VR Operating Surfaces with Embedded Sensors for Rapid Calibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Virtual reality systems require frequent calibration to establish a play area, which is cumbersome with portable systems and assumes a flat floor, leading to inconsistencies with actual environments, causing cognitive dissonance when obstacles or non-flat surfaces are encountered.
Innovation Solution
The use of operating surfaces with embedded sensors and fiducial markings that can be placed on floors or walls, allowing virtual reality systems to determine dimensions and attributes of the environment, enabling the definition of virtual boundaries and customized experiences based on actual conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If virtual reality systems use traditional calibration processes to establish play areas, then virtual boundaries can be defined, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming, especially with portable systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-placing markers with fiducial markings and sensors in the environment before the virtual reality calibration process begins. These markers are positioned at known locations and orientations, so when the system captures images during calibration, it can immediately identify their positions and use them to establish accurate spatial references without requiring time-consuming manual measurement or user movement through the entire play area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses markers with fiducial markings as intermediaries between the physical environment and the virtual reality system. These markers serve as a bridge that allows the system to accurately map real-world coordinates to virtual space by providing easily detectable reference points that contain encoded position and orientation information, eliminating the need for complex direct measurement procedures.
2Device complexity
If virtual reality systems assume a flat floor for calibration, then the calibration process is simplified, but this assumption frequently does not coincide with reality, causing cognitive dissonance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by allowing the calibration system to detect and adapt to the actual geometric parameters of the environment, including non-flat floors. By using markers placed at multiple positions and orientations, the system can calculate the true surface geometry and adjust the virtual reality coordinate system accordingly, transforming the assumption of a flat floor into a measured and corrected representation of the actual environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical assumption of a flat floor with an optical measurement system. Instead of requiring the physical environment to conform to a flat surface assumption, the system uses image capture and fiducial marker detection to optically measure and adapt to the actual floor geometry, substituting a rigid mechanical model with a flexible visual measurement approach.
3Measurement precision
If virtual reality systems require calibration in new locations, then accurate play areas can be established, but this requirement becomes more cumbersome as systems become smaller and more portable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by using markers that contain fiducial markings - essentially encoded copies of position and orientation information. These markers are placed in the environment and captured by the portable system's camera, allowing the system to quickly replicate the spatial reference framework in any new location without requiring complex setup procedures. The fiducial markings act as copyable reference data that can be instantly recognized and used for calibration.
4Productivity
If virtual reality systems use sensor-equipped operating surfaces, then rapid calibration and accurate definition of operating areas is enabled, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the calibration function into separate components: markers with fiducial markings for position reference, sensors for detection, and processing algorithms for coordinate transformation. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the markers can be simple printed patterns, the sensors can be standard camera modules, and the processing can be done software-based - reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high calibration speed.
Data Source
AI summary
An operating area for a virtual reality system may be defined based on the positions of sensors (e.g., infrared sensors) or fiducial markings within an environment where the virtual reality system is to be operated. The sensors or the fiducial markings may be provided on an operating surface in the form of a carpet, a mat or another like floor covering. When the virtual reality system is to be calibrated prior to use, positions of the sensors or the fiducial markings may be sensed by a base station, a headset or another virtual reality system unit, and an operating area may be defined based on virtual boundaries constructed using such positions.