Virtual Proximity Compass for AR Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional artificial reality systems do not provide a way for users to navigate virtual portions of the environment that are out of their line of sight, leading to user dissatisfaction and frustration due to the large-scale and complex nature of the virtual environments.
Innovation Solution
A proximity compass is generated within the artificial reality system, which provides graphical elements representing entities such as virtual experiences, physical objects, and other users, allowing users to locate and navigate to target locations within the environment by indicating direction and distance, even when they are not in the user's current line of sight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the artificial reality environment is made large-scale and complex to provide more virtual experiences, then the quantity and variety of content increases, but the user's ability to locate and navigate to target locations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a proximity compass as an intermediary navigation tool that mediates between the user and the complex virtual environment. The compass displays graphical elements representing target locations and provides directional guidance, serving as a mediator that simplifies navigation without reducing the overall complexity and scale of the virtual environment. This allows the system to maintain a large quantity of virtual experiences while improving ease of navigation through the compass interface.
2Quantity of substance
If the virtual environment is expanded beyond the user's current line of sight to provide more content, then the quantity of accessible content increases, but the user's ability to determine location and navigate to hidden elements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The proximity compass acts as an intermediary information display that compensates for the loss of spatial orientation information. It visually represents target locations, directions, and distance information that would otherwise be invisible to the user in the expanded virtual environment. The compass provides this critical spatial information without requiring the user to see the actual target locations directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimensional layer of information display by introducing the proximity compass interface. Instead of relying solely on the three-dimensional virtual environment for navigation information, the system adds a two-dimensional compass overlay that provides additional spatial orientation information. This extra dimension of information presentation helps users locate hidden elements by displaying directional and distance data that complements the primary virtual environment.
Data Source
AI summary
An artificial reality system includes a head mounted display (HMD) and a compass generator that generates a proximity compass used to locate virtual or physical elements within an artificial reality environment. The artificial reality system can render a proximity compass around or in proximity to a virtual device, a virtual or physical object, or at a designated location. The proximity compass includes graphical elements that can represent virtual experiences (applications, games, utilities etc.), physical or virtual objects, and physical or virtual locations within the artificial reality environment. The positioning of a graphical element within the proximity compass represents a direction of the associated experience, object or location with respect to the HMD. The graphical elements within the proximity compass may rotate around a virtual hand-held device when the user changes the orientation of the hand-held device. The graphical elements may include data that identifies the experience associated with the graphical element.