Abstract: A method of error logging includes: receiving from a user interface a first input from a user indicating that they have seen a visible error in a displayed graphical output of a computer application, tracking the gaze of the user to estimate the position, on at least a first display showing at least part of the displayed graphical output, at which the user's gaze is directed, receiving from the user interface a second input from the user indicating that they have identified the visible error with their gaze, capturing data relating to the displayed graphical output of the computer application, the data including a capture of at least part of the displayed graphical output including the identified visible error, and the estimated positon of the user's gaze with respect to the displayed graphical output, and generating an error report including the captured data.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes circuitry configured to: receive a first signal indicative of one or more words communicated from a first user of online content to one or more second users of online content; classify the one or more words using the first signal; receive one or more second signals indicative of one or more physiological characteristics of the first user within a time period of a start of the communication of the one or more words; classify the one or more physiological characteristics using the one or more second signals; based on a classification of the one or more words and a classification of the one or more physiological characteristics, generate an action signal indicating that an action associated with the first user of the online content is to be taken, the action signal indicating a characteristic of the action determined based on a combination of the classification of the one or more words and the classification of the one or more physiological characteristics; and output the act

Abstract: A user accessibility method for a videogame system includes obtaining trophy records for a plurality of games played by the user, generating an accessibility profile responsive to accessibility issues indicated by at least some of the trophy records, and modifying one or more operational parameters of the videogame system in response to the generated accessibility profile.

Abstract: A cognitive load assistance method includes: providing a virtual environment comprising a route to complete a current task, and providing within the virtual environment one or more interactive elements not essential to the current task that may be encountered during normal performance of the current task, receiving an indication that cognitive load assistance is required, and reducing the interactivity of at least a first interactive element not essential to the current task in response to the indication.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes processing circuitry configured to perform control to display a user interface in response to detection of a first trigger condition, the user interface comprising a plurality of items, arranged in a ring, that can be highlighted for selection by a user, receive an input signal from a user input device, analyze the input signal to determine a degree of rotation of a portion of an arm of a user, and perform control to update the user interface in accordance with the determined degree of rotation of the portion of the arm of the user to highlight one of the plurality of items for selection.

Abstract: An audio visualisation method includes: generating for output a virtual environment comprising at least a first virtual sound source, classifying an intended effect on a user of a sound to be output by the at least first virtual sound source, outputting the sound, and producing a visual element for view by the user that has a visual property selected to correspond to the classified intended effect.

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 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: A head mountable display, HMD, system to display images to a user via an HMD includes an illumination detector to detect an illumination level of an ambient environment around the HMD; an operation detector to detect one or more operations indicative of one or both of: (i) initiation of the HMD being put on by the user; and (ii) initiation of the HMD being taken off by the user; and a controller to control the illumination level of the display images, the controller being configured to generate and apply a temporary illumination level variation to the display images in response to a detection of the one or more operations by the operation detector.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes allocation circuitry to allocate a graphical feature for a virtual environment to a respective layer from a plurality of respective layers in dependence upon one or more properties for the graphical feature, where the plurality of respective layers comprise a mobile layer and at least one of a mobile re-projection layer and a static re-projection layer, rendering circuitry to render graphical features allocated to respective different layers of the plurality of respective layers with a different rendering quality, and an output image generator to generate an image for display according to a viewpoint of a virtual camera, where the image includes graphical features allocated to respective different layers of the plurality of layers.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes receiving circuitry to receive a plurality of images of an environment captured from respective different viewpoints, detection circuitry to detect a plurality of feature points in the plurality of captured images and to associate image information with each detected feature point indicative of an image property for a detected feature point, where each detected feature point represents a candidate landmark point for mapping the environment, selection circuitry to select one or more of the plurality of candidate landmark points, the one or more selected landmark points corresponding to a subset of the plurality of candidate landmark points, and mapping circuitry to generate, for the environment, a map including one or more of the selected landmark points, where each landmark point included in the map is defined by a three dimensional position and the associated image information for that landmark point.

Abstract: A method of environment mapping comprising the steps of receiving a plurality of images from respective different viewpoints; using a simultaneous localisation and mapping ‘SLAM’ process, detect feature points in the plurality of images; classifying one or more objects within the plurality of images as being objects of interest; determining the position of the or each object of interest using feature points corresponding to the objects of interest in the images; and providing an indication of the position of one or more objects of interest to a user of a virtual display; and wherein the step of determining the position of the or each object of interest using their feature points is repeated, more frequently than for other feature points in the images.

Abstract: A system includes a head-mountable display (HMD) configured to receive one or more signals via a wired connection with an external device, processing circuitry to generate an output indicative of at least one of a predicted disconnect event and a detected disconnect event for the wired connection, and control circuitry to instruct one or more operations to be performed by the HMD in response to the generated output.

Abstract: A head-mountable display (HMD) system includes at least one detector to detect movement of an eye of a user wearing the HMD, control circuitry to detect saccadic movement of the eye in dependence upon the detected movement of the eye, a display unit and a processor to generate images for display to the user by the display unit, in which the control circuitry is configured to control the processor in response to the detected saccadic movement, in which the control circuitry is configured to control the processor to adjust one or more image quality parameters for one or more of the images to be displayed by the display unit during the detected saccadic movement.

Abstract: A method of error logging includes: receiving from a user interface a first input from a user indicating that they have seen a visible error in a displayed graphical output of a computer application, tracking the gaze of the user to estimate the position, on at least a first display showing at least part of the displayed graphical output, at which the user's gaze is directed, receiving from the user interface a second input from the user indicating that they have identified the visible error with their gaze, capturing data relating to the displayed graphical output of the computer application, the data including a capture of at least part of the displayed graphical output including the identified visible error, and the estimated positon of the user's gaze with respect to the displayed graphical output, and generating an error report including the captured data.

Abstract: A head mountable display apparatus includes a display unit to display one or more images to a user wearing the HMD, a first optical element and a second optical element each configured to direct light from the one or more images displayed by the display unit for viewing by a respective eye of the user, a first input unit to receive user information for the user indicative of a separation of the user's eyes, a second input unit to receive a user input, and an adjustment unit to adjust a current separation of the first and second optical elements responsive to the user input, where the display unit is configured to display a first image comprising one or more indicators indicative of the current separation of the first and second optical elements with respect to the separation of the user's eyes.

Abstract: A head mountable display, HMD, system to display images to a user via an HMD comprises an illumination detector to detect an illumination level of an ambient environment around the HMD; an operation detector to detect one or more operations indicative of one or both of: (i) initiation of the HMD being put on by the user; and (ii) initiation of the HMD being taken off by the user; and a controller to control the illumination level of the display images, the controller being configured to generate and apply a temporary illumination level variation to the display images in response to a detection of the one or more operations by the operation detector.

Abstract: An image rendering system for generating one or more images of a virtual environment, the system comprising an object identifying unit operable to identify one or more objects in the virtual environment, and to identify one or more rendering parameters associated with each object, and a rendering unit operable to render an image comprising one or more of the identified objects in accordance with the corresponding rendering parameter, wherein the rendering parameter specifies a respective minimum level of detail with which the object is to be rendered.

Abstract: An image rendering instruction generation system includes an object identification unit operable to identify one or more objects for rendering in a virtual scene, a shader identification unit operable to identify a shader for rendering the identified objects, wherein the shader comprises two or more shading processes corresponding to different levels of detail, a draw call generation unit operable to generate a draw call comprising the identified shader, and a draw call output unit operable to provide the generated draw call to an image rendering system.

Abstract: An image rendering method the steps of, for a view of a virtual model having a locus of interest, performing flexible scale rasterisation with a first bin distribution for a luminance channel, and mapping the results to a first pixel space; performing flexible scale rasterisation with a second bin distribution for chrominance channels, and mapping the results to a second pixel space; and outputting an image based upon the luminance and chrominance results mapped to the first and second pixel spaces; where the second bin distribution includes larger bins than the first bin distribution in a region outside the locus of interest.