Mobile Device Augmented Reality Overlay Indexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile devices lack effective integration of real-time imagery and data to provide navigational assistance and interaction with entities in their environment, limiting user workflow management and interaction with remotely accessible equipment.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses a mobile device to merge location information and real-time imagery for graphical overlays, enabling navigational cues and interaction with identified entities by indexing viewfinder imagery with user location and heading, and providing on-screen indicators for equipment location and status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mobile devices combine multiple technologies (camera, GPS, wireless networking) to enhance functionality, then user capabilities for remote access and workflow management are improved, but device complexity and integration challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges camera imagery, GPS location data, and wireless communication into a unified augmented reality navigation system. The mobile device combines real-time video feed from the camera with overlay graphics generated from location data, creating an integrated system that provides directional cues and entity identification without requiring separate devices for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: capturing real-time imagery, determining user location and heading, identifying entities in the environment, providing navigational guidance, and enabling wireless communication. This multi-functional approach allows a single device to replace what would traditionally require multiple specialized devices.
2Ease of operation
If graphical overlays are indexed to viewfinder imagery to provide navigational assistance, then user navigation and entity interaction are enhanced, but processing requirements and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system processes only the necessary portion of the viewfinder imagery to index graphical overlays, rather than analyzing the entire image in full detail. By focusing computational resources on key regions where entities are located or where navigational cues are needed, the system provides effective augmented reality guidance while reducing overall processing requirements.
3Productivity
If real-time imagery is merged with location information for graphical overlays, then user interaction with environment is improved, but data integration complexity and system requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that receives both real-time imagery and location information, then generates graphical overlays that bridge these two data sources. This intermediary system processes camera feeds and GPS data separately before merging them into a unified augmented reality display, reducing the complexity of direct integration between imaging and location systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A user of a mobile device is able to display information about objects in the surrounding environment and to optionally interact with those objects. The information may be displayed as a graphical overlay on top of a real-time display of imagery from a camera in the mobile device with the overlay indexed to the real-time display. The graphical overlay may include positional information about an external object and may include navigational information intended to assist the user in moving to the object's location. There may also be a graphical user interface which allows the user to utilize the mobile device to interact with an external object.