Relative pose data augmentation of tracked devices in virtual environments

Abstract

This invention relates to tracking of user-worn and hand-held devices with respect to each other, in circumstances where there are two or more users interacting in the same share space. It extends conventional global and body-relative approaches to 'cooperatively' estimate the relative poses between all useful combinations of user-worn tracked devices such as HMDs and hand-held controllers worn (or held) by multiple users. For example, a first user's HMD estimates its absolute global pose in the coordinate frame associated with the externally-mounted devices, as well as its relative pose with respect to all other HMDs, hand-held controllers, and other user held/worn tracked devices in the environment. In this way, all HMDs (or as many as appropriate) are tracked with respect to each other, all HMDs are tracked with respect to all hand-held controllers, and all hand-held controllers are tracked with respect to all other hand-held controllers.