Look-Around Screen Generation for HMD Position Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image display systems for head-mounted displays require detailed map data to accurately estimate user position, necessitating users to look around their surroundings, while also aiming to reduce memory usage for a better user experience.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device and method that generates a look-around screen for head-mounted displays, allowing users to visually explore their surroundings by superimposing a special image on the play area, with regions aligned with the user's line-of-sight direction changing display modes, all while minimizing memory usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If detailed map data is obtained by having the user look around the surroundings, then user position estimation accuracy is improved, but the amount of memory required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the play area into multiple regions and stores only the visual information (camera images) for regions where the user has actually looked, rather than storing complete map data for the entire play area. This segmentation approach reduces memory requirements while maintaining position estimation accuracy within the explored regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial action by only capturing and storing visual data in directions where the user has looked, rather than requiring the user to look around the entire surroundings. This partial exploration is sufficient for position estimation while significantly reducing the memory burden.
2Ease of operation
If the user is encouraged to look around the surroundings, then user experience is improved, but the memory required to store visual data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing enhanced visual feedback (special images with different display modes) only in the region where the user's line of sight coincides, rather than uniformly across the entire play area. This localized enhancement encourages exploration while minimizing memory usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a special image as an intermediary between the camera image and the user's visual perception. This special image, which highlights the region coinciding with the user's line of sight, serves as a mediator to encourage exploration without requiring storage of complete surrounding data.
3Ease of operation
If a special image is superimposed on the play area image, then the user is guided to look at specific regions, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the camera image (play area image) and the special image into a single composite image that is displayed to the user. This merging approach integrates the guidance function into the existing visual output without adding separate processing channels, thus managing complexity while maintaining effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
An image generation device generates a look-around screen for allowing a user who wears a head-mounted display to look around a play area. The image generation device generates a map for estimating a position of the user, on the basis of a plurality of camera images obtained by capturing a space around the user in a plurality of directions by a camera of the head-mounted display. In the look-around screen, a predetermined special image is superimposed on an image indicating the play area, and a region which has coincided with the line-of-sight direction of the user in a special image changes a display mode different than before. The special image is set to a space around the head-mounted display and narrower than a maximum range of the play area.