Patents by Inventor Oliver Bimber

Oliver Bimber 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).

  • Patent number: 8195006
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for representing a two-dimensional digital image on a projection surface, whereby at least one projector projects the content of an image buffer onto the projection surface. The aim of the invention is to provide a method and a device which allow to project a digital image onto a background having any surface structure and/or color in such a manner that any influences on the image caused by the background are compensated to the last pixel for at least one special observer perspective. In a special embodiment, definition of the representation is optimized to the last pixel even on an uneven background. For this purpose, the digital image is processed during a rendering step by geometrically distorting it using a two-dimensional pixel-offset field which contains information on the projection surface, and by manipulating the color of the image by means of a two-dimensional surface texture of the projection surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Bauhaus-Universitaet Weimar
    Inventors: Thomas Klemmer, Oliver Bimber, Andreas Emmerling
  • Publication number: 20110019914
    Abstract: A method and an illumination device is provided for optical contrast enhancement of an object through a spatially and/or temporally modulated illumination of the object by way of at least one light projection unit, wherein the spatial and/or temporal modulation of the illumination of the object is determined using a set of image data associated with the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Inventors: Oliver BIMBER, Daisuke Iwai
  • Publication number: 20080095468
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for representing a two-dimensional digital image on a projection surface, whereby at least one projector projects the content of an image buffer onto the projection surface. The aim of the invention is to provide a method and a device which allow to project a digital image onto a background having any surface structure and/or color in such a manner that any influences on the image caused by the background are compensated to the last pixel for at least one special observer perspective. In a special embodiment, definition of the representation is optimized to the last pixel even on an uneven background. For this purpose, the digital image is processed during a rendering step by geometrically distorting it using a two-dimensional pixel-offset field which contains information on the projection surface, and by manipulating the color of the image by means of a two-dimensional surface texture of the projection surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Publication date: April 24, 2008
    Applicant: BAUHAUS-UNIVERSITAET WEIMAR
    Inventors: Thomas Klemmer, Oliver Bimber, Andreas Emmerling
  • Publication number: 20070081207
    Abstract: The aim of the invention is to provide a method and an arrangement for carrying out said method, by which means optical holograms and interactive computer graphics can be harmoniously and uniformly combined, so that all components can be recognised in an optically sharp and separate manner and the holograms can be represented in a modified manner, especially also partially accentuated. According to the invention, the hologram is illuminated by an illumination image projected by the video projector, a holographic wave front that can be seen by the observer is reconstructed therefrom, and computer graphics are simultaneously displayed on the screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2004
    Publication date: April 12, 2007
    Applicant: Bauhaus-Universitaet Weimar
    Inventor: Oliver Bimber
  • Patent number: 6842175
    Abstract: The tools include components which are images produced by the system (103) that creates the virtual environment in response to inputs specifying the tool's location and the point of view of the tool's user. One class of the tools includes transparent components (121, 123); the image component of the tool is produced at a location in the virtual environment determined by the transparent component's location and the point of view of the tool's user. Tools in this class include a transparent pad (121) and a transparent stylus (123). The transparent pad (121) has an image component that may be used as a palette, as a magic lens, and as a device for selecting and transporting components of the virtual environment or even a portion of the virtual environment itself.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2005
    Assignee: Fraunhofer USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Dieter Schmalstieg, Oliver Bimber, L. Miguel Encarnacão
  • Patent number: 6803928
    Abstract: Apparatus that uses a large transflective mirror to extend a virtual reality system such as a virtual table that employs a projection plane to produce the virtual reality. The transflexive mirror is positioned relative to the projection plane such that the plane of the mirror intersects the projection plane and the angle of the mirror relative to the projection plane is such that the user of the system who looks at the mirror sees the projection plane reflected in the mirror. The virtual reality system is responsive to the position of the mirror and the direction in which a user is looking and produces separate virtual realities on the projection plane: one when the user is looking at the mirror and another when the user is looking at the projection plane. The virtual reality that the user sees when looking at the mirror may or may not be coherent with the virtual reality that the user sees when looking at the projection plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Oliver Bimber, L. Miguel Encarnacao, Andre Stork
  • Publication number: 20040135744
    Abstract: Tecniques that employ a virtual reality system that includes a projection plane to make virtual showcases. Where a real showcase has glass, the virtual showcase has half-silvered mirrors (402) that reflect the projection plane (403) when the mirror is viewed by a person. The virtual reality system receives input from a tracker (407) that tracks the position of the person's head and produces an object space on the projection plane such that when the object is reflected in the portion of the mirrors that are visible from the person's point of view, the reflection is an image space and appears as the person would expect it to appear from the person's point of view. In producing the object space, the virtual reality system takes into account the user's point of view, the portion of the reflective surface that the person can see from that point of view, and the effect of the position and form the mirror on the reflection of the object space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2003
    Publication date: July 15, 2004
    Inventors: Oliver Bimber, L Miguel Encarnacao
  • Publication number: 20030085866
    Abstract: Apparatus that uses a large transflective mirror to extend a virtual reality system such as a virtual table that employs a projection plane to produce the virtual reality. The transflexive mirror is positioned relative to the projection plane such that the plane of the mirror intersects the projection plane and the angle of the mirror relative to the projection plane is such that the user of the system who looks at the mirror sees the projection plane reflected in the mirror. The virtual reality system is responsive to the position of the mirror and the direction in which a user is looking and produces separate virtual realities on the projection plane: one when the user is looking at the mirror and another when the user is looking at the projection plane The virtual reality that the user sees when looking at the mirror may or may not be coherent with the virtual reality that the user sees when looking at the projection plane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2002
    Publication date: May 8, 2003
    Inventors: Oliver Bimber, L. Miguel Encarnacao, Andre Stork