Environmental interrupt in a head-mounted display and utilization of non field of view real estate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9818230-B2
Application number	US-201615239382-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2016
Priority date	Jan 25, 2014
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A wearable computing device includes a head-mounted display (HMD) that generates a virtual reality environment. Through the generation and tracking of positional data, a the virtual environment may be interrupted or paused. Upon pausing the environment, a user may access a number of ancillary menus and controls not otherwise available during normal operation of the virtual environment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for executing a function within a virtual environment, the method comprising:
storing information in memory regarding at least one control setting that associates a function with a change in position of a head-mounted display,
calibrating a neutral position for the head-mounted display, wherein the calibration is performed using one or more sensors,
monitoring positional data associated with the head-mounted display, wherein the monitored positional data is obtained via the one or more sensors,
evaluating the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display against the at least one control setting specifying an amount of positional change and a predetermined period of time, and
executing the function associated with the at least one control setting when the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display is identified as exceeding the specified amount of positional change for at least the predetermined period of time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors used for calibrating the neutral position includes three-dimensional axis gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein calibrating the neutral position for the head-mounted display comprises determining a start position along a y-axis.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein calibrating the neutral position for the head-mounted display comprises determining a start position along an x-axis.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein calibrating the neutral position for the head-mounted display comprises determining a start position along both a y-axis and an x-axis.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executed function includes interrupting a virtual environment associated with the head-mounted display by pausing the environment.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating corresponding menu functionalities in a vision area for a user to view with the head-mounted display based on the executed function.

8. A system for executing a function within a virtual environment, the system comprising:
memory that stores information regarding at least one control setting that associates a function with a change in position of a head-mounted display;
one or more sensors that:
calibrates a neutral position for the head-mounted display, and
monitors positional data associated with the head-mounted display; and

a processor that executes instructions stored in memory to:
evaluate the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display against the at least one control setting specifying an amount of positional change and a predetermined period of time, and
execute the function associated with the at least one control setting when the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display is identified as exceeding the specified amount of positional change for at least the predetermined period of time.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more sensors used for calibrating the neutral position includes three-dimensional axis gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sensors calibrate the neutral position for the head-mounted display by determining a start position along a y-axis.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sensors calibrate the neutral position for the head-mounted display by determining a start position along an x-axis.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sensors calibrate the neutral position for the head-mounted display by determining a start position along both a y-axis and an x-axis.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the executed function includes interrupting a virtual environment associated with the head-mounted display by pausing the environment.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor further executes instructions to generate corresponding menu functionalities in a vision area for a user to view with the head-mounted display based on the executed function.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for executing a function within a virtual environment, the method comprising:
storing information in memory regarding at least one control setting that associates a function with a change in position of a head-mounted display,
calibrating a neutral position for the head-mounted display, wherein the calibration is performed using one or more sensors,
monitoring positional data associated with the head-mounted display, wherein the monitored positional data is obtained via the one or more sensors,
evaluating the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display against the at least one control setting specifying an amount of positional change and a predetermined period of time, and
executing the function associated with the at least one control setting when the monitored positional data of the head-mounted display is identified as exceeding the specified amount of positional change for at least the predetermined period of time.

Assignees

• Sony Interactive Entertainment America Llc

Inventors

• Moravetz Justin

Classifications

• G02B2027/0187

  slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye · CPC title

• G09G2370/12

  Use of DVI or HDMI protocol in interfaces along the display data pipeline · CPC title

• G06F3/011

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

• G09G2320/08

  Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal · CPC title

• G09G3/006

  Electronic inspection or testing of displays and display drivers, e.g. of LED or LCD displays (testing individual LED's G01R31/2635; testing lamps G01R31/44; testing of optical features of LCD displays G02F1/1309) · CPC title