Anchoring virtual images to real world surfaces in augmented reality systems

A computing device, comprising:

• means for capturing an image from a body mounted camera;
• means for capturing spatial data from a body mounted sensor array;
• means for recognizing an object within the captured image;
• means for receiving a first user input selecting a first anchor surface in a captured image, wherein the first anchor surface corresponds to a first surface located in the image;
• means for calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that correspond to the first anchor surface;
• means for displaying a virtual object so the virtual object appears anchored to the selected first anchor surface;
• means for receiving a second input selecting second anchor surface within the captured image that is different from the first anchor surface, wherein the second anchor surface corresponds to a second surface located in the image and the first and second surfaces are different;
• means for calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that corresponds to the second anchor surface;
• and
• means for displaying the virtual object so the virtual object appears to the user to be anchored to the selected second anchor surface and moved from the first anchor surface.

A computing device, comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• capturing an image with a body mounted camera;
• capturing spatial data with a body mounted sensor array;
• recognizing an object within the captured image;
• receiving a first user input selecting a first anchor surface in a captured image, wherein the first anchor surface corresponds to a first surface located in the image;
• calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that correspond to the first anchor surface;
• displaying a virtual object so the virtual object appears anchored to the selected first anchor surface;
• receiving a second input selecting a second anchor surface within the captured image that is different from the first anchor surface, wherein the second anchor surface corresponds to a second surface located in the image and the first and second surfaces are different;
• calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that corresponds to the second anchor surface;
• and
• displaying the virtual object so the virtual object appears to the user to be anchored to the selected second anchor surface and moved from the first anchor surface.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations for rendering virtual images in an augmented reality system, the operations comprising:

• capturing an image with a body mounted camera;
• capturing spatial data with a body mounted sensor array;
• recognizing an object within the captured image;
• receiving a first user input selecting a first anchor surface in a captured image, wherein the first anchor surface corresponds to a first surface located in the image;
• calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that correspond to the first anchor surface;
• displaying a virtual object so the virtual object appears anchored to the selected first anchor surface;
• receiving a second input selecting a second anchor surface within the captured image that is different from the first anchor surface, wherein the second anchor surface corresponds to a second surface located in the image and the first and second surfaces are different;
• calculating parameters including distance and orientation with respect to the body mounted camera that corresponds to the second anchor surface;
• and
• displaying the virtual object so the virtual object appears to the user to be anchored to the selected second anchor surface and moved from the first anchor surface.