Patents Examined by Richard M Russell
  • Patent number: 8564600
    Abstract: A circuit arrangement, program product and method stream level of detail components between hardware threads in a multithreaded circuit arrangement to perform physics collision detection. Typically, a master hardware thread, e.g., a component loader hardware thread, is used to retrieve level of detail data for an object from a memory and stream the data to one or more slave hardware threads, e.g., collision detection hardware threads, to perform the actual collision detection. Because the slave hardware threads receive the level of detail data from the master thread, typically the slave hardware threads are not required to load the data from the memory, thereby reducing memory bandwidth requirements and accelerating performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eric Oliver Mejdrich, Paul Emery Schardt, Robert Allen Shearer
  • Patent number: 8531452
    Abstract: A video game machine includes a monitor which permits three-dimensional viewing, a virtual camera controller which selectively provides on-screen presentation in 2D display mode in which two virtual cameras for capturing images are matched with each other and in 3D display mode in which the two virtual cameras are set to achieve a prescribed distance therebetween, an image display controller which generates a 3D image presented on the monitor from image data acquired by the two virtual cameras, a display mode switching processor which repositions the two virtual cameras from the positional relationship in one display mode to the positional relationship in the other in a stepwise fashion. Switching between the 2D and 3D display modes is smoothened and stimulation of a player's eyes or brain caused by a sudden change between states with or without stereoscopic effect is suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Inoue, Masahiro Moriyama, Masakazu Shibamiya, Satoshi Uchiyama, Taichi Takeuchi, Yoshitaka Adachi
  • Patent number: 8525829
    Abstract: A multi-view mask apparatus for creating a three-dimensional (3D) display. The apparatus includes a relay lens assembly that is non-inverting of images passed through the relay lens assembly including images of background objects. The apparatus includes a mask display device concurrently displaying first and second mask content via the relay lens assembly. The first mask content is viewable from a first point of view (POV) and the second mask content is viewable from a second POV or the first mask content is apparent from a first light source direction and the second mask content is apparent from a second light source direction. The relay lens assembly includes four lenticular sheets arranged into first and second pairs with adjacent back sides. The mask display device is disposed in one pair between two lenticular sheets and operated to display the first and second mask content as interlaced images under the lenticules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Quinn Smithwick, Lanny S. Smoot, Daniel Reetz
  • Patent number: 8525832
    Abstract: A method of forming mesh data for three-dimensional (3-D) data is provided. Inside/outside (IO) functions are generated based on indicator functions to identify element interfaces between a plurality of elements identified in the 3-D data. An indicator function is defined to represent a volume identified for an element within the 3-D data. A cell indicator function is defined for each element interface based on the IO functions to identify a plurality of types of element interfaces. The cell indicator function identifies points in the 3-D data where a plurality of the generated IO functions evaluate to approximately zero. The types of element interfaces are identified based on a number of elements that coincide at a point in the 3-D data. 3-D point locations are distributed on the identified element interfaces based on the plurality of types of element interfaces and the IO functions. Surface mesh data is generated based on the distributed 3-D point locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: The University of Utah Research Foundation
    Inventors: Ross T. Whitaker, Miriah Meyer, Robert M. Kirby, II
  • Patent number: 8525854
    Abstract: It is intended to enable enlarging or reducing a screen with a simple operation. A mobile phone 1 includes a touch panel 11 that displays a screen and receives a predetermined input, a detection unit 12 that detects a start point and an end point of a physical touch on the touch panel 11, and a display control unit 13 that calculates a moving direction of the touch on the basis of the detection result, enlarges the screen displayed on the touch panel 11 when the moving direction is in a predetermined first range, and reduces the screen when the moving direction is in a predetermined second range different from the first range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
    Inventor: Keiichi Murakami