An embodiment of a vision system wearable by a user provides enhanced awareness of activities in a surrounding scene. A helmet permits a direct view of portions of the scene with unaided, natural vision. System components include a processing and control unit, multiple cameras positioned along an outside surface of the helmet, sensors providing signals indicative of velocity or acceleration, and a pair of displays. Based on image frames derived from the cameras, the processing and control unit provides images for presentation on the displays based on programmably adjustable fields of view, enabling simultaneous viewing on the displays of selectable fields of view while the user continues to receive direct views of the scene with unaided, natural vision. In an embodiment of a related method, frames of video data from different fields of view are monitored for detection of a potential threat based on a criterion for classifying an object.

A combined video of a scene may be generated for applications such as virtual reality or augmented reality. In one method, a data store may store video data with a first portion having a first importance metric, and a second portion having a second importance metric, denoting that viewing of the first portion is more likely and/or preferential to viewing of the second portion. The subset may be retrieved and used to generate viewpoint video from a virtual viewpoint corresponding to a viewer's viewpoint. The viewpoint video may be displayed on a display device. One of storing the video data, retrieving the subset, and using the subset to generate the viewpoint video may include, based on the difference between the first and second importance metrics, expediting and/or enhancing performance of the step for the first portion, relative to the second portion.

Systems and methods provide for providing a stereoscopic six-degree of freedom viewing experience with a monoscopic 360-degree video are provided. A monoscopic 360-degree video of a subject scene can be preprocessed by analyzing each frame to recover a three-dimensional geometric representation of the subject scene, and further recover a camera motion path that includes various parameters associated with the camera, such as orientation, translational movement, and the like, as evidenced by the recording. Utilizing the recovered three-dimensional geometric representation of the subject scene and recovered camera motion path, a dense three-dimensional geometric representation of the subject scene is generated utilizing random assignment and propagation operations. Once preprocessing is complete, the processed video can be provided for stereoscopic display via a device, such as a head-mounted display. As user motion data is detected and received, novel viewpoints can be stereoscopically synthesized for presentation to the user in real time, so as to provide an immersive virtual reality experience to the user based on the original monoscopic 360-degree video and the user's detected movement(s).

Disclosed is a light guiding valve apparatus comprising an optical valve, a two dimensional light source array and a focusing optic for providing large area collimated illumination from localized light sources. A stepped waveguide may be a stepped structure, in which the steps may be extraction features optically hidden to guided light, propagating in a first forward direction. Returning light propagating in a second backward direction may be refracted, diffracted, or reflected by the features to provide discrete illumination beams exiting from the top surface of the waveguide. A two dimensional array of viewing windows may be produced. Such controlled illumination may provide for efficient, multi-user autostereoscopic displays with wide viewing freedom and low cross talk and near-eye displays that are substantially transparent.

A system and/or method that uses a body posture of a user to determine and modulate a content mode of a virtual reality system. The content mode may define the manner in which virtual reality content is presented to the user and/or the manner in which the user interacts with the virtual reality content. The user's body posture and/or a change in body posture may cause the content mode and/or the virtual reality content to change accordingly. In some implementations, primary content may be presented to the user according to a first content mode in response to the user sitting. Secondary virtual reality content may be presented to the user according to the second content mode in response to the user standing. As such, a user may initiate a change in the virtual reality content and/or the content mode by standing from a sitting posture and/or sitting from a standing posture.

A method of constructing a channel mask for an autostereoscopic display, the display including an electronically controlled screen covered by a parallax filter device that includes a refractive medium and is configured to obscure certain areas on the screen for a left eye of a viewer and to obscure certain other areas on the screen for a right eye of the viewer, the channel mask being a two-dimensional geometric object that permits to assign to each point on the screen one of a number of viewing positions of an eye of the viewer, the method including the step of constructing the channel mask by tracing light rays that propagate from selected points on the screen and are refracted at the parallax filter device.

A system and/or method that uses a body posture of a user to determine and modulate a content mode of a virtual reality system. The content mode may define the manner in which virtual reality content is presented to the user and/or the manner in which the user interacts with the virtual reality content. The user's body posture and/or a change in body posture may cause the content mode and/or the virtual reality content to change accordingly. In some implementations, primary content may be presented to the user according to a first content mode in response to the user sitting. Secondary virtual reality content may be presented to the user according to the second content mode in response to the user standing. As such, a user may initiate a change in the virtual reality content and/or the content mode by standing from a sitting posture and/or sitting from a standing posture.

A hand tool apparatus for cleaning pool tile and plaster pool stains. The apparatus is made of chemical resistant plastics and a hydro turbine. The apparatus body houses two ports. One port is for the water intake line. A second port is for the suction line coming from the pool pump system. The suction line from the pool pump system then connects to the invention (hand held tool). The invention houses a hydro turbine. A detachable abrasion member is mounted at the end of the turbine shaft. The hydro turbine is activated by using pool suction from the pool pump system. A 3-way valve controls the water intake flow which in turn controls the desired RPM's (revolutions per minute). The combination of RPM's and abrasion member results in removal of unwanted calcium buildup on swimming pool tile or swimming pool plaster.

There is disclosed a system and method for streaming of volumetric three-dimensional video content. The system includes a separate rendering server and display device such that the rendering server receives pose and motion data from the mobile device and generates completed frames of video for the mobile device. The frames of video are transmitted to the mobile device for display. Predictive algorithms enable the rendering server to predict display device pose from frame-to-frame to thereby reduce overall latency in communications between the rendering server and display device.

A Predictive, Foveated Virtual Reality System may capture views of the world around a user using multiple resolutions. The Predictive, Foveated Virtual Reality System may include one or more cameras configured to capture lower resolution image data for a peripheral field of view while capturing higher resolution image data for a narrow field of view corresponding to a user's line of sight. Additionally, the Predictive, Foveated Virtual Reality System may also include one or more sensors or other mechanisms, such as gaze tracking modules or accelerometers, to detect or track motion. A Predictive, Foveated Virtual Reality System may also predict, based on a user's head and eye motion, the user's future line of sight and may capture image data corresponding to a predicted line of sight. When the user subsequently looks in that direction the system may display the previously captured (and augmented) view.