Methods for optimizing positioning of content on a screen of a head mounted display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10360877-B2
Application number	US-201615268482-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 23, 2019
Grant date	Jul 23, 2019

Abstract

A system and method of adjusting content displayed to a user during an interactive HMD session to compensate for the user's head tilt. The user's head tilt causes the displayed content to be displayed offset from the user's comfortable viewing area of the screen in the HMD. The offset is determined a number of ways and then the displayed images are adjusted to reduce or substantially eliminate the offset. The adjusting can compensate for different user postures for standing, sitting, reclining, lying down, etc. as may occur during an interactive HMD session. The user's head tilt can be caused by the user's physical posture, physical shape or due to corrective lenses that cause the user to inadvertently tilt his head.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for optimizing positioning of a scene when displayed on a screen of a head mounted display (HMD), comprising:
detecting an initial orientation of the HMD in three-dimensional space, the initial orientation of the HMD being a comfort viewing position of a user, the initial orientation of the HMD being moved away from a real-world horizontal Z axis;
rendering an object in the scene, the rendering causing the object to be displayed at a location in the scene as displayed on the screen of the HMD;
detecting a directed orientation of the HMD in the three-dimensional space, the directed orientation being detected after the HMD is moved from the initial orientation by the user wearing the HMD in response to a prompt directing the user to view the object in the scene;
determining an offset in three-dimensional space between the initial orientation and the directed orientation, wherein a viewing direction of eyes of the user in both the initial orientation and the directed orientation remain substantially along the real-world horizontal Z axis while the offset is detected between the initial orientation and the directed orientation of the HMD; and
saving the offset to a profile of the user, the offset being applied to adjust positioning of a subsequent scene when rendered for the user, such that certain objects in the subsequent scene are rendered on the screen to enable viewing of said certain objects proximate to the comfort viewing position of the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
detecting an identity of the user; and
obtaining the profile for the user, the profile having the offset to be used during a session of use of the HMD.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subsequent scene is associated with interactive content to be rendered on the HMD.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scene or subsequent scene provides interactive content in a form of a game, an application, an advertisement, a program or combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one corrective lens is used by the user when wearing the HMD, such that the user has the comfort viewing position set for when a pair of glasses are used.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one corrective lens is a multi-focal lens and has a visible dividing line between a first vision correction in an upper portion of the multi-focal lens and a second vision correction in a lower portion of the multi-focal lens, the visible dividing line influencing the directed orientation of the user when viewing the object.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the positioning of the subsequent scene reduces the offset when viewing said certain objects.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the certain objects are objects that are a subject of interactive content rendered in the scene.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial orientation of the HMD in three-dimensional space is of a real-world environment, the real-world environment having a physical reference.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comfort viewing position is defined for the user viewing toward a direction that is in front of the user when wearing the HMD.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object in the scene is a graphical image that is identifiable from among a plurality of other graphical images.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the graphical image is a reticle superimposed over objects in the scene.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the graphical image is an interactive object in the scene.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location in the scene is at a predefined coordinate on the screen.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the directed orientation has real-world coordinates in the three-dimensional space in which the HMD is located.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prompt is generated by a computing device that is interfaced with the HMD, the prompt being one of an audible prompt, a visual prompt or a combination of audible and visual prompt.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prompt is generated during a calibration of the HMD for the user.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prompt is generated during an interactive session with the HMD.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the directed orientation is captured after a threshold period of time, the threshold period of time is after an expected period of time required to move from the initial orientation to view the location of the object.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prompt includes a request to hold viewing of the object for a period of time.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset is associated with coordinates in real-world space and a reference in real-world.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset has a vertical offset parameter.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset has a horizontal offset parameter.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset is measured from determined position changes detected by an inertial sensor in the HMD.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset is measured by detected images of the HMD captured by a camera that is directed to view movement of the HMD in one or more image frames captured by the camera.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the offset is measured by a combination of detected changes in inertial sensors of the HMD and images data captured of light emitting diodes of the HMD.

Assignees

• Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc

Inventors

• Osman Steven
• Marks Richard

Classifications

• G06T19/006

  Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00) · CPC title

• G09G2320/0693

  Calibration of display systems · CPC title

• G09G2354/00

  Aspects of interface with display user · CPC title

• G02B27/017 Primary

  Head mounted · CPC title

• G06F3/16

  Sound input; Sound output (speech processing G10L) · CPC title