Virtual reality headset with physical object representation

A virtual reality system comprising:

• a plurality of sets of wavelength emitting devices, different object located in a physical environment, and each set having a device from among the wavelength emitting devices to emit a unique pattern that corresponds to a physical object on which the device is disposed;
• a virtual reality headset comprising:
• a display screen to display a virtual environment, and
• an imaging device to capture, while the display screen displays the virtual environment, an image of a physical environment;
• and
• a controller to:
• detect, in the image captured by the imaging device, the unique pattern,
• determine, in response to detecting a match between the unique pattern in the image and a known pattern corresponding to the physical object, a location of the device in the physical environment, and
• trigger, in response to determining the location of the device, the display screen to render a virtual representation of the physical object at a location in the virtual environment that corresponds to a location of the physical object in the physical environment.

A method of operating a virtual reality system comprising:

• disposing a wavelength emitting device on a physical object in a physical environment, the wavelength emitting device emitting a unique pattern corresponding to the physical object on which it the wavelength emitting device is disposed;
• displaying, by a virtual reality headset, a virtual environment on a display screen of the virtual reality headset;
• capturing, by an imaging device while the display screen displays the virtual environment, an image of the physical environment;
• detecting, by a controller, the unique pattern in the image captured by the imaging device;
• determining, by the controller in response to detecting a match between the unique pattern in the image and a known pattern corresponding to the physical object, a location of the wavelength emitting device in the physical environment;
• and
• trigger, in response to determining the location of the device, the display screen to render a virtual representation of the physical object at a location in the virtual environment that corresponds to a location of the physical object in the physical environment.