Patents Examined by Carlos Perromat
  • Patent number: 8988461
    Abstract: Rendering 3D paintings can be done by compositing strokes embedded in space. Users input strokes and other image elements using an input device that specifies a 2D view of the element, and the system provides the 3D position of the element based on rules and processes, some of which allow for user input of high level parameters, thereby allowing for intuitive and quick entry of 3D elements, and a 3D scalar field. The artist can treat the full 3D space as a canvas. Strokes painted in a 2D viewport window are embedded in 3D space in a way that gives creative freedom to the artist while maintaining an acceptable level of controllability. The canvas need not be tied to any particular object already in a scene, but the canvas can be dependent on, or a function of, another object. An implicit canvas can be defined by the 3D scalar field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Johannes Schmid, Martin Sebastian Senn, Markus Gross, Robert Sumner
  • Patent number: 8976195
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for generating a batch clip state stored in clip state machine (CSM) associated with a batch of vertices. Per-vertex clip state is generated for each vertex in the batch of vertices based on the position of each vertex relative to each clip plane. For a given vertex, per-vertex clip state indicates whether the vertex is inside or outside each of the one or more clip planes. The per-vertex clip states of all the vertices in the batch of vertices are coalesced into a batch clip state by determining whether each vertex in the batch of vertices is inside every clip plane, each vertex is outside at least one clip plane or neither. The batch clip state is stored in the CSM associated with the thread group that processes the batch of vertices that can be accessed by further stages of the graphics pipeline.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: John Erik Lindholm, Ziyad S. Hakura
  • Patent number: 8976194
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for cropping one or more files in freeform using transparent or non-transparent layers. Specifically, the invention allows a user to crop a file with irregular/freeform boundaries while using a plurality of transparent or non-transparent layers that overlay the original file. The transparent layers overlap the image data for cropping, so that the finalized cropped image may be copied, pasted, or imported into another document while leaving the original file unaltered. The cropped portion of the image may also be sent or emailed by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Inventor: Vispi Burjor Mistry
  • Patent number: 8970591
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method provides for iteratively taking passes of samples for each pixel of a set of pixels. Initially, the set of pixels can be all of the pixels of an image. For each pixel, an accumulated color at the beginning of a pass and at the end of a pass can be compared. If a difference between these is within a threshold, a convergence count, which begins at an initial value, is reduced. If the difference is not within the threshold, then the convergence count is reset. When the convergence count reaches a preset value, then the pixel is considered converged and removed from the set. However, if a pixel adjacent to a converged pixel fails a convergence test, then the converged pixel is reset to unconverged and returned to the set and at least a minimum number of additional sample passes are undertaken for that pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Imagination Technologies, Limited
    Inventors: Cüneyt Özdas, Steven Blackmon
  • Patent number: 8952979
    Abstract: A method, system, apparatus, article of manufacture, and computer readable storage medium provide the ability to fill pixels of an image. An area of the image is obtained and one of the pixels is identified as an anchor pixel. Waves are created based on the anchor pixel and placed into a collection of waves waiting to be processed. Each of the waves in the collection is processed. A type of pixel in front of a current wave being processed is determined. If the pixel is fillable, the pixel is filled, the wave is advanced, and child waves are updated. If the pixel is blocking the advancement of the wave, the current wave is updated (e.g., via shrinking or splitting), and child waves are updated. Once all waves have been processed, the area of the image is displayed based on the fill.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
    Inventor: Josh Cameron
  • Patent number: 8952984
    Abstract: Rendering 3D paintings can be done by compositing strokes embedded in space. Users input strokes and other image elements using an input device that specifies a 2D view of the element, and the system provides the 3D position of the element based on rules and processes, some of which allow for user input of high level parameters, thereby allowing for intuitive and quick entry of 3D elements, and a 3D scalar field. The artist can treat the full 3D space as a canvas. Strokes painted in a 2D viewport window are embedded in 3D space in a way that gives creative freedom to the artist while maintaining an acceptable level of controllability. The canvas need not be tied to any particular object already in a scene, but the canvas can be dependent on, or a function of, another object. An implicit canvas can be defined by the 3D scalar field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Johannes Schmid, Martin Sebastian Senn, Markus Gross, Robert Sumner
  • Patent number: 8933940
    Abstract: There is described a method for applying a control rig to an animation of a character, the method comprising: receiving a state change for the character being in a first state; determining a second state for the character using the state change; retrieving an animation clip and a control rig both corresponding to the second state, the animation clip comprising a plurality of poses for the character each defining a configuration for a body of the character, the control rig being specific to the second state and corresponding to at least one constraint to be applied on the body of the character; applying the control rig to the animation clip, thereby obtaining a rigged animation clip; and outputting the rigged animation clip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Unity Technologies Canada Company
    Inventors: Robert Lanciault, Pierre-Paul Giroux, Sonny Myette
  • Patent number: 8928673
    Abstract: A system includes a computer apparatus, a means for display, and a means for storage. The computer apparatus is configured to perform a method of 3D animation. The method includes setting a first inter-axial distance between logical representations of a first set of two cameras, the first inter-axial distance being configured to produce a desired 3D effect for a target audience, setting a second inter-axial distance between logical representations of a second set of two cameras, the second inter-axial distance being based on the first inter-axial distance, setting a multi-rig spacing between the first and second sets of two cameras, the multi-rig spacing begin a value determined to reduce depth distortion effects in the 3D animation, and creating a stereoscopic frame set representing the 3D animation using the logical representations of the first and second sets of two cameras.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Blue Sky Studios, Inc.
    Inventor: James Wilkinson
  • Patent number: 8922568
    Abstract: An apparatus for processing data 2 is provided including processing circuitry 24 controlled by an instruction decoder 20 in response to a stream of program instructions. There is also provided dedicated function hardware 12 configured to receive output data from the processing circuitry and to perform a dedicated processing operation. The instruction decoder 20 is responsive to an end instruction 54 and a software processing flag (blend_shade_enabled) to control the processing circuitry to end a current software routine, to generate output data and in dependence upon the software processing flag either trigger processing of the output data by the dedicated function hardware or trigger the processing circuitry to perform a further software routine upon the output data to generate software generated result data instead of hardware generated result data as generated by the dedicated hardware circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: ARM Limited
    Inventors: Simon Jones, Andreas Engh-Halstvedt, Aske Simon Christensen
  • Patent number: 8907954
    Abstract: The prevented invention provides a method to visualize complicated metro maps in a limited displaying area, in which the route to the passenger's destination is highlighted. In order to achieve high readability, it sets 1) the distance between neighboring stations to be equal, 2) the transportation lines to lie in octilinear directions, 3) the angles of incident edges at each station to be maximized, and 4) the station positions to be inside the displaying area. It also labels the names of stations that passenger will pass by to make the route navigation easy and intuitive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: National Chiao Tung University
    Inventors: Yu-Shuen Wang, Ming-Te Chi
  • Patent number: 8902248
    Abstract: This disclosure describes a performance-monitoring system that computes a display performance metric of a remote application. During operation, the system performs a sequence of input events, and receives information which updates a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI displays a sequence of frames rendered by a remote application in response to the input events. The system then samples colors at a number of pivot points on the GUI, and matches the a respective frame to a previously performed input event based on the sampled colors. The system subsequently computes a display performance metric for the remote application based on the frames and the corresponding input events.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Rishi Bidarkar, Banit Agrawal, Lawrence Andrew Spracklen, Hari Sivaraman
  • Patent number: 8884966
    Abstract: A scatter plot that represents plural periodic time intervals is animated as new data points are received, where the animating includes performing real-time backward rewriting. The real-time backward rewriting includes overlaying a subset of previously written data points with the new data points, and painting a remainder of previously written data points outside the subset in the scatter plot, where painting the remainder of previously written data points is performed without shifting pixels corresponding to the remainder. A divider structure is drawn in the scatter plot to indicate a position in the scatter plot between a current time point and a previous time point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Ming C. Hao, Umeshwar Dayal, Halldor Janetzko, Daniel Keim, Martha L. Lyons, Meichun Hsu
  • Patent number: 8878848
    Abstract: A method for generating a three dimensional (3D) surface includes receiving an input corresponding to a plurality of curves joined to define a single edge loop, analyzing each of the plurality of curves to define a plurality of edge segments based on an identified curve feature, calculating snap normal vectors for the endpoints of each of the plurality of edge segments, dividing the segmented edge loop into sub-loops based on the plurality of edge segments, determining the surface normal vectors for the sub-loops and combining these values with the snap surface normals at each end point to produce a final surface normal for each end point, and generating the continuous 3D surface based on triangles associated with the segmented edge loop and the surface normals associated with the end points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Richard Gary McDaniel
  • Patent number: 8866851
    Abstract: According to an illustrative embodiment, a display controller is provided. The display controller includes a control section for controlling a display to display a sequence of images, first character information corresponding to a first displayed image of the sequence of images, and other character information corresponding to an image in the sequence of images which is prior to the first displayed image, wherein the control section controls display of the first character information and the other character information in response to a user operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hideyuki Yoshimura
  • Patent number: 8842136
    Abstract: A method for adaptively adjusting sizes of virtual keys and a display device using the same are provided. The display device displays a virtual keyboard, and the virtual keyboard is arranged with a plurality of virtual keys that can be chosen remotely by a plurality of direction keys of a remote controller. The method includes following: receiving cursor movement information and confirmation information transmitted by the remote controller; converting the cursor movement information and confirmation information into characters of virtual keys of a first key size configuration model of the virtual keyboard, and converting the characters into words; performing an operation on the words respectively by using a preset algorithm to generate a second key size configuration model of the virtual keyboard; and adjusting horizontal sizes of at least a part of the virtual keys of the virtual keyboard according to the second key size configuration model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: AmTRAN TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chih-Jen Kuo, Kuang-Cheng Chao
  • Patent number: 8836734
    Abstract: Provided is a display device including a video signal analysis block (110) for analyzing a video signal and determining a type of video from an analysis result, a function control block (120) for controlling a gain value of the video signal according to the type of video, a video signal control section (122) for adjusting the video signal on the basis of the gain controlled by the function control block, and a display panel (300), having a plurality of pixels arranged to self-emit light according to the video signal, for displaying a video on the basis of the video signal adjusted by the video signal control section (122).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideto Mori, Hiroshi Imamura
  • Patent number: 8810586
    Abstract: A display controller which may include a first display control section, a second display control section, a signal line, an output selection section, and a mode selection control section. The first display control section includes a first image generation portion adapted to decode content and first image output portion adapted to output the decoded content. The second display control section includes a second image generation portion and second image output portion. The signal line conveys the decoded content to the second image output portion. The output selection section selects one of the outputs of the first and second image output portions. The mode selection control section selects one of first and second display modes, based on functional information about the first and second display control sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Fukukyo Sudo
  • Patent number: 8797328
    Abstract: Systems and methods for animating 3D characters using a non-rigged mesh or a group of non-rigged meshes that define the appearance of the character are illustrated. Certain embodiments disclose a process for the automatic rigging or autorigging of a non-rigged mesh or meshes. In one embodiment, a method of automatically rigging at least one mesh defining the external appearance of a 3D character includes creating a 3D representation of the external appearance of the 3D character defined by the at least one mesh, where the 3D representation is a single closed form mesh, identifying salient points of the 3D representation, fitting a reference skeleton to the 3D representation, calculating skinning weights for the 3D representation based upon the fitted skeleton, and automatically rigging the 3D character by transferring the skeleton and skinning weights generated with respect to the 3D representation to the at least one mesh defining the external appearance of the 3D character.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Mixamo, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefano Corazza, Emiliano Gambaretto
  • Patent number: 8791962
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing device including a display section configured to display a first object in a virtual three-dimensional space having a depth direction of a display screen, an operation section configured to acquire an operation for moving the first object in at least the depth direction, and a controller configured to move the first object on the display screen in accordance with the acquired operation, to execute, when a region of the first object overlaps a first overlap determination region, a first process to one or both of the first and second objects, and to execute, when the region of the first object overlaps a second overlap determination region, a second process to one or both of the first and second objects. The first overlap determination region may be a region obtained by extending the second overlap determination region in at least the depth direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takuro Noda, Akihiro Komori, Nariaki Satoh, Osamu Shigeta, Kazuyuki Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8786603
    Abstract: Methods, devices and systems for implementing an interactive display of ancestor-to-ancestor relationships are presented. The method includes displaying on a display device of a computer system, a user interface for displaying one or more genealogical charts including one or more nodes. The method further includes receiving, from an input device of the computer system, a selection of a first node and a second node. Then, in response to receiving the selection of the first and second nodes, the method includes calculating a sequence of relationships connecting the first node to the second node. Finally, the method includes organizing the sequence of relationships into one or more steps, wherein each step contains a sequential subset of nodes and relationships that can be displayed at the same time, and sequentially displaying the nodes and relationships in each step on the display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Ancestry.com Operations Inc.
    Inventors: Matt Rasmussen, Harold Madsen, Gary Mangum