VR Mobile Pod Boundary Control for Immersive Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems in amusement parks fail to provide users with a fully immersive experience due to limitations in movement and boundary awareness, leading to inadvertent contact with obstacles or other users, and existing solutions either restrict movement or provide unnatural walking experiences.
Innovation Solution
A VR attraction system featuring mobile pods that allow users to walk and provide partial motor power, equipped with VR/AR headgear and a support harness, which communicate with attraction controllers to update AR/VR images based on user position and proximity to objects, enabling natural movement and interaction within a themed environment while preventing direct contact through braking or redirection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users are allowed to move freely in VR/AR systems, then user immersion and natural movement are improved, but users may inadvertently contact obstacles or other users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a boundary system as an intermediary between the user and the physical environment. The boundary is defined by virtual markers that users can see through the VR/AR headgear, creating a safe zone that prevents inadvertent contact with obstacles while allowing natural movement within the defined space. The boundary system acts as a mediator that guides user movement without physically restricting them.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous feedback to users through the VR/AR display about their position relative to boundaries and other users. When users approach boundary markers or other users, the system provides visual feedback through the headgear to alert them, allowing them to adjust their movement naturally without physical constraints while maintaining safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If movement is restricted to prevent contact, then safety is improved, but user immersion and natural movement experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The boundary markers serve as visual intermediaries that guide user movement without physical restriction. Users can see the boundaries through their VR/AR headgear and naturally adjust their movement to stay within safe zones, maintaining both safety and natural movement experience without mechanical constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical restriction systems (physical barriers, motion platforms, or force feedback devices) with a visual information system delivered through VR/AR headgear. This substitution allows users to maintain natural walking mechanics while the visual boundaries provide the necessary guidance for safe movement.
3Adaptability or versatility
If VR/AR headgear is used for immersion, then user engagement is improved, but awareness of physical boundaries and obstacles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the virtual boundary markers with the physical environment by placing physical markers on the ground that correspond to virtual boundaries. Users see both the physical markers with their naked eyes and the virtual overlays through the VR/AR headgear, combining real-world reference points with virtual guidance to maintain boundary awareness while immersed.
Solution Approach 2:
The VR/AR headgear itself becomes an intermediary that delivers boundary information directly to the user's field of view. Instead of removing boundary awareness, the system uses the headgear to superimpose virtual boundary markers that users can see while maintaining immersion, turning the potential obstacle of reduced awareness into an enhanced guidance system.
Data Source
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AI summary
In accordance with one embodiment, a system includes a virtual reality attraction system. The virtual reality attraction system comprises: a plurality of user-assisted vehicles in an attraction, wherein each respective user-assisted vehicle comprises a vehicle controller; an attraction controller configured to provide AR and/or VR images for an attraction and to communicate the AR and/or VR images to the plurality of user-assisted vehicles. The attraction controller comprises a processor storing instructions that, when executed, operate to: receive a first set of position information from each of the plurality of user-assisted vehicles over time; determine that a first user-assisted vehicle of the plurality of user-assisted vehicles is within a predetermined distance of a second user-assisted vehicle of the plurality of user assisted vehicles; and output an updated AR and/or VR image to the vehicle controller of one or both of the first or second user-assisted vehicles based on the determination that the first user-assisted vehicle is within the predetermined distance of the second user-assisted vehicle.