Personal XR Environment Time Shifting Without Stream Disruption

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users joining an ongoing extended reality (XR) experience often miss previous portions of the XR stream, leading to confusion and disorientation, as existing technologies do not allow for seamless time shifting without affecting other users' experiences.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a personal XR environment that allows users to time shift through the XR stream by moving backward or forward in demand, without altering the current time point for other users, using a time control mechanism that presents a personal XR experience without disrupting the main XR stream.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If users are allowed to time shift the XR stream, then users can catch up on missed content or skip ahead, but the current time point for other users would be affected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser time flexibilityVSAvoidsynchronization stability

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system divides the XR stream into two independent pathways: a main XR stream that maintains consistent time for all users, and a personal XR environment that allows individual time shifting. This segmentation enables one user to time shift without affecting others' synchronization, resolving the contradiction between time flexibility and synchronization stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The personal XR environment acts as an intermediary layer between the user and the main XR stream. Users interact with a personalized version of the XR content that can be time-shifted, while the main stream continues uninterrupted. This intermediary mechanism allows time flexibility for individuals while preserving overall system reliability and synchronization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a personal XR environment is created for time shifting, then users can access missed content without affecting others, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepersonalized time controlVSAvoidsystem structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The processing system implements a universal mechanism that serves multiple functions: it maintains the main XR stream for all users, creates personalized time-shifted environments for individual users, and manages synchronization between both pathways. By using a single multi-functional processing system rather than separate systems for each function, the patent reduces overall device complexity while providing personalized time control.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS11481983B2Time shifting extended reality media

Publication Date: 2022.10.25 AT&T MOBILITY II LLC

AI summary

In one example, a method includes presenting an extended reality (XR) experience to a plurality of user devices, wherein the presenting includes presenting a time control along with an XR stream, receiving a first signal from a first user device of the plurality of user devices via the time control, wherein the first signal indicates that a user of the first user device wishes to shift the XR stream to a first point in time that is different from a time that is currently being rendered in the XR stream, and presenting a personal XR environment to the first user device in response to the first signal, wherein the personal XR environment presents the first point in time in the XR stream to the first user device without changing a time point of the XR stream that is currently being presented to other user devices of the plurality of user devices.