Virtual Environment Navigation via Dynamic Foveated Rendering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual reality locomotion techniques, such as pointing devices and walking in-place, are cumbersome and unnatural, while hardware-based solutions like omni-directional treadmills are expensive and lack inertial force feedback, and software-based techniques can cause visual artifacts and simulation sickness.
Innovation Solution
A method using dynamic foveated rendering and eye tracking to subtly rotate the virtual environment, leveraging inattentional blindness, allowing users to navigate larger virtual spaces within a smaller physical area without triggering major saccades or using complex systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If software-based techniques are used to rotate the virtual environment, then cost is reduced compared to hardware solutions, but visual artifacts and simulation sickness occur
Solution Approach 1:
The visual field is segmented into foveal and non-foveal regions, with different rotation angles applied to each segment. The foveal region experiences minimal rotation while the non-foveal region experiences greater rotation, allowing the user to perceive stable central vision while the periphery subtly redirects walking direction, reducing visual artifacts and simulation sickness.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality levels of rendering are applied to different regions of the visual field. The foveal region receives high-quality rendering with minimal distortion, while the non-foveal region receives lower-quality rendering with greater rotation applied, optimizing both visual comfort and redirection effectiveness.
2Area of stationary object
If traditional redirected walking techniques are used, then users can navigate larger virtual spaces, but the techniques are either expensive or cause visual distortions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the rotation angle applied to different regions based on user gaze direction and movement. The foveal region maintains minimal rotation while the non-foveal region rotates more significantly, creating a dynamic redirection effect that expands navigable virtual space without requiring complex hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical redirection systems (like omnidirectional treadmills) with a software-based visual field manipulation system that uses differential rotation of foveal and non-foveal regions, achieving space expansion through perceptual psychology rather than mechanical means.
3Ease of operation
If uniform rotation is applied to the entire visual field, then redirected walking is achieved, but visual distortions and user discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The visual field is divided into distinct foveal and non-foveal regions, each receiving different rotation treatments. This segmentation allows the system to apply rotation selectively rather than uniformly, maintaining visual coherence in the foveal region while achieving redirection through non-foveal rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies asymmetric rotation where the foveal region experiences minimal or no rotation while the non-foveal region experiences greater rotation. This asymmetric approach creates subtle visual cues that guide walking direction without the symmetric distortion that would cause user discomfort.
Data Source
AI summary
Navigation of a virtual environment (VE) can mean navigating a VE that is spatially larger than the available Physical Tracked Space (PTS). Accordingly, the concept of redirected walking was introduced in order to provide a more natural way of navigating a VE, albeit with many restrictions on the shape and size of the physical and virtual spaces. However, prior art techniques have limitations such as negatively impacting the sense of immersion of the user, motion sickness, or forcing the user to look away by stimulating major saccades. Accordingly, the inventors have established a novel technique which overcomes these limitations. The technique is based on the psychological phenomenon of inattentional blindness allowing for re-directed walking without requiring the triggering major saccades in the users, complex expensive systems, etc.