Patents by Inventor Alexandru Balan
Alexandru Balan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 8933931Abstract: A system and method for providing an augmented reality environment in which the environmental mapping process is decoupled from the localization processes performed by one or more mobile devices is described. In some embodiments, an augmented reality system includes a mapping system with independent sensing devices for mapping a particular real-world environment and one or more mobile devices. Each of the one or more mobile devices utilizes a separate asynchronous computing pipeline for localizing the mobile device and rendering virtual objects from a point of view of the mobile device. This distributed approach provides an efficient way for supporting mapping and localization processes for a large number of mobile devices, which are typically constrained by form factor and battery life limitations.Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 2012Date of Patent: January 13, 2015Assignee: Microsoft CorporationInventors: Alexandru Balan, Jason Flaks, Steve Hodges, Michael Isard, Oliver Williams, Paul Barham, Shahram Izadi, Otmar Hiliges, David Molyneaux, David Kim
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Patent number: 8929612Abstract: A system and method are disclosed relating to a pipeline for generating a computer model of a target user, including a hand model of the user's hands, captured by an image sensor in a NUI system. The computer model represents a best estimate of the position of a user's hand or hands and whether the hand or hand is in an open or closed state. The generated hand model may be used by a gaming or other application to determine such things as user gestures and control actions.Type: GrantFiled: November 18, 2011Date of Patent: January 6, 2015Assignee: Microsoft CorporationInventors: Anthony Ambrus, Kyungsuk David Lee, Andrew Campbell, David Haley, Brian Mount, Albert Robles, Daniel Osborn, Shawn Wright, Nahil Sharkasi, Dave Hill, Daniel McCulloch, Alexandru Balan
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Publication number: 20140313225Abstract: An augmented reality submission includes a hologram to virtually augment a world space object and a compensation offer for presenting the hologram to a viewer of the world space object. The augmented reality submission is selected as a winning submission if the submission satisfies a selection criteria.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 23, 2013Publication date: October 23, 2014Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan, Mark J. Finocchio
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Publication number: 20140306874Abstract: Methods for recognizing gestures within a near-field environment are described. In some embodiments, a mobile device, such as a head-mounted display device (HMD), may capture a first image of an environment while illuminating the environment using an IR light source with a first range (e.g., due to the exponential decay of light intensity) and capture a second image of the environment without illumination. The mobile device may generate a difference image based on the first image and the second image in order to eliminate background noise due to other sources of IR light within the environment (e.g., due to sunlight or artificial light sources). In some cases, object and gesture recognition techniques may be applied to the difference image in order to detect the performance of hand and/or finger gestures by an end user of the mobile device within a near-field environment of the mobile device.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 12, 2013Publication date: October 16, 2014Inventors: Mark Finocchio, Alexandru Balan, Nathan Ackerman, Jeffrey Margolis
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Publication number: 20140145914Abstract: A system and related methods for a resource management in a head-mounted display device are provided. In one example, the head-mounted display device includes a plurality of sensors and a display system for presenting holographic objects. A resource management program is configured to operate a selected sensor in a default power mode to achieve a selected fidelity. The program receives user-related information from one or more of the sensors, and determines whether target information is detected. Where target information is detected, the program adjusts the selected sensor to operate in a reduced power mode that uses less power than the default power mode.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 29, 2012Publication date: May 29, 2014Inventors: Stephen Latta, Jedd Anthony Perry, Rod G. Fleck, Jack Clevenger, Frederik Schaffalitzky, Drew Steedly, Daniel McCulloch, Ian McIntyre, Alexandru Balan, Ben Sugden, Ryan Hastings, Brian Mount
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Publication number: 20140118397Abstract: A planar surface within a physical environment is detected enabling presentation of a graphical user interface overlaying the planar surface. Detection of planar surfaces may be performed, in one example, by obtaining a collection of three-dimensional surface points of a physical environment imaged via an optical sensor subsystem. A plurality of polygon sets of points are sampled within the collection. Each polygon set of points includes three or more localized points of the collection that defines a polygon. Each polygon is classified into one or more groups of polygons having a shared planar characteristic with each other polygon of that group. One or more planar surfaces within the collection are identified such that each planar surface is at least partially defined by a group of polygons containing at least a threshold number of polygons.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 25, 2012Publication date: May 1, 2014Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan, Jeffrey N. Margolis
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Patent number: 8610723Abstract: A depth sensor obtains images of articulated portions of a user's body such as the hand. A predefined model of the articulated body portions is provided. The model is matched to corresponding depth pixels which are obtained from the depth sensor, to provide an initial match. The initial match is then refined using distance constraints, collision constraints, angle constraints and a pixel comparison using a rasterized model. Distance constraints include constraints on distances between the articulated portions of the hand. Collision constraints can be enforced when the model meets specified conditions, such as when at least two adjacent finger segments of the model are determined to be in a specified relative position, e.g., parallel. The rasterized model includes depth pixels of the model which are compared to identify overlapping pixels. Dimension of the articulated portions of the model are individually adjusted.Type: GrantFiled: June 29, 2011Date of Patent: December 17, 2013Assignee: Microsoft CorporationInventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan
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Publication number: 20130329011Abstract: A depth sensor obtains images of articulated portions of a user's body such as the hand. A predefined model of the articulated body portions is provided. Representative attract points of the model are matched to centroids of the depth sensor data, and a rigid transform of the model is performed, in an initial, relatively coarse matching process. This matching process is then refined in a non-rigid transform of the model, using attract point-to-centroid matching. In a further refinement, an iterative process rasterizes the model to provide depth pixels of the model, and compares the depth pixels of the model to the depth pixels of the depth sensor. The refinement is guided by whether the depth pixels of the model are overlapping or non-overlapping with the depth pixels of the depth sensor. Collision, distance and angle constraints are also imposed on the model.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 28, 2012Publication date: December 12, 2013Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan
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Patent number: 8488888Abstract: Systems and methods for estimating a posture of a body part of a user are disclosed. In one disclosed embodiment, an image is received from a sensor, where the image includes at least a portion of an image of the user including the body part. The skeleton information of the user is estimated from the image, a region of the image corresponding to the body part is identified at least partially based on the skeleton information, and a shape descriptor is extracted for the region and the shape descriptor is classified based on training data to estimate the posture of the body part.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 2010Date of Patent: July 16, 2013Assignee: Microsoft CorporationInventors: Alexandru Balan, Matheen Siddiqui, Ryan M. Geiss, Alex Aben-Athar Kipman, Oliver Michael Christian Williams, Jamie Shotton
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Publication number: 20130169626Abstract: A system and method for providing an augmented reality environment in which the environmental mapping process is decoupled from the localization processes performed by one or more mobile devices is described. In some embodiments, an augmented reality system includes a mapping system with independent sensing devices for mapping a particular real-world environment and one or more mobile devices. Each of the one or more mobile devices utilizes a separate asynchronous computing pipeline for localizing the mobile device and rendering virtual objects from a point of view of the mobile device. This distributed approach provides an efficient way for supporting mapping and localization processes for a large number of mobile devices, which are typically constrained by form factor and battery life limitations.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 28, 2012Publication date: July 4, 2013Inventors: Alexandru Balan, Jason Flaks, Steve Hodges, Michael Isard, Oliver Williams, Paul Barham, Shahram Izadi, Otmar Hiliges, David Molyneaux, David Kim
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Publication number: 20130141597Abstract: Embodiments related to detecting object information from image data collected by an image sensor are disclosed. In one example embodiment, the object information is detected by receiving a frame of image data from the image sensor and detecting a change in a threshold condition related to an object within the frame. The embodiment further comprises adjusting a setting that changes a power consumption of the image sensor in response to detecting the threshold condition.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 6, 2011Publication date: June 6, 2013Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Mark Finocchio, Richard Moore, Alexandru Balan, Rod G. Fleck
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Publication number: 20120327089Abstract: A depth sensor obtains images of articulated portions of a user's body such as the hand. A predefined model of the articulated body portions is provided. The model is matched to corresponding depth pixels which are obtained from the depth sensor, to provide an initial match. The initial match is then refined using distance constraints, collision constraints, angle constraints and a pixel comparison using a rasterized model. Distance constraints include constraints on distances between the articulated portions of the hand. Collision constraints can be enforced when the model meets specified conditions, such as when at least two adjacent finger segments of the model are determined to be in a specified relative position, e.g., parallel. The rasterized model includes depth pixels of the model which are compared to identify overlapping pixels. Dimension of the articulated portions of the model are individually adjusted.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 29, 2011Publication date: December 27, 2012Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATIONInventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan
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Publication number: 20120308140Abstract: A system and method are disclosed relating to a pipeline for generating a computer model of a target user, including a hand model of the user's hands, captured by an image sensor in a NUI system. The computer model represents a best estimate of the position of a user's hand or hands and whether the hand or hand is in an open or closed state. The generated hand model may be used by a gaming or other application to determine such things as user gestures and control actions.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 18, 2011Publication date: December 6, 2012Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATIONInventors: Anthony Ambrus, Kyungsuk David Lee, Andrew Campbell, David Haley, Brian Mount, Albert Robles, Daniel Osborn, Shawn Wright, Nahil Sharkasi, Dave Hill, Daniel McCulloch, Alexandru Balan
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Publication number: 20120306850Abstract: A system and method for providing an augmented reality environment in which the environmental mapping process is decoupled from the localization processes performed by one or more mobile devices is described. In some embodiments, an augmented reality system includes a mapping system with independent sensing devices for mapping a particular real-world environment and one or more mobile devices. Each of the one or more mobile devices utilizes a separate asynchronous computing pipeline for localizing the mobile device and rendering virtual objects from a point of view of the mobile device. This distributed approach provides an efficient way for supporting mapping and localization processes for a large number of mobile devices, which are typically constrained by form factor and battery life limitations.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 2, 2011Publication date: December 6, 2012Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATIONInventors: Alexandru Balan, Jason Flaks, Steve Hodges, Michael Isard, Oliver Williams, Paul Barham, Shahram Izadi, Otmar Hilliges, David Molyneaux, David Kim
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Publication number: 20120163723Abstract: Systems and methods for estimating a posture of a body part of a user are disclosed. In one disclosed embodiment, an image is received from a sensor, where the image includes at least a portion of an image of the user including the body part. The skeleton information of the user is estimated from the image, a region of the image corresponding to the body part is identified at least partially based on the skeleton information, and a shape descriptor is extracted for the region and the shape descriptor is classified based on training data to estimate the posture of the body part.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 28, 2010Publication date: June 28, 2012Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATIONInventors: Alexandru Balan, Matheen Siddiqui, Ryan M. Geiss, Alex Aben-Athar Kipman, Oliver Michael Christian Williams, Jamie Shotton