Patents by Inventor Simon Mark Benson

Simon Mark Benson 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: 11914147
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for generating an image by way of acquiring information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a camera. The image is generated for display on a display unit. A rate at which the image is generated is at a first frequency, which is lower than a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignees: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Publication number: 20230161157
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for an acquisition process to acquire information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a camera and an image generation process to generate an image to be displayed on a display unit in a first frequency lower than a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the display unit using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation acquired at a certain point of time by the acquisition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Publication date: May 25, 2023
    Applicants: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Patent number: 11592668
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for generating an image by way of acquiring information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a camera operated by a user. The image is generated for display on a display unit viewed by the user. A rate at which the image is generated is at a first frequency, which is lower than a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignees: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Patent number: 11590415
    Abstract: A system for displaying a mobile device screen comprises a head mounted display for displaying a first content to a user, a video camera mounted on the head mounted display, the video camera operable to capture a video image of a scene in front of the user, a region detection processor operable to detect a region of the captured video image comprising a mobile device screen, and an image processor operable to replace a corresponding region of the displayed first content in the head mounted display with the detected region of the captured video image comprising the mobile device screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Inventors: Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Simon Mark Benson
  • Patent number: 11507201
    Abstract: A virtual reality apparatus includes a head mountable display (HMD); a detector to detect a deviation of a current orientation of the HMD from a base orientation of the HMD; and a generator to generate content for presentation to the wearer of the HMD to prompt the wearer of the HMD to turn his head so as to change the orientation of the HMD towards the base orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Mark Benson, Simon John Hall, Nicholas Ward-Foxton
  • Patent number: 11229836
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Inventors: Simon Mark Benson, Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Patrick John Connor
  • Patent number: 11135507
    Abstract: A head-mountable display (HMD) for use with a processing device, the HMD comprising a display unit for displaying image content to the user, and a directional airflow unit operable to generate a directional airflow in accordance with control data corresponding to an appropriate airflow for content to be displayed on the HMD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Inventors: Patrick John Connor, Simon Mark Benson
  • Publication number: 20210239978
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for an acquisition process to acquire information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a camera operated by a user and an image generation process to generate an image to be displayed on a display unit viewed by the user in a first frequency lower than a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the display unit using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation acquired at a certain point of time by the acquisition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Applicants: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Patent number: 11016297
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for receiving an image to be displayed on the head-mounted display unit generated in a first frequency by an image generation apparatus using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of the head of a user who wears a head-mounted display unit, where the information is acquired at a certain point of time; correcting the image using updated information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation at a different point of time, where the receiving and correcting includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation in a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the head-mounted display unit, and performing multiple times of correction of the image in the first frequency using a plurality of the updated information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation received in the second frequency higher than the first frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignees: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INC., SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE LTD.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Patent number: 10996757
    Abstract: Virtual reality apparatus includes a display generator to generate images of a virtual environment, including a virtual representation of a display object and at least part of an avatar, for display to a user; a haptic interface including one or more actuators to provide a physical interaction with the user in response to a haptic interaction signal; a detector arrangement configured to detect two or more haptic detections applicable to a current configuration of the avatar relative to the object in the virtual environment; and a haptic generator to generate the haptic interaction signal in dependence upon the two or more haptic detections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Simon Mark Benson
  • Publication number: 20200406131
    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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Mark Benson, Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Patrick John Connor
  • Publication number: 20200316462
    Abstract: A system for displaying a mobile device screen comprises a head mounted display for displaying a first content to a user, a video camera mounted on the head mounted display, the video camera operable to capture a video image of a scene in front of the user, a region detection processor operable to detect a region of the captured video image comprising a mobile device screen, and an image processor operable to replace a corresponding region of the displayed first content in the head mounted display with the detected region of the captured video image comprising the mobile device screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2018
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Simon Mark Benson
  • Publication number: 20200264432
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for receiving an image to be displayed on the head-mounted display unit generated in a first frequency by an image generation apparatus using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of the head of a user who wears a head-mounted display unit, where the information is acquired at a certain point of time; correcting the image using updated information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation at a different point of time, where the receiving and correcting includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation in a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the head-mounted display unit, and performing multiple times of correction of the image in the first frequency using a plurality of the updated information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation received in the second frequency higher than the first frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Publication date: August 20, 2020
    Applicants: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Publication number: 20200246693
    Abstract: A head-mountable display (HMD) for use with a processing device, the HMD comprising a display unit for displaying image content to the user, and a directional airflow unit operable to generate a directional airflow in accordance with control data corresponding to an appropriate airflow for content to be displayed on the HMD.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2018
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick John Connor, Simon Mark Benson
  • Patent number: 10684475
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for acquiring information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a user's head wearing a head-mounted display; generating an image for the head-mounted display using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation acquired at a certain point of time; and a correcting process includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation at a different point of time and correcting the image generated using the updated information. The generating the image includes using the information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation in a first frequency; and the correcting includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation in a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the head-mounted display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignees: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Ian Henry Bickerstaff
  • Publication number: 20200089333
    Abstract: A virtual reality apparatus includes a head mountable display (HMD); a detector to detect a deviation of a current orientation of the HMD from a base orientation of the HMD; and a generator to generate content for presentation to the wearer of the HMD to prompt the wearer of the HMD to turn his head so as to change the orientation of the HMD towards the base orientation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Mark Benson, Simon John Hall, Nicholas Ward-Foxton
  • Publication number: 20190384404
    Abstract: Virtual reality apparatus comprises a display generator to generate images of a virtual environment, including a virtual representation of a display object and at least part of an avatar, for display to a user; a haptic interface comprising one or more actuators to provide a physical interaction with the user in response to a haptic interaction signal; a detector arrangement configured to detect two or more haptic detections applicable to a current configuration of the avatar relative to the object in the virtual environment; and a haptic generator to generate the haptic interaction signal in dependence upon the two or more haptic detections.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Applicant: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventors: Sharwin Winesh RAGHOEBARDAJAL, Simon Mark BENSON
  • Patent number: 10431054
    Abstract: A processing system adapted for use in a gaming environment is configured to detect when a user might accidentally drop an input device, such as a handheld game controller. The processing system includes an input device, a processing unit and a warning unit. The input device has one or more pressure sensors operable to sense pressure inputs from a user. The processing unit is operable to identify an imminent dropping of the input device from measurements obtained by the pressure sensors. And the warning unit is operable to provide a warning to the user when the processing unit identifies an imminent drop of the input device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Simon Mark Benson, Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Patrick John Connor
  • Publication number: 20190049728
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for acquiring information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation of a user's head wearing a head-mounted display; generating an image for the head-mounted display using information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation acquired at a certain point of time; and a correcting process includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation at a different point of time and correcting the image generated using the updated information. The generating the image includes using the information relating to at least one of the position and the rotation in a first frequency; and the correcting includes receiving updated information relating to at least one of a position and a rotation in a second frequency corresponding to a frame rate of the head-mounted display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Publication date: February 14, 2019
    Applicants: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
    Inventors: Tomohiro Oto, Simon Mark Benson, Iam Henry Bickerstaff
  • Patent number: 10198866
    Abstract: A head mountable display (HMD) includes a camera operable to capture images of a peripheral and/or control device in use by a wearer of the HMD. A detector of the HMD is configured to detect occlusions in a captured image of the peripheral and/or control device. And an image renderer of the HMD is configured to render a virtual version of the peripheral and/or control device for display to the HMD wearer and to render a representation of a user's hand at a position of a detected occlusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited
    Inventors: Ian Henry Bickerstaff, Simon Mark Benson, Sharwin Winesh Raghoebardajal, Darren Myatt