Interactive method of presenting information in an image

[0001] This is a national stage of PCT/SE2005/000936 filed 17 Jun. 2005 and published in English.

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to an interactive method of presenting information in an image and, more specifically, a method allowing the user to interact with a system that mixes real and virtual information.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In the future society, the technical systems will be increasingly complicated and interconnected in complex structures. At the same time the technical maintenance staff must be more generally usable than is the case now that a large number of specialists are employed. The maintenance staff will therefore need an intuitive technical support system which is easy to use.

[0006] Such a system can be based on Mixed Reality (MR) which comprises techniques and methods where real and virtual visual information are mixed. By approaching an object, the user of an MR system can, based on his own needs, have relevant information about the object projected in his field of vision. The information may concern a system or an individual component. It may also involve a performance operation, for instance, how a component is to be dismounted, or the tightening moment which is to be applied in mounting. The user can also via the MR system obtain support in fault localisation and have a corrective measure presented to himself.

[0007] The technical development has made it possible, and makes it possible to an increasing extent, for an individual to register with his senses virtually created information which to some extent corresponds to the information he is used to experience from reality. This means that it is possible to divide reality into two parts, the real world and the virtual world. The two worlds can be mixed by means of technical devices so that a user of such a technical device can perceive the two worlds as one.

[0008] In MR, the virtual and real worlds can thus be mixed. In a first step, it is possible to start from only mixing visual image information from the two worlds, but in a subsequent step, also acoustic and tactile/haptic information from the two worlds can be included. For the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the invention described below, the description is restricted mainly to comprise merely visual image information.

[0009] MR can be used in many different applications, such as for training, repair, maintenance and manufacture, in various fields, for instance in medicine, manufacturing industry, adventure industry and in military contexts.

[0010] The present invention provides a solution to the problem of presenting in each moment relevant information to a user, while taking the user's education level and previous experience into consideration, by designing the information in the manner described herein. Particularly, an interactive method of presenting information in an image to a user is described in which the user carries a head-mounted display device which presents an image of the surroundings to the user. The user's head position and direction are established in relation to the surroundings, and a calculating device establishes, based on the preceding step, which part of the surroundings is positioned in front of the user's head. The calculating device also establishes where in a hierarchical scheme the user is positioned as regards information about and performed operations concerning that part of the surroundings which is positioned in front of the user's head. Further, the calculating device establishes, based on the preceding step, which information is to be presented to the user and presents it in the form of a virtual image which is mixed with the real image. A central part of the image is defined, with there being in the area outside the central part fields and/or objects that are adapted to be included in a transfer of messages from the user to the calculating device. The user's direction of gaze at the image is established and it is made clear when the point of fixation in the image is in a field or an object. Finally, the calculating device is informed that the user has received the information and, respectively, performed the current operations depending on how the point of fixation is positioned in fields and/or objects.

[0021] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

[0022] For the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the content of the invention, the further description is based on a concrete example which is called “live manual” and which describes a user who carries a technical device, in which the visual virtual and real worlds can be mixed and presented to him. His task is assumed to involve dismounting an engine block based on visual instructions. The technical steps of such a process will be described below.

Direct and Indirect Vision

[0023] Real visual information is the information that originates from the real world. Monitoring can be made directly, i.e. the visual radiation from the surroundings 3 reaches the user's eye 1 directly or via some kind of transmissive or partly transmissive optical device 2, for instance via a pair of goggles, see FIG. 1. Monitoring can also occur indirectly, for instance via a camera 4 and a display device 5, see FIG. 2. The camera here monitors the visual radiation from the surroundings, converts the radiation into an electric signal which is transferred to the display device where the signal is converted into an image that describes the surroundings. The camera 4 and the display device 5 can be designed in such a manner that they can be placed close to the user's head and eyes. In this case the camera follows the movements of the user's head, thus resulting in head-controlled indirect vision.

[0024] A camera used in such a context does not have to be sensitive to visual radiation only, but can be sensitive in other ranges as well, for instance in the near IR range, the thermal IR ranges or the UV range. The camera can also detect the surroundings by multispectral bands. By letting the camera be sensitive to radiation both inside and outside the reception area of the human eye, the indirect vision may help a user to perceive the surroundings in a more comprehensive manner than in the case using direct vision.

[0025] Since the camera monitors the surroundings and converts what it sees into an electric signal, it is possible to let this signal pass a computer which improves, changes or converts the image represented by the electric signal, for instance by noise reduction, contrast amplification or amplification of small local signal variations in shady or light areas.

Creating Virtual Visual Information

[0026] Virtual visual information is here information which is created by means of a computer or some other image-creating device. The virtual visual information is presented to the user via a display device 5. The virtual visual information can originate, for instance, from a database or be calculated by the computer. Examples of virtual visual information in this context are two-dimensional images (with image and/or text information), two-dimensional objects (for instance an arrow), three-dimensional text, three-dimensional models (objects), video sequences, particle systems (for instance flickering smoke/fire) and moving simulated animated sequences.

Mixing Virtual and Real Visual Image Information

[0027] The virtual visual information, described above, can be mixed with the real visual information using mainly two different techniques, optic-see-through and video-see-through.

[0028] In the first technique, optic-see-through, see FIG. 1, the user sees the real visual world via a transmissive or partly transmissive optical device 2, into which the virtual visual information is reflected. The visual radiation which describes virtual image information is generated by a computer 7 based on line-up data from a line-up device 8. The virtual information is presented via a display device 5 and reflected into the user's eye via a beam splitter 6.

[0029] In the second technique, video-see-through, see FIG. 2, the user sees the real visual world via a camera 4 and a display device 5. The image from the camera passes a computer 7 or some other image-calculating unit before being presented to the user via the display device. The computer can then electronically or in a computerised manner intermix virtual visual information generated in the same way as in the preceding example based on line-up data from a line-up device 8. This intermixing can be made at different degrees, all the way from the virtual visual information being slightly superimposed over the real up to the virtual visual information replacing relevant real visual information.

Line-Up Process

[0030] For mixing of the virtual and real visual information to take place in a correct manner, some kind of line-up process must be used. The virtual visual information is in most cases related to a position in a scene in the real world; for instance virtual visual information describing how electric wires are placed in a wall is related to the position of the real wall, since otherwise the wires—virtually described—cannot be correctly superimposed on the wall, seen with the user's eyes.

Line-Up in Optic-See-Through

[0031] Starting from the user carrying head-mounted equipment for optic-see-through, the computer must somehow know in which direction the user has turned his head to be able to calculate which virtual visual information is to be presented and also how and where in the image in the display device this should occur. In an advanced form, also the position of the eye in relation to the position of the equipment is used, since the eye is the human image detector that records the mixed visual information. A minor displacement of the equipment on the user's head may result in the real and virtual visual information being displaced in an undesirable way.

[0032] There are many ways of lining up the user's position and direction in relation to a scene in the real world. Various techniques have been developed and line-up equipment, trackers, can be grouped according to which physical principle is used: acoustic, magnetic, based on the law of inertia, optical and mechanical. It is also possible to combine two trackers that are based on different principles and, thus, obtain a hybrid tracker.

[0033] A user's relationship to his surroundings can be lined up by detecting both position, x, y and z, and direction, i.e. angles of rotation head, pitch and roll, see FIG. 3. In the figure head is designated h, pitch p and roll r. If position and direction in all directions are lined up, a line-up in six degrees of freedom has been made. In some cases, for instance when the user is sitting more or less strapped in a chair, it may be sufficient to measure only head, pitch and roll, i.e. only three degrees of freedom.

[0034] If a camera is integrated with the head-mounted equipment and the direction of the camera is aligned with the optical direction of the equipment, the camera image can be read by a computer which by means of software can detect patterns or local properties in the image and in this manner orient itself in the surroundings.

Line-Up in Video-See-Through

[0035] Starting from the user carrying head-mounted equipment for video-see-through, the information of the camera image can be used by the computer in the same way as described above regarding optic-see-through. The computer can thus detect local properties or patterns in the image from the camera and, based on this information, orient itself. A local property can be, for instance, the corner of a table or a nut. However, it may be difficult for the computer to find such local properties in the image from the camera since they can be viewed, for instance, from different angles of vision and in different lighting situations.

[0036] It is therefore suitable to assist the computer in orienting itself in the image by arranging patterns which have been specially designed to allow the computer to find them in the image from the camera. Such a specially designed pattern, hereinafter called a marker, should be designed so that the pattern of the marker is unique and the position and direction of the marker, i.e. its six degrees of freedom, can be determined from the marker. A marker, 9 in FIGS. 4 and 5, can simply be a black-and-white unique pattern 10, surrounded by a black frame 11 against a white background 12. A marker may also consist of a number of light-reflecting dots, a number of light-generating dots, for instance light-emitting diodes, or just be an ordinary image depicting something.

[0037] A marker can, in addition to assisting the computer in orienting itself, be connected to some kind of virtual visual information, or in a more general application to some other virtual information, for instance acoustic. Information about how and where the virtual visual information is to be presented to the user can also be connected to each marker. If, as shown in FIG. 5, a marker 9 is placed on an engine block 13 and in the vicinity of a bolt 14, the computer can, for instance, correctly position a virtually created spanner 15 to mark that the bolt is to be unscrewed by means of a spanner.

[0038] The computer can orient itself in the surroundings by detecting a marker in the camera image which is also seen by the user. As an alternative, the field of vision of the camera can be larger than the field of vision presented to the user via the display device. In such a case, the computer can find markers which are positioned wholly or partly outside the image presented to the user. In a further development, one or more cameras, which are arranged in a fixed and known relationship to the camera that gives the user his image, can be used to detect markers in a completely different direction from the direction in which the user directs his head. Owing to the known relationship between the cameras, relevant virtual visual image information can still be positioned in a correct manner in the image which the user sees.

Markers and Order of Execution

[0039] By using a number of different markers which are placed in different positions, for instance on an engine block, a user carrying a head-mounted video-see-through system connected to a computer can obtain a visual description how he should proceed, for instance, to dismount the engine. The user obtains a live manual.

[0040] Each marker is connected to some kind of virtual visual information and as the user approaches the current object, the engine block, of course all markers cannot provide virtual visual information simultaneously, but there must be a specific order regarding how the virtual visual information is to be displayed, i.e. how the various operations are to be performed, for example, in order to dismount the engine.

[0041] The invention is established in different chains of information, and the various manipulations that are to be performed by the user are arranged in chains of execution. It is a structure system where information at a certain level in a hierarchical system normally leads to new information. The user should also by messages to the calculating device be able to jump back and forth in the hierarchical system to obtain information he considers to be necessary.

[0042] Moreover the system can in a more advanced design adapt the information to the user's level of knowledge and experience. It is conceivable that the system presents “all” information on a first occasion to a certain user. If the user then is to repetitively perform the same manipulations on a sequence of objects, such as engines, the system can restrict the information step by step according to a predetermined plan of how the user's experience increases. However, as mentioned above the user can at any time request more information.

[0043] If besides a system is used which requires the user to identify himself, the system can also take into consideration what the user “should be able to perform” in consequence of what the user has performed on previous occasions. Since a system according to the invention must comprise an gaze tracker, see further below, to determine the point of fixation of an eye in the image, it would be possible to combine this with an opportunity to identify the user by eye recognition.

[0044] In the normal case, a marker is considered when determining which information is to be presented first when the entire marker is visible in the image. A more advanced system contains, however, several variants. A marker can be active/passive, executable/non-executable, acknowledged/unacknowledged etc.

[0045] The basic principle implies that a marker is active when positioned in the camera image, which usually is also the image presented via a head-mounted display device, and passive when positioned outside the image. As a rule, when a marker is active, the virtual information connected to the marker is shown whereas, when a marker is passive, no information at all is shown.

[0046] In a more developed system, a number of conditions can be introduced for a marker to be active, for instance it must be positioned within a certain distance to the user, it must have the correct priority, certain operations must be performed previously etc. In such a system, a passive marker can also, depending on the situation, show virtual information, such as “Do not perform this operation at the moment”.

[0047] For the system to be able to correctly conduct a user, for instance, in a mounting sequence, certain operations must occur in the correct order. Therefore it has been found relevant to introduce the term acknowledgement of marker or, more correctly, acknowledgement of the information which is connected to the marker, so that the system, for example, can obtain information that a user has performed a certain operation/manipulation. After a user has performed a certain operation, he/she therefore acknowledges that he/she has been informed about or performed an operation associated with the information which is connected to the marker. This acknowledgement can occur by means of a command made, for instance, by the user's hand, voice or eye. For the user to be aware of the state of acknowledgement, a symbol can be connected to the marker which shows the status thereof. For example, it can be a symbol in the form of a hand where the colour thereof marks the current state of acknowledgement.

Interaction in Operations of Execution

[0048] The user carrying the head-mounted equipment and receiving instructions about how he/she should perform the various operations, for instance dismount the engine, has in most cases both hands occupied by the actual dismounting and besides his/her hands can be dirty. In this situation, the user must, as discussed above, be able to acknowledge somehow the various operations. Here the condition can be applied that the user already carries head-mounted equipment and supplement this with a gaze tracker (for one or both eyes), for instance as shown in FIG. 6. In the figure, the eye is designated 1, part of the surroundings 3, a camera 4, a display device 5, a computer 7, a camera 16 sensitive to near IR radiation, a filter 17 letting through only near IR radiation, near IR light sources 18, a spherical mirror 19, a hot mirror 20, i.e. an optical device having the function that near IR radiation is reflected as in a mirror while visual radiation is transmitted, and a beam splitter 21. If the direction of both eyes is detected, this can be used to create a correct stereographic virtual presentation, provided that a camera will be used for each eye, so that also the camera image is stereographic.

[0049] The gaze tracker, or the gaze trackers, detects where in the image the user has his point of fixation. A number of fields/objects are marked in the image from the camera—i.e. in the image of the surroundings, see FIG. 5. A field in the image is designated 22, a three-dimensional object in the image 23, and a cross 24, which describes where in the image the point of fixation of the eye is positioned.

[0050] The fields/objects, which suitably can be positioned close to the corners in the image and can be shaped in various ways, for instance as the arrow 22 in FIG. 5, for the function of the field/object to be understood immediately. The field/object can be shaped as a fully transparent surface in the image, surrounded by a coloured frame where the colour of the frame designates the current function. The function can also be indicated as an amount of text in the field/object. The field/object can also be more or less transparent or be completely filled with a colour, a pattern or an image. The field/object can also be three-dimensional, stationary or moving. When the user looks at one of the fields/objects, this can be indicated by the shape, colour, movement or contents of the field/object being changed somehow, so that the user understands that the system knows that the user looks at the field/object.

[0051] By interacting with a field/object, the user can acknowledge that he/she has received information, performed an action or requests stepwise movement in a hierarchical scheme of a sequence of execution comprised by the system. The actual command, the acknowledgement, can be given to the system in various ways. A simple way is to keep looking at a special field or object for a sufficient length of time. It is also possible to let the eye's passing of a number of fields/objects in a predetermined sequence give the current command. One way may involve letting the eye rapidly move to the periphery of the image and after that quickly to the field in which the user is interested. Another option is to let the position of the eye in a field or an object be combined with a completely different action, for instance a voice command or a command performed by some other part of the body than the eye, for instance the user's foot.

[0052] A field/object can also be positioned in different virtual focal planes if a camera and a display device are used for each eye. A field/object can be experienced to be close to the user or be experienced to be positioned far away owing to the stereo effect. It is here possible to let the various fields/objects take different distances, experienced by the user, to the user for the purpose of giving the user some kind of feedback.

[0053] When looking around, the user uses his head for large turnings and his eye for minor turnings. When a user uses gaze-controlled MR equipment and looks around, the point of fixation of his eye normally moves within a limited area around the centre of the image (his head makes the large movements). This can be applied so as not to have to show fields/objects before they are needed. It can be disturbing if there are fields/objects in the image when the user is not interested in being able to acknowledge or give a command, even if they are positioned at the edge of the image. In this case the user defines a central part of the image and not until the point of fixation of his eye leaves this central image, the fields/objects are shown.

[0054] It is still more disturbing if the point of fixation is always shown in the image. The invention therefore does not show the point of fixation in the image when it is positioned in the central part of the image, or shows it in a non-disturbing manner, for instance as a dot. Outside the central part, it is normally no problem to show the point of fixation, and it is important to know where one looks when one wants to interact with the fields/objects. With reference to FIG. 5 and designations in the same, one way can be to mark when the point of fixation 24 in the image is in a field 22 or an object 23 by the field/object changing its appearance, for instance colour or shape. Another way is to always present the point of fixation in the image in a distinct manner, for instance as a cross 24, when the point of fixation is outside the central part of the image.

[0055] It may also be important to know when the calculating device 7 has perceived a delivered message. This can occur by the current field/object 22, 23 changing its appearance, for instance colour or shape, as this occurs. It would also be possible to receive this information only by the image or a part thereof changing; for instance he next step in the chain of information or execution can be presented.

[0056] As an example, a concrete implementation of the invention will be presented in the following. FIG. 7 shows how a marker 9 with a well-defined pattern is placed on a physical object 25. A user 26 has turned his head towards the physical object and the marker. On his head, the user has equipment 27, by means of which he can see both the real image information from the physical object and also superimposed virtual image information which is connected to the position and direction in relation to the marker.

[0057] With the head-mounted equipment 27, the user's eye can also be used for interaction between the user and a computer 7, in which software for gaze-controlled MR is implemented. The head-mounted equipment is connected to the computer by means of a wire 28 which contains several transmission channels and a current supply channel.

[0058] FIG. 8, where the eye is designated 1, shows different parts included in the head-mounted equipment:

[0059] A camera system comprising:

• • [0060] Colour camera 29 with, for instance, FireWire interface
  • [0061] Lens 30 for colour camera 29
  • [0062] Mirror 31 for colour camera 29 and lens 30. The function of the mirror is to reduce parallax between the camera and a microdisplay system which will be presented below.

[0063] A microdisplay system comprising:

• • [0064] Microdisplay 32 of the transmissive type
  • [0065] Illumination 33 for microdisplay 32
  • [0066] Drive electronics 34 for microdisplay 32
  • [0067] Beam splitter 35
  • [0068] Spherical mirror 36

[0069] A gaze tracker system comprising:

• • [0070] Black-and-white camera 37 with good sensitivity in the near IR range. The camera can have, for example, FireWire interface.
  • [0071] Near IR filter 38 filtering off visual radiation
  • [0072] Lens 39 for camera 37
  • [0073] Near IR illumination 40 which on the one hand illuminates the eye 1 and, on the other, causes reflections on the cornea of the eye.
  • [0074] Hot mirror 41, i.e. mirror reflecting near IR radiation and transmitting visual radiation at an angle of incidence of approx 45 degrees

[0075] FIG. 9 shows in the form of a flow chart how a computer and implemented software can operate in a system for gaze-controlled MR.

• • [0076] P1. Image information describing the reality, 9 and 25 in FIG. 7, and monitored by a camera, 29 in FIG. 8.
  • [0077] P2. The recorded image is transferred via wire 28 and FireWire interface to FireWire interface in the computer, 7 in FIG. 7.
  • [0078] P3. This image information then proceeds to marker detection which in turn consists of
  • [0079] P4. thresholding of image information and
  • [0080] P5. determining which marker is involved and the six degrees of freedom thereof.
  • [0081] P6. Information about which marker is sent to a database where virtual image information connected to markers is stored and
  • [0082] P7. the six degrees of freedom of the marker are sent to the computer graphics system where the image information from the camera (P1) is mixed with the virtual image information from the database (P6). How this mixing occurs is determined on the one hand by the six degrees of freedom of the marker from (P5) and, on the other hand, by information from the database (P6).
  • [0083] P8. The composite image information from the computer graphics system (P7) proceeds to the head-mounted equipment, 27 in FIG. 7, which contains, inter alia, a microdisplay system.
  • [0084] P9. At the same time the eye is monitored by a camera, 37 in FIG. 8.
  • [0085] P10. The monitored image is transferred via wire, 28 in FIG. 7, and FireWire interface to FireWire interface in the computer, 7 in FIG. 7.
  • [0086] P11. This image information then proceeds to detection of pupil and reflection which in turn consists of
  • [0087] P12. filtering of image information,
  • [0088] P13. thresholding of image information and
  • [0089] P14. determining the position of the pupil and the positions of the reflections on the cornea caused by near IR illumination, 40 in FIG. 8.
  • [0090] P15. These position data are introduced into a system of equations from which the direction of the user's eye falls out. Eye direction data proceed to the computer graphics system (P7) where the point of fixation is marked, for instance as a cross in the image.

[0091] The invention being thus described, it will be apparent that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.