Systems and Methods for Illuminating Physical Space with Shadows of Virtual Objects

Number: 20210374982
Published: 2021-12-02
Filed: 2020-05-27
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Velinov; Zdravko V., Mitchell; Kenneth John, Hager, IV; Joseph G.
CPC: G06T7/507; G06T15/20; G06T11/00; G06T7/80; G06T15/60
Verdict: Low Notable software
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Rendering technique projecting virtual-object shadows into physical space.

Abstract

A system can be used in conjunction with a display configured to display an augmented reality (AR) environment including a virtual object placed in a real environment, the virtual object having a virtual location in the AR environment. The system includes a projector, a memory storing a software code, and a hardware processor configured to execute the software code to: determine a projector location of the projector in the real environment; generate a shadow projection in the real environment, the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object and being based on the virtual location of the virtual object and the projector location; and project, using the projector, a light pattern in the real environment, the light pattern including a light projection and the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object.

Background

BACKGROUND

Augmented reality (AR) environments merge virtual objects or characters with real objects in a way that can, in principle, provide an immersive interactive experience to a user. AR environments can augment a real environment, i.e., a user can see the real environment through a display or lens with virtual objects overlaid or projected thereon. A wide range of devices and image compositing technologies aim to bring virtual objects into the real world. Mobile, stationary, and head-mounted displays (HMDs) and projectors were previously used to display virtual objects with real objects. However, to sustain the illusion in the user's mind that virtual objects are indeed present, virtual objects should appear to affect lighting in the real environment much as if they were real objects.

Conventional approaches to generating AR environments rely on additive compositing which fails to account for illumination masking phenomena, such as shadows and filtering caused by opaque and partially opaque virtual objects that affect the real world lighting. Conventional approaches also suffer from lighting mismatch between virtual shadows and the real environment when displayed as part of the AR environment. Typically, the AR environment needs to be significantly brighter than the real environment to produce the illusion of shadows in relative sense.

In a related aspect, projectors can be employed to composite effects onto real objects in the real environment. Cer

Claims

1. A system comprising: a projector; a display; a memory storing a software code; a hardware processor configured to execute the software code to: determine a projector location of the projector in a real environment; display, on the display, an augmented reality (AR) environment including a virtual object placed in the real environment, the virtual object having a virtual location in the AR environment; generate a shadow projection in the real environment, the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object and being based on the virtual location of the virtual object and the projector location; and project, using the projector, a light pattern in the real environment, the light pattern including a light projection and the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object; wherein displaying the AR environment further displays the light pattern including the light projection and the shadow projection as part of the real environment. || 11. A system for use in conjunction with a display configured to display an augmented reality (AR) environment including a virtual object placed in a real environment, the virtual object having a virtual location in the AR environment, the system comprising: a projector; a memory storing a software code; a hardware processor configured to execute the software code to: determine a projector location of the projector in the real environment; generate a shadow projection in the real environment, the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object and being based on the virtual location of the virtual object and the projector location; and project, using the projector, a light pattern in the real environment, the light pattern including a light projection and the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object. || 16. A method for use in conjunction with a display displaying an augmented reality (AR) environment including a virtual object placed in a real environment, the virtual object having a virtual location in the AR environment, the method comprising: determining a projector location of a projector in the real environment; generating a shadow projection in the real environment, the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object and being based on the virtual location of the virtual object and the projector location; and projecting, using the projector, a light pattern in the real environment, the light pattern including a light projection and the shadow projection corresponding to the virtual object.