unmapped areas, updates virtual content, and collects data, allowing for the presentation of virtual content in real-time and the creation or updating of augmented reality maps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the system collects comprehensive environmental data to improve mapping accuracy, then the realism and accuracy of virtual object positioning is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mapping actions by collecting environmental data and creating a passable world model before virtual objects need to be positioned. This pre-collected data is stored and reused for multiple virtual object placements, avoiding the need to continuously collect the same environmental data, thus improving mapping accuracy while reducing ongoing energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system focuses data collection and processing on specific local areas of the environment rather than continuously scanning the entire space. By using raycasting techniques to probe only the necessary portions of the environment and creating localized passable world models, the system achieves high mapping accuracy in relevant areas while minimizing overall energy consumption.
2Reliability
If the system maintains continuous position data to improve virtual object correlation, then the accuracy of virtual-real world correlation is improved, but computational load and performance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a simplified copy of the real world environment called a passable world model, which contains essential geometric and spatial information needed for virtual object correlation. This model is generated through raycasting and stored for reuse, allowing accurate virtual-real world correlation without the need to maintain and process complex continuous position data, thus reducing computational load while maintaining reliability.
3Loss of information
If the system uses raycasting to explore unmapped areas, then the completeness of the environmental map is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs raycasting exploration and map completion actions preliminarily, generating a comprehensive passable world model before virtual object placement. This pre-completed environmental map is stored and reused, ensuring map completeness while avoiding repeated raycasting operations that would consume additional processing time during virtual object correlation and placement.
Data Source
AI summary
An augmented reality (AR) device can be configured to generate a virtual representation of a user's physical environment. The AR device can capture images of the user's physical environment to generate or identify a user's location. The AR device can project graphics at designated locations within the user's environment to guide the user to capture images of the user's physical environment. The AR device can provide visual, audible, or haptic guidance to direct the user of the AR device to explore the user's environment.