Eye Tracking Data Transmission for VR Bandwidth Reduction

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The existing technologies face challenges in efficiently sharing virtual reality user experiences with third parties due to the large amount of data required, which exceeds available bandwidth, making real-time observation or sharing of virtual reality sessions impossible.

Innovation Solution

A method and system where the first device captures user behavior characteristics, such as gaze direction, using an eye tracking device, and transmits only the user behavior data to the second device, which already has reference data, allowing for the reconstruction of the user's perspective and behavior without needing to transmit the entire virtual scene data, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the entire virtual scene data is transmitted from the first device to the second device, then the user experience can be fully reproduced, but the bandwidth requirement becomes excessively large and real-time transmission becomes impossible

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser experience completenessVSAvoiddata transmission volume
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential user behavior characteristics (gaze direction, head position, orientation) from the complete virtual scene data and transmits only these extracted features. The reference data describing the virtual scene is kept locally at the second device, eliminating the need to transmit the entire scene while still enabling complete user experience reproduction through the combination of extracted behavior data and local reference data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the data transmission into two parts: (1) reference data describing the virtual scene, which is stored locally at the second device, and (2) user behavior data containing only the essential characteristics (gaze direction, head position, orientation), which is transmitted from the first device. This segmentation allows the second device to reconstruct the complete user experience by combining the locally stored reference data with the transmitted behavior data, dramatically reducing the transmission volume.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of time

If the virtual scene data is transmitted in real-time, then the observation can be performed simultaneously, but the available bandwidth is insufficient to support such large data transmission

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereal-time observation capabilityVSAvoidbandwidth requirement
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential temporal information (time stamps) and user behavior characteristics from the complete virtual scene data. Only these extracted essential features are transmitted in real-time, while the reference data is maintained locally. This extraction enables real-time observation with minimal bandwidth usage, as only the concise behavior data needs to be transmitted continuously rather than the entire virtual scene.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary action by pre-loading and storing the reference data describing the virtual scene at the second device before the actual observation. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need to transmit the reference data during real-time observation, allowing only the essential user behavior data to be transmitted in real-time, thus enabling real-time observation within available bandwidth constraints.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of information

If all virtual scene images and gaze data are transmitted together, then the complete user behavior information is available, but the data transmission time becomes excessively long

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser behavior information completenessVSAvoiddata transmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential user behavior characteristics (gaze direction, head position, orientation) and their corresponding time stamps from the complete virtual scene images and gaze data. These extracted essential features are transmitted instead of the entire virtual scene images, dramatically reducing the transmission time while preserving complete user behavior information through the combination of extracted features and local reference data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the data transmission into essential user behavior data (containing time stamps and behavior characteristics) and reference data (stored locally). This segmentation allows only the critical behavior information to be transmitted, reducing transmission time while maintaining information completeness, as the second device can reconstruct the complete user behavior by combining the transmitted segmented data with the locally stored reference data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3751396A1Method and system for providing eye tracking based information about a user behavior, client device, server and computer program product
Publication Date: 2020.12.16 APPLE INC
  • EP3751396A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3751396A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3751396A1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

System and Method for providing information about a user behavior of a user with regard to at least one reference object (VRS) via a network (12) from a first device (14) to a second device (16), wherein the first device (14) is associated with the user, and the first device (14) and the second device (16) each comprise reference data (VRD), which describe the at least one reference object (VRS). The first device (14) comprises an eye tracking device (20a, 20b) that captures at least one user behavior characteristic with respect to the at least on reference object (VRS), wherein the captured at least one user behavior characteristic is provided in form of user behavior data (UD), which are transmitted from the first device (14) to the second device (16) via the network (12). The second device (16) combines the transmitted user behavior data (UD) with the reference data (VRD) comprised by the second device (16), thereby providing the information about the user behavior with regard to the at least one reference object (VRS) on the second device (16).