Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes receiving circuitry to receive graphics data for at least a portion of a virtual environment, the graphics data including a plurality of virtual objects, a machine learning model trained to output data indicative of an object classification for one or more of the virtual objects in dependence upon the graphics data, assignment circuitry to assign one or more of the virtual objects to one or more virtual object groups in dependence upon the object classification for one or more of the virtual objects, where the virtual objects assigned to a same virtual object group have a same object classification, and control circuitry to share first interaction data associated with a first virtual object assigned to a virtual object group with a second virtual object assigned to the virtual object group to thereby permit use of the first interaction data for the second virtual object in response to a user interaction with the second virtual object in the virtual environment.

Abstract: An image processing system for modifying one or more images of a user to change a cardiovascular activity that is measurable from the one or more images, the system comprising: an image receiving section configured to receive image data comprising a plurality of image frames; a region selection section configured to select one or more regions where the colour of the skin of the user changes temporally in the image data, wherein the colour changes are indicative of the cardiovascular activity of the user; and a modifying section configured to modify the colour change of the one or more selected regions in one or more image frames to create modified image data, as described elsewhere herein.

Abstract: A method of generating video frames for a cloud-based video game includes obtaining, via a communications network, a plurality of frames of a video game rendered at a cloud device; obtaining a player input received at an input device, the input device being used to play the video game, the player input being received in response to the display of at least one of the obtained video frames; inputting at least one of the obtained video frames and the player input to a prediction model; and synthesizing, based on the output of the prediction model, a subsequent frame for output at a display, and outputting the synthesized video frame at the display.

Abstract: A platform to accurately detect user pose/verify against a reference ground truth and provide feedback using an accuracy score that represents the deviation of the user pose from the reference ground truth, typically established by an expert.

Abstract: An image generation system comprising an image rendering unit operable to render a first image for display to a first one of a user's eyes, an image obtaining unit operable to obtain a second image for a second one of the user's eyes, the obtained image having been rendered for display at an earlier time, an image reprojection unit operable to reproject the first image from a viewpoint associated with the first one of the user's eyes to a viewpoint associated with the second one of the user's eyes, and an image generation unit operable to generate an output image for the second one of the user's eyes in dependence upon the reprojected first image and the obtained second image.

Abstract: Audio communication apparatus comprises a set of two or more audio communication nodes; each audio communication node comprising: an audio encoder controlled by encoding parameters to generate encoded audio data to represent a vocal input generated by a user of that audio communication node, the encoded data being agnostic to which user who generated the vocal input; and an audio decoder controlled by decoding parameters to generate a decoded audio signal as a reproduction of a vocal signal generated by a user of another of the audio communication nodes, the decoding parameters being specific to the user of that other of the audio communication nodes.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes input circuitry to receive audio data for a plurality of respective dialogue recordings for a video game, classification circuitry comprising one or more machine learning models to receive at least a portion of the audio data for each dialogue recording and trained to output classification data indicative of a quality classification of a dialogue recording in dependence upon one or more properties of the audio data for the dialogue recording, and storage circuitry to store identification data for one or more of the plurality of dialogue recordings in dependence upon the classification data.

Abstract: An image rendering method for rendering a pixel at a viewpoint includes, for a first element of a virtual scene, having a predetermined surface at a position within that scene; providing the position and a direction based on the viewpoint to a machine learning system previously trained to predict a factor that, when combined with a distribution function that characterises an interaction of light with the predetermined surface, generates a pixel value corresponding to the first element of the virtual scene as illuminated at the position, combining the predicted factor from the machine learning system with the distribution function to generate the pixel value corresponding to the illuminated first element of the virtual scene at the position, and incorporating the pixel value into a rendered image for display, where the machine learning system was previously trained with a training set based on images comprising multiple lighting conditions.

Abstract: A system for improving a discovery process for a virtual environment, the system comprising an environment discovery unit operable to perform a discovery process comprising navigation of the virtual environment and identification of one or more aspects of the virtual environment, a performance analysis unit operable to evaluate the effectiveness of the discovery process, and a discovery update unit operable to modify future operation of the environment discovery unit in dependence upon the evaluation.

Abstract: A method of generating a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of a human includes obtaining at least one colour image and corresponding depth image of a scene comprising a human subject that is at least partially occluded by one or more items. The regions in the at least one colour image corresponding to a human subject are identified. A point cloud of the scene is generated based on the at least one colour image and corresponding depth image. One or more parameters of a parametric model are then adjusted based on the regions of the point cloud identified as corresponding to the human subject. The adjusted parametric model is then used to generate a 3D reconstruction of the human subject; where the parametric model provides an estimate for points in the point cloud corresponding to the occluded parts of the human subject. A corresponding system is also provided.

Abstract: An image rendering method for rendering a pixel of a virtual scene at a viewpoint includes: downloading a machine learning system corresponding to a current or anticipated state an application determining the virtual scene to be rendered from among a plurality of machine learning systems corresponding to a plurality of states of the application; providing a position and a direction based on the viewpoint to the machine learning system previously trained to predict a factor; combining the predicted factor from the machine learning system with a distribution function that characterises an interaction of light with a predetermined surface to generate the pixel value corresponding to an illuminated first element of the virtual scene at the position; and incorporating the pixel value into a rendered image for display.

Abstract: A system for generating an input signal for a video game includes: a receiving unit configured to receive a video game output signal output by a video game playing device during the playing of a video game; a reasoning model configured to determine an action to take within the video game based on the received video game output signal, the reasoning model being configured to generate a representation of the determined action that is independent of the video game; and an encoding unit configured to translate the representation into an input signal and to provide the input signal to a video game playing device at which the video game is being played, thereby causing the determined action to be performed within the video game.

Abstract: A content modification system comprising a content receiving unit operable to receive content comprising a virtual environment and one or more active elements, an input receiving unit operable to receive inputs from one or more users, an element addition unit operable to generate one or more virtual elements within the virtual environment in response to the received inputs, the virtual elements being unable to be interacted with by the one or more active elements, and a content generation unit operable to generate modified content comprising the virtual environment, the one or more active elements, and the one or more generated virtual elements.

Abstract: An encoding apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises an input unit operable to obtain a plurality of training images, said training images being for use in training a machine learning model. The apparatus also comprises a label unit operable to obtain a class label associated with the training images; and a key unit operable to obtain a secret key for use in encoding the training images. The apparatus further comprises an image noise generator operable to generate, based on the obtained secret key, noise for introducing into the training images. The image noise generator is configured to generate noise that correlates with the class label associated with the training images such that a machine learning model subsequently trained with the modified training images learns to associate the introduced noise with the class label for those images. A corresponding decoding apparatus is also provided.

Abstract: A method comprises generating a first environment representation for rendering a video representation of a virtual environment; and generating a second environment representation for rendering an audio output at a virtual listening position within the virtual environment in response to sounds generated by one or more virtual sound sources within the virtual environment; in which the first and second environment representations comprise respective different geometrical representations of the virtual environment; in which the step of generating the second environment representation comprises: generating a starting version of the second environment representation; and modifying the starting version of the second environment representation.

Abstract: A system for adjusting the pose of a camera relative to a subject in a scene is provided. The system comprises a camera operable to capture images of a scene; an identification unit configured to identify an object of interest in images of the scene; a pose processor configured to obtain a pose of the object of interest in the scene relative to the camera; a scene analyser operable to determine, based on at least one of the obtained pose of the object of interest and images captured by the camera, a scene quality associated with images captured by the camera. A controller is configured to cause the pose of the camera to be adjusted based on a determination that the scene quality of an image captured at a current pose is less than a threshold value. A corresponding device is also provided.

Abstract: An audio personalisation method for a user, to reproduce an area-based or volumetric sound source, includes the steps of, for a head related transfer function ‘HRTF’ associated with the user, smoothing HRTF coefficients relating to peaks and notches in the HRTF's spectral response, responsive to the size of the area or volume of the sound source; filtering the sound source using the smoothed HRTF for the notional position of the sound source; and outputting the filtered sound source signal for playback to the user.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes avatar monitoring circuitry to receive gaze data for a first user associated with a first avatar in a virtual reality environment, the gaze data for the first user indicative of a gaze point for the first user with respect to the virtual reality environment, in which the avatar monitoring circuitry is configured to select one or more objects in the virtual reality environment in dependence upon the gaze data for the first user and to store first avatar information for the first avatar indicative of one or more of the selected objects, input circuitry to receive gaze data for a second user indicative of a gaze point for the second user with respect to the virtual reality environment, and processing circuitry to generate one or more images for the virtual reality environment for display to the second user, in which the processing circuitry is configured to: select the first avatar in dependence upon the gaze point for the second user with respect to the first avatar; and gen

Abstract: A data processing apparatus adapted to output recommendation information for modifying source code, includes: compiler circuitry to compile the source code and to output compiled code for the source code, processing circuitry to execute the compiled code, profile circuitry to monitor the execution of the compiled code by the processing circuitry and to generate profile information for the execution of the compiled code, the profile information including one or more statistical properties for the execution of the compiled code, and recommendation circuitry to output the recommendation information for the source code, the recommendation circuitry including a machine learning model to receive at least a portion of the profile information and trained to output the recommendation information for the source code in dependence upon one or more of the statistical properties, in which the recommendation information is indicative of one or more editing instructions for modifying the source code.

Abstract: A gaze tracking system comprising a first camera operable to capture images of a user within an environment, a second camera, having a smaller field of view than the first camera, operable to capture images of at least one of the user's eyes, an eye identification unit operable to identify a location of at least one of the user's eyes from images captured by the first camera, a camera control unit operable to modify the position and/or orientation of the second camera in dependence upon the detected location of the at least one of the user's eyes, so as to cause the second camera to be able to capture images of at least one of the user's eyes, and a gaze direction identification unit operable to identify a gaze direction of the user from images captured by the second camera.