Patents by Inventor Robert James William Higgs

Robert James William Higgs 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).

  • Publication number: 20210034696
    Abstract: The systems and methods discussed herein implement a volumetric approach to point cloud representation, compression, decompression, communication, or any suitable combination thereof. The volumetric approach can be used for both geometry and attribute compression and decompression, and both geometry and attributes can be represented by volumetric functions. To create a compressed representation of the geometry or attributes of a point cloud, a suitable set of volumetric functions are transformed, quantized, and entropy-coded. When decoded, the volumetric functions are sufficient to reconstruct the corresponding geometry or attributes of the point cloud.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Maxim Koroteev, Maja Krivokuca, Robert James William Higgs, Charles Loop
  • Publication number: 20210021817
    Abstract: Example systems and methods perform streaming of volumetric media and accommodate high user interactivity. A device is configured to access and render streaming holograms and may implement a window as a buffer. In addition, a hologram streaming machine can be configured to stream full or partial holograms in the form of 3D blocks, where different 3D blocks represent a same portion of hologram but may have different resolutions depending on where the user is positioned and looking relative to each 3D block, thus saving network capacity by focusing on what the user is looking at. Since many 3D blocks may be empty much of the time, may be occluded or far away from the user's viewing position, or may be numerous within a 3D space, the device can be configured to request 3D blocks based on their utility, which may be calculated based on bitrate, visibility, or distance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2020
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Kieran Thawley, Robert James William Higgs, Jounsup Park
  • Patent number: 10853447
    Abstract: The systems and methods discussed herein implement a volumetric approach to point cloud representation, compression, decompression, communication, or any suitable combination thereof. The volumetric approach can be used for both geometry and attribute compression and decompression, and both geometry and attributes can be represented by volumetric functions. To create a compressed representation of the geometry or attributes of a point cloud, a suitable set of volumetric functions are transformed, quantized, and entropy-coded. When decoded, the volumetric functions are sufficient to reconstruct the corresponding geometry or attributes of the point cloud.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Maxim Koroteev, Maja Krivokuca, Robert James William Higgs, Charles Loop
  • Patent number: 10834391
    Abstract: Example systems and methods perform streaming of volumetric media and accommodate high user interactivity. A device is configured to access and render streaming holograms and may implement a window as a buffer. In addition, a hologram streaming machine can be configured to stream full or partial holograms in the form of 3D blocks, where different 3D blocks represent a same portion of hologram but may have different resolutions depending on where the user is positioned and looking relative to each 3D block, thus saving network capacity by focusing on what the user is looking at. Since many 3D blocks may be empty much of the time, may be occluded or far away from the user's viewing position, or may be numerous within a 3D space, the device can be configured to request 3D blocks based on their utility, which may be calculated based on bitrate, visibility, or distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Kieran Thawley, Robert James William Higgs, Jounsup Park
  • Publication number: 20190327467
    Abstract: Example systems and methods perform streaming of volumetric media and accommodate high user interactivity. A device is configured to access and render streaming holograms and may implement a window as a buffer. In addition, a hologram streaming machine can be configured to stream full or partial holograms in the form of 3D blocks, where different 3D blocks represent a same portion of hologram but may have different resolutions depending on where the user is positioned and looking relative to each 3D block, thus saving network capacity by focusing on what the user is looking at. Since many 3D blocks may be empty much of the time, may be occluded or far away from the user's viewing position, or may be numerous within a 3D space, the device can be configured to request 3D blocks based on their utility, which may be calculated based on bitrate, visibility, or distance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: Philip A Chou, Kieran Thawley, Robert James William Higgs, Jounsup Park
  • Publication number: 20190228050
    Abstract: The systems and methods discussed herein implement a volumetric approach to point cloud representation, compression, decompression, communication, or any suitable combination thereof The volumetric approach can be used for both geometry and attribute compression and decompression, and both geometry and attributes can be represented by volumetric functions. To create a compressed representation of the geometry or attributes of a point cloud, a suitable set of volumetric functions are transformed, quantized, and entropy-coded. When decoded, the volumetric functions are sufficient to reconstruct the corresponding geometry or attributes of the point cloud.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Maxim Koroteev, Maja Krivokuca, Robert James William Higgs, Charles Loop
  • Patent number: 10192353
    Abstract: A machine can be specially configured to generate, compress, decompress, store, access, communicate, or otherwise process a special data structure that represents a three-dimensional surface of an object. The data structure can be or include a pruned sparse voxel octree in which each node in the octree corresponds to a different block of the octree, and children of the node in the octree correspond to the smaller blocks that subdivide the block. Moreover, each block occupied by the surface or a portion thereof can define its enclosed surface or portion thereof explicitly or implicitly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Philip A. Chou, Maja Krivokuca, Robert James William Higgs, Charles Loop, Eugene Joseph d'Eon
  • Patent number: 10140729
    Abstract: A machine is configured to perform data compression or data decompression with respect to visual elements, such as two-dimensional pixels of an image or three-dimensional voxels of a hologram. The machine accesses a set of visual elements and performs compression on the set by generating a bounded volume hierarchy of nodes. After the bounded volume hierarchy has been generated, with or without modification, the machine provides a compressed version of the set by providing at least a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The same machine or another machine accesses a compressed first representation of the set by accessing at least part of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine may perform partial decompression of the first representation by generating a second representation of the set, based on only a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine then causes rendering and display of the second representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Robert James William Higgs, Eugene Joseph d'Eon
  • Publication number: 20180225844
    Abstract: A machine is configured to perform data compression or data decompression with respect to visual elements, such as two-dimensional pixels of an image or three-dimensional voxels of a hologram. The machine accesses a set of visual elements and performs compression on the set by generating a bounded volume hierarchy of nodes. After the bounded volume hierarchy has been generated, with or without modification, the machine provides a compressed version of the set by providing at least a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The same machine or another machine accesses a compressed first representation of the set by accessing at least part of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine may perform partial decompression of the first representation by generating a second representation of the set, based on only a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine then causes rendering and display of the second representation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2017
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Robert James William Higgs, Eugene Joseph d'Eon
  • Patent number: 9881389
    Abstract: A machine is configured to perform data compression or data decompression with respect to visual elements, such as two-dimensional pixels of an image or three-dimensional voxels of a hologram. The machine accesses a set of visual elements and performs compression on the set by generating a bounded volume hierarchy of nodes. After the bounded volume hierarchy has been generated, with or without modification, the machine provides a compressed version of the set by providing at least a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The same machine or another machine accesses a compressed first representation of the set by accessing at least part of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine may perform partial decompression of the first representation by generating a second representation of the set, based on only a portion of the bounded volume hierarchy. The machine then causes rendering and display of the second representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: 8i Limited
    Inventors: Robert James William Higgs, Eugene Joseph d'Eon