Interactive 3D Game Streaming via Cube Map Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current livestreaming technologies limit viewer interaction to a single 2D view of the video game environment, preventing the viewing of items or characters off-camera, and are data-intensive, making them impractical for streaming environments, especially in video game settings where 3D camera hardware is not applicable.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a system that streams multiple video surfaces, such as a cube map, allowing viewers to pan, tilt, or zoom around a three-dimensional view of the gaming environment, reducing data intensity by using existing video surfaces and existing game engine renderers, and enabling interactive broadcast of video game and other dynamic content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated 3D camera hardware is used to capture light fields, then a three-dimensional view of the environment can be provided, but the data intensity becomes very high making it impractical for streaming environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the 3D environment using game engine rendering instead of capturing actual light fields with 3D camera hardware. The game engine generates synthetic 360-degree video content that replicates the visual experience without requiring the data-intensive light field capture process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical 3D camera hardware system with a software-based game engine rendering system. Instead of using physical 3D cameras to capture light fields, the system uses virtual rendering to generate 360-degree video content, substituting mechanical capture with computational generation
2Adaptability or versatility
If a single 2D view of the video game environment is provided, then data transmission is simpler, but viewer interaction is limited and viewers cannot see items or characters off-camera
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a 2D video view to a 360-degree 3D virtual environment. By adding the third dimension through spherical video rendering, viewers gain the ability to look around in all directions, seeing items and characters that would be off-camera in a traditional 2D view
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the video content multi-functional by enabling both traditional 2D viewing and interactive 360-degree exploration from the same rendered content. The game engine generates a universal 360-degree environment that can be consumed in multiple ways depending on viewer preference
Data Source
AI summary
Some implementations of the disclosure are directed to allowing interactive broadcast streamed video from games and other dynamic content. In accordance with some implementations, a content creator may publish a plurality of video surfaces of an environment for streaming to a plurality of client devices for video playback. The plurality of video surfaces may correspond, for example, to a cube map of a gaming environment captured from the perspective of a player. Upon receiving a stream including multiple video surfaces such as a cubemap, a media player of a viewer may generate a fully-rendered three-dimensional view of the environment.