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SonyGranted patentAR, VR & displaysInterest 6/10

Sony patents virtual camera that pins photos to your view

Sony describes a system for virtual reality or augmented reality environments that lets users take pictures of objects in a digital space. Instead of just saving the photo to a file, the system places the image as a floating object within the virtual world. This image stays fixed in a specific spot relative to the user, even if they turn their head or move around.

Why it mattersThis feature could make virtual photo-taking more interactive by allowing users to leave visual notes or souvenirs in a shared digital environment, similar to leaving a physical postcard in a room.

In the filing’s own words

Provided are an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing system capable of further enhancing the entertainment value of image capturing experience in a virtual space. The information processing apparatus includes a control unit that, when an imaging trigger for imaging a subject in a virtual space is detected, generates a captured image obtained by imaging the subject, and performs control to arrange the generated captured image in the virtual space as a virtual object.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: circuitry configured to: control to capture an image or a moving image of a subject in a field of view of a user in a virtual space; and control to display, at a predetermined area in a display, the captured image or the captured moving image in the virtual space, wherein the captured image or the captured moving image is based on less than an entirety of the field of view of the user viewing the virtual space, wherein the predetermined area is less than an entirety of an area of the display and the predetermined area is at a position defined by a predetermined relative positional relationship with respect to a position of the user in the virtual space, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to maintain the captured image or the captured moving image being displayed at the predetermined area in the display in response to the field of view of the user changing.

Facts

Company
Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
Official title
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing system
Patent number
US12755501B2
Application number
18014959
Filed
May 26, 2021
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
24

Classified under

G06T 19/20 Physics & computingG06V 10/24 Physics & computingG06T 2219/2004 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.