VR Content Generation for Multi-User HMD Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current head-mountable display (HMD) devices are limited to providing immersive VR experiences to a single user due to the high processing power required for high-quality, low-latency image generation, making it impossible to simultaneously offer suitable experiences to multiple users without compromising image quality or latency.
Innovation Solution
A content generation system that allows for the simultaneous display of immersive content to multiple users by using a primary HMD and an additional display device, where the primary HMD generates high-resolution images and the additional device receives and displays a subset of the images, optimized for the secondary user's viewpoint, reducing processing demands and latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a single device generates separate stereoscopic streams for multiple users, then multiple users can view content simultaneously, but processing power requirements become too high to maintain high frame rate and image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the viewing audience into two segments: a primary user wearing an HMD who receives full-resolution stereoscopic content, and secondary spectators who view on a separate display. This segmentation allows the system to allocate processing resources differently for each user type, enabling multiple users to view content simultaneously without requiring proportional increases in processing power for each additional user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the primary user's viewpoint content for display on a separate screen for spectators. Instead of generating independent stereoscopic streams for each spectator, the system copies the rendered content from the primary user's perspective and displays it on an external display device, dramatically reducing the processing burden while allowing multiple users to experience the content simultaneously.
2Quantity of substance
If the same content is displayed on a separate screen for spectators, then multiple people can view the content, but the sense of immersion is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different quality levels to different viewing positions: the primary user wearing the HMD receives full-resolution, high-frame-rate stereoscopic content optimized for immersion, while secondary spectators view a version of the content on a separate display. This local differentiation of quality allows the system to maintain high immersion for the primary user while accommodating multiple viewers overall.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the viewing experience into an immersive portion for the HMD user and a spectator portion for others. By maintaining the primary user's immersive experience intact while providing separate spectator display, the system preserves immersion reliability for the primary user while enabling multiple viewers through the segmented approach.
3Quantity of substance
If processing power is increased to support multiple users, then multiple users can have immersive experiences, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the primary HMD system serve multiple functions: it provides the immersive VR experience for the primary user while simultaneously generating content for spectator display. The same rendering pipeline and content generation processes serve both the HMD output and the separate screen output, eliminating the need for duplicate processing systems and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the content generation processes for the primary user and spectators into a single processing pipeline. By combining the rendering and content preparation operations, the system avoids duplicating computational resources, thereby reducing device complexity and power requirements while still enabling multiple users to view content simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A content generation system including an image generation unit operable to generate one or more images of a virtual environment for display at a first display device, and an image transmission unit operable to transmit generated images of the virtual environment to each of the first display device and the second display device, where the or each image displayed at one of the first display device and the second display device is a subset of the or each image displayed at the other of the first display device and the second display device, and where the viewpoint of the display device displaying a subset of the or each image is operable to modify the displayed field of view independently of the field of view displayed at the other display device.