Motion-controlled portals in virtual reality

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11164377-B2
Application number	US-201815982710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2018
Priority date	May 17, 2018
Publication date	Nov 2, 2021
Grant date	Nov 2, 2021

Abstract

Methods and systems of navigating within a virtual environment are described. In an example, a processor may generate a portal that includes a set of portal boundaries. The processor may display the portal within a first scene of the virtual environment being displayed on a device. The processor may display a second scene of the virtual environment within the portal boundaries. The processor may receive sensor data indicating a movement of a motion controller. The processor may reposition the portal and the second scene in the first scene based on the sensor data, wherein the first scene remains stationary on the device during the reposition of the portal and the second scene. The processor may translate a location of the portal within the first scene to move the portal towards a user of the device until the second scene replaces the first scene being displayed on the device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of navigating within a virtual environment, the method comprising:
generating, by a processor, a portal that includes a set of portal boundaries;
displaying, by the processor, the portal within a first scene of the virtual environment being displayed on a device, wherein the first scene is a stereoscopic image including a first set of virtual objects tagged with an identification of the first scene, and displaying the portal comprises overlaying the portal on a virtual object among the first set of virtual objects;
displaying, by the processor, a second scene of the virtual environment within the portal boundaries to display the second scene within the portal being displayed in the first scene, wherein the second scene is another stereoscopic image including a second set of virtual objects tagged with an identification of the second scene, and displaying the second scene comprises running a script to disable collisions between the first scene and the second scene of the virtual environment;
receiving, by the processor, sensor data that indicates a movement of a motion controller configured to be in communication with the processor; and
repositioning, by the processor, the portal and the second scene in the first scene based on the sensor data, wherein the display of the first scene remains stationary on the device during the repositioning of the portal and the second scene, and wherein repositioning the portal and the second scene in the first scene includes translating a location of the portal, and enlarging the portal, within the first scene to move the portal towards a user of the device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising continuing to translate the location of the portal until the second scene replaces the first scene being displayed on the device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the portal is no longer displayed upon the replacement of the first scene by the second scene.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data is first sensor data, and the movement is a first movement, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the processor, second sensor data that indicates a second movement of the motion controller; and
repositioning, by the processor, a virtual object of the second scene displayed within the portal boundaries.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein repositioning the virtual object of the second scene includes moving the virtual object from the second scene within the portal boundaries to a portion of the first scene that is outside of the portal boundaries.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the portal includes:
defining, by the processor, a portal camera within the virtual environment; and
projecting, by the processor, a position of the portal camera relative to the second scene, wherein the display of the second scene within the portal boundaries is based on a perspective from the position of the portal camera relative to the second scene.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data is first sensor data, and the movement is a first movement, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the processor, second sensor data that indicates a panning movement of the motion controller; and
displaying, by the processor, a different perspective of the second scene within the portal boundaries.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein repositioning the portal further comprises performing one or more of panning, tilting, and rotating, the portal to display different portions of the second scene within the set of boundaries of the portal being displayed in the first scene.

9. A system effective to facilitate navigation within a virtual environment, the system comprising:
a memory configured to store a set of instructions;
a motion controller;
a sensor configured to detect motions related to the motion controller;
a device configured to display images;
a processor configured to be in communication with the memory, the sensor, and the device, the processor being configured to execute the set of instructions stored in the memory to:
generate a portal that includes a set of portal boundaries;
display the portal within a first scene of the virtual environment being displayed on the device, wherein the first scene is a stereoscopic image including a first set of virtual objects tagged with an identification of the first scene, and displaying the portal comprises overlaying the portal on a virtual object among the first set of virtual objects;
display a second scene of the virtual environment within the portal boundaries on the device to display the second scene within the portal being displayed in the first scene, wherein the second scene is another stereoscopic image including a second set of virtual objects tagged with an identification of the second scene, and displaying the second scene comprises running a script to disable collisions between the first scene and the second scene of the virtual environment;
receive sensor data from the sensor, wherein the sensor data indicates a movement of a motion controller; and
reposition the portal and the second scene in the first scene based on the sensor data, wherein the display of the first scene remains stationary on the device during the reposition of the portal and the second scene, and wherein the reposition of the portal and the second scene in the first scene includes translating a location of the portal, and enlarging the portal, within the first scene to move the portal towards a user of the device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the device is a virtual reality display device configured to display stereoscopic images.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to continue the translation of the location of the portal until the second scene replaces the first scene being displayed on the device.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the portal is no longer displayed upon the replacement of the first scene by the second scene.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the sensor data is first sensor data, and the movement is a first movement, the processor is further configured to:
receive second sensor data from the sensor, where the second sensor data indicates a second movement of the motion controller; and
reposition a virtual object of the second scene displayed within the portal boundaries.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
define a portal camera within the virtual environment; and
project a position of the portal camera relative to the second scene, wherein the display of the second scene within the portal boundaries is based on a perspective from the position of the portal camera relative to the second scene.

15. A computer program product for navigating within a virtual environment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
generate a portal that includes a set of portal boundaries;
display the portal within a first scene of the virtual environment being displayed on a device, wherein the first scene is a stereoscopic image including a first set of virtual objects tagged with an identification of the first scene, and displaying the portal comprises overlaying the portal on a virtual object among the first set of virtual objects;
display a second scene of the virtual environment within the portal bo

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Sipolins Aldis
• Clevenger Lawrence A
• Briggs Benjamin D
• Rizzolo Michael
• Penny Christopher J
• Watson Patrick

Classifications

• A63F2300/8082

  Virtual reality · CPC title

• G06F3/0346

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title

• G06F2203/012

  Walk-in-place systems for allowing a user to walk in a virtual environment while constraining him to a given position in the physical environment · CPC title

• A63F13/245

  specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels · CPC title

• G06F3/013

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title