Systems and methods for generating augmented and virtual reality images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9690375-B2
Application number	US-201414462249-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 18, 2014
Priority date	Aug 18, 2014
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A ride system includes at least one ride vehicle. The at least one ride vehicle is configured to receive a ride passenger. The ride system includes electronic goggles configured to be worn by the ride passenger. The electronic goggles include a camera and a display. The ride system includes a computer graphics generation system communicatively coupled to the electronic goggles, and configured to generate streaming media of a real world environment based on image data captured via the camera of the electronic goggles, generate one or more virtual augmentations superimposed on the streaming media of the real world environment, and to transmit the streaming media of the real world environment along with the one or more superimposed virtual augmentations to be displayed on the display of the electronic goggles.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A ride system, comprising:
a ride vehicle configured to receive a ride passenger and comprising a position sensor;
electronic goggles configured to be worn by the ride passenger, wherein the electronic goggles comprise a camera and a display; and
a computer graphics generation system communicatively coupled to the electronic goggles and to the position sensor of the ride vehicle, and configured to:
determine a point of view of the ride passenger using data at least from the position sensor of the ride vehicle;
generate streaming media of a real world environment based at least on image data captured via the camera of the electronic goggles and the point of view of the ride passenger;
generate one or more virtual augmentations superimposed on the streaming media of the real world environment; and
transmit the streaming media of the real world environment along with the one or more superimposed virtual augmentations to be displayed on the display of the electronic goggles.

2. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the display of the electronic goggles comprises a first display and a second display, and wherein the first display is configured to display the streaming media to a first eye of the ride passenger and the second display is configured to display the streaming media to a second eye of the ride passenger.

3. The ride system of claim 2 , wherein each of the first display and the second display comprises an opaque liquid crystal display (LCD) or an opaque organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.

4. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic goggles comprise an additional camera, and wherein the camera is configured to capture a first viewpoint corresponding to a first eye of the ride passenger and the additional camera is configured to capture a second viewpoint corresponding to a second eye of the ride passenger.

5. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to generate the one or more virtual augmentations when the at least one ride vehicle travels to a predetermined location, travels a predetermined distance, after a predetermined lapse of time, or any combination thereof, during a ride cycle.

6. The ride system of claim 5 , comprising a rollercoaster including a track, and wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to generate the one or more virtual augmentations when the at least one ride vehicle travels to the predetermined location along the track, travels the predetermined distance along the track, after the predetermined lapse of time, or any combination thereof.

7. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to generate the streaming media of the real world environment based on an orientation of the electronic goggles, a position of the ride passenger, and the point of view of the ride passenger.

8. The ride system of claim 7 , comprising a positioning sensor within the electronic goggles configured to detect the orientation of the electronic goggles.

9. The ride system of claim 7 , comprising a monitoring system configured to monitor physical attributes of the electronic goggles to determine the orientation of the electronic goggles.

10. The ride system of claim 7 , comprising a sensor configured to detect the position of the ride passenger within the at least one ride vehicle.

11. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to render the streaming media of the real world environment and the one or more superimposed virtual augmentations to the display at a rate greater than or equal to approximately 30 frames per second (FPS).

12. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to:
receive an indication of a lighting, a contrast, a brightness, or a combination thereof, associated with the real world environment; and
generate the streaming media of the real world environment and the one or more superimposed virtual augmentations adjusted to reflect the lighting, the contrast, the brightness, or the combination thereof, of the real world environment.

13. The ride system of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a first display and a second display and wherein the computer graphics generation system is configured to:
receive an indication of a first viewpoint and a second viewpoint of the ride passenger respectively captured via the camera and an additional camera of the electronic goggles;
generate the streaming media of the real world environment and the one or more superimposed virtual augmentations based at least in part on the first viewpoint and the second viewpoint; and
render the streaming media respectively on each of the first display and the second display, wherein the streaming media rendered on the first display corresponds to the first viewpoint and the streaming media rendered on the second display corresponds to the second viewpoint.

14. A method, comprising:
receiving real-time data via a computer graphics generation system, wherein receiving the real-time data comprises receiving a real-time video data stream from electronic goggles during a cycle of an amusement park ride and data from a position sensor of a ride vehicle of the amusement park ride;
determining a point of view of a ride passenger based at least on the data from the position sensor;
generating a virtualization of a real world environment of an amusement park based at least on the received real-time video data stream and the point of view of the ride passenger;
overlaying an augmented reality (AR) image or a virtual reality (VR) image onto the virtualization of the real world environment; and
transmitting the overlaid AR image or the overlaid VR image along with the virtualization of the real world environment to the electronic goggles during the cycle of the amusement park ride.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein receiving the real-time data comprises receiving data associated with a position of the ride passenger of the amusement park ride, an orientation of the ride passenger, or a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 14 , comprising transmitting the overlaid AR image or the overlaid VR image along with the virtualization of the real world environment based at least in part on a position of the ride passenger of the amusement park ride, an orientation of the ride passenger, the point of view of the ride passenger, a location of the ride vehicle of the amusement park ride, an orientation of the electronic goggles, a predetermined period of time, a recognition of one or more features in the real-time video data stream, or any combination thereof.

17. A method, comprising:
receiving real-time image data via processing circuitry of electronic goggles, wherein receiving the real-time image data comprises receiving a real-time video data stream captured via one or more cameras of the electronic goggles during a cycle of a theme park ride;
determining a point of view of a ride passenger based on data from a position sensor positioned on a ride vehicle in which the ride passenger is situated;
generating a virtualization of a real world environment of the theme park ride based on the received real-time image data and the determined point of view;
overlaying an augmented reality (AR) image or a virtual reality (VR) image onto the virtualization of the real world environment; and
displaying the overlaid AR image or the overlaid VR image along with the virtualization of the real world environment via a display of the elect

Assignees

• Universal City Studios Llc

Inventors

• Blum Steven C
• Mcquillian Brian B

Classifications

• G02B2027/0141

  characterised by the informative content of the display · CPC title

• G02B27/0101

  characterised by optical features (G02B27/0172 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0138

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

• A63G21/00 Primary

  Chutes; Helter-skelters · CPC title

• G06T19/006

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