World-locked Display Quality Feedback in AR Headsets

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Augmented reality systems face challenges in providing a reliable user experience when environmental conditions, such as illumination and feature density, are insufficient, leading to poor tracking and mapping performance and unexpected user experiences.

Innovation Solution

A method is introduced to communicate an estimated quality level of a world-lock display mode to users through a head-mounted display device, using sensor data from optical and pose sensors to determine the reliability of virtual object placement, switching between world-lock and body-lock display modes based on uncertainty values, and providing feedback to users through graphical representations or altered virtual object appearances.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If tracking and mapping systems operate in environments with insufficient illumination or visual data, then the system may still attempt to provide augmented reality experiences, but the user experience degrades significantly or the system fails completely

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveability to operate in various environmentsVSAvoidreliability of augmented reality experience
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary assessment of environmental conditions (illumination, feature density, sensor data quality) before committing to world-lock display mode. By evaluating uncertainty values in advance and providing quality feedback to users, the system prevents unreliable operation rather than attempting to function under inadequate conditions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by communicating estimated quality levels of world-lock display mode to users through the head-mounted display. This feedback loop allows users to adjust expectations or switch activities based on real-time environmental quality assessments, preventing unreliable operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Ease of operation

If the system provides world-lock display mode without informing users of environmental quality, then the system maintains operational simplicity, but users experience unexpected degradation or failure of the augmented reality application

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesimplicity of system operationVSAvoidinformation about environment quality
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system communicates estimated quality levels of world-lock display mode to users through the head-mounted display device. This feedback provides users with information about environmental quality without adding operational complexity, as the quality assessment is automatically calculated from sensor data

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3137976B1World-locked display quality feedback
Publication Date: 2017.11.15 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP3137976B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3137976B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3137976B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Embodiments that relate to communicating to a user of a head-mounted display device an estimated quality level of a world-lock display mode are disclosed. For example, in one disclosed embodiment a sensor data is received from one or more sensors of the device. Using the sensor data, an estimated pose of the device is determined. Using the estimated pose, one or more virtual objects are displayed via the device in either the world-lock display mode or in a body-lock display mode. One or more of input uncertainty values of the sensor data and pose uncertainty values of the estimated pose are determined. The input uncertainty values and/or pose uncertainty values are mapped to the estimated quality level of the world-lock display mode. Feedback of the estimated quality level is communicated to a user via device.