Resolving region-of-interest (ROI) overlaps for distributed simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in edge cloud architectures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12327375-B2
Application number	US-202117308090-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2021
Priority date	May 22, 2019
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

An illustrative, non-limiting method for resolving Region-On-Interest (ROI) overlaps includes receiving Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) data obtained by a plurality of co-located Head-Mounted Devices (HMD), where the SLAM data comprises a plurality of landmarks and each HMD has an Information Handling System (IHS) in communication therewith. Each IHS may produce a subset of the plurality of landmarks based upon a respective HMD's SLAM data, and each IHS is: local with respect to the plurality of HMDs, at an edge of a network serving an HMD, or on a cloud. The method may include identifying an overlap between a first landmark produced by a first IHS and a second landmark produced by a second IHS, selecting between the first and second landmarks, at least in part, based upon the locations of the first and second IHSs, and rendering a map for display by a given HMD using the selected landmark.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a third Information Handling System (IHS) of a plurality of IHSs, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) data obtained by a plurality of Head-Mounted Devices (HMDs), each HMD coupled to a distinct IHS of the plurality of IHSs, wherein the SLAM data comprises a plurality of landmarks;
identifying, by the third IHS, an overlap between a first landmark and a second landmark among the plurality of landmarks, wherein the first landmark is produced by a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs coupled to a first HMD among the plurality of HMDs, and wherein the second landmark is produced by a second IHS of the plurality of IHSs coupled to a second HMD among the plurality of HMDs;
selecting, by the third IHS, between the first landmark and the second landmark, at least in part, based upon corresponding IHS location information of the first and second IHSs and based, at least in part, upon a speed of a third HMD coupled to the third IHS; and
rendering, by the third IHS, a map using the selected landmark to the exclusion of the non-selected landmark for display on the third HMD.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first IHS produces the first landmark based upon first SLAM data from the first HMD, and wherein the second IHS produces the second landmark based upon second SLAM data from the second HMD.

3. The IHS of claim 2 , wherein the first landmark is in a first Region of Interest (ROI) within a first infrared (IR) or near-IR (NIR) frame captured via a first camera mounted on the first HMD, and wherein the second landmark is in a second ROI within a second IR or NIR frame captured via a second camera mounted on the second HMD.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding IHS location information comprises a first location of the first IHS and a second location of the second HIS.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first and second locations are selected from the group consisting of: local with respect to the HMD, at an edge of a network serving the HMD, and on a cloud.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the overlap further comprises determining that the first landmark and the second landmark are separated by a threshold distance.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the threshold distance comprises accounting for a pose of an HMD.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting between the first landmark and the second landmark, at least in part, based upon a compute characteristic of the HMD.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting between the first landmark and the second landmark, at least in part, based upon a direction of movement of the HMD.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting between the first landmark and the second landmark further comprises determining that the first and second landmarks have confidence values above a threshold.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the confidence values comprise a Kalman Gain.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting between the first landmark and the second landmark further comprises determining that the first and second landmarks are generated within a selected time interval.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the map further comprises:
applying a transform matrix to the selected landmark to produce a transformed selected landmark in a common coordinate system; and
rendering the map using the transformed selected landmark.

14. An Information Handling System (IHS) of a plurality of IHSs, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution, cause the IHS to:
receive Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) data obtained by a plurality of Head-Mounted Devices (HMDs), wherein the SLAM data comprises landmarks;
identify an overlap among a subset of the landmarks including a first and a second landmark, wherein the first landmark is produced by a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs coupled to a first HMD, and wherein the second landmark is produced by a second IHS of the plurality of IHSs coupled to a second HMD;
select one of the subset of landmarks based, at least in part, upon corresponding IHS location information of at least the first and second IHS of the plurality of IHSs and based, at least in part, upon a latency characteristic of a given HMD; and
render a map for display by the given HMD coupled with the HIS using the selected one of the subset of landmarks to the exclusion of any non-selected one of the subset of landmarks.

15. A hardware memory of an Information Handling System (IHS) of a plurality of IHSs, wherein the IHS is coupled to a first Head-Mounted Device (HMD), the hardware memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution, cause the IHS to:
receive Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) data obtained by a plurality of HMDs, including the first HMD, wherein the SLAM data comprises a plurality of landmarks including a first and a second landmark, and wherein the first landmark is produced by the IHS coupled to the first HMD, and wherein the second landmark is produced by a second IHS of the plurality of IHSs coupled to a second HMD;
identify overlapping ones of the landmarks;
select one of the overlapping landmarks based, at least in part, upon corresponding IHS location information of at least two IHSs of the plurality of IHSs and based, at least in part, upon a speed of the first HMD; and
render a map for display by the first HMD using the selected overlapping landmark to the exclusion of a non-selected overlapping landmark.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Iyer Vivek Viswanathan
• Gatson Michael S

Classifications

• G06T7/337

  involving reference images or patches · CPC title

• G02B27/017

  Head mounted · CPC title

• G06T17/05

  Geographic models · CPC title

• G06T2207/30244

  Camera pose · CPC title

• G06T7/11

  Region-based segmentation · CPC title