Head-Mounted Display Viewing Window Panning for Large Content Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable computing systems, such as head-mounted displays (HMDs), face challenges in providing efficient and intuitive interactions due to their limited dimensions, making it burdensome to view and navigate large amounts of information.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses sensors to track head and body movements, allowing a viewing window to pan and hover within a larger navigable area, enabling users to interact with media objects through head movements, and employing viewing-window states like gravity and rail states to facilitate seamless navigation and selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a head-mounted display (HMD) provides a limited viewing window, then the device can be worn comfortably on the user's head, but the user cannot view large amounts of information efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third dimension (depth/Z-axis) to the traditional 2D display plane by implementing a navigable area that extends beyond the immediate viewing window. Users can navigate through content in multiple directions (up, down, left, right) to access different portions of the navigable area, effectively adding a spatial dimension for information organization and access.
Solution Approach 2:
The display is segmented into a viewing window (currently visible area) and a navigable area (extended content space). The viewing window displays a portion of the navigable area, and users can move the viewing window across the navigable area to access different content regions, dividing the information space into manageable segments.
2Volume of moving object
If the viewing window displays only a portion of the navigable area, then the HMD can maintain a compact form factor, but navigation and selection of media objects becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides continuous feedback to the user about the position of the viewing window within the navigable area and the location of media objects. As users navigate, the system updates the display to show the current viewing window position and adjusts the navigation based on user interactions, making the complex navigation space more intuitive to control.
3Ease of operation
If body-movements are used to control the HMD, then hands-free operation is achieved, but precise navigation and selection of media objects becomes burdensome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary cursor or indicator that mediates between the user's body movements and the actual media object selection. The cursor responds to body movements and can be positioned over media objects in the navigable area, providing a more precise control mechanism than direct body movement alone while maintaining hands-free operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems involving a navigable area in a head-mounted display (HMD) are disclosed herein. An exemplary system may be configured to: (a) cause a head-mounted display (HMD) to provide: (i) a viewing window that is fully visible in a field of view of the HMD, (ii) a navigable area that is not fully visible in a field of view of the HMD such that the viewing window displays a first portion of the navigable area, and (iii) a media object that is associated with a viewing-window state; (b) receive first head-movement data that is indicative of head movement from a first position of the HMD to a second position of the HMD; and (c) based on (i) the first head-movement data and (ii) the viewing-window state, cause the viewing window to display a second portion of the navigable area which includes the media object.