VR Golf Simulator Pass-Through Camera Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional golf simulators struggle to accurately simulate the trajectory of a golf ball due to a disconnect between the ball and the screen, making it difficult for users to judge distances and slopes, and they also fail to accurately simulate chipping and putting experiences.
Innovation Solution
A Virtual Reality (VR) golf simulator system that includes a simulator, a VR headset with pass-through cameras, and a server. The system calculates various parameters of a golf ball's trajectory and provides a real-time simulation of the ball's flight, allowing users to view real-world objects while immersed in the VR environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional golf simulators use a projector to display the golf course simulation on a flat screen, then the simulation can be displayed visually, but the disconnect between the ball and the screen makes it difficult for users to accurately judge distances and slopes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a 2D flat screen display to a 3D immersive VR environment. The VR headset creates a three-dimensional virtual golf course that surrounds the user, allowing the ball trajectory to be visualized in real spatial relationship with the virtual green and terrain features. This dimensional change enables accurate distance judgment by presenting the ball and target in true 3D space rather than on a disconnected 2D plane.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy of the real golf course environment within the VR headset. The simulator captures the physical golf course topography, lighting, and features, then reproduces them as a digital twin that the user can interact with. This virtual copy maintains accurate spatial relationships and visual fidelity, allowing users to judge distances and slopes with the same accuracy as if they were physically present on the course.
2Ease of operation
If traditional golf simulators use a flat screen display, then the equipment can be simpler, but they fail to accurately simulate the experience of chipping and putting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies 3D spatial representation to simulate the nuanced movements of chipping and putting. The VR environment renders the ball's short-game trajectory with accurate depth information, allowing users to perceive the slope, grain direction, and distance relationships in three dimensions. This enables realistic simulation of chip and put experiences that cannot be achieved on a 2D screen.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the golf course into distinct virtual zones (fairway, rough, green, hazards) with different visual and physical properties. Each zone can be independently rendered with appropriate texture, lighting, and interaction characteristics, allowing the simulator to accurately represent the specific challenges of chipping and putting in different locations throughout the course.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the VR headset provides a complete pass-through view of the real world, then users can see real objects, but the simulation of ball trajectory may be less immersive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the real-world view through pass-through cameras with the virtual golf course simulation. The VR headset displays both the real environment (through cameras) and the virtual golf course elements (ball, trajectory, course features) in the same field of view. This combination allows users to maintain awareness of their physical surroundings while fully immersed in the simulated golf experience, achieving both versatility and immersion simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A Virtual Reality (VR) golf simulator system for simulating the game of golf including a simulator, a VR headset and a server. The VR headset includes pass-through cameras that allow the user to view real-world objects while immersed in the VR environment. The simulator receives an alignment stick at its front and the VR headset aligns with the alignment stick. The simulator recognizes the presence of a golf ball and sends a signal to the server, which then transmits the signal to the VR headset to show a complete pass-through view of the real world. When a user hits a golf ball, the launch data is transmitted to the server from the simulator. The server forwards the data to the VR headset. The VR headset uses the data to generate a real-time simulation of the golf ball's trajectory in VR, which the user can observe from a traditional viewpoint.