Augmented Reality Virtual Structure Segments Pre-Computed Lighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The computational expense of rendering realistic lighting and shadows in virtual environments, such as video games, leads to unacceptably long rendering times, and dynamic lighting, while faster, often results in lower visual quality and resource-intensive processing.
Innovation Solution
The use of modular virtual structure segments with pre-computed high-quality lighting effects, which are arranged and processed in real-time to fit the geometry of a user's physical environment, allowing for efficient construction of an augmented reality environment with high-quality lighting effects without lengthy computation delays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If pre-computed lighting effects are used, then visual quality is improved, but rendering time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the virtual environment into multiple modular segments, each with pre-computed lighting effects. This allows the system to load and display only the necessary segments in real-time, combining the visual quality of pre-computed lighting with the speed of dynamic rendering by processing only portions of the environment rather than the entire scene.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-computes lighting effects for individual modular segments during development, then stores them for rapid retrieval and display during gameplay. This preliminary computation of lighting for specific segments allows the system to avoid lengthy real-time rendering while maintaining high visual quality.
2Loss of time
If dynamic lighting is used, then rendering time is reduced, but visual quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the environment into modular units with pre-computed lighting, the system achieves fast rendering times comparable to dynamic lighting while maintaining the high visual quality of pre-computed lighting. Each segment can be independently loaded and displayed without requiring real-time computation.
3Illumination intensity
If pre-computed lighting is applied to entire virtual environment, then visual quality is maximized, but system resources consumed excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the virtual environment into discrete modular segments, each with its own pre-computed lighting effects. This segmentation allows the system to load and process only the necessary segments based on the user's view, significantly reducing computational resource consumption compared to pre-computing and rendering the entire environment.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of pre-computing lighting for the entire virtual environment, the system pre-computes lighting for individual modular segments and loads only the necessary portions during gameplay. This partial application of pre-computed lighting maintains visual quality for the visible area while avoiding the excessive computational resources required for complete environment processing.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments related to efficiently constructing an augmented reality environment with global illumination effects are disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method (600) of displaying an augmented reality image via a display device. The method (600) includes receiving (602) image data, the image data capturing an image of a local environment of the display device, and identifying (606) a physical feature of the local environment via the image data. The method further includes constructing (622) an augmented reality image of a virtual structure for display over the physical feature in spatial registration with the physical feature from a viewpoint of a user, the augmented reality image comprising a plurality of modular virtual structure segments arranged in adjacent locations to form the virtual structure feature, each modular virtual structure segment comprising a pre-computed global illumination effect, and outputting (640) the augmented reality image to the display device.