Dynamically Aligned Structure for Real-Time AR Ray Tracing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ray tracing methods in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) face high computational complexity and power consumption, making them unsuitable for real-time applications and consumer computing devices, particularly due to the time-consuming traversals of acceleration structures and the need for repeated reconstruction of these structures with scene changes.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a Dynamically Aligned Structure (DAS) replaces traditional acceleration structures, allowing for the alignment of secondary rays with existing hit points, reducing computational complexity and power consumption by eliminating the need for pre-processing and traversals, and enabling path tracing in real-time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional acceleration structures (K-trees or BVH trees) are used for ray tracing, then ray-triangle intersection tests can be performed, but the traversals of acceleration structures consume 60%-70% of the image generation time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores triangle world-space coordinates and barycentric coordinates in a lookup table before ray tracing begins. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for time-consuming acceleration structure traversals during actual ray tracing, as all necessary geometric data is already organized and accessible in memory.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the scene geometry by storing only essential triangle data (world-space coordinates and barycentric coordinates) in a lookup table, rather than maintaining complex acceleration structures. This copied data structure enables fast ray-triangle intersection tests without the overhead of traversing K-trees or BVH trees.
2Ease of operation
If acceleration structures are used in ray tracing, then ray traversal can be performed, but the memory size is typically doubled by the acceleration structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential geometric data (triangle world-space coordinates and barycentric coordinates) from the full scene representation and stores it in a compact lookup table. This extraction eliminates the need for large acceleration structure data structures while retaining all necessary information for ray-triangle intersection tests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes memory usage by storing geometric data with the specific quality and detail level needed for ray tracing operations. Rather than maintaining full-precision acceleration structures throughout memory, only the necessary triangle vertex coordinates and barycentric weights are stored in the lookup table, reducing overall memory consumption.
3Manufacturing precision
If path tracing with global illumination is used, then photo-realistic images can be generated, but the computational cost is much greater than standard ray tracing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores world-space triangle coordinates and barycentric coordinates in a lookup table before path tracing begins. This preliminary organization of geometric data enables fast intersection tests during multiple bounces of global illumination, reducing the computational burden of path tracing while maintaining photo-realistic image quality.
4Speed
If standard ray tracing methods are used in AR, then real-time augmentation can be achieved, but the visual context lacks photo-realism elements such as reflections, refractions, and color bleeding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores essential triangle geometric data in a lookup table, enabling fast ray-triangle intersection tests. This preliminary preparation allows path tracing with global illumination to run in real-time by eliminating the bottleneck of acceleration structure traversals, thus achieving both real-time speed and photo-realistic quality with reflections, refractions, and color bleeding.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure describes a new global illumination ray tracing, applied to augmented reality and virtual reality. The Acceleration Structures of prior art are replaced by a new and novel device--a Dynamically Aligned Structure (DAS), a means for carrying out the intersection between secondary rays and scene geometry in large groups of rays, gaining high speed and lowering computational complexity. Its reduced power consumption is suitable to consumer level computing devices.