Method and system for receiving gesture input via virtual control objects

A computer-implemented method for implementing a virtual control in a virtual reality environment, the method comprising:

• receiving data indicating a physical environment state;
• processing, by a processor, the data indicating the physical environment state to determine a physical position of a physical object;
• determining, by the processor, based on the physical position of the physical object, at least one virtual anchor position within a virtual environment state;
• predefining, by virtual environment state management circuitry, a fixed virtual coordinate position of a virtual control in the virtual environment state relative to the virtual anchor position;
• mapping, by the virtual environment state management circuitry, the fixed virtual coordinate position to a physical position of the control in a physical environment corresponding to the physical environment state;
• determining, by the virtual environment state management circuitry, a view angle of at least one user;
• and
• only in response to determining that the view angle includes an area of a physical environment encompassing the fixed virtual coordinate position predefined by the virtual environment state management circuitry, instructing a display device configured to display the virtual environment state to display the virtual environment state such that the virtual control is displayed at the fixed virtual coordinate position.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a virtual control in a virtual reality environment, by at least:

• receiving data indicating a physical environment state;
• processing, by a processor, the data indicating the physical environment state to determine a physical position of a physical object;
• determining, by the processor, based on the physical position of the physical object, at least one virtual anchor position within a virtual environment state;
• predefining, by virtual environment state management circuitry, a fixed virtual coordinate position of a virtual control in the virtual environment state relative to the virtual anchor position;
• mapping, by the virtual environment state management circuitry, the fixed virtual coordinate position to a physical position of the control in a physical environment corresponding to the physical environment state;
• determining, by the virtual environment state management circuitry, a view angle of at least one user;
• and
• only in response to determining that the view angle includes an area of a physical environment encompassing the fixed virtual coordinate position predefined by the virtual environment state management circuitry, instructing a display device configured to display the virtual environment state to display the virtual environment state such that the virtual control is displayed at the fixed virtual coordinate position.

A system for providing a virtual reality environment, the system comprising:

• circuitry configured to output a virtual environment state provided by virtual environment state management circuitry to at least one display device, the virtual environment state including one or more virtual controls, wherein the virtual environment state comprises a virtual coordinate system for indicating locations of virtual objects within the virtual environment state;
• circuitry configured to receive data indicating a physical environment state from at least one sensor, wherein the physical environment state comprises a physical coordinate system for indicating locations of physical objects within the physical environment state;
• physical environment state management circuitry configured to determine a physical anchor position at a particular physical coordinate position within the physical coordinate system using the data indicating the physical environment state;
• and
• the virtual environment state management circuitry configured to:
• generate a mapping between a set of virtual coordinate positions and a set of physical coordinate positions;
• determine, based on the mapping, a particular virtual coordinate position corresponding to the particular physical coordinate position;
• place a virtual control anchor at the particular virtual coordinate position;
• determine fixed virtual coordinate positions for the one or more virtual controls according to respective virtual control positioning offsets by applying the virtual control positioning offset to the particular virtual coordinate position of the virtual control anchor;
• determine a view angle of at least one user;
• and
• only in response to determining that the view angle corresponds to an area of a physical environment corresponding to a subset of the fixed virtual coordinate positions of the one or more virtual controls, place the respective one or more virtual controls within the virtual environment state at the corresponding fixed virtual coordinate positions.