Virtual Environment Application Region Depth Integration

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current techniques for integrating application environments within virtual environments often result in inconsistent and unsuitable presentations, such as discarding depth information, mutual exclusivity between environments, and incompatibility due to differing rendering processes, leading to latency issues and unpleasant user experiences.

Innovation Solution

The techniques involve presenting a 2.5D or 3D application within a 3D virtual environment by defining an application region that maintains depth perception, synchronizes perspective with the virtual environment, and parallelizes processing workloads to reduce latency and ensure consistent integration.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a flat two-dimensional view of the application environment is displayed within the virtual environment, then the application can be integrated into the virtual environment, but depth information is discarded and the presentation appears awkward or inconsistent

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveintegration of application into virtual environmentVSAvoiddepth information
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transitions from displaying application content as a flat 2D view to rendering it as a 3D environment that preserves depth information. The system renders the application environment in three dimensions, allowing depth perception while maintaining integration within the virtual environment, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and information loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of operation

If the user transitions to an immersive application environment, then exclusive interaction with the application is enabled, but the virtual environment is supplanted and concurrent interaction is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveexclusive interaction with applicationVSAvoidconcurrent interaction with virtual environment
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the application environment with the virtual environment into a unified 3D space. Instead of replacing the virtual environment with the application or vice versa, both environments coexist and can be interacted with concurrently. The system renders the application within the virtual environment's coordinate system, allowing users to interact with both simultaneously, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and adaptability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Adaptability or versatility

If application models are inserted into the virtual environment with different rendering processes, then holographic integration is achieved, but visual inconsistency and incongruity occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveholographic integration of application modelsVSAvoidvisual consistency
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies homogeneous rendering processes to both the virtual environment and the application environment. The system uses the same rendering engine, lighting models, and visual effects for both, ensuring visual consistency. By making the rendering process uniform across both environments, the patent achieves holographic integration while maintaining visual homogeneity, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and stability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #33Homogeneity

4Device complexity

If the processing workload for rendering both virtual environment and application is consolidated, then integration is simplified, but latency increases and performance decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverendering pipeline integrationVSAvoidlatency
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the rendering workload into separate processing streams while maintaining coordinated output. The virtual environment and application environment are rendered in parallel using separate rendering pipelines, then composited together. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each rendering stream, reducing overall latency while maintaining integration, thus resolving the contradiction between device complexity and time loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3607420B1Presenting applications within virtual environments
Publication Date: 2021.06.23 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP3607420B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3607420B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3607420B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Virtual environments may be presented to a user with an inclusion of one or more applications, but many such techniques for integrating the applications with the virtual environment may exhibit disadvantages. For example, a two-dimensional "flat" rendering of the application may require a loss of visual depth, and/or may appear inconsistent; an immersive presentation that is mutually exclusive with the presentation of the virtual environment may achieve very limited integration; and a holographic presentation may appear incongruous. Such techniques may also increase presentation latency, with noticeable and significant consequences. Instead, the virtual environment may define an application region, and may notify the application of the application region and a perspective of the user within the virtual environment. The application may present an application view that reflects the perspective of the user, and the virtual environment may present the application view within the application region of the virtual environment.