Abstract: A user profile generating system for generating a user profile for use with a processing device operable to display content includes: a head motion tracking unit operable to identify head motion of the user, an eye motion tracking unit operable to identify eye motion of the user, and a profile generating unit operable to generate a user profile comprising head tracking and eye tracking information for the user, where the generated user profile is used to modify interactions between the user and a processing device.

Abstract: A visual perception assistance apparatus includes a rendering unit configured to render, for display, a virtual environment, the virtual environment comprising one or more virtual elements; a selection unit configured to select one or more of the virtual elements; and an adapting unit configured to, for a given selected virtual element, adapt one or more aspects associated with an appearance of the given selected virtual element in dependence upon a distance between the given selected virtual element and a predetermined location within the virtual environment.

Abstract: A method of data storage includes associating delta colour compression DCC metadata with one or more tiles of graphics data, selecting one or more such tiles that are uniform in colour and hence can be accurately represented by the DCC metadata for that tile, and replacing some or all of the graphics data in one or more selected tiles with different data.

Abstract: An image processing system operable to generate one or more images for display, the system comprising a rendering unit operable to render one or more portions of an image using a plurality of flexible scale rasterization, FSR, schemes, a metadata generation unit operable to generate metadata indicating one or more properties of each of the FSR schemes used to render a particular image portion, a shader compiler operable to read the metadata, and to modify a shader to enable an image portion sampling to be performed that includes a corresponding FSR resolve where the metadata indicates that the particular image portion has been rendered with FSR, and an image generation unit operable to generate an image for display using at least one modified shader, the generated image including one or more of the plurality of image portions.

Abstract: An image processing system operable to generate one or more images for display, the system comprising a rendering unit operable to render one or more of a plurality of textures using flexible scale rasterization, FSR, a metadata generation unit operable to generate metadata indicating one or more properties of the FSR used to render a corresponding texture, a shader compiler operable to read the metadata, and to modify a shader to enable a texture sampling to be performed that includes an FSR resolve where the metadata indicates that a corresponding texture has been rendered with FSR, and an image generation unit operable to generate an image for display using at least one modified shader, the generated image including one or more of the plurality of textures.

Abstract: Apparatus comprises an image processor configured to provide output video images to a head mountable display, HMD, having one or more display elements to display video images to a wearer of the HMD, for display by the one or more display elements in response to input video images, in which each output video image corresponds to a respective input video image; in which: the image processor comprises a detector configured to detect whether an input image brightness at image locations in the input video images exceeds a threshold image brightness; and the image processor is configured to vary a relationship between the display properties at a given image location in a given output video image and the input image display properties at the given image location in the corresponding input video image in response to a detection that image brightness at the given image location in one or more input video images preceding that corresponding input video image exceeded the threshold image brightness.

Abstract: A method of capturing free viewpoint content at a location includes recording video on each of a plurality of portable video recording devices at the location; each portable video recording device detecting a wireless synchronisation signal transmitted at the location; and each portable video recording device periodically adding a timestamp to its respective recorded video; where the timestamp is responsive to the detected wireless synchronisation signal, thereby enabling synchronisation of a plurality of recorded videos responsive to the timestamps.

Abstract: An eye tracking system for tracking one or more of a user's eyes includes an closed-eye detector operable to detect when a user has closed one or more of their eyes, an eye tracker operable to detect an eye orientation in dependence upon a measured deformation of an eyelid corresponding to the an eye that has been detected to be shut, and an image renderer operable to render a foveated image for display in response to the detected eye orientation.

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 data generation system for generating data representing content to be displayed includes: a content dividing unit operable to divide content to be displayed into a plurality of polyhedra and generate polyhedron position information, an intersection detecting unit operable to generate intersection information that describes the intersection of one or more surfaces within the content with the plurality of polyhedra, a polyhedron classifying unit operable to classify each of the polyhedra in dependence upon the intersection information, the classification indicating the properties of the surface within the respective polyhedra, and a data generating unit operable to generate data comprising the polyhedron position information and the polyhedron classification information.

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: A head-mountable display device includes: a display element observable by a user; an image generator operable to generate an image for display by the display element; a plurality of ultrasound transducers, the ultrasound transducers being operable and arranged to emit ultrasound signals towards at least a first eye of the user when the head-mountable display is being worn by the user; one or more sensors operable and arranged to detect reflections of the emitted ultrasound signals; an eye imaging unit operable to generate a representation of the user's eye based on the ultrasound signals received at the one or more sensors; and an eye position detector configured to detect the position of the eye relative to the position of the head-mountable display device based on the representation, the eye position detector being configured to detect whether the position of the eye is offset from a desired position.

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 generation system includes a region of interest identifying unit operable to identify a region of interest within a piece of content, the piece of content comprising one or more objects, and an image generation unit operable to generate an image for display comprising one or more of the one or more objects such that objects at a different visual depth to the region of interest are present in the generated image at a lower quality.

Abstract: Apparatus comprises an image processor configured to provide output video images to a head mountable display, HMD, having one or more display elements to display video images to a wearer of the HMD, for display by the one or more display elements in response to input video images, in which each output video image corresponds to a respective input video image; in which: the image processor comprises a detector configured to detect whether an input image brightness at image locations in the input video images exceeds a threshold image brightness; and the image processor is configured to vary a relationship between the display properties at a given image location in a given output video image and the input image display properties at the given image location in the corresponding input video image in response to a detection that image brightness at the given image location in one or more input video images preceding that corresponding input video image exceeded the threshold image brightness.

Abstract: A controller for determining a displacement of a control stick and an applied pressure on the control stick comprises at least a first control stick, one or more sensors configured to sense a pressure applied to at least one control stick and to generate corresponding pressure information, first circuitry configured to receive displacement information associated with a physical displacement of the control stick, second circuitry configured to receive from one or more of the sensors pressure information associated with the pressure applied to the control stick, and third circuitry configured to determine the displacement of the control stick and the applied pressure on the control stick; wherein at least a first sensor is configured to sense the pressure applied when the physical displacement of the control stick reaches a displacement limit.

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.

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 processing system for modifying interactive content in dependence upon a user profile includes: a user profile obtaining unit operable to obtain the user profile comprising information about head motion and eye motion for a user, an interactive element identification unit operable to identify interactive elements in displayed content, and a content modification unit operable to modify interactions between a user and one or more of the identified interactive elements in dependence upon the obtained user profile.

Abstract: A user profile generating system for generating a user profile for use with a processing device operable to display content includes: a head motion tracking unit operable to identify head motion of the user, an eye motion tracking unit operable to identify eye motion of the user, and a profile generating unit operable to generate a user profile comprising head tracking and eye tracking information for the user, where the generated user profile is used to modify interactions between the user and a processing device.