Head Mounted Device (HMD) System Having Interface With Mobile Computing Device for Rendering Virtual Reality Content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015348327-A1
Application number	US-201514712886-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 14, 2015
Priority date	May 30, 2014
Publication date	Dec 3, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

A head mounted display (HMD) system is provided. The system includes a housing and optics disposed in the housing. The system further includes a processor disposed in the housing and shutter control logic interfaced with the processor. The shutter control logic is configured to operate to alternate between opening a left eye-side of the optics and closing a right eye-side of the optics to opening the right eye-side of the optics and closing the left eye-side of the optics. A holder portion is integrated with the housing. The holder portion is configured to receive a smart device having a display screen. The display screen is oriented toward the optics of the housing in a direction that is toward a face of a user when the HMD system is worn by the user. The shutter control in operation is configured to enable a three-dimensional view of image date rendered on the display screen of the smart device when viewed through the optics of the housing.

First claim

1 . A system for rendering virtual reality content, comprising:
a housing to be attached to a head of a user via a strap; optics integrated in the housing, the display optics oriented on an internal side of the housing that is configured for orientation toward eyes of the user when the housing is attached to the head of the user; a holder integrated in the housing, the holder is configured to receive a smartphone, wherein a screen of the smartphone is oriented toward the display optics of the housing, the smartphone having a data connection with the holder to enable data communication between electronics of the housing and electronics of the smartphone; shutter control logic interfaced with the electronics of the housing; optics control logic interfaced with the optics; and a processor configured to interface with the shutter control logic and the optics control logic, the processor is configured to set the shutter control logic to successively switch between rendering image data obtained from the screen of the smartphone to only a left eye-side of the optics and then only to a right eye-side of the optics, the processor is further configured to interface with the optics control logic so that rendering is optimized for when the image data is provided to the left and right eye-sides of the optics, wherein the shutter control logic enables display of three-dimensional images from the image data rendered on the screen of the smartphone when viewed through the optics of the housing.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
an device interface for connecting the smartphone to the housing.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
an inertial sensor of the housing, the inertial sensor providing movement and orientation data of the housing, the movement and orientation data of the housing being communicated to the smartphone; wherein the smartphone uses the movement and orientation data of the housing along with movement and orientation produced by an inertial sensor of the smartphone to fine tune movement and orientation of the housing to influence or update a view direction and perspective into a virtual reality scene rendered by the smartphone.

4 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising,
combining at least some data from the inertial sensor of the housing with data from the inertial sensor of the smartphone to improve tracking of the housing.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed on a surface of the housing, the light emitting diodes used for tracking position of the housing using at least one camera.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
a plurality of photo diodes disposed on a surface of the housing, the photo diodes used for tracking position of the housing using at least one light emitting device positioned in space where the housing is to be tracked.

7 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
circuitry of the electronics of the housing for processing a see-through mode, wherein a front facing camera of the smartphone is activated; wherein the shutter control logic is paused and the optics control logic enable display of image data from the screen of the smartphone that shows a real-world view via the front facing camera of the smartphone, when in the see-through mode.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
circuitry of the electronics of the housing for processing a see-through mode, wherein a front facing camera of the housing is activated; wherein the shutter control logic is paused and the optics control logic enable display of image data from the screen of the smartphone that shows a real-world view via the front facing camera of the housing, when in the see-through mode.

9 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
a network interface integrated with the housing, the network interface providing access to the network for connecting to an internet site having digital content, the digital content being one of streaming content or interactive streaming content, wherein the streaming interactive content is to be rendered by the smartphone for display via the optics of the housing.

10 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
a network interface provided by the smartphone, the network interface providing access to the network for connecting to an internet site having digital content, the digital content being one of streaming content or interactive streaming content, wherein the streaming interactive content is to be rendered by the smartphone for display via the optics of the housing.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the optics integrated into the housing include a left eye optic and a right eye optic.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a device input, the device input configured for receiving user input for controlling at least part of an interactive content scene rendered in the image data generated by the smartphone.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the user input is via a controller, a hand gesture, a touch gesture, or voice control, or a combination thereof.

14 . A head mounted display (HMD) system, comprising,
a housing; optics disposed in the housing; a processor disposed in the housing; shutter control logic interfaced with the processor, the shutter control logic configured to operate to alternate between opening a left eye-side of the optics and closing a right eye-side of the optics to opening the right eye-side of the optics and closing the left eye-side of the optics; and a holder portion integrated with the housing, the holder portion configured to receive a smart device having a display screen, the display screen being oriented toward the optics of the housing in a direction that is toward a face of a user when the HMD system is worn by the user; wherein the shutter control in operation is configured to enable a three-dimensional view of image date rendered on the display screen of the smart device.

15 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , wherein the shutter acting to close the left eye-side or right eye-side optics is configured to cause the optics to be opaque as opposed to transparent.

16 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , further comprising, optics control for adjusting a focus of the image date presented through the optics.

17 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 16 , wherein the adjusting includes performing image distortion adjustments, sizing adjustments, or a combination thereof.

18 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , wherein the housing includes at least one front facing camera.

19 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , wherein the housing includes photo diodes to enable tracking of the housing, the photo diodes being arranged on a surface of the housing at pre-defined separations.

20 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , wherein the housing includes light emitting diodes to enable tracking of the housing by a camera.

21 . The head mounted display (HMD) system of claim 14 , further comprising,
a network interface integrated with the housing, the network interface providing access to the network for connecting to an internet site having digital content, the digital content being one of streaming content or interactive streaming content, wherein the streaming interactive content is to be rendered by the smart device for display via the optics of the housing.

22 .

Assignees

• Sony Comp Entertainment Us

Inventors

• Zalewski Gary M

Classifications

• G06F3/011 Primary

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

• G06T15/00

  Three-dimensional [3D] image rendering · CPC title

• G02B27/0172 Primary

  characterised by optical features · CPC title

• G06T19/006 Primary

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

• G02B2027/014

  comprising information/image processing systems · CPC title