Method and apparatus for controlling a discrepant aiming direction of a camera

A head mounted display device comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory having stored instructions operative, when executed by the at least one processor, to cause the head mounted display device to determine an aiming direction of a virtual camera of the head mounted display device when rendering an immersive content in the head mounted display device by:
• obtaining at least one reference direction pointing to a region of interest of the immersive content;
• obtaining an orientation of the head mounted display device, wherein the region of interest is not displayed at the orientation of the head mounted display device;
• determining parameters representative of a function, according to the at least one reference direction, the function being representative of a difference between the aiming direction of the virtual camera and the orientation of the head mounted display device;
• when the reference direction and the orientation of the head mounted display device are different, determining a new aiming direction of the virtual camera by applying the function on the orientation of the head mounted display device to create a difference between the orientation of the head mounted display device and the new aiming direction of the virtual camera, wherein the new aiming direction is between the reference direction and the orientation of the head mounted display device and applying the function reduces the difference as the orientation approaches the reference direction;
• and
• rotating the aiming direction of the virtual camera to the new aiming direction to display visual feedback including an image from the virtual camera at the new aiming direction that is different from the orientation of the head mounted display device.

A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to determine an aiming direction of a virtual camera of a head mounted display device when rendering an immersive content in the head mounted display device by:

• obtaining at least one reference direction pointing to a region of interest of the immersive content;
• obtaining an orientation of the head mounted display device;
• determining parameters representative of a function, according to the at least one reference direction, the function representing a difference between an aiming direction of the virtual camera and the orientation of the head mounted display device;
• when the reference direction and orientation of the head mounted display device are different, determining a new aiming direction of the virtual camera by applying the function on the orientation of the head mounted display device to create a difference between the orientation of the head mounted display device and the new aiming direction of the virtual camera;
• and
• rotating the aiming direction of the virtual camera to the new aiming direction to display visual feedback from the virtual camera at the new aiming direction that is different from the orientation of the head mounted display device.