Abstract:
An occlusion or unknown space volume confidence determination and planning system using databases, position, and shared real-time data to determine unknown regions allowing planning and coordination of pathways through space to minimize risk is disclosed. Data from a plurality of cameras, or other sensor devices can be shared and routed between units of the system. Hidden surface determination, also known as hidden surface removal (HSR), occlusion culling (OC) or visible surface determination (VSD), can be achieved by identifying obstructions from multiple sensor measurements and incorporating relative position with depth between sensors to identify occlusion structures. Weapons ranges, and orientations are sensed, calculated, shared, and can be displayed in real-time. Data confidence levels can be highlighted from time, and frequency of data. The real-time data can be displayed stereographically for and highlighted on a display.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part and claims benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/385,039 filed on Jan. 30, 2012, which claims benefit to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/629,043 filed on Nov. 12, 2011 and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/626,701, filed on Sep. 30, 2011, as well as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/271,061 filed on May 6, 2014, which claims benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/460,552, filed on Jul. 20, 2009, which is claims benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/383,112, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Aspects of the present disclosure involve real-time identification of critical force capability effectiveness zones and occlusion or unknown zones near those forces. Personnel, vehicles, ships, submarines, airplanes, or other vessels are often occluded by terrain surfaces, buildings, walls, or weather, and sensor systems may be incapable of identifying objects on the other sides of the occlusions, or objects may simply be outside of range of sensors or weapons capabilities. Users, such as field commanders may use the system described herein to identify the occlusion zones, track targets amongst occlusions, as well as threat ranges from these occlusion zones, in advance of force actions, and to share the data between systems in real-time to make better more informed decisions. 
         [0003]    One example of this problem of individual human perception can be well illustrated by the 1991 Battle of 73 Easting during the first Gulf War during adverse weather conditions that severely restricted aerial scouting and cover operations. Although successful for the U.S. side, asymmetrical force risk was higher than necessary because although it appeared to be a flat featureless desert, the occluding subtle slight slope of the terrain was not initially recognized to occlude visual battlefield awareness by a tank commander named HR McMaster. The subtle slight land slope occlusion prevented identifying awareness of critical real-time data of enemy numbers, positions, and capabilities in the absence of advanced aerial reconnaissance due to severe weather conditions. 
         [0004]    Aspects of the present disclosure enable users more acutely aware of sloped or other terrain or regions that are outside their field of visual, perceptual or sensory awareness of which can contain fatal hazards, particularly when these zones have not been scouted for hazards in real-time. Users can then adjust their actions to eliminate or avoid the hazards of the occlusion zones. The limitation of the perceptual capability of one pair of human eyes and one pair of human ears on an individual or mobile unit can be reduced by utilizing multiple users remotely tapped into one user&#39;s omni-directional sensor system(s) and can thus maximize their perceptual vigilance and capability of the one user or unit through remote robotic control and feedback of the individual or unit carried sub-systems. Maximized perceptual vigilance can be achieved from tapping into near full immersion sensors, which can include sensing vision three dimensional (3D) display from depth cameras (optics), temperature, stereo or surround or zoom-able microphone systems, pinching, poking, moisture, vestibular balance, body/glove sensation while producing an emulated effect of this remotely producing nearly full sensory immersions. Tracking, history, force capability, prediction, as well as&#39;other data can be augmented onto the display system to augment reality and to further enhance operations. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Various aspects of the present disclosure allow for identifying the real-time range capability of a force or forces, their weapons, real-time orientation (pointing direction) of weapons (with integrated orientation sensors on weapons) and weapons ranges, equipment or other capabilities, as well as sensor and visual ranges during multiple conditions of night and day and varying weather conditions. From identified real-time zone limitations based on weapons ranges, occlusions, terrain, terrain elevation/topographical data, buildings, ridges, obstructions, weather, shadows, and other data, field commander decisions are able to be made more acutely aware of potential hazard zones, to avoid or make un-occluded and aware of, and be better prepared for in order to reduce operational risks. The system can be designed to implement real-time advanced route planning by emulating future positions and clarifying occlusions and capabilities in advance, thus allowing for optimal advanced field positioning to minimize occlusion zones, avoid hazards from, and maximize situational awareness. 
     
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1A  is an example of the occlusion problem of a mountainous region with many mountain ridges (layers) and illustrates how the occluded zones can be identified and viewed via real-time wireless information sharing between multiple units. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1B  is a real-time Heads-Up Display (HUD) of occlusion layer viewing penetration of mountain ridges of  FIG. 1A  that allows the operator to look through and control the viewing layers of occlusion to see through the mountain layers, according to one embodiment. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2A  is a real-time battlefield force capability and occlusion hazard awareness map showing weapon range capabilities and unit occlusions, according to one embodiment. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2B  is a real-time HUD of occlusion layer viewing penetration of the mountain ridge of  FIG. 2A  that utilizes transformed image data from other unit with other unit&#39;s occlusion zones shown, according to one embodiment. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3A  is a real-time building search where multiple personnel are searching rooms and sharing data where un-identified regions are shown, according to one embodiment. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3B  is a real-time HUD of occlusion layer viewing penetration of building walls of  FIG. 3A  that utilizes transformed image data from other units, according to one embodiment. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the environment extra-sensory perception sharing system hardware, according to one embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart for identifying an occluded object included within an occluded region or space, according to one embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a computing system, according to one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]      FIG. 1A  shows a planar slice of a hilly mountainous terrain  6  with many occluding (blocking) valley layers labeled as “L1 through L11” viewed by person  12 A where layer “L1” is not occluded to person  12 A. These layers L2 through L11 can create significantly occluded regions from the unaided perspective view of a dismounted (on foot) person  12 A shown. Unknown friends, foes, or other objects, can reside in these occluded spaces in real-time and can have an element of surprise that can have a significant impact on the performance objectives of a dismounted person  12 A when what is in these regions in real-time is not known. When the dismounted person  12 A looks at the hilly terrain  6 , with his or her unaided eyes only, the dismounted person  12 A can only see surface layer L1 while the layers L2 through L11 are significantly blocked (occluded). When the dismounted person  12 A has the extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  (block diagram shown in  FIG. 4 ) that uses a Heads Up Display (HUD) that can also be a hand held device with orientation sensors and head tracking sensors or a Head Mounted Display (HMD), many or all of the occluded layers can be viewed by the dismounted person  12 A depending on what other force capability and unknown terrain identification systems are within communications range of each other. The occluding layers can have their images transferred from extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  (block diagram shown in  FIG. 4 ) units and transformed into the perspective of dismounted person  12 A viewing edges  38 A and  38 B. For occluding surfaces L2, L4, L6, L8, and L10 the image displayed can be reversed and transformed from the sensor perspective such that the viewing is as if the mountain were transparent, while surfaces L3, L5, L7, L9, and L11 do not need to be reversed because the sensor perspective is from the same side as the dismounted person  12 A. 
         [0016]    The regions that are occluded, and that are also not in real-time view of any extra-sensory perception sharing system  12 , need to be clearly identified so that all participating systems are made well aware of the unknown zones or regions. These unknown regions can be serious potential hazards in war zones or other situations and need to be avoided or be brought within real-time view of a unit using a three dimensional (3D) sensor system which can be a omni-camera, stereoscopic camera, depth camera, “Zcam” (Z camera), RGB-D (red, green, blue, depth) camera, time of flight camera, radar, or other sensor device or devices and have the data shared into the system. In order to share the data the unit can have the extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  but do not need to have an integrated onboard display, because they can be stand alone or remote control units. 
         [0017]    From the “x-ray like” vision perspective of person  12 A (“x-ray like” meaning not necessarily actual X-ray, but having the same general effect of allowing to see through what is normally optically occluded from a particular viewing angle) the viewable layers of occlusion L2 through L11 have a planar left and right HUD viewing angles with center of the Field Of View (FOV) of the HUD display are shown by  38 A,  38 B, and  22 A respectively. 
         [0018]    The “x-ray like” vision of person  12 A of the occluded layers L2 through L11 can be achieved by other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  units that are within communications range of person  12 A or within the network, such as via a satellite network, where person  12 A can communicate with using extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  ( FIG. 4 ), where camera image data or other sensor data can be transferred and transformed based on viewing angle and zoom level. Shown in  FIG. 1A  is satellite  12 E in communications range of person  12 A where person  12 A can communicate with satellite  12 E using extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  (shown in  FIG. 4 ) using wireless satellite communications signal  16 . In the illustrated embodiment, satellite  12 E is in communications with drone  12 C to the left of FIG, although it is contemplated that drones  12 C and  12 D may receive information and/or data using various other communication networks, such as a radio link . . .  1 A that has left planar edge sensor view  18 A and right planar edge sensor view  18 B. The part of the hilly mountainous terrain  6  that has a ridge between layers L9 and L10 creates a real-time occlusion space  2 C for left drone  12 C where occlusion plane edge  18 C of left drone  12 C is shown where real-time sensor data is not known, and thus can be marked as a hazard zone between L10 and L11 if all participating extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  cannot see this space  2 C in real-time. The hilly mountainous terrain  6  where left drone  12 C is occluded from seeing space  2 C in real-time, prior satellite or other reconnaissance data can be displayed in place, weighted with time decaying magnitude of confidence based on last sensor scan over this space  2 C. If there is no other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  that can see (via sensor) space  2 C in real-time then this space can be clearly marked as unknown with a time decaying confidence level based on last sensor scan of space  2 C. 
         [0019]    A field commander can, out of consideration of potential snipers, or desire to enhance knowledge of unknown space  2 C can call in another drone  12 D to allow real-time sensor coverage of space  2 C and transfer data to other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12 , thus creating the ability of making space  2 C potentially less of an unknown to other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  in the area and can be marked accordingly. Since in  FIG. 1A  the right drone  12 D is in un-occluded (not blocked) view of space  2 C with right drone  12 D left edge sensor field of view  20 A and right drone  12 D right edge sensor field of view  20 B, region  2 C can be scanned in real-time with right drone  12 D sensor(s) and this scanned data of space  2 C can be shared in real-time with other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  and no longer has to be marked as significantly unknown. Right drone  12 D has its own sensor occluded space  2 B shown between part of the hilly mountainous terrain  6  that has a valley between layers L6 and L7 but because left drone  12 C is in real-time view of space  2 B the left drone  12 C can share real-time sensor data of this space  2 B with right drone  12 D through wireless signal  16  as well as with person  12 A through wireless signal  16  to/from left drone  12 C and to/from satellite  12 E using wireless signal  16  and down to person  12 A through wireless signal  16  through satellite  12 E. Space  2 C data can also be shared between extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  in a similar manner, thus eliminating most all occluded space for person  12 A enabling person  12 A to see all the occluded layers L2 through L11. If a drone moves out of view of any layer in real-time, this layer can be marked accordingly as out of real-time view by any means to make it clear, such as changing transparent color or any other suitable method to identify unknown space in real-time. Alarms can also be sounded when coverage drops unknown space increases within expected enemy firing range. Unknown spaces can show last scan data, but are clearly marked and/or identified as not real-time. If a possible target is spotted, such as via infrared signature, and it moves out of sensor range, an expanding surface area of unknown location can be marked and displayed until next ping (signature spotting) of target. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1B  shows the Heads Up Display (HUD) or Head Mounted Display (HMD) perspective view of the person  12 A shown in  FIG. 1A  of the hilly mountainous terrain  6  edges with occluding layers L1 through L11 shown clear except for layer L4 and layers up to “L11” are available for viewing. The person  12 A can select either side of the ridge to view, where the side of the occluded saddle (or dip) in the mountainous space  6  facing opposite of person  12 A can have the reverse image layered onto the mountain surface, while the side of the saddle farthest can have the image layered onto the mountain surface as if seen directly. Individual layers can be selected, merged, or have a filtered view with just objects with certain characteristics shown such as objects that have a heat signature as picked up by an infrared (IR) camera or other unique sensor, or objects that have detected motion, or are picked up by radar or any other type of desired filtered object detected by a sensor of suitable type. Tracked targets inside occlusion layers can be highlighted, and can show a trail of their previous behavior as detected in real-time. On occlusion layer L4, sniper  8  is shown as discovered, tracked, and spotted with trail history  8 B. If drone  12 D (of  FIG. 1A ) was not present, unknown occluded zone  2 C (of  FIG. 1A ) between layers L10 and L11 can be marked as unknown with a background shading, or any other appropriate method to clarify as an unknown region in “x-ray” like viewing area  24  or elsewhere or by other means in  FIG. 1B . For example, an alarm may be activated when the system loses track of a target within the L10 and L11 zones. In yet another example, information corresponding to a target with the layers L10 and L11 may be provided, such as last known position of the target, known max velocity for the target, and terrain type. 
         [0021]      FIG. 2A  shows a mountainous terrain with three canyon valleys merged together where two person units,  12 A and  12 B, are shown. Unit  12 A on the left of the figure, and one unit  12 B, on the right of the figure are displayed with their sensor range capabilities as a dotted lined circle  10 . Units  12 A and  12 B also display their weapons range capability as illustrated by the dotted circles  10 A around the unit centers  40 . Possible sniper  8  positions within occluded zone  2 A next to unit  12 A are shown with their corresponding predicted firing range space capabilities  10 B. If a fix on a sniper  8  or other threat is identified, the real firing range space capability can be reduced to the range from real-time fix. 
         [0022]    This map of  FIG. 2A  is only shown in two dimensions but can be displayed in a Heads Up Display (HUD) or other display in three dimensions and in real-time as well as display future probable movements for real-time adaptive planning. The system can display firing range  10 B from occluded edges if the weapons held by an adversary have known ranges, by taking each occluded edge point for each point along the edge and drawing an arc range on its trajectory based on terrain and even account for wind conditions. By drawing the weapon ranges  10 B, a unit can navigate around these potentially hazardous zones. Small slopes in land, or land bumps, rocks, or other terrain cause occlusion zones  2 A (shown as shaded), as well as convex mountain ridges  6  produce occlusion zones  2 B as well as occlusions from side canyon gaps  2 C. Units  12 A and  12 B are able to communicate, cooperate, and share data through wireless signal  16  that can be via a satellite relay/router or other suitable means and can be bidirectional. Concave mountain ridges  6  generally do not produce occlusion zones  2  as shown on the two ridges  6  between units  12 A and  12 B where wireless signal  16  is shown to pass over. 
         [0023]    Unit  12 A on the left of  FIG. 2A  is shown with HUD viewing edges  38  (HUD view is shown in  FIG. 2B ) looking just above unit  12 B in  FIG. 2A  where occlusion layers L1 and L2 are shown, where L1 occludes view from unit  12 B while L1 is visible by unit  12 A. Occlusion layer L2 is viewable by unit  12 B and is occluded by unit  12 A. Near unit  12 B is road  48  where a tank  42  casts an occlusion shadow  2 . By tank  42 , a building  46  and a person on foot  44  are also in view of unit  12 B but also cast occlusion shadows  2  from unit  12 B sensor view. The occluded unknown regions  2 ,  2 A,  2 B, and  2 C are clearly marked in real-time so users of the system can clearly see regions that are not known. 
         [0024]    In  FIG. 2B  a see through (or optionally opaque if desired) HUD display  22  with “X-ray” like view  24  that penetrates the occlusion layer L1 to show layer L2 using real-time perspective image transformation that would otherwise be blocked by mountain edge  6  where the tank  42  on road  48 , person with weapon  8 , and building  14  cast sensor occlusion shadows  2  marking unknown zones from sensor on unit  12 B (of  FIG. 2A ). A field commander can use these occlusion shadows that are common amongst all fielded units to bring in more resources with sensors that can contribute to system knowledge to eliminate the occlusion shadows  2  thus reducing the number of unknowns, and reducing operational risks. An example birds-eye (overhead) view map  26  around unit  12 A is shown in  FIG. 2B  with tank  42  on road  48  within unit  12 A sensor range  10  along with person with weapon  8  and building  14  shown. Example occlusion layer controls and indicators are shown as  28 ,  30 ,  32 , and  34 , where as an example, to increase occlusion views level, of viewing arrow  28  is selected, or to decrease occlusion view level arrow  30  is selected, or to turn display off or on  32  is selected. The maximum occlusion levels available are indicated as “L2”  34 . 
         [0025]    Shown in  FIG. 3A  is an example two dimensional (2D) view of a building  14  floor plan with walls  14 B and doors  14 C being searched by four personnel  12 F,  12 G,  12 H, and  121  inside the building and one person  12 E outside of the building  14  all communicating wirelessly (wireless signals between units are not shown for clarity). The inside person  12 F is using the HUD “x-ray” like view (as shown in  FIG. 3B ) with “x-ray” view edges  38 A and  38 B starting from inside occlusion layer L1 formed by room walls. Inside person  12 F has occlusion view edges  44 G and  44 H caused by door  14 C that identifies viewable space outside the room that inside person  12 F is able to see or have sensors see. Inside person  12 G is shown inside hallway where occlusion layer L2 and L3 is shown with respect to inside person  12 F with occlusion edges  441  and  44 J caused by wall  14 B room corners. Inside person  12 H is shown outside door of where person  12 F is with occluded view edges identified as dotted lines  44 C and  44 D caused by room corners and  44 E caused by building column support  14 A and  44 F also caused by building column support  14 A. Person  121  next to cabinet  14 D is shown inside occlusion layers L4 and L5 relative to person  12 F with occlusion edges  44 K and  44 L caused by door  14 C. Outside car  42 A is shown as occlusion layer L7 and L8 as car edge nearest building  14  relative to inside person  12 F. Each time a layer is penetrated from a line-of-sight ray-trace relative to an observer with an extra-sensory perception system  12 , two layers of occlusion is added where perspective transformed video from each side of the occlusion can be shared within the systems. 
         [0026]    Unknown regions of  FIG. 3A  that are occluded by all the personnel are identified in real-time as  2 D,  2 E,  2 F,  2 G,  2 H,  21 ,  2 J, and  2 K. These regions are critical for identifying what is not known in real-time, and are determined by three dimensional line-of-sight ray-tracing of sensor depth data (such as by 3D or-ing/combining of depth data between sensors with known relative orientations and positions). Data from prior scan exposures of these regions can be provided but clearly marked as either from semi-transparent coloring or some other means as not real-time viewable. Occluded region  2 J is caused by table  14 E near person  12 F and is occluded from the viewing perspective of person  12 F by edges  44 M and  44 N. Occlusion  2 D is caused by building support column  14 A and is shaped in real-time by viewing perspective edges  44 E and  44 F of sensors on person  12 H as well as sensor viewing perspective edges  441  and  44 J of person  12 G. Occlusion space  2 F is formed by perspective sensor edges  44 K and  44 L of person  121  as well as perspective sensor edge  44 D of person  12 H. Occlusion space  2 K is caused by cabinet  14 D and sensor edge  440  from person  121 . Occlusion space  21  is formed by room walls  14 B and closed door  14 C. Occlusion space  2 G is formed by perspective sensor edges  44 L and  44 K of person  121  and perspective sensor edge  44 D of person  12 H. Occlusion space  2 H is caused by car  42 A and perspective sensor edge  44 B from outside person  12 E along occlusion layer L7 as well as sensor edge  38 E. Occlusion space  2 E is caused by perspective sensor edge  44 A from outside person  12 E touching building  14  corner. 
         [0027]    The occlusion regions are clearly marked in real-time so that personnel can clearly know what areas have not been searched or what is not viewable in real-time. The system is not limited to a single floor, but can include multiple floors, thus a user can look up and down and see through multiple layers of floors, or even other floors of other buildings, depending on what data is available to share wirelessly in real-time and what has been stored within the distributed system. A helicopter with the extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  hovering overhead can eliminate occluded regions  2 E and  2 H in real-time if desired. Multiple users can tap into the perspective of one person, say for example, inside person  12 H, where different viewing angles can be viewed by different people connected to the system so as to maximize the real-time perceptual vigilance of person  12 H. To extend the capability of inside person  12 H robotic devices that can be tools or weapons with capabilities of being manipulated or pointed and activated in different directions can be carried by person  12 H and can be remotely activated and controlled by other valid users of the system, thus allowing remote individuals to “watch the back” or cover person  12 H. Alternatively, a stereographic spherical camera may be triggered or otherwise remotely activated by various users of the system to “watch the back” of person  12 H. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 3B  a see-through HUD display view  22  is shown with “x-ray” like display  24  showing view with edges defined by  38 A and  38 B from person  12 F of  FIG. 3A  where all occlusion layers L1 through L8 are outlined and identified with dotted lines and peeled away down to L8 to far side of car  42 A with edge of car facing building  14  shown as layer L7 with semi-transparent outlines of tracked/identified personnel  121  and  12 G inside the building  14  and person  12 E outside the building  14 . Shown through the transparent display  22  is table  14 E inside room where person  12 F resides. Semi-transparent outline of cabinet  14 D is shown next to car  42 A with occlusion zone  2 K shown. A top level (above head) view of the building  14  floor plan  26  is shown at the bottom left of the see-through display  22  with inside person  12 F unit center  40  range ring  10  which can represent a capability range, such as a range to spray a fire hose based on pressure sensor and pointing angle, or sensor range limit or other device range limit. The building  14  floor plan is shown with all the other personnel in communications range inside the top level (above head) view  26  of the floor plan. Occlusion layer display controls are shown as  28  (up arrow) to increase occlusion level viewing,  30  (down arrow) to decrease occlusion level viewing, and display on/off control  32  and current maximum occlusion level available  34  shown as L8. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is an example hardware block diagram of the extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  that contains a computer system (or micro-controller) with a power system  100 . Also included is an omni-directional depth sensor system  102  that can include an omni-directional depth camera, such as an omni-directional RGB-D (Red, Green, Blue, Depth) camera or a time of flight camera, or Z-camera (Z-cam), or a stereoscopic camera pairs, or array of cameras. The extra-sensory perception sharing system  12  can be fixed, stand alone remote, or can be mobile with the user or vessel it is operating on. The Omni-directional depth sensor system  102  is connected to the computer and power system  100 . A GPS (Global Positioning System) and/or other orientation and/or position sensor system are connected to computer system and power system  100  to get relative position of each unit. Great accuracy can be achieved by using differential GPS or highly accurate inertial guidance devices such as laser gyros where GPS signals are not available. Other sensors  110  are shown connected to computer system and power system  100  which can include radar, or actual X-ray devices, or any other type of sensor useful in the operation of the system. Immersion orientation based sensor display and/or sound system  104  is shown connected to computer system and power system  100  and is used primarily as a HUD display, which can be a Head Mounted Display (HMD) or hand held display with built in orientation sensors that can detect the device orientation as well as orientation of the user&#39;s head. A wireless communication system  108  is shown connected to computer system and power system  100  where communications using wireless signals  16  are shown to connect with any number of other extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12 . Data between extra-sensory perception sharing systems  12  can also be routed between units by wireless communications system  108 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 5 , with reference to  FIGS. 1A , provides an illustrative process and/or method for performing real-time identification of occluded regions, and/or the identification of occluded objects included within an occluded region. In particular,  FIG. 5  illustrates an example process  500  for identifying one or more objects that may be occluded from the view of a user interacting with an interface, such as a HUD, due to the fact that the object may be within a region or area that is occluded from the view of the user interacting with the interface. 
         [0031]    As illustrated, process  500  begins with obtaining a plurality of data feeds that identify an object and/or region or a real-world environment that is occluded from view at an interface (operation  502 ). 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , various data feeds and/or data may be obtained from various sensors located on and/or otherwise within various data systems, such as the satellite  12 E, and/or the drones  12 C or  12 D, capable of capturing terrains, objects, weather, and/or other data corresponding to the occluded object and/or region. For example, a user may access the drone  12 D to obtain real-time sensor coverage of space  2 C, thus creating the ability of making space  2 C potentially less of an unknown to person  12 A. Since in  FIG. 1A  the drone  12 D is in un-occluded (not blocked) view of space  2 C, region  2 C can be scanned in real-time with right drone  12 D sensor(s) and the data of space  2 C, and therefore be, no longer marked as unknown or occluded. Although  FIG. 1  only includes three data systems (e.g., the satellite  12 E, and/or the drones  12 C or  12 D) it is contemplated that many more may be involved in the capturing of data and/or data feeds corresponding to the occluded object and/or region. 
         [0033]    The data feeds may be obtained from various types of sensors, such as an omni-cam-era, stereoscopic camera, depth camera, “Zcam” (Z camera), RGB-D (red, green, blue, depth) camera, time of flight camera, radar, or other type of sensor. And the obtained data feeds may be captured in a variety of formats. For example, the data feeds may include audio, video, three-dimensional video, images, multimedia, and/or the like, or some combination thereof. In one particular embodiment, one or more of the data feeds may be obtained from an airborne warning and control system (AWAC) (e.g., drone  12 C), and according to the AWAC data format, as is generally understood in the art (a mobile, long-range radar surveillance and control centre for air defense). 
         [0034]    Referring again to  FIG. 5 , once any data feeds corresponding to the sensors has been obtained, specific data feeds may be selected that best identify the object occluded from the view and/or the region occluded from view. Stated differently, some data feeds may be more useful in identifying the occluded objects and/or regions than other data feeds. Referring again to  FIG. 1A , assume three different data feeds are obtained: one from the drone  12 D, one from the drone  12 C and one from the satellite  12 E. Additionally, assume that each data feed is obtained in a different format than the other. Thus, the data feed from the drone  12 D may be in video format, while the data freed from the drone  12 C may be in AWAC format. 
         [0035]    According to one embodiment, the data feed from the drones  12 C and  12 D, when compared to the data feed obtained from the satellite  12 E, may be more relevant to identifying specific objects included within the occluded region  2 C because they have a potential direct line of sight to the region and the satellite  12 E does not. Thus, the data feeds corresponding to the drones  12 C and  12 D may be identified and not the satellite  12 E data feed. In another embodiment, since the data feeds are in different formats, some data may be more useful in uniquely identifying the occluded object than others. For example, data feeds that include high-resolution images may be more useful in uniquely identifying an object than a data feed that only provides geographical coordinates. As another example, if the format of the data feed is video, it may be more useful in identifying the actual object occluded from view and movement of the object, but not as useful when attempting to determine the specific geographic location of the object. In yet another example, if the data feed is of the AWAC format, the data may useful in providing a specific location of the occluded object, but not when attempting to uniquely identify the occluded object itself. For example, video may be more accurate in determining the exact types of weapons and ordinance that may be carried. Additionally, video may allow for a more accurate count of ground troops. Spherical video images allow for users to view the same data in different directions to get a more accurate real-time coverage. In comparison, AWAC data allows for precise latitude and/or longitude positioning, which would allow precision location that may be used to create velocity vectors for each individual target. Given a location identified via AWAC data, terrain position, and velocity vector predictions could be created as the target reaches a particular position thus providing the user with a tactical edge. 
         [0036]    Referring back to  FIG. 5 , the selected data feeds may be combined together to generate enhanced data that is more accurate and clearly identifies the occluded object and/or region (operation  506 ). Stated differently, portions and/or aspects of the selected data feeds may be combined to generate enhanced data that precisely identifies, locates, and qualifies the occluded object. 
         [0037]    According to one embodiment, to generate the enhanced data, each of the selected data feeds may be weighted (e.g., assigned a value) based upon various characteristics of the occluded region and/or the occluded object, and the accuracy of the data feed identifying the occluded region and/or occluded object. Further, the assigned weighting may, optionally, depend upon the current tactical mode in which a user is engaged. For example, if a user is looking to determine troop strength and weapons the user may assign a higher weighting to video data, because the video data may be more easily processed by stopping and/or stepping thru frames of the video to get an accurate count and tag the group with the appropriate strength/range attributes. 
         [0038]    As another example, video may be more accurate in determining the exact types of weapons and ordinance that may be carried by soldiers in combat because the video data actually includes real images of the weapons and/or ordinance. Thus, the video data feed may be assigned a higher weight than other data feeds, in such contexts. In another embodiment, video may allow for a more accurate count of ground troops than infra-red data, and thus, would be assigned a higher weight that an infra-red data feed. In yet another embodiment, spherical video images allow for users to view the same data in different directions to get a more accurate real-time coverage. Such data may be weighted higher than static image data feeds. In one embodiment, AWAC data allows for precise latitude and/or longitude positioning, which would allow precision location that may be used to create velocity vectors and corresponding time stamps for each individual occluded object and/or region. Thus, AWAC data may be assigned a higher weighting when compared to video, when attempting to precisely locate an occluded object and/or region. In another embodiment, infra-red data feeds may be more accurate at identifying occluded objects and/or regions is wooded areas, as the data provides thermal images of objects that may not be visible in regular video data. In such a contexts, the Infra-red data feed would be assigned a higher weight than a video data, feed, image data feed, or other data feeds. 
         [0039]    The assigned weightings of the various data feeds may change with time. For example, if a highly accurate and/or highly weighted sensor becomes unavailable then the next best sensor data is used and the user is notified of an accuracy degradation. If more accurate sensors become available the user is notified of an accuracy upgrade. The most accurate position would be a triangulation of two (2) or more sensors identifying the exact same location. This is downgraded to one sensor and further downgraded by sensors with less accuracy. 
         [0040]    Once the data feeds have been weighted, the data may be enhanced by combining one or more of the weighted data feeds into an aggregate data feed and/or other type of display that clearly identifies an occluded region and/or an occluded object. In one embodiment, data that meets a weight threshold signifying a certain accuracy level and/or accuracy measure may be combined to generate the enhanced data. For example, video data feeds may be enhanced with actual terrain data (e.g., the terrain data may be overlayed with the video) to help identify potential critical traffic routes and bottlenecks allowing for strategic troop placement or demolition. It is contemplated that any number of data feeds satisfying the weighting threshold may be combined to generate the enhanced data. 
         [0041]    The generated enhanced data, including data uniquely identifying the occluded object and/or region and data identifying a location of the occluded object and/or region may be provided to an interface for display (operation  508 ). In one particular embodiment, the enhanced data may be rendered or otherwise provided in real-time in a three-dimensional stereographic space, as a part of a virtual spherical HUD system. More particularly, the three-dimensional stereographic space of the HUD system may be augmented with the enhanced data (or any data extracted from the obtained data feeds) to enable user interacting with the HUD device to view the object and/or region that was initially occluded from view. 
         [0042]    Given unit position and orientation (such as latitude, longitude, elevation, &amp; azimuth) from accurate global positioning systems or other navigation/orientation equipment, as well as data from accurate and timely elevation and/or topographical, or other databases, three dimensional layered occlusion volumes can be determined and displayed in three dimensions in real-time and shared amongst units where fully occluded spaces can be identified, weapons capabilities, weapons ranges, weapon orientation determined, and marked with weighted confidence level in real-time. Advanced real-time adaptive path planning can be tested to determine lower risk pathways or to minimize occlusion of unknown zones through real-time unit shared perspective advantage coordination. Unknown zones of occlusion and firing ranges can be minimized by avoidance or by bringing in other units to different locations in the region of interest or moving units in place to minimize unknown zones. Weapons ranges from unknown zones can be displayed as point ranges along the perimeters of the unknown zones, whereby a pathway can be identified so as to minimize the risk of being effected by weapons fired from the unknown zones. 
         [0043]      FIG. 6  illustrates an example of a computing node  600  which may comprise an implementation of extra-sensory perception sharing system  12 , according to various embodiments. The computing node  600  represents one example of a suitable computing device and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the invention described herein. Regardless, the computing node  600  is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionality described above. 
         [0044]    As illustrated, the computer node  600  includes a computer system/server  602 , which is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system/server  602  may include personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
         [0045]    Computer system/server  602  may be described in the general context of computer system executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer system/server  602  may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network, In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices. 
         [0046]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , computer system/server  602  in computing node  600  is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system/server  602  may include one or more processors or processing units  604 , a system memory  606 , and a bus  608  that couples various system components including system memory  606  to processor  604 , 
         [0047]    Bus  608  represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Such architectures may include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus. 
         [0048]    Computer system/server  602  typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system/server  602 , and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. 
         [0049]    System memory  606  may include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)  610  and/or cache memory  612 . Computer system/server  602  may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system  613  can be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus  608  by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory  606  may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention. 
         [0050]    Program/utility  614 , having a set (at least one) of program modules  616 , may be stored in memory  606 , as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules  616  generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. 
         [0051]    Computer system/server  602  may also communicate with one or more external devices  618  such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display  620 , etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server  602 ; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server  602  to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces  622 . Still yet, computer system/server  602  can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter  624 . As depicted, network adapter  624  communicates with the other components of computer system/server  602  via bus  608 . It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server  602 . Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, and external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc. 
         [0052]    The embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are implemented as logical steps in one or more computer systems. The logical operations of the present disclosure are implemented (1) as a sequence of processor-implemented steps executing in one or more computer systems and (2) as interconnected machine or circuit engines within one or more computer systems. The implementation is a matter of choice, dependent on the performance requirements of the computer system implementing aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodiments of the disclosure described herein are referred to variously as operations, steps, objects, or engines. Furthermore, it should be understood that logical operations may be performed in any order, unless explicitly claimed otherwise or a specific order is inherently necessitated by the claim language. 
         [0053]    The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are thus within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. From the above description and drawings, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the particular embodiments shown and described are for purposes of illustrations only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. References to details of particular embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.