Smooth and jump-free rapid target acquisition

A method for correcting an overlay misalignment between an external camera image generated by an external camera and a system camera image generated by a system camera and to minimize observation of the correction by scaling performance of the correction based on detected movement conditions, said method comprising:

• acquiring a first system camera image generated by the system camera and acquiring a first external camera image generated by the external camera;
• performing a first visual alignment between the first system camera image and the first external camera image, wherein performing the first visual alignment includes generating an overlaid image by projecting at least some content included in the first external camera image on top of corresponding content included in the first system camera image, and wherein the at least some of the content is surrounded by a bounding element in the overlaid image;
• modifying a position of the bounding element in the overlaid image based on a detected movement of one or both of the system camera and the external camera;
• acquiring a second system camera image and acquiring a second external camera image;
• in response to performing a second visual alignment between the second system camera image and the second external camera image, computing an update vector indicating an amount by which the bounding element is to be repositioned to be at a correct position;
• determining an amount of relative movement that the system camera and the external camera are currently experiencing relative to one another;
• and
• based on the determined amount of relative movement, causing the bounding element to progressively transition to the correct position in the overlaid image based on the update vector, wherein a speed by which the bounding element is progressively transitioned is proportional to the determined amount of relative movement.

A head-mounted device (HMD) configured to correct an overlay misalignment between an external camera image and a system camera image and to minimize observation of the correction by scaling performance of the correction based on detected movement conditions, said HMD comprising:

• an HMD camera;
• an HMD inertial measurement unit (IMU);
• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices that store instructions that are executable to cause the one or more processors to:
• display an overlaid image that includes image content generated by the HMD camera and image content generated by an external camera, the overlaid image further including a bounding element surrounding the image content generated by the external camera;
• modify a position of the bounding element in the overlaid image based on a detected movement of one or both of the HMD camera and the external camera, wherein modifying the position is based on IMU data received from the HMD IMU and IMU data received from an external IMU associated with the external camera;
• acquire an HMD camera image from the HMD camera and acquire an external camera image from the external camera;
• in response to performing a visual alignment between the HMD camera image and the external camera image, compute an update vector indicating an amount by which the bounding element is to be moved to be at a correct position;
• based on updated IMU data received from both the HMD IMU and the external IMU, determine an amount of relative movement that the HMD camera and the external camera are currently experiencing relative to one another;
• and
• based on the determined amount of relative movement, cause the bounding element to progressively transition to the correct position in the overlaid image based on the update vector, wherein a speed by which the bounding element is progressively transitioned is proportional to the determined amount of relative movement.