Patents by Inventor Tom Salter

Tom Salter 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: 20160027217
    Abstract: In a virtual reality or mixed reality environment, an HMD device is configured to use surface reconstruction data points obtained with a sensor package to identify a location of a floor of a real world environment in which the device operates by sorting the data points by height into respective buckets where each bucket holds a different range of heights. A bucket having the greatest number of data points that are below the height of a user of the HMD device is used to identify the height of the real world floor, for example, by calculating an average of height values of data points in that bucket. A floor for the virtual reality environment may then be aligned to the identified height of the real world floor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2015
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Inventors: Alexandre da Veiga, Ben Sugden, Tom Salter
  • Patent number: 8976168
    Abstract: Systems and methods for mesh generation from depth images are provided. According to one aspect, a method executable by a compression device for sending compressed depth information is provided. The method may comprise, at a compression module executed on the compression device, receiving a depth image of a scene from a depth camera. The depth image may include a matrix of pixels, each pixel in the matrix including a depth value indicating a depth of an object in the scene observed at that pixel. The method may further comprise compressing the depth image into a tree data structure, and sending the tree data structure via a communication path to a rendering device for generating a mesh of the scene at the rendering device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Ben Woodhouse, Ben Sugden, Tom Salter
  • Publication number: 20140152558
    Abstract: Methods for controlling an augmented reality environment associated with a head-mounted display device (HMD) are described. In some embodiments, a virtual pointer may be displayed to an end user of the HMD and controlled by the end user using motion and/or orientation information associated with a secondary device (e.g., a mobile phone). Using the virtual pointer, the end user may select and manipulate virtual objects within the augmented reality environment, select real-world objects within the augmented reality environment, and/or control a graphical user interface of the HMD. In some cases, the initial position of the virtual pointer within the augmented reality environment may be determined based on a particular direction in which the end user is gazing and/or a particular object at which the end user is currently focusing on or has recently focused on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Inventors: Tom Salter, Ben J. Sugden, Daniel Deptford, Robert L. Crocco, JR., Brian E. Keane, Christopher E. Miles, Laura K. Massey, Alex Aben-Athar Kipman
  • Publication number: 20130141461
    Abstract: A system and method executable by a computing device of an augmented reality system for registering a camera in a physical space is provided. The method may include identifying an origin marker in a series of images of a physical space captured by a camera of an augmented reality system, and defining a marker graph having an origin marker node. The method may further include analyzing in real-time the series of images to identify a plurality of expansion markers with locations defined relative to previously imaged markers, and defining corresponding expansion marker nodes in the marker graph. The method may further include calculating a current position of the camera of the augmented reality system in the physical space based on a location of a node in the marker graph corresponding to a most recently imaged marker, relative to the origin marker and any intermediate markers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Publication date: June 6, 2013
    Inventors: Tom Salter, Ben Sugden, Ben Woodhouse
  • Publication number: 20130106852
    Abstract: Systems and methods for mesh generation from depth images are provided. According to one aspect, a method executable by a compression device for sending compressed depth information is provided. The method may comprise, at a compression module executed on the compression device, receiving a depth image of a scene from a depth camera. The depth image may include a matrix of pixels, each pixel in the matrix including a depth value indicating a depth of an object in the scene observed at that pixel. The method may further comprise compressing the depth image into a tree data structure, and sending the tree data structure via a communication path to a rendering device for generating a mesh of the scene at the rendering device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Publication date: May 2, 2013
    Inventors: Ben Woodhouse, Ben Sugden, Tom Salter
  • Patent number: 4948296
    Abstract: A method of constructing a swimming pool by laying a concrete shell of 80 mm thickness without any substantial reinforcement. A glass reinforced plastic of 5 mm thickness is then laid over the concrete once the concrete has cured. This particular combination between the fiberglass and the concrete shell allows the shell to crack and move in relation to the reinforced plastic layer, without transmitting any stresses to the reinforced plastic layer. This results in a pool which allows any stresses due to soil subsidence, movement, etc. to be transmitted to the concrete shell and not the reinforced plastic layer thereby leaving the plastic layer free of cracks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1990
    Assignee: Huntina Pty. Ltd.
    Inventor: Tom Salter