Shared VR Storytelling with Real-Time Avatar Rendering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for storytelling in shared virtual reality do not support a large group of audience members to be physically co-located and aware of each other's head positions and orientations, leading to a lack of group engagement as each member feels isolated in the experience.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising virtual reality headsets connected through a communication network that transmits and receives virtual orientations and positions, allowing each headset to render a virtual audience based on the actual positions and orientations of other users, creating a shared social experience where users see and hear each other's movements and the story from unique perspectives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If existing shared virtual reality solutions are used, then virtual reality storytelling can be delivered, but audience members cannot see each other's head positions and orientations leading to lack of group engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates virtual avatars that copy the physical positions, orientations, and head movements of actual audience members. Each avatar is a visual representation that replicates the user's physical state in real-time, allowing other audience members to see and understand each other's attention focus and spatial arrangement without requiring direct line-of-sight tracking of actual people.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual avatar serves as an intermediary between physical audience members. Instead of requiring direct visual contact or complex spatial tracking between actual people, the avatar mediates the communication of spatial and attentional information, translating physical movements into visible virtual representations that convey engagement and presence.
2Reliability
If each audience member experiences the story independently, then individual immersion is maximized, but sense of shared presence is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the shared experience into individual immersive viewpoints while maintaining connection. Each audience member receives a customized virtual reality stream tailored to their specific seat and perspective, preserving individual immersion. Simultaneously, the system segments the audience into visible avatars, allowing each person to see others as distinct entities in the virtual space, thereby maintaining shared presence without compromising individual experience quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual reality experience adapts local quality to each user's position and perspective. Each audience member receives customized visual, auditory, and interactive elements appropriate to their specific location in the virtual auditorium, just as in physical theater. This localized customization maintains individual immersion while the collective arrangement of localized experiences creates the shared presence effect.
3Reliability
If physical theater is used, then shared presence is achieved, but distribution and flexibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system copies the spatial relationships and shared presence of physical theater into the virtual domain. By rendering accurate 3D representations of the auditorium layout, seating arrangements, and perspective views, the virtual environment replicates the communal experience of physical theater. This copying enables the same sense of shared presence to be delivered remotely to any location with VR headsets, achieving both distribution and fidelity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from two-dimensional screen viewing to three-dimensional immersive space. By placing avatars and stage elements in true 3D virtual space with accurate depth, distance, and perspective relationships, the system creates shared presence that feels spatially authentic. This dimensional transformation enables flexible distribution across any location while maintaining the immersive quality of live theater.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for viewing a shared virtual reality having a plurality of virtual reality headsets. Each headset producing a shared virtual reality that is viewed by persons wearing the headsets. The system comprises a communication network to which each headset is in communication to send and receive a virtual orientation and a virtual position associated with each person of the persons wearing the headsets. The system comprises a computer in communication with each headset through the network which transmits a virtual audience that is viewed by each headset. The virtual audience formed from the virtual orientation and the virtual position associated with each person wearing the headset over time as each person views the virtual story, so each person views in the headset the person is wearing the virtual story, the virtual orientation and virtual position of each other person of the persons wearing the headset. A method for viewing a shared virtual reality. A non-transitory readable storage medium which includes a computer program stored on the storage medium in a non-transient memory for viewing a shared virtual reality.