Visual Guidance System for 3D Object Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image-guided tasks that require manual positioning of objects in six degrees-of-freedom (6-DoF) within three-dimensional space are challenging due to the unintuitive nature of triplanar displays, which can lead to prolonged alignment times and reduced accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A visual guidance system that uses motion tracking data to provide translation and rotation cues in an object-centric frame, displayed as arrows on a single principal view, to guide users in aligning a physical object with a target pose, allowing for submillimeter and subdegree accuracy within a tolerance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a triplanar display is used to show three orthogonal viewpoints of the workspace, then the user can view the object from multiple perspectives, but the display becomes unintuitive and alignment time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential alignment information needed by the user, displaying it as simplified visual cues (arrows and coordinate frames) rather than showing all three orthogonal views. This extraction of critical information reduces cognitive load and speeds up alignment while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color-coded visual cues (e.g., colored arrows indicating translation direction, colored coordinate frames) to provide intuitive feedback about the object's pose and alignment status. These color changes make the display more intuitive and easier to interpret rapidly.
2Loss of information
If a triplanar display with multiple orthogonal views is used, then comprehensive spatial information is provided, but the device complexity and difficulty of interpretation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary representation system that translates complex 6-DoF pose information into simple visual cues (arrows for translation, rotation indicators, and coordinate frames). This intermediary layer preserves all necessary spatial information while presenting it in a cognitively simple format that users can interpret instantly.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly displaying all spatial information across multiple views, the patent applies local quality by providing targeted visual cues only where needed - such as showing translation arrows along specific axes and rotation indicators for relevant degrees of freedom - reducing overall display complexity while maintaining information completeness.
3Measurement precision
If traditional triplanar displays are used for 6-DoF alignment, then users can see multiple perspectives, but accuracy and speed of alignment are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous feedback by displaying real-time visual cues that show the difference between current and target poses. The arrows and coordinate frames update dynamically as the user moves the object, providing immediate feedback about alignment progress and guiding the user to achieve submillimeter and subdegree accuracy rapidly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculation of the optimal alignment path by computing the difference between current and target poses, then presents this pre-processed information as simple visual cues. This preliminary action of computing and presenting guidance information in advance enables users to align quickly and accurately without having to mentally process complex spatial relationships.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system of visually communicating navigation instructions can use translational and rotational arrow cues (TRAC) defined in an object-centric frame while displaying a single principal view that approximates the human's egocentric view of the actual object. A visual guidance system and method can be used to pose a physical object within three-dimensional (3D) space. Received pose data (402) indicates a current position and orientation of a physical object within 3D space, such that the pose data can provide a view of the physical object used to generate a virtual view of the physical object in 3D space. At least two of six degrees of freedom (6DoF) error can be calculated (404) based on a difference between the current position of the physical object and a target pose of the physical object. The 6DoF error can include a three degrees of freedom (3DoF) position error and a 3DoF orientation error which can be used to determine a translation direction and a rotation direction to move the physical object to align a pose of the physical object with the target pose of the physical object within a tolerance. One of both of a translation cue and a rotation cue can be output (408) to indicate a translation direction or rotation direction to move the physical object in alignment with the target pose.