Projecting virtual presences along a moving trajectory

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11423623-B2
Application number	US-202016898131-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2020
Priority date	Jun 10, 2020
Publication date	Aug 23, 2022
Grant date	Aug 23, 2022

Abstract

In one example, a method performed by a processing system includes controlling a first device in a first location to project a virtual presences in a current field of view of a subscriber of a virtual presence projection service, computing a moving trajectory of the subscriber from the first location to a second location, identifying a second device that is located along the moving trajectory, wherein the second device includes a second set of resources for projecting virtual presences, and wherein the second device is registered with the virtual presence projection service to lend the second set of resources to subscribers of the virtual presence projection service, and controlling the second device to project the virtual presence in the current field of view of the subscriber when the subscriber is no longer within range of the first device but is within range of the second device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
controlling, by a processing system including at least one processor, a first device in a first location to project a virtual presence in a current field of view of a subscriber of a virtual presence projection service;
computing, by the processing system, a moving trajectory of the subscriber, wherein the moving trajectory comprises a route that the subscriber is expected to traverse while moving from the first location to a second location;
identifying, by the processing system, a second device that is located along the moving trajectory, wherein the second device includes a second set of resources for projecting virtual presences, wherein the second device is registered with a database maintained by the virtual presence projection service to lend the second set of resources to subscribers of the virtual presence projection service, wherein an entry for the second device in the database indicates a location of the second device, and wherein the identifying comprises determining that the location of the second device as indicated by the entry coincides with the route that the subscriber is expected to traverse; and
controlling, by the processing system, the second device to project the virtual presence in the current field of view of the subscriber when the subscriber is no longer within range of the first device but is within range of the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to the identifying but prior to controlling the second device to project the virtual presence:
detecting, by the processing system, that the subscriber will be outside a range of the first device within a predefined period of time, based on the moving trajectory; and
controlling, by the processing system, the first device to cease projecting the virtual presence.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device is part of a vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first device comprises a heads up display of a windshield of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing system comprises a processing system of a mobile device of the subscriber, and wherein the processing system is executing an application that supports the virtual presence projection service.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is part of a permanent structure that is located along the moving trajectory.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second device is part of at least one of: a building, a lamp post, a sign post, or a traffic light.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is part of a non-permanent structure that is located along the moving trajectory.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second device is part of at least one of: a mobile communications device, a wearable smart device, a drone, or a vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling the second device to project the virtual presence comprises:
identifying, by the processing system, a viewing angle of the subscriber; and
adjusting, by the processing system, an orientation of the virtual presence based on the viewing angle, such that the virtual presence is visible to the viewing angle of the subscriber.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device belongs to an entity other than the subscriber.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating, by the processing system and based on the moving trajectory, an estimated time at which the subscriber is expected to be no longer within range of the first device, wherein the identifying is performed within a predefined window of time prior to the estimated time.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second set of resources includes at least one of: a light source, a projector, a camera, a mirror, a lens, a speaker, a microphone, or a speedometer.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, by the processing system, a third device that is located along the moving trajectory, wherein the third device includes a third set of resources for projecting virtual presences, wherein the third device is registered with the database maintained by virtual presence projection service to lend the third set of resources to subscribers of the virtual presence projection service, wherein an entry for the third device in the database indicates a location of the third device, and wherein the identifying the third device comprises determining that the location of the third device as indicated by the entry for the third device coincides with the route that the subscriber is expected to traverse; and
controlling, by the processing system, the third device to cooperate with the second device to project the virtual presence.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual presence relates to navigation.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual presence relates to a medical condition of the subscriber.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual presence relates to a video call.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual presence relates to law enforcement.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processing system including at least one processor, cause the processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
controlling a first device in a first location to project a virtual presence in a current field of view of a subscriber of a virtual presence projection service;
computing a moving trajectory of the subscriber, wherein the moving trajectory comprises a route that the subscriber is expected to traverse while moving from the first location to a second location;
identifying a second device that is located along the moving trajectory, wherein the second device includes a second set of resources for projecting virtual presences, wherein the second device is registered with a database maintained by the virtual presence projection service to lend the second set of resources to subscribers of the virtual presence projection service, wherein an entry for the second device in the database indicates a location of the second device, and wherein the identifying comprises determining that the location of the second device as indicated by the entry coincides with the route that the subscriber is expected to traverse; and
controlling the second device to project the virtual presence in the current field of view of the subscriber when the subscriber is no longer within range of the first device but is within range of the second device.

20. An apparatus comprising:
a processing system including at least one processor; and
a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
controlling a first device in a first location to project a virtual presence in a current field of view of a subscriber of a virtual presence projection service;
computing a moving trajectory of the subscriber, wherein the moving trajectory comprises a route that the subscriber is expected to traverse while moving from the first location to a second location;
identifying a second device that is located along the moving trajectory, wherein the second device includes a second set of resources for projecting virtual presences, wherein the second device is registered with a database maintained by the virtual presence projection service to lend the second set of resources to subscribers of the virtual presence projection service, wherein a

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Soryal Joseph
• Jaoude Naila
• Zellner Samuel N

Classifications

• G02B27/017 Primary

  Head mounted · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• G06T19/003

  Navigation within 3D models or images · CPC title

• G06T19/006 Primary

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

• G02B27/0179

  Display position adjusting means not related to the information to be displayed · CPC title