XR Environmental Event Response for Immersive User Awareness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing immersive technologies, such as VR/AR systems and noise-canceling headphones, fail to effectively maintain environmental awareness by disrupting the immersive experience or inadequately filtering important sounds, leading to a compromised user interaction with the real world.
Innovation Solution
A system that monitors the environment outside the immersive device using sensors, leverages a large language model (LLM) to generate a textual output, and executes predefined responses to environmental triggers, allowing users to remain immersed while being aware of their surroundings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If immersive technologies (VR/AR systems, noise-canceling headphones) are used to provide immersive experience, then user immersion and engagement with device content is improved, but environmental awareness and ability to interact with real-world surroundings deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments environmental sounds into distinct categories (important sounds vs. background noise) using AI/ML processing. Sensors capture the full audio spectrum, then algorithms segment and prioritize specific sound types such as human voices, alarms, or traffic noises, allowing selective presentation to the user while maintaining immersion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary AI processing layer between the external environment and the user. This intermediary analyzes sensor data, identifies important environmental events, and selectively translates them into haptic or visual notifications, mediating the interaction between the immersive environment and real-world surroundings without breaking immersion.
2Loss of information
If real-world images are integrated into VR/AR systems to provide environmental awareness, then awareness of surroundings is improved, but the immersive experience is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of integrating visual images into the VR/AR display, the system extracts only the essential audio information from the real environment. The AI processing extracts meaningful sound events and presents them through haptic feedback or subtle visual indicators, taking out only the necessary environmental awareness information without compromising the visual immersion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes visual integration with alternative sensing and feedback mechanisms. Rather than using cameras and visual overlays that disrupt immersion, the system uses audio sensors, AI processing, and haptic actuators to convey environmental information through tactile feedback, replacing the visual mechanism with a non-intrusive tactile interface.
3Loss of information
If ambient sound features are used in noise-canceling headphones to allow external sounds, then environmental awareness is improved, but noise-cancelation effectiveness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts noise cancellation levels based on the identified importance of environmental sounds. The AI continuously monitors the environment and modulates the noise-cancelation strength in real-time, increasing transparency when important sounds are detected and maintaining strong cancellation during periods of low environmental relevance, creating a dynamic balance between immersion and awareness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of noise cancellation selectively rather than uniformly. Different frequency ranges and time periods are processed with different noise-cancelation parameters based on AI analysis of environmental content. Critical frequency bands containing important sounds are preserved while other bands maintain aggressive cancellation, allowing parameter optimization for both immersion and awareness.
4Productivity
If devices are used to provide immersive content (games, work, entertainment), then user engagement and productivity are improved, but safety and awareness of surrounding environment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of environmental sounds continuously in the background while the user engages with device content. AI algorithms pre-process sensor data to identify potential safety concerns before they become critical issues, such as detecting approaching vehicles or unusual noises, and prepare appropriate notifications or alerts in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback loop where environmental monitoring continuously informs user safety. Sensors detect environmental conditions, AI processes the data to assess safety relevance, and the system provides timely feedback through haptic alerts or visual notifications when potential hazards are detected, creating a closed-loop safety mechanism that operates independently of user device engagement level.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing real-world awareness surrounding an XR device and executing a response upon occurrence of a real-world event are disclosed. Input data that describes an event trigger and a response to the event trigger is received and transcribed to text. Sensors are used to monitor the real world surrounding the XR device. Data from the sensors is inputted into a model, such as a large language model (LLM), to obtain a textual description, and then used to detect the occurrence of the event trigger. Semantic matching of the textual description and the received event trigger is performed. A confidence level of the match is determined. Based on the occurrence of the trigger and the level of confidence that it occurred, a predetermined response is executed. The response may allow the user to enjoy the immersive environment of the XR device while addressing real-world events.