VR Headset 3D Views from External Aircraft Cameras
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Solution Overview
Problem
Passengers on commercial airplanes lack an immersive and interactive experience of the outside world, with only window seat passengers having limited views, while others have obstructed or no views at all, necessitating a solution to provide realistic, interactive outside-world views along the flight path for a positive air travel experience.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing an array of cameras outside the aircraft to capture high-resolution images, which are processed by an edge server and transmitted to VR headsets for passengers, allowing real-time, customizable, and interactive 3D virtual views of the outside world, enabling passengers to interact with the environment through gestures and providing a personalized experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional in-flight entertainment systems with monitors are used, then passengers can access entertainment content, but the system lacks interactivity and immersion for experiencing the outside world
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the outside world by capturing real-world images through external cameras and rendering them as interactive 3D virtual environments on VR headsets. This copying approach allows passengers to experience the outside world immersively without requiring complex mechanical systems, resolving the contradiction between interactivity and system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical entertainment systems (monitors, buttons, physical interfaces) with virtual reality technology that uses software-based rendering and gesture recognition. This substitution eliminates complex mechanical components while enhancing interactivity through natural gesture-based controls
2Adaptability or versatility
If only window seat passengers rely on physical windows for outside views, then no additional technology is needed, but most passengers have obstructed or no views at all
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal viewing system where all passengers, regardless of seat location, can access the outside world view through VR headsets. The multi-camera array captures images from multiple angles to provide comprehensive coverage, making the viewing experience available to every passenger uniformly without requiring physical window access
3Illumination intensity
If high-resolution real-time 3D virtual environments are rendered for all passengers, then immersive experience is achieved, but significant computational resources and processing power are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the computational workload by distributing processing tasks across multiple components: external cameras capture images, onboard servers perform initial processing and 3D reconstruction, and VR headsets handle final rendering. This segmentation allows high-resolution real-time rendering without overloading a single system, managing energy consumption efficiently across the distributed architecture
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments are directed at devices, methods, and systems for rendering a customizable 3D virtual environment of an outside world surrounding an airplane. The 3D virtual environment is rendered on a personal electronic device (e.g., a VR headset) and is composed from high-resolution image data received from a plurality of cameras mounted externally to the airplane. A seatback computer coupled to the personal electronic device receives data corresponding to the 3D virtual environment of the outside world from the airplane's compute server, which performs the tasks of analyzing the high-resolution image data to compose the 3D virtual environment. Further, the 3D virtual environment can be customized to a passenger's preferences based on gesture-based interactions of a passenger with the 3D virtual environment. The gesture-based interactions of a passenger are received by a sensor coupled to the personal electronic device.