Selectively alerting users of real objects in a virtual environment

Abstract

A computer-implemented technique is described herein for discriminatively apprising the user of the existence of some, but not necessarily all, physical objects in a physical environment in the course of the user's interaction with a virtual environment. In operation, the technique allows the user to selectively identify one or more objects-of-interest, such as people, walls, computing devices, etc. The technique then uses a scene analysis component to automatically detect the presence of the selected objects-of-interest in the physical environment, while the user interacts with the virtual environment. The technique provides alert information which notifies the user of the existence of any objects-of-interest that it detects. By virtue of the above-summarized strategy, the technique can apprise the user of objects-of-interest in the user's vicinity without cluttering the user's virtual experience with extraneous information pertaining to the physical environment.