Patents Examined by Devona Faulk
  • Patent number: 10169909
    Abstract: Particular embodiments comprise providing a surface mesh for an object, generating a voxel grid comprising volumetric masks for the mesh, and generating a lit mesh, wherein the lit mesh comprises a shaded version of the mesh as positioned in a scene. The voxel grid may be positioned over the lit mesh in the scene, and a first ray may be traced to a position of the voxel grid. If the traced ray passed through the voxel grid and hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced to the hit location on the lit mesh. If the traced ray hit a location in the voxel grid but did not hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced from the hit location in the voxel grid to the closest locations on the lit mesh. Finally, color sampled at one or more locations proximate to the position of the voxel grid may be blurred outward through the voxel grid to create a volumetric projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Jacob Porter Merrell, Robert Moyer, Philip Child
  • Patent number: 10134319
    Abstract: Provided is a display device capable of illuminating a region desired by a user with a simple operation. A display device according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention includes a display means, a touch panel that is disposed on the display means and outputs coordinate information of a contact point, and a control means that sets a region around a contact point as an illumination region when contact with the touch panel is made at one point and sets a region interposed between a first contact point and a second contact point as the illumination region when contact with the touch panel is made at two points based on the coordinate information of the contact point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Satoru Kazami
  • Patent number: 10134314
    Abstract: Various embodiments are presented herein that may reduce the workload of a GPU tasked with delivering frames of video data to a display generated by a 3D application executing within a system or computing platform. 3D applications executing within the system may generate new frames of video content at a specified frame rate known as frames per second (FPS). These frames are then delivered to a display communicatively coupled with the system for rendering. Every display has a refresh rate specified in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz). Vertical Synchronization (VSYNC) is a setting that synchronizes the frames per second (FPS) of a given application with the display's refresh rate. Forcing VSYNC on the application while the system is operating on battery power may reduce the workload on the GPU when the FPS is greater than the refresh rate resulting in greater battery life.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Michael Apodaca
  • Patent number: 10109098
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for displaying representative images within a collection viewer is disclosed. The method comprises receiving an indication of a new orientation for the collection viewer, displaying a sequence of animation frames that depict an in-place rotation animation for the representative images, generating a rotation angle in a sequence of rotation angles, and displaying a rendered representative image for each of the two or more representative images by rendering the two or more representative images, wherein each rendered representative image is rotated according to the rotation angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: DUELIGHT LLC
    Inventors: Adam Barry Feder, Brian J. Kindle, William Guie Rivard
  • Patent number: 10032292
    Abstract: A portable pervasive device includes a combined visual and thermal display. The user is able to detect texture of displayed objects visually and through touching the combined display. A software application pre-defines color codes and temperature settings for a plurality of textures on a graded scale including smooth, soft, and rough. The object is then shown on the display using the color codes and temperature settings for at lest one surface of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Robyn R. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 10032244
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for implementing a nearest neighbor search on a graphics processing unit. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus comprises: a host processor; and a graphics processor unit (GPU) to execute a nearest neighbor (NN) tree build operation and a NN tree search operation in response to signals from the host processor; the NN tree build operation comprising dividing a first set of data points to define each tree node to form a plurality of buckets, each bucket comprising at least one of the first set of data points, the number of buckets to be limited based on a threshold value, resulting in at least some buckets with multiple data points; and the NN tree search operation comprising traversing the tree by comparing each of a second set of input data points to data points in the tree to identify a bucket and then comparing one of the second data points to data points in the bucket to identify a nearest neighbor data point in the bucket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Alexandra Manevitch
  • Patent number: 10019845
    Abstract: A machine-implemented method includes establishing a virtual or augmented reality entity, and establishing a state for the entity having a state time and state properties including a state spatial arrangement. The data entity and state are stored, and are subsequently received and outputted at a time other than the state time so as to exhibit a “virtual time machine” functionality. An apparatus includes a processor, a data store, and an output. A data entity establisher, a state establisher, a storer, a data entity receiver, a state receiver, and an outputter are instantiated on the processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Atheer, Inc.
    Inventors: Sina Fateh, Ron Butterworth, Mohamed Nabil Hajj Chehade, Allen Yang Yang, Sleiman Itani
  • Patent number: 10002404
    Abstract: A graphics processing unit (GPU) includes programmable shader hardware and grouping hardware. The grouping hardware receives pixels collected from a set of primitives, wherein pixel locations of each primitive have been obtained through rasterization of a set of vertices of the primitive. The grouping hardware also groups the pixels into a set of groups having a sequential order. None of the pixels in each group overlapped with each other in a display and overlapped pixels belong to different groups. The programmable shader hardware performs order-insensitive shader operations on the groups according to a first subset of an instruction set defined for a programmable shader, with two or more of the groups processed in parallel. The programmable shader hardware also performs order-sensitive shader operations on each of the groups in the sequential order according to a second subset of the instruction set defined for the programmable shader.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Qun-Feng Liao, Cheng-Ying Ko
  • Patent number: 9986225
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for stereoscopically displaying content includes determining a first position of an object within in a region of display space proximate to a stereoscopic display device and calculating a second position of a virtual object in the region. The method further includes determining an occluded portion of the virtual object that is occluded the object when the virtual object is disposed at the second position and causing the display device to stereoscopically render for display one or more portions of the virtual object that do not include the occluded portion. One advantage of the disclosed method is that a viewer can perform direct touch operations with stereoscopically displayed (3D) content with reduced visual discomfort.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: AUTODESK, INC.
    Inventors: Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice, Natalia Bogdan
  • Patent number: 9972120
    Abstract: A method of mapping a two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional surface includes capturing data for a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional structure. A process determines coincident points between the 2D image and the 3D structure and maps points on the 2D image to the 3D structure by assigning relative two-coordinate points from the two dimensional image to relative three-coordinate points of the three-dimensional structure. The mapping creates a 3D surface and texturing and removes superfluous data from the created three-dimensional surface to clean the mapped resultant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: University of Notre Dame du Lac
    Inventors: Christopher Richard Sweet, James Christopher Sweet
  • Patent number: 9965893
    Abstract: Systems and methods for performing shading operations of a three-dimensional model, such as a three-dimensional model of a geographic area, are provided. According to aspects of the present disclosure, shading operations can be performed based on a curvature of the polygon mesh such that smooth surfaces still appear smooth after shading and such that sharp edges still appear sharp after shading. In particular, a curvature-driven normal is used for shading operations that takes into account the local curvature of the polygon mesh. A curvature factor can be obtained for each vertex in the polygon mesh. The curvature factor for each vertex can be a scalar value that describes the degree of local curvature in the mesh polygons connected at the vertex. The curvature-driven normal for each fragment can be determined based on the curvature factors associated with the vertices in the polygon mesh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC.
    Inventor: John Carl Anderson
  • Patent number: 9959670
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for rendering a multi-resolution terrain using GPU tessellation. A method for rendering a terrain using GPU tessellation according to an embodiment of the present invention may include: generating a quad patch to which an inner tessellation factor and an edge tessellation factor are allocated by using a quadtree including a parent node and child nodes; generating a base mesh b using the quad patch; and restoring a terrain by applying a displacement map to the base mesh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: KOREA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Jung-Hyun Han, Hyeong Yeop Kang, Han Young Jang
  • Patent number: 9940693
    Abstract: A system includes a content obtaining circuit configured to obtain a plurality of content and information related to the content from at least one of a plurality of sources, an importance obtaining circuit configured to obtain an importance level for each content, and a display control circuit configured to generate data to control a display of an image corresponding to each of the plurality of content. The importance level is based on the information related to the content. The display control circuit determines a size of each image on a display screen based on the importance level for each content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshihito Ohki, Daiki Nogami
  • Patent number: 9936915
    Abstract: Provided is a sleep display program, a sleep display method, and a sleep display device for visualizing an internal clock regarding sleep. The sleep display program is a program for displaying, in a display unit, sleep state data of a user that has been measured and recorded by a sleep evaluation device, the data including at least a wakeup time TW and a bedtime TZ, and the program including a step of obtaining the data from the sleep evaluation device, a step of displaying, in the display unit, a 24-hour circular time display image divided into time periods that each indicate a predetermined span of time, and a step of plotting, on the time periods in the time display image, a set number of days' worth of records of the wakeup times TW and the bedtimes TZ included in the data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuko Emori, Yoko Kanemitsu, Fumihiko Nakamura, Feilang Tseng
  • Patent number: 9916687
    Abstract: An example computer includes: an image acquiring unit that acquires an image of a real space captured by an imaging device; a feature detecting unit that detects a feature from the image; a determining unit that determines a virtual object, or, a virtual object and an aspect of the virtual object while changing the same in accordance with a recognition condition of the detected feature; an image generating unit that generates an image of a virtual space in which the determined virtual object or the virtual object in the determined aspect is placed on a basis of the feature; and a display controlling unit that displays an image on a display device such that the image of the virtual space is visually recognized by a user while being superimposed on the real space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Hayakawa, Naoki Koga
  • Patent number: 9911241
    Abstract: Methods and computer systems for rendering plausible images of 3D polygon mesh(es) in a computer simulation comprising a computer generated environment. On a 3D polygon mesh defined using a plurality of vertices providing a plurality of rendering faces, determining an anchor point from at least three of the plurality of vertices, for each one of the rendering faces of the 3D polygon mesh, determining whether a path exists towards the anchor point and/or whether the one rendering face is on an unstable part of the 3D polygon mesh. When the path does not exist or when the part is unstable, removing the one rendering face from the 3D polygon mesh into an updated 3D polygon mesh. Rendering the updated 3D polygon mesh for display comprising a subset of the plurality of rendering faces using a visual texture, the subset being determined from the field of view of the computer simulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: CAE INC.
    Inventor: Patrick Piche
  • Patent number: 9892531
    Abstract: A method and system for providing charting data visualizations of associated data sets is described. The method includes rendering a graphical user interface that includes one or more data interface regions. The one or more data interface regions are configured to detect and analyze a data interface component encoded with and representing data attributes which are mapped and bound to elements of a chart data visualization. Upon detecting the receipt of the graphical data interface component into the one or more data interface regions, the graphical data interface component is analyzed to determine the data attributes and the mapping. Based on the analysis of the data attributes and the data set, a data chart is rendered on a display and dynamically updated based on user interaction with the charting data visualization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Oracle International Corporation
    Inventors: Csaba Csenteri, David Brackman
  • Patent number: 9881363
    Abstract: An image processing device includes a selection section adapted to select a first correction point among a plurality of correction points included in a correcting image, an identification section adapted to identify a second correction point and a third correction point adjacent to the first correction point, and a display control section adapted to emphasize a first line segment connecting the first correction point and the second correction point to each other, and a second line segment connecting the first correction point and the third correction point to each other, and display the correcting image on a display section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tatsuhiko Nobori
  • Patent number: 9877031
    Abstract: An improved method and system are provided for constructing square multi-resolution tiles for use with spatial multi-resolution raster data. This improvement permits more efficient storage, processing and display of raster tiles at different resolutions. A base level cell size is defined for a highest required resolution. Lower resolution cell sizes are defined for lower resolution tiles. The lower resolution cell sizes are integer multiples of the base level cell size. A base level tile size is defined such that the integer multiples, as used in the step of defining lower resolution cell sizes, are all integer factors of a number of cells on a side of the base level tile. Using this technique, the boundaries for the base level tile and the multi-resolution tiles are coextensive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc.
    Inventors: Steve T Mann, Samuel S Roberts
  • Patent number: 9870647
    Abstract: The specification of the instant application is amended. Submitted herewith is a Substitute Specification. The Substitute Specification complies with 37 C.F.R. §§1.52(a)-(b) and 1.125(b), and no new matter has been added to the Substitute Specification. Submitted herewith are clean and marked up versions of Substitute Specification in compliance with 37 C.F.R. §§1.121(b)(3) and 1.125(c). Entry of the Substitute Specification is respectfully requested.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: SAMSUNG SDS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jae-Young Park, Sung-Ho Jang, Kwang-Min Choi, Sang-Hoon Han