Camera based safety mechanisms for users of head mounted displays

A method, comprising:

• receiving interactive scenes of a game at a head mounted display (HMD) for rendering on a display screen of the HMD, the game being executed on a client device, the HMD when worn by a user is configured to block a view to a real-world environment, data for the interactive scenes being communicated by the client device to the HMD using wireless communication;
• capturing images of an interaction space of a real-world environment in a vicinity of the user using a forward facing camera coupled to the HMD, the images being captured while the user is interacting with the game that is providing the interactive scenes;
• forwarding the images to the client device for processing to determine coordinates of the HMD in the interaction space, wherein the coordinates identify a current position of the HMD and of the user wearing the HMD;
• capturing additional images of the interaction space of the real-world environment, the additional images forwarded to the client device for evaluating a change in one or more coordinates of the HMD during execution of the game, wherein the change in the coordinates identifies movement of the user in the interaction space of the real-world environment;
• and
• receiving a warning signal from the client device for rendering on the display portion of the HMD, when it is determined that the user is approaching a boundary of the interaction space, the warning signal is indicative of proximity of the user to the boundary of the interaction space, wherein the warning signal received from the client device includes an image of an outline representing the boundary of the interaction space for rendering with at least a part of the interactive scenes of the game,
• wherein operations of the method are performed by a processor of the HMD.