Overscan Buffer for VR Latency Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In virtual reality environments, head-mounted displays experience latency issues when rendering high-resolution imagery, leading to visual discontinuities such as banding or blacked-out portions as users rapidly move their heads, resulting in an unpleasant experience due to delays in image rendering and communication.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves generating and communicating oversized imagery based on the current orientation of the head-mounted display, which includes a portion of the virtual world within and outside the display's field of view, allowing the device to extract and present the correct scene in real-time, thereby reducing latency and visual discontinuities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If high-resolution imagery is rendered in real-time for virtual reality, then visual quality is improved, but processing time and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-renders imagery beyond the current field of view to create an overscan buffer before it is needed. By anticipating future head movements and rendering extra content in advance, the system eliminates latency when the user rapidly moves their head, as the imagery is already available for immediate display.
2Reliability
If the field of view is increased to compensate for head movement latency, then visual discontinuities are reduced, but rendering complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rendered imagery is divided into distinct regions: the current field of view and the overscan buffer. This segmentation allows the system to manage rendering complexity by processing different portions of the scene separately and storing them in an accessible buffer, reducing the overall computational burden while maintaining visual continuity.
3Loss of time
If oversized imagery is rendered beyond the current field of view, then latency compensation is improved, but data transmission volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system renders slightly more imagery than the current field of view requires (an overscan buffer), but not a complete 360-degree environment. This partial excessive action provides sufficient buffer for typical head movement latencies while avoiding the data transmission overhead of rendering and transmitting entire spherical environments.
Data Source
AI summary
Compensating for latency in a streaming virtual reality environment is disclosed. A computing device receives from a head-mounted display device (HMDD) having a field of view (FOV), first pose data that identifies an orientation of the HMDD worn by a participant viewing a virtual world via the HMDD. The computing device renders, based at least in part on the first pose data and a first oversized FOV that is greater than the FOV, oversized imagery that depicts a portion of the virtual world within the FOV of the HMDD and a portion of the virtual world outside of the FOV of the HMDD. The computing device communicates the oversized imagery to the HMDD.