Real-Virtual Image Border Blending via Luminance Adjustment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing virtual reality systems fail to provide a highly entertaining viewing experience for users watching virtual spaces due to noticeable borders between real and virtual content.

Innovation Solution

An information processing system that acquires a real-space image and merges it with a virtual-space image in a head-mounted display, configuring the display such that the real-space image has an inconspicuous border, creating a seamless experience.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a panoramic image is displayed on a head-mounted display to provide immersion, then the user's sense of immersion into virtual space is enhanced, but noticeable borders between real and virtual content reduce the viewing experience quality

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveimmersion qualityVSAvoidnoticeable border

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies color and luminance adjustment to the border region of the real-space image. Specifically, the border portion is processed to have different luminance characteristics compared to the non-border portions, making it less visually prominent. This color/luminance modification helps blend the transition between real and virtual content, reducing the noticeable border effect while maintaining immersion quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements local processing of the border region by identifying and separately processing the border portion of the real-space image. The border region receives specific luminance adjustment treatment that differs from the rest of the image, creating local quality variation that reduces the visual impact of the border while preserving the overall immersive experience.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If real-space image processing is performed to reduce borders, then the viewing experience is enhanced, but the processing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveviewing experience qualityVSAvoidimage processing complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the real-space image into distinct regions: a border portion and a non-border portion. This segmentation allows for targeted processing where only the border region undergoes luminance adjustment, while the rest of the image remains unchanged. This approach simplifies the overall processing complexity by limiting the scope of modification to only the necessary border areas.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary processing step that specifically targets the border region between real and virtual content. By creating a intermediate representation of the border portion and applying luminance adjustments only to this intermediate data, the system achieves border reduction without requiring complex processing of the entire image, thus managing processing complexity effectively.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12278936B2Information processing system, information processing method, and computer program

Publication Date: 2025.04.15 SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC

AI summary

Methods and/or apparatus provide for acquiring a first image obtained by imaging an event taking place in a real space; generating a display image by merging the first image into a second image representing a virtual space that establishes an alternative version by: (i) reproducing real elements that are a focus of the event, (ii) omitting real peripheral elements, and (iii) presenting alternative virtual elements, such that the first image has an inconspicuous border when the display image is presented to a user.