Hand-Held Controllers For Virtual Reality System

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016357249-A1
Application number	US-201514729951-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 3, 2015
Priority date	Jun 3, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

There is provided a handheld controller for a virtual reality system. The hand-held controller includes a user-input surface and a grip coupled to the user-input surface. The user-input surface has a first user-input key. The hand-held controller further includes a cage coupled to the user-input surface. The cage includes a plurality of illumination sources on an outer surface of the cage, which provide light to be detected by a camera for sensing a position of the controller based on a user motion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A hand-held controller for a virtual reality system, the hand-held controller comprising:
a user-input surface comprising a first user-input key; a grip coupled to the user-input surface; and a cage coupled to the user-input surface, the cage including a plurality of illumination sources on an outer surface of the cage.

2 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the grip is integrally formed with the user-input surface.

3 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the grip is slanted at an angle with respect to the user-input surface.

4 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , further comprising a structural web coupling the cage to the user-input surface.

5 . The hand-held controller of claim 4 , further comprising a second user-input key mounted at least in part on the structural web.

6 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of illumination sources comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

7 . The hand-held controller of claim 6 , further comprising a power source to supply power to the user-input surface and the plurality of LEDs.

8 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of illumination sources comprises a plurality of passive reflectors.

9 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the first user-input key is selected from the group consisting of a thumbstick, a button, a trigger, and a directional pad.

10 . The hand-held controller of claim 9 , wherein the first user-input key is a button selected from the group consisting of an A or X button, a B or Y button, a start button, a back button, a forward button, and a home button.

11 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein:
the user-input surface comprises a plurality of user-input keys including the first user-input key; and respective user-input keys of the plurality of user-input keys are selected from a group consisting of a thumbstick, a button, a trigger, and a directional pad.

12 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , further comprising a trigger mounted on the grip at a position configured to be actuated by a middle finger of a user.

13 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of illumination sources are positioned to be visible to a forward-looking camera on a head-mounted display worn by a user when the user holds the grip in a neutral position.

14 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of illumination sources are positioned to face away from a user when the user holds the grip in a neutral position.

15 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage is configured to be positioned above a user's hand when the user holds the grip in a neutral position.

16 . The hand-held controller of claim 15 , wherein the user-input surface forms an inner front surface of the cage.

17 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein:
the user-input surface comprises a plurality of user-input keys including the first user-input key; and the user-input surface is a touch-sensitive surface partitioned into a plurality of sections, each section corresponding to a respective user-input key of the plurality of user-input keys and including at least one touch sensor to detect a touch on the corresponding section.

18 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage is detachably coupled to at least one of the user-input surface and the grip.

19 . The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage comprises an over-molded rubber material or a hard plastic.

20 . A hand-held controller for a virtual reality system, the hand-held controller comprising:
a body comprising:
a touch-sensitive user-input surface partitioned into a plurality of sections, each section corresponding to at least one user-input function; and
a grip coupled to the touch-sensitive user-input surface and slanted at a predetermined angle in a vertical direction from the touch sensitive user input surface;
a cage coupled to the body, the cage including a plurality of illumination sources on an outer surface of the cage; a structural web coupling the cage to the body; and a power source configured to supply power to the body and cage.

Assignees

• Oculus Vr Llc

Inventors

• Webb James S
• Rogoza Benjamin E Tunberg
• Bristol Peter Wesley
• Higgins Jason Andrew
• Talati Sharvil Shailesh
• Chen Yi-Yaun
• Konzen Neil Warren

Classifications

• A63F13/2145

  the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens · CPC title

• H04N5/2251

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G02B2027/0138

  comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera · CPC title

• G06T19/006

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

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title