Virtual Projectile Hit Detection Using Wearable Image Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interactive game systems struggle to provide accurate sensory functions in expansive environments, such as outdoor settings, due to extrapolation errors and unpredictable lighting conditions that degrade trajectory prediction of virtual projectiles.
Innovation Solution
A method where the task of determining a virtual projectile hit is shared between network service and game devices worn by players, with game devices processing target images to determine if a recognized object has been hit, and communicating their position and launch axis to the network service for accurate hit assignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If virtual projectile trajectory prediction is performed using traditional extrapolation methods, then the system can operate in controlled environments, but the measurement precision degrades in expansive outdoor environments due to extrapolation errors and unpredictable lighting conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional server-based mechanical extrapolation calculation system with an optical imaging system using cameras and image processing. Instead of calculating trajectories through mathematical extrapolation, the system captures images of the virtual projectile at multiple time points and determines position through image analysis, fundamentally substituting the measurement mechanism to achieve accurate tracking in expansive outdoor environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces image processing algorithms and visual markers as intermediaries between the virtual projectile and the tracking system. These intermediaries enable the system to accurately detect projectile position by processing visual information from cameras, serving as a bridge that translates optical signals into precise spatial data for hit determination in uncontrolled environments.
2Device complexity
If the server processes all hit determination calculations centrally, then the system architecture is simple, but the processing time increases and responsiveness decreases in expansive environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the hit determination process into distinct modular components: image capture by cameras, image processing to detect projectile position, coordinate transformation using device orientation data, and final hit determination. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple functions and reduces the time required for each individual calculation step while distributing computational load across different system components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing coordinate systems, pre-processing device orientation data from sensors, and pre-configuring image processing algorithms before the actual projectile launch. This preparation of data structures and computational frameworks in advance reduces the processing time required during the critical hit determination moment, enabling faster response in expansive environments.
Data Source
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AI summary
One method comprises receiving a hit signal from a device worn by a first player, receiving a position of the device, receiving an orientation of a launch axis of a virtual-projectile launcher, receiving a position of a second player, and outputting a hit assignment on determining, pursuant to receiving the hit signal, that a recognized object and the second player are coincident at an indicated launch of a virtual projectile. Another method comprises receiving an indication of launch of a virtual projectile by a virtual-projectile launcher of a first player, receiving an image aligned to a launch axis of the virtual-projectile launcher, outputting a hit signal to a server on determining, pursuant to receiving the indication of launch, that a recognized object is imaged in a projectile-delivery area of the image, and outputting a position of the device and an orientation of the launch axis to the server.