Systems and methods for integrating environmental haptics in virtual reality

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11294467-B2
Application number	US-201816224162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2018
Priority date	Dec 18, 2018
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods for integrating environmental haptic effects in virtual reality are disclosed. One illustrative system described herein includes a sensor for detecting an environmental condition, the environmental condition associated with an environmental haptic effect, and generating a sensor signal. The system also includes a virtual reality display configured to output a virtual reality effect. The system also includes a processor coupled to the sensor and a virtual reality display, the processor configured to: receive the sensor signal, determine a modification to the virtual reality effect based in part on the sensor signal, and transmit a display signal associated with the modification to the virtual reality display. Another illustrative system includes a sensor for detecting an environmental condition, the environmental condition associated with an environmental haptic effect, and generating a sensor signal, and a virtual reality display configured to output a virtual reality effect. The system also includes a processor coupled to the sensor and a virtual reality display, the processor configured to: receive the sensor signal, determine a generated haptic effect based at least in part of the sensor signal that when combined with the environmental haptic effect produces the desired haptic effect, and transmit a haptic signal associated with the generated haptic effect to a haptic output device.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A system comprising:
a sensor;
a virtual reality display;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and
a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the sensor and the virtual reality display, the processor configured to execute processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to:
receive one or more sensor signals from the sensor;
determine a real-world environmental haptic effect uncontrolled by a user based on one or more of the one or more sensor signals;
determine a proper haptic effect for a virtual object based on a characteristic of the virtual object;
determine a modified haptic effect based on the proper haptic effect and the real-world environmental haptic effect; and
transmit a display signal to the virtual reality display, the display signal associated with the modified haptic effect.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a haptic output device coupled to the processor and wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to determine a haptic signal based at least in part on the modified haptic effect and transmit the haptic signal to the haptic output device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a camera, a laser, a radar, an accelerometer, a gyrometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, a light sensor, or a microphone.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual reality display comprises a virtual reality headset.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the real-world environmental haptic effect corresponds to a feature on a surface of a real-world object.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the real-world environmental haptic effect corresponds to at least one of a feature on a surface of a real-world object.

7. A method comprising:
receiving one or more sensor signals from a sensor;
determining a real-world environmental haptic effect uncontrolled by a user based on one or more of the one or more sensor signals;
determining a proper haptic effect for a virtual object based on a characteristic of the virtual object;
determining a modified haptic effect based on the proper haptic effect and the real-world environmental haptic effect; and
transmit a display signal to a virtual reality display, the display signal associated with the modified haptic effect.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining a haptic signal based at least in part on the modified haptic effect and transmitting the haptic signal to a haptic output device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a camera, a laser, a radar, an accelerometer, a gyrometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, a light sensor, or a microphone.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the virtual reality display comprises a virtual reality headset.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the real-world environmental haptic effect corresponds to a feature on a surface of a real-world object.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining the modified haptic effect based at least in part on a probabilistic scenario.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising processor-executable program code, which when executed by a processor is configured to cause the processor to:
receive one or more sensor signals from a sensor;
determine a real-world environmental haptic effect uncontrolled by a user based on one or more of the one or more sensor signals;
determine a proper haptic effect for a virtual object based on a characteristic of the virtual object;
determine a modified haptic effect based on the proper haptic effect and the real-world environmental haptic effect; and
transmit a display signal to a virtual reality display, the display signal associated with the modified haptic effect.

Assignees

• Immersion Corp

Inventors

• Forest Simon
• Mousakhanian Razmik
• Wu Liwen
• Levesque Vincent
• Uon Channy

Classifications

• G06T19/006

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

• G06F3/012

  Head tracking input arrangements · CPC title

• G06F3/011 Primary

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• G06T19/003

  Navigation within 3D models or images · CPC title

• G06F3/016 Primary

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title