Tracked Projection Mapping for Shared 3D Virtual-World Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional augmented reality (AR) solutions require users to wear AR devices or use personal devices to experience virtual environments, which are inconvenient and limit shared experiences, especially in settings where sanitation is a concern, and fail to provide true 3D immersion.
Innovation Solution
The development of virtual-world simulators that use tracking systems and projection devices to conform virtual effects to the 3D geometry of real-world venues from the vantage point of each user, allowing for immersive 3D experiences without the need for AR devices or personal equipment, and enabling multiple users to share the same experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional AR devices are used to experience virtual environments, then users can see virtual projections overlaid on real-world objects, but users must wear AR equipment which is inconvenient, costly, and limits shared experiences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy of the virtual environment by projecting images onto real-world surfaces. Instead of requiring users to wear AR devices that generate virtual images, the system projects virtual environment images directly onto physical surfaces in the real world, allowing multiple users to view the same virtual environment without personal equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a projector as an intermediary device that mediates between the virtual environment data and the real-world viewing surfaces. The projector transfers virtual environment images onto real-world surfaces, enabling users to view virtual content through the real world without wearing AR equipment, thus serving as a shared viewing medium for multiple users.
2Productivity
If AR devices are shared by multiple users, then resource utilization improves, but sanitation concerns arise due to potential spread of communicable diseases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a shared visual copy of the virtual environment that is projected onto real-world surfaces visible to multiple users. Each user views the same virtual environment content through their own eyes by looking at the projected images in the real world, eliminating the need to share personal AR devices and thus preventing disease transmission through shared equipment.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional AR projects 2D digital augmentations on 3D real-world objects, then implementation is simpler, but true 3D virtual experience is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from 2D AR augmentations to 3D virtual environment projections by capturing images from multiple camera angles and synthesizing them into three-dimensional virtual environment images. These 3D images are then projected onto real-world surfaces, allowing users to experience true 3D virtual environments while maintaining implementation feasibility through the use of standard projection equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a virtual-world simulator includes a computing platform having a hardware processor and a memory storing a software code, a tracking system communicatively coupled to the computing platform, and a projection device communicatively coupled to the computing platform. The hardware processor is configured to execute the software code to obtain a map of a geometry of a real-world venue including the virtual-world simulator, to identify one or more virtual effects for display in the real-world venue, and to use the tracking system to track a moving perspective of one of a user in the real-world venue or a camera in the real-world venue. The hardware processor is further configured to execute the software code to control the projection device to simulate a virtual-world by conforming the identified one or more virtual effects to the geometry of the real-world venue from a present vantage point of the tracked moving perspective.