Panoramic virtual environment for in-vehicle entertainment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11318887-B1
Application number	US-202017083495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 29, 2020
Priority date	Oct 29, 2020
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

An entertainment system of a vehicle includes: a plurality of cameras configured to capture images around an exterior of the vehicle; one or more displays; and an entertainment module configured to: based on the images, generate panoramic video; and display the panoramic video within the vehicle via the one or more displays.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An entertainment system of a vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of cameras configured to capture images around an exterior of the vehicle;
one or more displays; and
an entertainment module configured to:
based on the images, generate panoramic video including a virtual environment of a game;
display the panoramic video within the vehicle via the one or more displays; and
at least one of:
perceive a pedestrian located outside of the vehicle and animate the pedestrian as an animal within the panoramic video; and
perceive a second vehicle located outside of the vehicle and animate the second vehicle as an opponent within the panoramic video.

2. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of cameras include:
at least one camera configured to capture images in front of the vehicle;
at least one camera configured to capture images to the right of the vehicle;
at least one camera configured to capture images to the left of the vehicle; and
at least one camera configured to capture images behind the vehicle.

3. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to perform image stabilization on the images.

4. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to selectively correct ones of the images for shaking.

5. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to stitch ones of the images together to create the panoramic video.

6. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the one or more displays include one or more heads up displays (HUDs) configured to project light onto a windshield of the vehicle and one or more displays configured to display images.

7. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the one or more displays include at least one of an augmented reality (AR) headset and a virtual reality (VR) headset within the vehicle.

8. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to perceive an object located outside of the vehicle and animate an item within the panoramic video based on the location.

9. The entertainment system of claim 8 wherein the entertainment module is configured to locate the item within the panoramic video based on a location of the object relative to the vehicle.

10. The entertainment system of claim 8 wherein the entertainment module is configured to animate the item within the panoramic video based on a type of the object located outside of the vehicle.

11. The entertainment system of claim 1 further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) module configured to determine a present location of the vehicle,
wherein the entertainment module is configured to generate the panoramic video further based on the present location of the vehicle.

12. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to display a visual identifier of an object located in front of the vehicle via at least one of the one or more displays.

13. The entertainment system of claim 12 wherein the entertainment module is configured to selectively output audio information regarding the object via one or more speakers of the vehicle.

14. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is further configured to display a visual advertisement via at least one of the one or more displays.

15. The entertainment system of claim 14 wherein the entertainment module is further configured to display a coupon via at least one of the one or more displays.

16. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is further configured to display a coupon via at least one of the one or more displays.

17. The entertainment system of claim 16 wherein the entertainment module is configured to selectively wirelessly transmit the coupon to a computing device of a passenger of the vehicle.

18. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to selectively execute a game application stored in memory of the vehicle.

19. The entertainment system of claim 1 wherein the entertainment module is configured to generate at least one of a visual and an audible prompt for user input indicative of a rating for an entity in response to a determination that the vehicle stopped at the entity.

20. An entertainment method for a vehicle, comprising:
capturing images around an exterior of the vehicle by a plurality of cameras;
based on the images, generating panoramic video including a virtual environment of a game; and
displaying the panoramic video within the vehicle via one or more displays,
wherein the generating the panoramic video includes at least one of:
perceiving a pedestrian located outside of the vehicle and animating the pedestrian as an animal within the panoramic video; and
perceiving a second vehicle located outside of the vehicle and animating the second vehicle as an opponent within the panoramic video.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Zeng Wei
• Dernotte Jeremie
• Liu Ke
• Ellison Nicole
• Mehdi Syed B
• Silang Kevin J
• Hector Jr Louis G

Classifications

• B60R2300/20

  characterised by the type of display used · CPC title

• H04N7/181 Primary

  for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources · CPC title

• B60R2300/30

  characterised by the type of image processing · CPC title

• B60R2300/105

  using multiple cameras · CPC title

• B60R1/00 Primary

  Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles · CPC title