AR/VR Ray Tracing for Positional Audio and Visual Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) do not provide adequate audio and visual enhancements using ray tracing, particularly for visual impairments, and are limited in positional surround sound and light ray tracing capabilities, leading to a suboptimal user experience.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that captures environment information using capture devices and normalizes it through ray tracing vector paths for enhanced audio and visual playback, utilizing parallel processors and graphics processing units to manage and render the normalized information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional systems are used for AR/VR, then device complexity is reduced, but audio and visual enhancement capabilities are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements ray tracing functionality within the graphics processing unit by creating a nested structure where ray tracing logic is integrated into the GPU architecture. The ray tracing engine is embedded within the graphics processing pipeline, allowing light transport calculations to be performed alongside traditional rendering operations. This nesting approach enables advanced audio and visual enhancements without requiring a completely separate system, thus improving capabilities while controlling complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The graphics processing unit is designed to perform multiple functions: traditional rasterization rendering, ray tracing for light transport, and audio processing through ray-based acoustic simulations. By making the GPU universal and capable of handling diverse computational tasks, the system achieves enhanced audio and visual capabilities without proportionally increasing device complexity. The same parallel processing architecture serves multiple enhancement purposes.
2Illumination intensity
If ray tracing is implemented for light only, then visual realism is improved, but audio enhancement remains limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges light ray tracing and sound ray tracing into a unified processing framework. Both optical and acoustic ray tracing share common computational infrastructure including ray generation, propagation, intersection testing, and reflection/refraction calculations. This combining approach allows visual realism through light ray tracing while simultaneously enabling audio enhancement through sound ray tracing, thus improving adaptability without duplicating computational resources.
3Measurement precision
If environment information is captured and normalized using ray tracing, then positional accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ray tracing calculations during environment capture and preprocessing stages. Ray paths, intersection points, and acoustic/optical properties are pre-computed and stored for later playback. This preliminary action allows high positional accuracy during real-time playback without requiring extensive processing time, as the computationally intensive ray tracing has already been performed in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements adaptive sampling strategies where ray tracing is performed at varying levels of detail based on scene complexity and viewer position. In regions or scenarios requiring high positional accuracy, more rays are traced; in less critical areas, fewer rays are used. This partial action approach maintains necessary precision while reducing overall processing time by avoiding excessive computation in all scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide away to render augmented reality (AR) and/or virtual reality (VR) sensory enhancements using ray tracing. More particularly, systems, apparatuses and methods may provide a way to normalize environment information captured by multiple capture devices, and calculate, for an observer, the sound sources or sensed events vector paths. The systems, apparatuses and methods may detect and/or manage one or more capture devices and assign one or more the capture devices based on one or more conditions to provide observer an immersive VR/AR experience.