System and Method for Assisting a User in Remaining in a Selected Area While the User is in a Virtual Reality Environment

摘要

A method and apparatus is disclosed for assisting a user, wearing a head mounted display (HMD) that covers a user's field of vision and has a tracker providing information regarding the position and orientation of the HMD, in locating a physical controller located on a physical base station. A processor causes the HMD to display a virtual world, including a virtual representation of the physical base station and physical controller along with a virtual hand that helps guide the user to the physical base station to allow the user to pick up the physical controller. Another embodiment allows an area in the physical world to be defined within which the user should remain, for example to avoid physical obstacles. The processor causes the HMD to display a warning, such as a virtual fence, to alert the user if the user approaches to within a preselected distance of the boundary.

主权项

1. A method of assisting a user wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) in remaining within a selected area of the physical world, the user holding a handheld controller having a controller tracker which provides information regarding a position of the handheld controller, the method comprising:
receiving, by a processor as an input, a definition of a boundary of the selected area; determining, by the processor, the position of the handheld controller in the physical world using information from the controller tracker; generating and outputting, by the processor, instructions to the HMD to display on the HMD a virtual world; determining, by the processor, from the position of the handheld controller that the handheld controller is within a first preselected distance from the boundary; generating and outputting, by the processor, instructions to the HMD to display on the HMD a first visual warning in the virtual world.