Method and apparatus for generating a virtual environment for controlling one or more electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9773345-B2
Application number	US-201213397259-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2012
Priority date	Feb 15, 2012
Publication date	Sep 26, 2017
Grant date	Sep 26, 2017

Abstract

An approach is provided for generating a virtual environment for controlling one or more electronic devices. A mapping platform causes, at least in part, a rendering of a user interface depicting a virtual environment comprising one or more representations of one or more devices, one or more accessory devices associated with the one or more devices, or a combination thereof. The mapping platform then determines one or more interactions with the user interface, the virtual environment, the one or more representations, or a combination thereof. Further, the mapping platform processes and/or facilitates a processing of the one or more interactions to cause, at least in part, a controlling of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by an apparatus via a data network, a wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, data associated with at least one location and at least one status of one or more devices, one or more accessory devices associated with the one or more devices, or a combination thereof that are located within an interior space of a real-world environment, wherein the apparatus is located outside of the interior space;
processing, by the apparatus, one or more images of the interior space of the real-world environment to initiate a construction of a virtual environment representing the interior space;
initiating, by the apparatus, a rendering of a user interface geographically accurately depicting one or more representations of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof within the virtual environment based on the at least one location within the interior space;
initiating, by the apparatus, a rendering of one or more representations of at least a part of one or more control surfaces associated with the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof in the user interface;
determining, by the apparatus, one or more interactions with the user interface, the virtual environment, the one or more representations, or a combination thereof; and
processing, by the apparatus, the one or more interactions to initiate a controlling in the real-world environment of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof based on a control represented through the one or more control surfaces.

2. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining one or more locations of at least one user in the real-world environment; and
determining a view of the virtual environment, a portion of the virtual environment, or a combination thereof rendered in the user interface based, at least in part, on the one or more locations of the at least one user,
wherein the at least one location includes geometric coordinates of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof.

3. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the one or more images of the interior space of the real-world environment to determine the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, the at least one location, or a combination thereof,
wherein the one or more interactions on the user interface interact with one or more of the control surfaces associated with the one or more accessory devices and remotely control the one or more devices.

4. A method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more devices and the one or more accessory devices is an electronic device, and wherein the at least one location is determined using an indoor geographic information system.

5. A method of claim 1 ,
wherein the data associated with the at least one location and at least one status is based on metadata associated with the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof.

6. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the one or more interactions with respect to at least one user that (a) is located within the real-world; (b) has a remote access to the user interface and the virtual environment; or (c) a combination thereof,
wherein the apparatus is a server communicating with the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof via the data network, the wireless communication network, or a combination thereof.

7. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the one or more representations based, at least in part, on one or more substantially physically accurate models, one or more abstract models, or a combination thereof of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof,
wherein the one or more representations are received from one or more device manufacturers via a communication network, and
wherein the interior space is a room, and the apparatus is located in another room.

8. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the controlling in the real-world environment of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof to play media content thereon;
initiating a rendering of the media content on at least one device of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof simultaneously with a rendering of the user interface including the at least one device rendering the media content,
wherein the user interface is rendered on a device outside of the interior space.

9. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the status information associated with the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof; and
initiating a rendering of the one or more representations based, at least in part, on the status information,
wherein the status information includes an on or off device status, a video or television program playing status, or a combination thereof.

10. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating the virtual environment to represent the interior space using one or more three-dimensional point cloud models, cylindrical projection models, a manual input of mapping models, or a combination thereof.

11. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:
receive, via a data network, a wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, data associated with at least one location and at least one status of one or more devices, one or more accessory devices associated with the one or more devices, or a combination thereof that are located within an interior space of a real-world environment, wherein the apparatus is located outside of the interior space;
process one or more images of the interior space of the real-world environment to initiate a construction of a virtual environment representing the interior space;
initiate a rendering of a user interface geographically accurately depicting one or more representations of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof within the virtual environment based on the at least one location within the interior space,
initiate a rendering of one or more representations of at least a part of one or more control surfaces associated with the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof in the user interface,
determine one or more interactions with the user interface, the virtual environment, the one or more representations, or a combination thereof, and
process the one or more interactions to initiate a controlling in the real-world environment of the one or more devices, the one or more accessory devices, or a combination thereof based on a control represented through the one or more control surfaces.

12. An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
determine one or more locations of at least one user in the real-world environment, and
determine a view of the virtual environment, a portion of the virtual environment, or a combination thereof rendered in the user interface based, at least in part, on the one or more locations of the at least one user.

13. An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
process one or more images of the

Assignees

• Stirbu Vlad Alexandru
• Murphy David Joseph
• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Stirbu Vlad Alexandru
• Murphy David Joseph

Classifications

• G06F3/011

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

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• G06F3/04815

  Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional [3D], e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object · CPC title

• G06T19/00 Primary

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