Patents Examined by Daniel F. Hajnik
  • Patent number: 11875452
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for graphics processing. The apparatus may configure a plurality of billboards associated with a viewpoint of a first frame of a plurality of frames, the plurality of billboards being configured in one or more layers at least partially around the viewpoint, the configuration of the plurality of billboards being based on one or more volumetric elements between at least one of the plurality of billboards and the viewpoint. The apparatus may also render an image associated with each of the one or more volumetric elements between at least one billboard of the plurality of billboards and the viewpoint, the rendered image including a set of pixels. The apparatus may also store data in the at least one billboard based on the rendered image associated with each of the one or more volumetric elements, the data corresponding to the set of pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Dieter Schmalstieg, Markus Steinberger, Wolfgang Tatzgern
  • Patent number: 11869138
    Abstract: A system and method for volume rendering a light field, wherein the light field data is subjected to a layering scheme introducing a partitioning of the hogels into subsets. Each subset corresponding to a sub-volume of the layer volume, corresponds to the sub-region of the layer. Novel partitioning of the data combined with an efficient local memory caching technique, plenoptic downsampling strategies to reduce memory bandwidth requirements and volume rendering algorithm to produce a rendered light field image. A reduction in the total number of samples required can be obtained while still maintaining the quality of the resulting image. A method is also provided to order memory accesses aligned with ray calculations in order to maximize access coherency. Real-time layered scene decomposition can be combined with surface rendering method to create a hybrid real-time rendering method that supports rendering of scenes containing superimposed volumes and surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Avalon Holographics Inc.
    Inventor: Matthew Hamilton
  • Patent number: 11869133
    Abstract: A system and method for performing intersection testing of rays in a ray tracing system. The ray tracing system uses a hierarchical acceleration structure comprising a plurality of nodes, each identifying one or more elements able to be intersected by a ray. The system makes use of a serial-mode ray intersection process, in which, when a ray intersects a bounding volume, a limited number of new ray requests are generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Imagination Technologies Limited
    Inventor: Daniel Barnard
  • Patent number: 11854145
    Abstract: The present invention provides an octree-based three-dimensional building model LOD method, specifically comprising the following steps: S1, reading three-dimensional building model data; S2, setting a tree depth Depth parameter of the octree; S3, respectively merging leaf node bounding boxes of the octree according to layers, and establishing coarse grid blocks; S4, merging the coarse grid blocks of the components of each layer; S5, performing triangularization; S6, calculating a normal vector of the coarse grid block; S7, merging the simplified components to form a building model of a coarse grid block; S8, deleting internal vertexes; S9, setting materials or textures; and S10, outputting the three-dimensional building LOD model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: SPEED TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Li, Jianyong Fan, Biliang Zhu, Zhongjian Xu
  • Patent number: 11854143
    Abstract: A light probe generation method and apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer device are provided. The method includes: selecting shadow points of a target object in a virtual scene; converting the selected shadow points into a voxelized shadow voxel object; reducing a quantity of vertexes in the shadow voxel object to obtain a shadow voxel object after the reduction; and generating a light probe at a vertex position of the shadow voxel object after the vertex reduction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Dian Liu, Yu Cheng Qu
  • Patent number: 11854146
    Abstract: Described are systems and methods directed to generation of a dimensionally accurate three-dimensional (ā€œ3Dā€) model of a body, such as a human body, based on two-dimensional (ā€œ2Dā€) images of at least a portion of that body. A user may use a 2D camera, such as a digital camera typically included in many of today's portable devices (e.g., cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) and obtain a series of 2D body images of at least a portion of their body from different views with respect to the camera. The 2D body images may then be used to generate a plurality of predicted body parameters corresponding to the body represented in the 2D body images. Those predicted body parameters may then be further processed to generate a dimensionally accurate 3D model or avatar of the body of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Brandon Michael Smith, JinJin Li, Amit Kumar Agrawal, Visesh Uday Kumar Chari, Durga Venkata Kiran Yakkala, Prakash Ramu
  • Patent number: 11847743
    Abstract: A computer simulation object such as a chair is described by voice or photo input to render a 2D image. Machine learning may be used to convert voice input to the 2D image. The 2D image is converted to a 3D object and the 3D object or portions thereof are used in the computer simulation, such as a computer game, as the object such as a chair. A physics engine can be used to modify the 3D objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Sudha Krishnamurthy, Michael Taylor
  • Patent number: 11836861
    Abstract: A computing system includes one or more processors and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations. The operations include determining that a portion of an existing map is to be updated; obtaining a point cloud acquired by one or more Lidar sensors corresponding to a location of the portion; converting the portion into an equivalent point cloud; performing a point cloud registration based on the equivalent point cloud and the point cloud; and updating the existing map based on the point cloud registration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Pony AI Inc.
    Inventors: Mengda Yang, Yuyang Ding, Ruimeng Shi
  • Patent number: 11830125
    Abstract: Raytracing can be used to generate high quality, physics-based water caustics patterns in real time. A caustics map is generate to represent locations and normals of points across a water surface. Rays from a light source that are reflected and refracted from these points, as determined by the locations and normals, and can generate hit points on a surface. Neighboring points can be used to help determine the resulting caustics pattern. In one embodiment, information for neighboring points in the caustics map can be used to generate scale factors for geometric regions to be projected onto the surface for each hit point. In another embodiment, these points serve as vertices of a caustic mesh that can be projected onto the surface, where the brightness at a primitive is determined by the size of the primitive area defined by the vertices of the caustics mesh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Nvidia Corporation
    Inventors: Xueqing Yang, Nan Lin
  • Patent number: 11823323
    Abstract: An image source (407) provides an image divided into segments of different sizes with only a subset of these comprising image data. A metadata generator (409) generates metadata structured in accordance with a tree data structure where each node is linked to a segment of the image. Each node is a branch node linking the parent node to child nodes linked to segments that are subdivisions of the parent node, or a leaf node which has no children. A leaf node is either an unused leaf node linked to a segment for which the first image comprises no image data or a used leaf node linked to a segment for which the first image comprises image data. The metadata indicates whether each node is a branch node, a used leaf node, or an unused leaf node. An image signal generator (405) generates an image signal comprising the image data of the first image and the metadata.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
    Inventor: Bart Kroon
  • Patent number: 11823327
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a method for generating relightable 3D portrait using a deep neural network and a computing device implementing the method. A possibility of obtaining, in real time and on computing devices having limited processing resources, realistically relighted 3D portraits having quality higher or at least comparable to quality achieved by prior art solutions, but without utilizing complex and costly equipment is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Artem Mikhailovich Sevastopolskiy, Victor Sergeevich Lempitsky
  • Patent number: 11816808
    Abstract: Provided is a machine-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor effectuate operations including: receiving, with an application executed by a communication device, a first set of inputs including user data; generating, with the application, a three-dimensional model of the user based on the user data; receiving, with the application, a second set of inputs including a type of clothing garment; generating, with the application, a first set of clothing garments including clothing garments from a database of clothing garments that are the same type of clothing garment; generating, with the application, a second set of clothing garments from the first set of clothing garments based on the user data and one or more relationships between clothing attributes and human attributes; and presenting, with the application, the clothing garments from the second set of clothing garments virtually fitted on the three-dimensional model of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: AI Incorporated
    Inventors: Ali Ebrahimi Afrouzi, Azadeh Afshar Bakooshli
  • Patent number: 11816798
    Abstract: Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that refine a first 3D surface representation (e.g., a 3D point cloud or a 3D mesh) using a second 3D surface representation that includes a 3D geometric primitive. In some implementations, a first 3D surface representation of a physical environment is obtained including points at 3D locations determined based on data generated by a first sensor. In some implementations, a second 3D surface representation corresponding to at least a portion of the physical environment is obtained that includes at least one 3D geometric primitive. In some implementations, a determination whether to adjust the 3D locations of at least one point of the points of the first 3D surface representation is made based on the 3D geometric primitive, and the 3D locations of the at least one point is adjusted to align with the geometric primitive based on the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Baptiste Angles, Yu Ping Lin, Ming Chuang
  • Patent number: 11816783
    Abstract: Enhanced techniques applicable to a ray tracing hardware accelerator for traversing a hierarchical acceleration structure are disclosed. For example, traversal efficiency is improved by combining programmable traversals based on ray operations with per-node static configurations that modify traversal behavior. The per-node static configurations enable creators of acceleration data structures to optimize for potential traversals without necessarily requiring detailed information about ray characteristics and ray operations used when traversing the acceleration structure. Moreover, by providing for selective exclusion of certain nodes using per-node static configurations, less memory is needed to express an acceleration structure that includes, for example, different geometric levels of details corresponding to a single object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gregory Muthler, John Burgess
  • Patent number: 11806162
    Abstract: Described herein are methods and systems for using three-dimensional (3D) human movement data as an interactive and synesthetic means of communication that allows body language to be shared between and among individuals and groups, permitting never-before-seen means of expressivity and sharing, and forming the basis for a novel type of media having numerous applications, for example as part of or to enhance the application of psychedelic-assisted therapy, especially where such therapy incorporates augmented or virtual reality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Inventors: Sarah Hashkes, Matthew Hoe
  • Patent number: 11804003
    Abstract: High quality image rendering can be achieved in part by using inverse transform sampling to direct sampling toward regions of greater importance, such as regions with higher brightness values, to reduce noise and improve convergence. Inverse transform sampling can be achieved more efficiently by reformulating as a ray-tracing problem, using tree traversal units that can be accelerated. A geometric mesh can be generated based on a set of cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for various rows and columns of pixels in a texture, and individual rays can be traced against this mesh, with those rays having a higher probability of intersection at a point with greater importance, such as a higher brightness value. A probability distribution function to be used for importance sampling can be derived by analyzing partial derivatives of the CDF geometry at the intersection location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Nvidia Corporation
    Inventor: Nathan Morrical
  • Patent number: 11804000
    Abstract: Methods and systems are described in some examples for changing the traversal of an acceleration data structure in a highly dynamic query-specific manner, with each query specifying test parameters, a test opcode and a mapping of test results to actions. In an example ray tracing implementation, traversal of a bounding volume hierarchy by a ray is performed with the default behavior of the traversal being changed in accordance with results of a test performed using the test opcode and test parameters specified in the ray data structure and another test parameter specified in a node of the bounding volume hierarchy. In an example implementation a traversal coprocessor is configured to perform the traversal of the bounding volume hierarchy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Samuli Laine, Timo Aila, Tero Karras, Gregory Muthler, William P. Newhall, Jr., Ronald C. Babich, Jr., Craig Kolb, Ignacio Llamas, John Burgess
  • Patent number: 11798206
    Abstract: A method for clipping a two-dimensional (2D) polygon against a rectangular view window, including inputting a vertex coordinate set A? of the 2D polygon and coordinates of the rectangular view window; creating a search circular linked list A and a vertex set B of an overlapping region; numbering vertices and edges of the 2D polygon and the rectangular view window; and storing vertices in the set A? into the list A; obtaining spatial relationship based on relative position between vertices of the 2D polygon and the rectangular view window; performing different operations according to the spatial relationship; adding the starting point A0 in the list A to the vertex set B; allowing a pointer to point to the starting point A0; determining whether a current vertex of the 2D polygon pointed by the pointer is within the rectangular view window; and clipping the 2D polygon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: CHINA UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM (EAST CHINA)
    Inventors: Cairui Shao, Ye Yuan
  • Patent number: 11790603
    Abstract: Techniques are described for building extrusion in an electronic map. A client map application receives geographic location information, such as from a user input. The client map application retrieves electronic map data representing a specific building at a location indicated by the received geographic location information. The client map application generates an extruded building graphical element illustrating the specific building in three dimensions based on the retrieved electronic map data representing the specific building. The client map application renders an electronic map representing electronic map data according to a first style. The electronic map also includes the extruded building graphical element such that the specific building is rendered in three dimensions according to a second style.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Mapbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Avi Elias Cieplinski, Brennan Boblett
  • Patent number: 11790595
    Abstract: A hardware-based traversal coprocessor provides acceleration of tree traversal operations searching for intersections between primitives represented in a tree data structure and a ray. The primitives may include opaque and alpha triangles used in generating a virtual scene. The hardware-based traversal coprocessor is configured to determine primitives intersected by the ray, and return intersection information to a streaming multiprocessor for further processing. The hardware-based traversal coprocessor is configured to provide a deterministic result of intersected triangles regardless of the order that the memory subsystem returns triangle range blocks for processing, while opportunistically eliminating alpha intersections that lie further along the length of the ray than closer opaque intersections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Samuli Laine, Tero Karras, Greg Muthler, William Parsons Newhall, Jr., Ronald Charles Babich, Jr., Ignacio Llamas, John Burgess