Content modification system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12086306-B2
Application number	US-201917272427-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2019
Priority date	Sep 6, 2018
Publication date	Sep 10, 2024
Grant date	Sep 10, 2024

Abstract

A processing system for modifying interactive content includes: a user profile obtaining unit operable to obtain the user profile including information about an eye-in-head radius, the eye-in-head radius representing an amount of a display viewable by a user without moving their head, an interactive element identification unit operable to identify interactive elements in displayed content, and to identify selection areas associated with each identified interactive element, and a content modification unit operable to modify interactions between a user and one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence upon the obtained user profile, the content modification unit is operable to locate one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence on the eye-in-head radius, and the content modification unit is further operable to determine an overlap threshold between the eye-in-head radius and each selection area in order for an interaction with a corresponding interactive element to be performed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for modifying interactive content in dependence upon a user profile, the method comprising:
obtaining the user profile comprising information about an eye-in-head radius, the eye-in-head radius representing an amount of a display viewable by a user by moving their eyes only, and without moving their head;
identifying interactive elements in displayed content;
identifying a respective selection area associated with each of the identified interactive elements; and
modifying interactions between the user and one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence upon the obtained user profile, wherein the modifying includes:
locating one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence on the eye-in-head radius, and
selecting a given one of the identified interactive elements by evaluating selection criteria, which includes determining one of the respective selection areas associated with the given one of the identified interactive elements, and determining whether an overlap threshold between the eye-in-head radius and the one of the respective selection areas has been reached as to the given one of the identified interactive elements, and if so performing an interaction with the given one of the identified interactive elements, and wherein:
the eye-in-head radius represents a maximal area of the display that is larger than, and circumscribes, a given focus area at which the user gazes on the display, where the maximal area of the display includes only the amount of the display viewable by the user by moving their eyes only, and without moving their head,
each of the respective selection areas includes a respective predefined area that is larger than, and circumscribes, the respective identified interactive element, and
the selecting the given one of the identified interactive elements is based on determining whether the respective selection area associated with the given one of the identified interactive elements at least partially overlaps the eye-in-head radius when the user is gazing at a given focus area.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user profile identifies user preferences for eye motion and head motion.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the user profile identifies proportions of head motion and eye motion used by the user in performing one or more viewing transitions between displayed content elements.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the user profile identifies the user as belonging to one or more categories in dependence upon their preferences for eye motion and head motion.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the user profile identifies a preferred head orientation and eye orientation for the user.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the interaction with the corresponding interactive element is a selection.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the interactive elements include menu items.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
the overlap threshold is determined in dependence upon information contained in the user profile;
the overlap threshold is determined in dependence upon the interactive object to which the selection area corresponds; and
the overlap threshold is determined in dependence upon the content comprising the interactive elements.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selection area is larger than the interactive element.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the modifying includes locating the identified interactive elements in respect of a default or preferred viewpoint of the user.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the displayed content is displayed using a head-mountable display device.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the overlap threshold indicates a required amount of the respective selection area associated with each of the identified interactive elements that must be encompassed by the eye-in-head radius to enable performance of the interaction.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selection criteria includes determining whether the user's gaze direction indicates that the user is gazing at the given one of the identified interactive elements at the time that the overlap threshold has been reached.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium which stores computer software, which when executed by a computer system, causes the computer system to perform a processing method for modifying interactive content in dependence upon a user profile, by carrying out actions, comprising:
obtaining the user profile comprising information about an eye-in-head radius, the eye-in-head radius representing an amount of a display viewable by a user by moving their eyes only, and without moving their head;
identifying interactive elements in displayed content;
identifying a respective selection area associated with each of the identified interactive elements; and
modifying interactions between the user and one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence upon the obtained user profile, wherein the modifying includes:
locating one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence on the eye-in-head radius, and
selecting a given one of the identified interactive elements by evaluating selection criteria, which includes determining one of the respective selection areas associated with the given one of the identified interactive elements, and determining whether an overlap threshold between the eye-in-head radius and the one of the respective selection areas has been reached as to the given one of the identified interactive elements, and if so performing an interaction with the given one of the identified interactive elements, and wherein:
the eye-in-head radius represents a maximal area of the display that is larger than, and circumscribes, a given focus area at which the user gazes on the display, where the maximal area of the display includes only the amount of the display viewable by the user by moving their eyes only, and without moving their head,
each of the respective selection areas includes a respective predefined area that is larger than, and circumscribes, the respective identified interactive element, and
the selecting the given one of the identified interactive elements is based on determining whether the respective selection area associated with the given one of the identified interactive elements at least partially overlaps the eye-in-head radius when the user is gazing at a given focus area.

Assignees

• Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc

Inventors

• Connor Patrick John
• Grant Jessica Rose
• Gellersen Hans-Werner
• Sidenmark Ludwig

Classifications

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F3/012

  Head tracking input arrangements · CPC title

• H04N13/366

  using viewer tracking · CPC title

• G06T19/00

  Manipulating three-dimensional [3D] models or images for computer graphics · CPC title