Guidance UI for VR Viewpoint Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In virtual reality (VR) environments, users face challenges in navigating due to incomplete scenes and geographically disconnected areas, which can lead to inaccessible viewpoints and difficulties in finding distant viewpoints, affecting the overall user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for navigating in a simulated environment by determining a search space of viewpoints, calculating positional relationships based on 3D coordinates, and displaying a guidance user interface (UI) with indicators to direct users to target viewpoints, ensuring seamless navigation and improved user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the data acquisition device has limited resolution and data capacity, then the device can be kept simple and cost-effective, but the generated environment includes incomplete scenes and geographically disconnected areas, making certain viewpoints inaccessible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a guidance UI as an intermediary between the user and the target viewpoint. This guidance UI includes visual indicators (arrows, markers) that mediate the navigation process, guiding users from their current viewpoint to the target viewpoint through the virtual environment, thereby compensating for the limited accessibility caused by incomplete scene data
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical requirement of direct path accessibility with an information-based guidance system. Instead of requiring complete geometric paths between all viewpoints, the system uses 2D projection and angular relationship calculations to provide directional guidance, substituting physical connectivity with information-mediated navigation
2Area of stationary object
If viewpoints are placed distant from each other in outdoor and open spaces, then the coverage area is expanded, but users find it difficult to locate and navigate to other viewpoints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the 3D spatial navigation problem into a 2D projection problem. By projecting viewpoint positions onto a 2D plane and calculating angular relationships in this simplified space, the system provides directional guidance that is easier to process and display, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining large coverage areas
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance UI provides continuous feedback to users during navigation. The system calculates the angular relationship between the user's current position and the target viewpoint, then displays updated directional indicators that reflect the user's progress, enabling users to track their navigation status and adjust their path accordingly
3Ease of operation
If a guidance UI is displayed to assist navigation, then user experience is improved, but the system complexity increases due to additional processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the navigation problem into distinct computational stages: (1) projecting 3D viewpoint coordinates to 2D plane, (2) calculating angular relationships, (3) determining guidance parameters, and (4) rendering the guidance UI. This segmentation allows each stage to be processed independently with optimized algorithms, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive navigation functionality
Data Source
AI summary
A method for navigating in a simulated environment is disclosed herein. A navigation device determines a search space associated with a plurality of viewpoints other than the current viewpoint in a three-dimensional (3D) space for a current viewpoint. The search space comprises a set of 3D coordinates for each of the plurality of viewpoints. The navigation device determines a field of view at the current viewpoint, which is an area associated with a viewing angle and a visible distance. The navigation device determines a target viewpoint in the search space of the current viewpoint based on the field of view at the current viewpoint. The target viewpoint is outside the area of the field of view at the current viewpoint. The navigation device causes display of a guidance user interface (UI) comprising an indicator corresponding to the target viewpoint in the field of view at the current viewpoint.