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US 8,941,654 B2Granted
Virtual flashlight for real-time scene illumination and discovery
AssigneeSquare Enix Co., Ltd.
InventorsJames R. Geraci, Arun Mehta, Alexander Chia, Erek Speed
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One object of the present invention is to provide a system that adopts a global illumination technique to seamlessly span light across a real world and a virtual world. The first aspect of the present invention is directed to a system for producing three dimensional images. The system includes a magnetic field sensor; a first 6DOF magnetic tracker; a flashlight which has a second 6DOF magnetic tracker; a monitor; an analyzer; and a rendering apparatus.
Claims20
A system for producing three dimensional images, the system comprises:
- a magnetic field base-station;
- a first 6DOF magnetic tracker for measuring a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field base-station and wirelessly communicating with the magnetic field base-station, the first 6DOF magnetic tracker mounted on a player's head and configured to track the player's head in a real world space;
- a flashlight which has a second 6DOF magnetic tracker and which emits real photons in the real world space, the second 6DOF magnetic tracker being capable of measuring a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field base-station and wirelessly communicating with the magnetic field base-station, the second 6DOF magnetic tracker configured to track the flashlight in the real world space;
- a monitor for showing an image;
- an analyzer that receives data from the magnetic field base-station, wherein the analyzer is configured to calculate a position and an orientation of the first 6DOF magnetic tracker and the second 6DOF magnetic tracker for tracking the player's head and the flashlight in the real world space;
- a rendering apparatus for calculating the image and projecting a virtual light comprising virtual photons in the image, the virtual photons being projected consistent with the real photons emitted from the flashlight in the real world space and based on the position and orientation of the second 6DOF magnetic tracker in the real world space, the image being calculated consistent with a viewpoint of the player's head that is calculated based on the position and the orientation of the first 6DOF magnetic tracker in the real world space.
3 more elements
A display system for producing virtual images, the display system comprising:
- a receiver that receives a first signal corresponding to a player in a real word space, and receives a second signal corresponding to a position of a flashlight in the real world space;
- a processor that calculates a viewpoint and a view vector of the player in the real world space based on the first signal, and calculates a position and a direction of the flashlight in the real world space;
- a monitor that displays a virtual image calculated by the processor,
- wherein the processor calculates the virtual image based on the viewpoint and the view vector of the player in the real world space,
- the processor calculates an area where a light from the flashlight in the real world space spreads in the virtual image based on the position and the direction of the flashlight in the real world space, and
- the processor calculates a virtual light in the image that illuminates the area in the virtual image as an extension of the light from the flashlight in the real world space to seamlessly span the light from the flashlight in the real world space into the virtual image.
3 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium including an executable program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a first signal corresponding to a player in a real word space;
- receiving a second signal corresponding to a position of a flashlight in the real world space;
- calculating a viewpoint and a view vector of the player in the real world space based on the first signal;
- calculating a position and a direction of the flashlight in the real world space;
- calculating a virtual image based on the viewpoint and the view vector of the player in the real world space;
- calculating an area where a light from the flashlight in the real world space spreads in the virtual image based on the position and the direction of the flashlight in the real world space;
- calculating a virtual light in the image that illuminates the area in the virtual image as an extension of the light from the flashlight in the real world space to seamlessly span the light from the flashlight in the real world space into the virtual image;
- and
- displaying the virtual image including the virtual light on a monitor.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.