AR Information Placement Outside Activity Zone
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing augmented reality (AR) systems often obstruct users' views by displaying annotations and animations overlaid on real-world views, failing to distinguish between the user's activity zone and non-activity zones, leading to overwhelming information in crowded environments or incomplete information in environments where the user's gaze is not focused.
Innovation Solution
The system determines a user's activity zone based on their direction of motion and gaze, positioning AR information outside this zone to avoid obstruction, using scene sensors and user-specific sensors to calculate an activity zone and display AR information subtly or prominently depending on the object's relevance to the user's activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If AR information is displayed about real-world objects in the user's field of view, then the user receives comprehensive information about objects, but the user is overwhelmed with AR information especially in environments with many real-world objects
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different information display strategies to different spatial regions: the activity zone (center of visual field) receives no AR information to prevent overload, while non-activity zones (peripheral regions) receive AR information about relevant objects. This spatial differentiation of information density resolves the contradiction by providing comprehensive information where it won't overwhelm the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The visual field is segmented into an activity zone and non-activity zones based on user gaze and direction of motion. By segmenting the display area and applying different information policies to each segment, the system maintains information completeness while preventing cognitive overload in the critical activity zone.
2Loss of information
If AR information is displayed about real-world objects on which the user's gaze rests, then the user receives focused information, but the AR information interferes with the very scene that the user is viewing
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts AR information from the activity zone where it would interfere with the user's view of the real world, and relocates it to non-activity zones in the periphery. This extraction maintains the relevance of information to the user's focused attention while removing the harmful obstruction effect from the central view.
Solution Approach 2:
The system moves AR information from the two-dimensional plane of the activity zone to the peripheral non-activity zones, effectively using the dimensional space of the visual field more efficiently. Information is placed in the peripheral dimension rather than competing for space in the central dimension, reducing interference while maintaining relevance.
3Ease of operation
If AR information is displayed in the center of the user's visual field, then the information is easily readable, but the information obstructs the user's view of their main activity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of placing AR information in the center of the visual field for optimal readability, the system inverts the approach by placing information in the peripheral non-activity zones. This inversion sacrifices some readability convenience but eliminates the harmful obstruction of the activity zone, prioritizing the user's primary task.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods described herein are provided for receiving location information for a real-world object in a user's augmented reality (AR) view, determining a direction of travel of a user, determining an activity zone shape associated with the direction of travel, responsive to a determination that the real-world object is within the activity zone, rendering on an AR display AR information associated with the real-world object at a location outside an area of the AR display used to display the activity zone. Some embodiments continue to display AR information in the same location if the user changes his or her gaze to read the AR information. Some embodiments render on an AR display subtle highlighting if an object is inside an activity zone and prominent highlighting if an object is outside an activity zone.