US 8,912,979 B1Granted

Virtual window in head-mounted display

AssigneeGoogle Inc.

InventorLuis Ricardo Prada Gomez

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Abstract

Methods and systems involving a virtual window in a head-mounted display (HMD) are disclosed herein. An exemplary system may be configured to: (i) receive head-movement data that is indicative of head movement; (ii) cause an HMD to operate in a first mode in which the HMD is configured to: (a) simultaneously provide a virtual window and a physical-world view in the HMD; (b) display, in the virtual window, a portion of a media item that corresponds to a field of view; (c) determine movement of the field of view; and (d) update the portion of the media item that is displayed in the virtual window; (iii) receive mode-switching input data and responsively cause the HMD to switch between the first mode and a second mode; and (iv) responsive to the mode-switching input data, cause the HMD to operate in the second mode.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium;
and
program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor to:
receive head-movement data that is indicative of head movement;
cause a head-mountable display (HMD) to operate in a first mode in which the HMD is configured to:
(a) simultaneously provide a virtual window in the HMD and a physical-world view;
(b) display, in the virtual window, a portion of a media item that corresponds to a field of view, wherein the field of view is moveable in a substantially continual manner throughout the media item;
(c) determine, based on the head-movement data, movement of the field of view;
and
(d) update the portion of the media item that is displayed in the virtual window according to the determined movement of the field of view;
and
receive mode-switching input data and responsively cause the HMD to switch from the first mode to operate in a second mode in which the HMD is configured to:
(e) display a selection icon and a specific portion of the media item in the virtual window, wherein the specific portion of the media item that is displayed corresponds to the field of view at or near receipt of the mode-switching input data, and wherein the virtual window is locked to the specific portion of the media item in response to the receipt of the mode-switching input data;
(f) determine, based on the head-movement data, movement of the selection icon within the virtual window;
and
(g) move the selection icon as determined within the virtual window while the specific portion of the media item is displayed.

13 more elements

A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a wearable computer, head-movement data that is indicative of head movement;
causing a head-mountable display (HMD) to operate in a first mode by:
(a) simultaneously providing a virtual window in the HMD and a physical-world view;
(b) displaying a portion of a media item in the virtual window, wherein the portion of the media item that is displayed corresponds to a field of view, wherein the field of view is moveable in a substantially continual manner throughout the media item;
(c) using the head-movement data as a basis for determining movement of the field of view within the media item;
and
(d) updating the portion of the media item that is displayed in the virtual window according to the determined movement of the field of view;
receiving, by the wearable computer, mode-switching input data and responsively causing the HMD to switch from operation in the first mode to operation in a second mode by:
(e) causing a selection icon and a specific portion of the media item to be displayed in the virtual window, wherein the specific portion of the media item that is displayed corresponds to the field of view at or near receipt of the mode-switching input data, and wherein the virtual window is locked to the specific portion of the media item in response to the receipt of the mode-switching input data;
(f) determining, based on the head-movement data, movement of the selection icon within the virtual window;
and
(g) moving the selection icon as determined within the virtual window while displayed the specific portion of the media item.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/429,072Filed 23 Mar 2012 · us provisional application
Priority: 14 Jul 2011
Granted: 16 Dec 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G06F 3/012
Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality: head tracking input arrangements
G02B 27/017
Head-up displays: head mounted
G09G 3/001
Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes: using specific devices not…
G02B 2027/0178
Head mounted: eyeglass type