Spherical Media Tile Prioritization for Viewport-Aware Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for delivering spherical media content, such as 360-degree videos, inefficiently utilize computing resources like bandwidth and processing power, as they do not effectively prioritize and deliver tiles based on user interaction and network conditions.
Innovation Solution
Systems and methods determine likely viewport tiles and assign priority parameters for optimized delivery, using foveated rendering and network conditions to transmit tiles with urgency parameters, employing dual-queue networking to prioritize high-importance tiles over lower-importance ones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If all tiles are transmitted at full resolution, then image quality is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transmitting different resolutions for different tiles based on their importance. Tiles within or near the viewport are transmitted at full resolution while tiles outside the viewport are transmitted at lower resolution or skipped entirely, optimizing the balance between image quality and bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The spherical media content is divided into multiple tiles that can be independently processed and transmitted. This segmentation allows selective transmission of only necessary tiles based on viewport position, reducing overall bandwidth consumption while maintaining quality where needed.
2Reliability
If more tiles are transmitted at higher resolution, then user experience is improved, but processing power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Processing power is concentrated on tiles that matter most to user experience - those within or near the viewport. By applying local quality, the system avoids processing and transmitting low-resolution versions of all tiles, instead focusing computational resources on generating high-quality versions of only the necessary tiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transmits slightly more tiles than strictly visible in the viewport (including border tiles) to account for potential viewport movement, but not all tiles. This partial action approach optimizes processing power usage by avoiding unnecessary processing of distant tiles while ensuring smooth user experience during head movements.
3Productivity
If viewport prediction is used to pre-transmit tiles, then delivery efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting future viewport positions and pre-transmitting tiles that will likely be needed. This allows the client to have tiles ready before they are actually needed, improving delivery efficiency and reducing latency during viewport transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The viewport prediction mechanism uses feedback from current viewport position and user behavior patterns to continuously improve predictions. This feedback loop enables the system to adapt to user viewing habits without requiring complex manual configuration, balancing improved efficiency with manageable system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for receiving, from a computing device and over a network, a request to access a spherical media content comprising tiles. One or more portion(s) of the spherical media content likely to be included in a viewport of the computing device are determined, and video qualities for the tiles are determined based on such one or more portion(s). One or more tiles corresponding to the one or more portions likely to be included in the viewport are selected to be provided to the computing device in higher video qualities of the plurality of video qualities than tiles of the plurality of tiles not likely to be included in the viewport. Based on the video qualities, urgency parameters for tiles of the spherical media content are identified, and based on the urgency parameters, the tiles are transmitted over the network to the computing device.