Snap Inc.

Daekun Kim

Rajan Vaish

Andrés Monroy-Hernández

Ava Robinson

Youjean Cho

Yu Jiang Tham

Lei Zhang

Described are virtual AR interfaces for generating a virtual rotational interface for the purpose of controlling connected IoT devices using the inertial measurement unit (IMU) of a portable electronic device. The IMU control application enables a user of a portable electronic device to activate a virtual rotational interface overlay on a display and adjust a feature of a connected IoT product by rotating a portable electronic device. The device IMU moves a slider on the virtual rotational interface. The IMU control application sends a control signal to the IoT product which executes an action in accordance with the slider position. The virtual rotational interface is presented on the display as a virtual object in an AR environment. The IMU control application detects the device orientation (in the physical environment) and in response presents a corresponding slider element on the virtual rotational interface (in the AR environment).

Virtual AR interfaces for controlling IoT devices using mobile device orientation sensors

A method for detecting full-body gestures by a mobile device includes a host mobile device detecting the tracked body of a co-located participant in a multi-party session. When the participant's tracked body provides a full-body gesture, the host's mobile device recognizes that there is a tracked body providing a full-body gesture. The host mobile device iterates through the list of participants in the multi-party session and finds the closest participant mobile device with respect to the screen-space position of the head of the gesturing participant. The host mobile device then obtains the user ID of the closest participant mobile device and broadcasts the recognized full-body gesture event to all co-located participants in the multi-party session, along with the obtained user ID. Each participant's mobile device may then handle the gesture event as appropriate for the multi-party session. For example, a character or costume may be assigned to a gesturing participant.

Co-located full-body gestures

Multi-player co-located AR experiences are augmented by assigning characters and costumes to respective participants (a.k.a. 'users' of AR-enabled mobile devices) in multi-player AR sessions for storytelling, play acting, and the like. Body tracking technology and augmented reality (AR) software are used to decorate the bodies of the co-located participants with virtual costumes within the context of the multi-player co-located AR experiences. Tracked bodies are distinguished to determine which body belongs to which user and hence which virtual costume belongs to which tracked body so that corresponding costumes may be assigned for display in augmented reality. A host-guest mechanism is used for networked assignment of characters and corresponding costumes in the co-located multi-player AR session. Body tracking technology is used to move the costume with the body as movement of the assigned body is detected.

Character and costume assignment for co-located users

Described are authoring tools for creating interactive AR experiences. The story-authoring application enables a user with little or no programming skills to create an interactive story that includes recording voice commands for advancing to the next scene, inserting and manipulating virtual objects in a mixed-reality environment, and recording a variety of interactions with connected IoT devices. The story creation interface is presented on the display as a virtual object in an AR environment.

Authoring tools for creating interactive AR experiences

A virtual interface application presented in augmented reality (AR) is described for controlling Internet of Things (IoT) products. The virtual interface application enables a user of a portable electronic device to activate a virtual control interface overlay on a display, receive a selection from the user using her hands or feet, and send a control signal to a nearby IoT product which executes an action in accordance with the selection. The virtual control interface is presented on the display as a virtual object in an AR environment. The virtual interface application includes a foot tracking tool for detecting an intersection between the foot location (in the physical environment) and the virtual surface position (in the AR environment). When an intersection is detected, the virtual interface application sends a control signal with instructions to the IoT product.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Monica, CA, United States of America

Daekun Kim