Depth-assigned content for depth-enhanced virtual reality images

A method for presenting a series of renderings of a depth-enhanced virtual reality image, comprising:

• at a processor, receiving a depth-enhanced virtual reality image comprising a plurality of elements having different depth values;
• at the processor, receiving at least one depth-assigned content item, each depth-assigned content item being associated with the depth-enhanced virtual reality image and being assigned to a content item depth value;
• at the processor, receiving a predefined sequence of display depths for rendering of the depth-enhanced virtual reality image, wherein, for each display depth in the sequence, at least a first one of the elements has a depth that is closer to the display depth than the depth of at least a second one of the elements;
• and
• at an image rendering component, successively presenting the depth-enhanced virtual reality image at each display depth in the sequence;
• wherein successively presenting the depth-enhanced virtual reality image at each display depth in the sequence comprises, for each display depth in the sequence:
• at the processor, determining whether to include each depth-assigned content item in rendering the depth-enhanced virtual reality image, based on a determination as to whether the depth value for each depth-assigned content item falls within a predetermined tolerance value of the display depth;
• at an image rendering component, rendering the depth-enhanced picture so that the first element is more in focus than the second element;
• at the image rendering component:
• responsive to the determination indicating that at least one depth-assigned content item should be included, including the at least one depth-assigned content item in the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• and
• responsive to the determination indicating that no depth-assigned content item should be included, omitting the at least one depth-assigned content item from the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• and
• outputting the rendered virtual reality image at an output device.

A computer program product for manipulating depth-assigned content associated with a depth-enhanced virtual reality image, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• computer program code, encoded on the medium, configured to cause at least one processor to perform the steps of:
• receiving a depth-enhanced virtual reality image comprising a plurality of elements having different depth values;
• receiving a depth-assigned content item, the depth-assigned content item being associated with the depth-enhanced virtual reality image and being assigned to a first depth value;
• determining a focus depth for rendering of the depth-enhanced virtual reality image, wherein at least a first one of the elements has a depth that is closer to the focus depth than the depth of at least a second one of the elements;
• determining whether to include the depth-assigned content item in rendering the depth-enhanced virtual reality image based on a determination as to whether the first depth value falls within a predetermined tolerance value of the determined focus depth;
• rendering the depth-enhanced virtual reality image so that the first element is more in focus than the second element;
• responsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should be included, including the depth-assigned content item in the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• responsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should not be included, omitting the depth-assigned content item from the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• and
• causing an output device to output the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image.

A system for manipulating depth-assigned content associated with a depth-enhanced virtual reality image, comprising:

• a processor, configured to:
• receive a depth-enhanced virtual reality image comprising a plurality of elements having different depth values;
• receive a depth-assigned content item, the depth-assigned content item being associated with the depth-enhanced virtual reality image and being assigned to a first depth value;
• determine a focus depth for rendering of the depth-enhanced virtual reality image, wherein at least a first one of the elements has a depth that is closer to the focus depth than the depth of at least a second one of the elements;
• and
• determine whether to include the depth-assigned content item in rendering the depth-enhanced virtual reality image based on a determination as to whether the first depth value falls within a predetermined tolerance value of the determined focus depth;
• an image renderer, communicatively coupled to the processor, configured to:
• render the depth-enhanced virtual reality image so that the first element is more in focus than the second element;
• responsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should be included, include the depth-assigned content item in the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• and
• responsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should not be included, omit the depth-assigned content item from the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image;
• and
• an output device, communicatively coupled to the image rendered, configured to output the rendered depth-enhanced virtual reality image.