Virtual anchoring systems and methods for extended reality

Implementations of the subject technology provide virtual anchoring for extended reality (XR) display devices. A device may generate an XR environment that includes computer-generated (CG) content for display relative to various physical objects in a physical environment. In order to position the CG content, an XR application may request a physical anchor object to which the CG content can be anchored. In circumstances in which the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment, a virtual anchor and/or a virtual anchor object corresponding to the physical anchor object can be provided to which the CG content can be anchored.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present description relates generally to extended reality environments.

BACKGROUND

Augmented reality technology aims to bridge a gap between virtual environments and a physical environment by providing an enhanced physical environment that is augmented with electronic information. As a result, the electronic information appears to be part of the physical environment as perceived by a user. However, it can be challenging to determine where in the physical environment to place the electronic information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A physical environment refers to a physical world that people can sense and/or interact with without aid of electronic devices. The physical environment may include physical features such as a physical surface or a physical object. For example, the physical environment corresponds to a physical park that includes physical trees, physical buildings, and physical people. People can directly sense and/or interact with the physical environment such as through sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell. In contrast, an extended reality (XR) environment refers to a wholly or partially simulated environment that people sense and/or interact with via an electronic device. For example, the XR environment may include augmented reality (AR) content, mixed reality (MR) content, virtual reality (VR) content, and/or the like. With an XR system, a subset of a person's physical motions, or representations thereof, are tracked, and, in response, one or more characteristics of one or more virtual objects simulated in the XR environment are adjusted in a manner that comports with at least one law of physics. As one example, the XR system may detect head movement and, in response, adjust graphical content and an acoustic field presented to the person in a manner similar to how such views and sounds would change in a physical environment. As another example, the XR system may detect movement of the electronic device presenting the XR environment (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, or the like) and, in response, adjust graphical content and an acoustic field presented to the person in a manner similar to how such views and sounds would change in a physical environment. In some situations (e.g., for accessibility reasons), the XR system may adjust characteristic(s) of graphical content in the XR environment in response to representations of physical motions (e.g., vocal commands).

Implementations of the subject technology described herein provide an XR system that provides a virtual anchor at a location in a physical environment, when a requested physical anchor object is not available. For example, an XR application may request, from a device, a physical table on which to display a virtual object. The XR system may determine that the requested physical table is not available in the physical environment, and can generate a virtual anchor and/or a virtual version of the requested physical anchor object (e.g., a virtual anchor object) at a fixed location in the physical environment. The virtual content can then be rendered and displayed at the fixed location, either in space at the location of the virtual anchor, or on the virtual anchor object as though displayed on the requested physical anchor object, had the physical anchor object been available.

The system architecture100includes an electronic device105, an electronic device110, an electronic device115, and a server120. For explanatory purposes, the system architecture100is illustrated inFIG.1as including the electronic device105, the electronic device110, the electronic device115, and the server120; however, the system architecture100may include any number of electronic devices and any number of servers or a data center including multiple servers.

The electronic device105may be a smartphone, a tablet, or a head mountable portable system (e.g., a head mountable display device that can be worn by a user), that includes a display system capable of presenting a visualization of an extended reality environment to the user. The electronic device105may be powered with a battery and/or any other power supply. In an example, the display system of the electronic device105provides a stereoscopic presentation of the extended reality environment, enabling a three-dimensional visual display of a rendering of a particular scene, to the user. In one or more implementations, instead of, or in addition to, utilizing the electronic device105to access a extended reality environment, the user may use a handheld electronic device104, such as a tablet, watch, mobile device, and the like.

The electronic device105may include one or more cameras such as camera150(e.g., visible light cameras, infrared cameras, etc.) Further, the electronic device105may include various sensors152including, but not limited to, cameras, image sensors, touch sensors, microphones, inertial measurement units (IMU), heart rate sensors, temperature sensors, Lidar sensors, radar sensors, sonar sensors, GPS sensors, Wi-Fi sensors, near-field communications sensors, etc.) Moreover, the electronic device105may include hardware elements that can receive user input such as hardware buttons or switches. User input detected by such sensors and/or hardware elements correspond to various input modalities for initiating recording within a given extended reality environment. For example, such input modalities may include, but not limited to, facial tracking, eye tracking (e.g., gaze direction), hand tracking, gesture tracking, biometric readings (e.g., heart rate, pulse, pupil dilation, breath, temperature, electroencephalogram, olfactory), recognizing speech or audio (e.g., particular hotwords), and activating buttons or switches, etc. The electronic device105may also detect and/or classify physical objects in the physical environment of the electronic device105.

The electronic device105may be communicatively coupled to a base device such as the electronic device110and/or the electronic device115. Such a base device may, in general, include more computing resources and/or available power in comparison with the electronic device105. In an example, the electronic device105may operate in various modes. For instance, the electronic device105can operate in a standalone mode independent of any base device. When the electronic device105operates in the standalone mode, the number of input modalities may be constrained by power limitations of the electronic device105such as available battery power of the device. In response to power limitations, the electronic device105may deactivate certain sensors within the device itself to preserve battery power.

The electronic device105may also operate in a wireless tethered mode (e.g., connected via a wireless connection with a base device), working in conjunction with a given base device. The electronic device105may also work in a connected mode where the electronic device105is physically connected to a base device (e.g., via a cable or some other physical connector) and may utilize power resources provided by the base device (e.g., where the base device is charging the electronic device105while physically connected).

When the electronic device105operates in the wireless tethered mode or the connected mode, a least a portion of processing user inputs and/or rendering the extended reality environment may be offloaded to the base device thereby reducing processing burdens on the electronic device105. For instance, in an implementation, the electronic device105works in conjunction with the electronic device110or the electronic device115to generate an extended reality environment including physical and/or virtual objects that enables different forms of interaction (e.g., visual, auditory, and/or physical or tactile interaction) between the user and the extended reality environment in a real-time manner. In an example, the electronic device105provides a rendering of a scene corresponding to the extended reality environment that can be perceived by the user and interacted with in a real-time manner. Additionally, as part of presenting the rendered scene, the electronic device105may provide sound, and/or haptic or tactile feedback to the user. The content of a given rendered scene may be dependent on available processing capability, network availability and capacity, available battery power, and current system workload.

The electronic device105may also detect events that have occurred within the scene of the extended reality environment. Examples of such events include detecting a presence of a particular person, entity, or object in the scene. Detected physical objects may be classified by electronic device105, electronic device110, and/or electronic device115and the location, position, size, dimensions, shape, and/or other characteristics of the physical objects can be used to provide physical anchor objects to an XR application generating virtual content for display within the XR environment.

It is further appreciated that the electronic device110and/or the electronic device115can also generate such extended reality environments either working in conjunction with the electronic device105or independently of the electronic device105.

The network106may communicatively (directly or indirectly) couple, for example, the electronic device105, the electronic device110and/or the electronic device115with the server120. In one or more implementations, the network106may be an interconnected network of devices that may include, or may be communicatively coupled to, the Internet.

The electronic device110may include a touchscreen and may be, for example, a smartphone that includes a touchscreen, a portable computing device such as a laptop computer that includes a touchscreen, a peripheral device that includes a touchscreen (e.g., a digital camera, headphones), a tablet device that includes a touchscreen, a wearable device that includes a touchscreen such as a watch, a band, and the like, any other appropriate device that includes, for example, a touchscreen, or any electronic device with a touchpad. In one or more implementations, the electronic device110may not include a touchscreen but may support touchscreen-like gestures, such as in an extended reality environment. In one or more implementations, the electronic device110may include a touchpad. InFIG.1, by way of example, the electronic device110is depicted as a mobile smartphone device with a touchscreen. In one or more implementations, the electronic device110, the handheld electronic device104, and/or the electronic device105may be, and/or may include all or part of, the electronic system discussed below with respect toFIG.10. In one or more implementations, the electronic device110may be another device such as an Internet Protocol (IP) camera, a tablet, or a peripheral device such as an electronic stylus, etc.

The electronic device115may be, for example, desktop computer, a portable computing device such as a laptop computer, a smartphone, a peripheral device (e.g., a digital camera, headphones), a tablet device, a wearable device such as a watch, a band, and the like. InFIG.1, by way of example, the electronic device115is depicted as a desktop computer. The electronic device115may be, and/or may include all or part of, the electronic system discussed below with respect toFIG.10.

The server120may form all or part of a network of computers or a group of servers130, such as in a cloud computing or data center implementation. For example, the server120stores data and software, and includes specific hardware (e.g., processors, graphics processors and other specialized or custom processors) for rendering and generating content such as graphics, images, video, audio and multi-media files for extended reality environments. In an implementation, the server120may function as a cloud storage server that stores any of the aforementioned extended reality content generated by the above-discussed devices and/or the server120.

FIG.2illustrates an example architecture that may be implemented on the electronic device105, the handheld electronic device114, the electronic device115, and/or the server120in accordance with one or more implementations of the subject technology. For explanatory purposes, portions of the architecture ofFIG.2is described as being implemented by the electronic device105ofFIG.1, such as by a processor and/or memory of the electronic device105; however, appropriate portions of the architecture may be implemented by any other electronic device, including the electronic device110, electronic device115, and/or server120. Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those shown in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

Various portions of the architecture ofFIG.2can be implemented in software or hardware, including by one or more processors and a memory device containing instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the operations described herein. In the example ofFIG.3, sensors152provide environment information (e.g., depth information from one or more depth sensors) to a mapping and object detection engine200. Camera(s)150may also provide images, such as a video stream, to mapping and object detection engine200. Mapping and object detection engine200may generate a three-dimensional scene information, such as three-dimensional map, of some or all of the physical environment of electronic device105using the environment information (e.g., the depth information and/or the images) from sensors152and camera(s)150.

As illustrated inFIG.2, an XR application202may request an anchor, such as a physical object anchor, from the mapping and object detection engine200in an anchor request. XR application202may be a gaming application, a media player application, a content-editor application, a training application, a simulator application, or generally any application that displays CG or virtual content at locations that depend on the physical environment, such as by anchoring the virtual content to a physical object anchor.

A physical object anchor can be a general physical object such as a horizontal planar surface (e.g., a surface of a floor or a tabletop), a vertical planar surface (e.g., a surface of a wall), or a specific physical object such a table, a wall, a television stand, a couch, a refrigerator, a desk, a chair, etc. XR application202may include code that, when executed by one or more processors of electronic device105, generates CG content (e.g., a virtual cup, a virtual document, a virtual television screen, a virtual movie theater screen, a virtual keyboard, or other virtual content), for display on, near, attached to, or otherwise associated with the physical object anchor. XR application202generates this virtual content when mapping and object detection engine200detects the physical object anchor in the environment information from sensors152and camera(s)150, and provides the relevant anchor information to the XR application202and/or to CG rendering engine223.

Once the CG content (e.g., the virtual cup, virtual document, virtual television screen, virtual movie theater screen, virtual keyboard, etc.) has been generated, the CG content can be provided to a CG rendering engine223, as illustrated inFIG.2. Environment information such as a depth map of the physical environment, and/or object information for detected objects in the physical environment, can also be provided to CG rendering engine223. CG rendering engine223can then render the CG content from XR application202for display by display225of electronic device105. The CG content is rendered for display (e.g., using the scene information and/or anchor information provided by mapping and object detection engine200) at the appropriate location on the display225to appear in association with the physical anchor object provided by mapping and object detection engine200. Display225may be, for example, an opaque display, and camera150may be configured to provide a pass-through video feed to the opaque display. The CG content may be rendered for display at a location on the display corresponding to the displayed location of the physical anchor object in the pass-through video. Display225may be, as another example, a transparent or translucent display. The CG content may be rendered for display at a location on the display corresponding to a direct view, through the transparent or translucent display, of the physical anchor object.

As shown, electronic device105can also include a video rendering engine227that renders video images of the physical environment, based on images from camera(s)150, for display together with the rendered CG content from CG rendering engine223. For example, video rendering engine227may be provided in electronic devices105that include an opaque display, to provide pass-through video to the display. In electronic devices105that are implemented with a transparent or translucent display that allows the user to directly view the physical environment, video rendering engine227may be omitted or unused in some circumstances. Although the example ofFIG.2illustrates a CG rendering engine223that is separate from XR application202, it should be appreciated that, in some implementations, XR application202may render CG content for display by display225without using a separate CG rendering engine223.

Electronic device105may allow XR application202to request and obtain anchor information from mapping and object detection engine200(e.g., via an application programming interface, or API) as illustrated inFIG.2, which can facilitate efficient development, implementation, and/or run-time execution of XR application202(e.g., since each XR application202does not have to do its own object detection, scene mapping, transforms, etc.). However, this can be problematic in scenarios in which a physical anchor object that is requested by XR application202does not exist, or is otherwise not available in the physical environment. For example, an XR application202may request a table on which to anchor a virtual cup at a time when there is no table in the physical environment of electronic device105(e.g., within a mapping distance of electronic device105), or no table is within the field of view of the user of electronic device105. That is, electronic device105(e.g., mapping and object detection engine200) may determine, based on the environment information from sensors152and/or camera(s)150, that the physical anchor object (the table in this example) is not available in the physical environment. Sensors152may include at least one depth sensor, and the environment information may include environment information based on at least one image from the camera and depth information from the depth sensor.

In circumstances in which the requested physical anchor object is not available, electronic device105(e.g., mapping and object detection engine200) generates a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment, and provides the virtual anchor to XR application202and/or to CG rendering engine223responsive to the request for the physical anchor object. XR application and/or CG rendering engine223can then render virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor. Electronic device105(e.g., mapping and object detection engine200) may also generate a virtual anchor object corresponding to the physical anchor object. For example, if a physical wall is requested as a physical anchor object, and the physical wall is not available, electronic device105(e.g., CG rendering engine223) may generate and render a virtual wall (e.g., the virtual anchor object) for display at a location on the display of the electronic device105that causes the virtual anchor object to appear to the user to be at the fixed location in the physical environment. XR application202and/or CG rendering engine223may then render the virtual content to also appear to the user to be at or near the fixed location in the physical environment, using the virtual anchor. This anchoring of the virtual content to the virtual anchor object includes positioning the rendered virtual content relative to the rendered virtual anchor object (e.g., by positioning the rendered virtual content to appear on the virtual wall.

In one or more implementations, during operation of, for example, an XR application such as XR application202, transforms of physical anchors and/or virtual anchors may be updated at the system level of electronic device105(e.g., by mapping and object detection engine200and/or CG rendering engine223without round trip communication to the requesting application). For example, CG rendering engine223may update the position and/or orientation of CG content provided by XR application202based on the physical and/or virtual anchor (e.g., based on a physical and/or virtual anchor identified for XR application202, such as in response to an anchor request from the XR application). In this way, an electronic device such as electronic device105can render CG content anchored to, or relative to, physical locations within a physical environment with lower latency than in scenarios in which the position and orientation of the virtual content is updated at the XR application202. Reducing the rendering latency in this way can help electronic device105provide an experience that is free of potential XR anchoring artifacts such as application content appearing to unintentionally swim around relative to the physical environment and/or other XR content.

FIGS.3,4, and5illustrate examples in which virtual content is anchored, respectively, to a physical anchor object, a virtual anchor, and a virtual anchor object according to aspects of the disclosure.

In the example ofFIG.3, a user101wears an electronic device105in a physical environment300. The physical environment300, in the example ofFIG.3, includes a physical wall302, a physical table304, and a physical floor306that can be detected, mapped, and/or categorized using environment information based on images from one or more cameras such as camera150and one or more sensors (e.g., depth sensors) such as sensors152. In the example ofFIG.3, virtual content including a virtual cup320and a virtual television322are displayed by a display (e.g., display225) of electronic device105to appear to the user101to be at fixed locations in the physical environment. In this example, the virtual cup320is anchored to the physical table304, and the virtual television322is anchored to the physical wall302. In this way, virtual content can be displayed to appear at fixed locations in physical environment300, even as a user101moves and/or looks around in the physical environment.

In order to anchor a virtual cup320to a physical table304, or to anchor a virtual television322to a physical wall302, an XR application may request (e.g., from a mapping and object identification engine) a physical table (or a horizontal plane) or a physical wall (or vertical plane) in the physical environment, to which the XR application can anchor the relevant virtual content. In order to use the physical table or the physical wall as physical anchor objects, the XR application may obtain locations of one or more points on the physical object that describe the physical location, shape, position, and/or orientation of the physical object. For example, the locations of three points on the surface of the physical table304may be provided that allow the XR application to identify a plane corresponding to the surface of the table. The XR application can then determine where to position, and how to orient, the virtual cup320to appear to rest on the surface of the table. In other examples, more information for the physical anchor object (e.g., a three-dimensional mesh of the object) can be provided for physical anchoring.

In some circumstances, when the XR application requests a physical anchor object, electronic device105may determine (e.g., based on the environment information from sensors152and/or camera150), that the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment.

FIG.4illustrates an example in which the physical environment300includes a physical wall302, but does not include a physical table. Responsive to a request for a physical anchor object in the form of a physical table, and the determination that the physical table is not available, electronic device105may generate a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment. In the example ofFIG.4, the XR application has been provided with a virtual anchor401to which to anchor the virtual cup320, and the virtual cup320has been rendered and displayed to appear to be located at the fixed location of the virtual anchor401.

In this example, the virtual anchor401is a single point at a fixed location in the physical environment. The fixed location of the virtual anchor401may be defined relative to physical objects in the physical environment300, so that the virtual anchor (and any virtual content anchored thereto) remains at the fixed physical location, even as the user101moves and/or looks around the XR environment including the physical environment300and the virtual content. In this example, the fixed location of the virtual anchor401is defined by a first distance404from the physical floor306, a second distance402from the physical wall302, and third distance400from an end of the physical wall. However, these distances are merely illustrative, and the fixed location of a virtual anchor401can be defined relative to any three points in the physical environment.

In the example ofFIG.4, virtual anchor401is at a fixed location that is in the air in the physical environment300, resulting in a virtual cup320that appears to be floating in space, when displayed by electronic device105at the fixed location of the virtual anchor. The fixed location of the virtual anchor401can be determined automatically by electronic device105(e.g., based on heuristics) and/or can be chosen and/or modified by the user101. For example, the user101can move the virtual anchor401using a handheld control, by virtually grabbing or pinching the virtual anchor (e.g., as detected using camera(s)150and/or sensors152), using voice commands, or other input modalities for electronic device105.

In order to facilitate placing and/or moving the virtual anchor401, electronic device105can highlight potential locations in the physical environment300for a virtual anchor (e.g., to assist a user choosing a fixed location). For example, potential locations in the physical environment300can be dynamically highlighted based on the user's field of view, gaze location, and/or velocity of movement (e.g., to allow the user to place or throw the virtual anchor401to a recommended location). Potential locations can be locations in space with sufficient room for particular virtual content, or locations at or near other physical objects that may be suitable for display of the virtual content.

The example ofFIG.4can result in an XR environment that is different from the desired XR environment from XR application. For example, in order to make the XR environment look and feel realistic to a user, a virtual anchor that causes a virtual cup to float in space can be undesirable.

The disclosed systems and methods can provide an improved XR experience in some scenarios, by providing a virtual anchor object that corresponds to the requested physical anchor object when the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment. For example, if the physical environment is suitable (e.g., if there is space on the floor of a room) and if the requested anchor is a physical object (e.g., a horizontal surface, a table, or a wall), a virtual version of that requested physical object can be rendered and displayed.

FIG.5illustrates an example, in which the physical environment300includes a physical wall302, but does not include a physical table, and in which a virtual table504is provided as a virtual anchor object corresponding to the unavailable physical anchor object. As illustrated inFIG.5, a virtual anchor object such as the virtual table504can be rendered for display so that the virtual table504appears to user101to be at or anchored to a fixed location of a virtual anchor401in the physical environment. In this example, the bottom of one of the legs of the virtual table is located at the virtual anchor401(e.g., as defined by a distance (zero in this example) from the physical floor306, a distance502from the physical wall302, and distance500from the end of the physical wall302), and the remaining portions of the virtual table504(e.g., the table top and the other legs) are generated relative to that position based on the desired size and shape of the table and based on the available space in the physical environment300for the virtual table. In various examples, the size, orientation, shape, etc. of the virtual anchor object associated with the requested physical object depends on detected features of the environment.

In the example ofFIG.5, a virtual cup320is rendered for display at a fixed location that is determined based on the size, location, position, and/or shape of the virtual anchor object (e.g., the virtual table504). In this example, the virtual cup320is positioned at a different location than the location of the virtual anchor401, but fixed relative to the virtual anchor and the physical environment at a location determined by the characteristics of the table. It should also be understood that the location of the virtual anchor401relative to the virtual anchor object and the virtual cup320inFIG.5are merely illustrative, and other arrangements are possible in which virtual content is anchored to a virtual anchor object that is itself anchored to a fixed location relative to a physical environment. For example, the virtual anchor may be located at another location on the virtual anchor object (e.g., the center of the table top), separated from the virtual anchor object, or the virtual anchor object itself may be the virtual anchor. In various examples, rendering the virtual content for display at a fixed location in the physical environment using a virtual anchor may include positioning the rendered virtual content relative to the rendered virtual anchor object.

Prior to generating the virtual anchor object (e.g., the virtual table in the example ofFIG.5), electronic device105may identify an available space for the virtual anchor object based on the environment information for the physical environment300. Electronic device105may determine a size for the virtual anchor object based on the identified available space for the virtual anchor object. Electronic device105may provide user101with the ability to resize a virtual anchor object (e.g., using gesture-based, controller-based or other input).

In some circumstances, electronic device105may determine that a physical environment is not suitable for providing a virtual anchor object corresponding to a requested physical anchor object (e.g., if there is not space in the room for a virtual table, or if there is no clear view of a wall). In circumstances in which a physical environment is not suitable for providing a virtual anchor object, a virtual anchor that is a point in space without an associated virtual anchor object can be provided (as in the example ofFIG.4), or a virtual portal can be generated to create space in the XR environment in which to render the virtual version of the requested physical anchor object. This can be particularly useful in crowded spaces such as on a bus or a plane, where a virtual portal can create a partial immersion environment that replaces nearby objects (such as the seat and tray table in front of the user) with a space in which a virtual version of a physical object (e.g., a virtual table, a virtual movie screen, a virtual wall) can be displayed.

FIG.6illustrates an example of a physical environment600that does not include sufficient space for rendering a virtual anchor object such as the virtual table ofFIG.5, a virtual wall, or the like. In the example ofFIG.6, a user101(who may be wearing an electronic device105) views a portion of a physical environment600that includes the backs of three seats602(e.g., airplane seats or bus seats) in a row ahead of a row in which the user is seated, and that includes armrests604of the user's own seat and a portion of the user's legs601.

In a scenario in which an XR application of electronic device105requests a physical anchor object in the form of a physical table while the user is in physical environment600, the physical environment600does not include the requested physical anchor object and electronic device105may determine that there is insufficient space in the physical environment600for a virtual anchor object corresponding to the requested physical table.

FIG.7illustrates an example in which electronic device105generates and renders a virtual portal700for display over a portion of the physical environment600. In this example, a virtual anchor object such as virtual table504is rendered by electronic device105for display at a fixed location relative to the physical environment by rendering the virtual anchor object for display in the virtual portal700. In this example, the virtual portal and/or the virtual table can be anchored to the physical environment (e.g., to a locations on one seats602).

As shown inFIG.7, providing a virtual portal700may include blocking out the user's view of a portion of the physical environment. The can include preventing, with a display of the electronic device105, a view of the physical environment, and displaying the rendered virtual environment with the display. Preventing the view of the physical environment with the display may include, in one example, terminating display of a pass-through video feed corresponding to the blocked portion of the physical environment from a camera of the electronic device. Preventing the view of the physical environment with the display may include, in another example, directing display light into an eye of a user with a transparent or translucent display of the electronic device that is disposed between the physical environment and the eye(s) of the user. The virtual anchor object and the virtual content that is anchored to that object can then be rendered and displayed in (e.g., overlaid on) the virtual portal700.

As indicated by arrows702, virtual portal700may be adjustable (e.g., resizable) by the user. For example, the user can reach out their hand to a location that appears to the user to be the corner or edge of the virtual portal700and pinch or otherwise virtually grasp the corner or edge, and pull or push the virtual edge to increase or decrease the size of the virtual portal. Increasing or decreasing the size of the virtual portal700in this way causes the virtual portal700to be displayed over an expanded portion or a decreased portion of the physical environment600. In some cases, the size of the virtual portal may be limited by the characteristics of the physical environment. For example, if the user resizes virtual portal700until the edge of the virtual portal encounters the physical wall704of the airplane or bus, the user may be prevented from further increasing the size of the virtual portal700, or the virtual portal may be replaced with a virtual environment.

FIG.8illustrates and example in which the user's view of the physical environment600ofFIGS.6and7is blocked by a displayed virtual environment800, except for the user's view of their own legs601and the armrests604of their own seat. In the example ofFIG.8, the user's legs and armrest remain visible to help the user orient in the virtual environment. However, this is merely illustrative, and in other examples, more or less (e.g., none) of the physical objects and/or environment may be visible to the user.

The virtual environment800can be provided when the user resizes a virtual portal beyond a predetermined size (e.g., beyond 180 degree field of view of the user) or when it is initially determined that there is insufficient space in the physical environment for a virtual anchor object (e.g., if the user sets a preference for a virtual environment instead of a virtual portal). In the example ofFIG.8, electronic device105has rendered and displayed a virtual environment800over the physical environment600, and rendered and displayed a virtual anchor object (e.g., a virtual wall804) for display at a fixed location relative to the physical environment600(e.g., by rendering the virtual anchor object at a fixed location in the virtual environment800). Although not visible to the user, at least one location such as a point on virtual wall804is anchored to a location in the physical environment600, so that the virtual content (e.g., a virtual movie screen802in the example ofFIG.6) can be anchored to the virtual anchor. In this way, the virtual content can be displayed at a fixed location in the virtual environment800even if the user moves and/or looks around the physical environment600.

In various operational scenarios, the virtual environment800can be an artificial environment (e.g., a virtual movie theater, a virtual beach, etc.) or can be a virtual version of a known physical environment that is different from the current physical environment600. For example, the known physical environment may be the user's home, the user's living room, the user's bedroom, the user's office, the user's car, or any other physical environment that has been previously mapped (e.g., by the electronic device105or another device with depth sensing and/or imaging capabilities). A known physical environment may include one or more known physical anchor objects (e.g., the user's television stand, the user's bedroom wall, the user's kitchen table, the user's office desk, etc.). The known physical anchor objects can be requested separately from the known physical environment and/or as part of a known physical environment.

In the example ofFIG.8, the virtual environment may include other virtual objects such as a virtual end table806that corresponds to a physical end table in the user's living room. In this example, the requested physical anchor object can be a known physical wall in the user's living room, and the virtual anchor object can be a virtual wall804that corresponds (e.g., in size, shape, color, location, etc.) to a wall of the user's living room. In this way, the user can be provided with a virtual environment that is fixed (e.g., anchored) to a current physical environment, and that makes the user feel as though they are in a different, known physical environment (e.g., so that the user can feel as though they are watching a movie in their living room or working at their own office desk, even while on a plane, in a bus, or in a hotel room).

Displaying a virtual environment, as in the example ofFIG.8, may include preventing, with a display of the electronic device105, a view of the physical environment600, and displaying the rendered virtual environment800with the display. Preventing the view of the physical environment with the display may include terminating display of some or all of a pass-through video feed from a camera of the electronic device or may include directing display light into an eye of a user with a transparent or translucent display of the electronic device that is disposed between the physical environment and the eye of the user.

FIG.9illustrates a flow diagram of an example process900for providing virtual anchoring for an extended reality display device in accordance with implementations of the subject technology. For explanatory purposes, the process900is primarily described herein with reference to the electronic device105ofFIGS.1and2. However, the process900is not limited to the electronic device105ofFIGS.1and2, and one or more blocks (or operations) of the process900may be performed by one or more other components of other suitable devices, including the electronic device110, the handheld electronic device114, the electronic device115, and/or the servers120. Further for explanatory purposes, some of the blocks of the process900are described herein as occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of the process900may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocks of the process900need not be performed in the order shown and/or one or more blocks of the process900need not be performed and/or can be replaced by other operations.

As illustrated inFIG.9, at block902, an electronic device such as electronic device105obtains environment information for a physical environment of the electronic device. The environment information may include depth information, image information, object information, and/or other three-dimensional information about the physical environment (e.g., as determined using one or more depth sensors such as sensors152and/or one or more cameras such as camera(s)150of the electronic device).

At block904, the electronic device receives (e.g., from an XR application such as XR application202at a mapping and object detection engine such as mapping and object detection engine200ofFIG.2) a request for a physical anchor object (e.g., physical table, a horizontal plane, a vertical plane, a physical wall, a physical floor, a couch, a chair, a television stand, a window, a tree, a flower, a cloud, etc.) in the physical environment.

At block906, the electronic device determines, based on the environment information, that the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment.

At block908, the electronic device generates a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment. The fixed location may be defined relative to one or more objects or locations in the physical environment. The virtual anchor may be a point in space and/or may be associated with a virtual anchor object corresponding to the requested physical anchor object. For example, the electronic device may generate a virtual anchor object corresponding to the physical anchor object.

At block910, the electronic device provides the virtual anchor (e.g., from a mapping and object detection engine such as mapping and object detection engine200to an XR application such as XR application202), responsive to the request to for the physical anchor object.

At block912, the electronic device renders, for display, virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor. The electronic device may also render the virtual anchor object for display at the fixed location or at another fixed location defined relative to the fixed location in the physical environment. Rendering the virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor may include positioning the rendered virtual content relative to the rendered virtual anchor object (e.g., by positioning virtual cup320on a virtual table504as in the example ofFIG.5orFIG.7, or positioning a virtual movie screen802on a virtual wall804as in the example ofFIG.8).

FIG.10illustrates an electronic system1000with which one or more implementations of the subject technology may be implemented. The electronic system1000can be, and/or can be a part of, the electronic device105, the handheld electronic device104, the electronic device110, the electronic device115, and/or the server120as shown inFIG.1. The electronic system1000may include various types of computer readable media and interfaces for various other types of computer readable media. The electronic system1000includes a bus1008, one or more processing unit(s)1012, a system memory1004(and/or buffer), a ROM1010, a permanent storage device1002, an input device interface1014, an output device interface1006, and one or more network interfaces1016, or subsets and variations thereof.

The bus1008collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipset buses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of the electronic system1000. In one or more implementations, the bus1008communicatively connects the one or more processing unit(s)1012with the ROM1010, the system memory1004, and the permanent storage device1002. From these various memory units, the one or more processing unit(s)1012retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order to execute the processes of the subject disclosure. The one or more processing unit(s)1012can be a single processor or a multi-core processor in different implementations.

The ROM1010stores static data and instructions that are needed by the one or more processing unit(s)1012and other modules of the electronic system1000. The permanent storage device1002, on the other hand, may be a read-and-write memory device. The permanent storage device1002may be a non-volatile memory unit that stores instructions and data even when the electronic system1000is off. In one or more implementations, a mass-storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) may be used as the permanent storage device1002.

In one or more implementations, a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk, flash drive, and its corresponding disk drive) may be used as the permanent storage device1002. Like the permanent storage device1002, the system memory1004may be a read-and-write memory device. However, unlike the permanent storage device1002, the system memory1004may be a volatile read-and-write memory, such as random access memory. The system memory1004may store any of the instructions and data that one or more processing unit(s)1012may need at runtime. In one or more implementations, the processes of the subject disclosure are stored in the system memory1004, the permanent storage device1002, and/or the ROM1010. From these various memory units, the one or more processing unit(s)1012retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order to execute the processes of one or more implementations.

The bus1008also connects to the input and output device interfaces1014and1006. The input device interface1014enables a user to communicate information and select commands to the electronic system1000. Input devices that may be used with the input device interface1014may include, for example, alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (also called “cursor control devices”). The output device interface1006may enable, for example, the display of images generated by electronic system1000. Output devices that may be used with the output device interface1006may include, for example, printers and display devices, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexible display, a flat panel display, a solid state display, a projector, or any other device for outputting information. One or more implementations may include devices that function as both input and output devices, such as a touchscreen. In these implementations, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Finally, as shown inFIG.10, the bus1008also couples the electronic system1000to one or more networks and/or to one or more network nodes, such as the electronic device110shown inFIG.1, through the one or more network interface(s)1016. In this manner, the electronic system1000can be a part of a network of computers (such as a LAN, a wide area network (“WAN”), or an Intranet, or a network of networks, such as the Internet. Any or all components of the electronic system1000can be used in conjunction with the subject disclosure.

In accordance with aspects of the subject disclosure, a method is provided that includes obtaining, with an electronic device, environment information for a physical environment of the electronic device; receiving, by the electronic device, a request for a physical anchor object in the physical environment; determining, based on the environment information, that the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment; generating a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment; providing, responsive to the request to for the physical anchor object, the virtual anchor; and rendering, by the electronic device, virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor.

In accordance with aspects of the subject disclosure, a system is provided that includes a processor and a memory device containing instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform operations that include obtaining, with an electronic device, environment information for a physical environment of the electronic device; receiving, by the electronic device, a request for a physical anchor object in the physical environment; determining, based on the environment information, that the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment; generating a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment; providing, responsive to the request to for the physical anchor object, the virtual anchor; and rendering, by the electronic device, virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor.

In accordance with aspects of the subject disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that includes instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations that include obtaining, with an electronic device, environment information for a physical environment of the electronic device; receiving, by the electronic device, a request for a physical anchor object in the physical environment; determining, based on the environment information, that the physical anchor object is not available in the physical environment; generating a virtual anchor having a fixed location in the physical environment; providing, responsive to the request to for the physical anchor object, the virtual anchor; and rendering, by the electronic device, virtual content for display at the fixed location in the physical environment using the virtual anchor.

The term website, as used herein, may include any aspect of a website, including one or more web pages, one or more servers used to host or store web related content, etc. Accordingly, the term website may be used interchangeably with the terms web page and server. The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to” do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of a subject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. For example, a processor configured to monitor and control an operation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed to monitor and control the operation or the processor being operable to monitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code.

The term automatic, as used herein, may include performance by a computer or machine without user intervention; for example, by instructions responsive to a predicate action by the computer or machine or other initiation mechanism. The word “example” is used herein to mean “serving as an example or illustration.” Any aspect or design described herein as “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.