Virtual Room Generation Using Aligned Image Stacks and Hit Boxes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing home automation and electronic device control systems face challenges in generating virtual rooms economically and efficiently, particularly due to the need for custom creation and frequent updates to reflect changes in physical room appearances, which increases costs and usability issues for end-users.
Innovation Solution
A technique that allows users to rapidly generate virtual rooms using a mobile device by selecting services, capturing and aligning images of the physical room, and designating hit boxes to control devices, enabling intuitive device control without specialized training.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If virtual rooms are custom created for each physical room to provide intuitive control, then usability is improved, but the cost and complexity of generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses image copying and processing techniques to generate virtual room representations. Instead of manually creating complex 3D models, the system captures images of the physical room and processes them to create simplified virtual representations that maintain visual fidelity while reducing complexity. This allows virtual rooms to be generated automatically from photographs, improving usability without proportionally increasing generation complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables end-users to perform the virtual room generation themselves through automated image capture and processing. Users simply capture images of their physical room, and the system automatically processes these images to generate the virtual room representation and associated control interfaces. This self-service approach eliminates the need for specialized technicians, reducing generation complexity and cost while maintaining high usability
2Manufacturing precision
If virtual rooms are manually updated to reflect physical room changes, then accuracy is improved, but the time and cost of updates increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures images of the physical room in advance and processes them to create the virtual room representation before actual control operations begin. This preliminary action ensures that the virtual room accurately reflects the current physical state, and any future physical changes can be captured by simply taking new photographs, significantly reducing update time while maintaining accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables periodic or on-demand recapture of room images to update the virtual room representation. Instead of manual updates, users can periodically capture new images of the physical room, and the system automatically processes these to update the virtual representation. This periodic action maintains accuracy while minimizing time investment, as the automated processing handles the bulk of the update work
3Manufacturing precision
If specialized training is required to create virtual rooms, then quality of generation is improved, but accessibility to end-users decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to be self-service oriented, allowing end-users without specialized training to generate and update virtual rooms. The automated image capture and processing techniques handle the complex generation tasks, while users only need to perform simple actions like capturing photographs. This eliminates the need for specialized training while maintaining high quality through automated processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual, skill-based generation processes with automated computational methods. Instead of requiring users to manually configure complex virtual room parameters, the system uses image processing algorithms to automatically extract room geometry, device locations, and spatial relationships from photographs. This substitution of mechanical/manual operations with automated computational processes maintains generation quality while dramatically improving accessibility to non-expert users
Data Source
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AI summary
In one embodiment, a technique is utilized to generate a virtual-room of a virtual room-based user interface that controls one or more devices within a physical room of a structure. A user is prompted to select one or more services provided by the one or more devices within the physical room. A plurality of images of the physical room are obtained that each share substantially a same perspective. The plurality of images include an all-off image, in which all of the one or more of the services are in an inactive state, and one or more service-specific images, in which a single service is in an active state and any other services are in the inactive state. The plurality of images are aligned to create an aligned image stack. One or more hit boxes are designated. The virtual room is generated based on the aligned image stack and the designated one or more hit boxes.