Microsoft patents 3D video backgrounds that shift as you look
Microsoft describes a method to turn flat photos into video conference backgrounds that look three-dimensional. The system splits the image into layers with different depths and shifts them slightly based on where the viewer is looking, creating a parallax effect.
In the filing’s own words
Immersive backgrounds for videoconferencing are created by processing a two-dimensional (2D) image into several layers that have depth and shift based on the changing perspective of an observer. The viewpoint orientation of the observer is tracked, and the layers of the image are moved according to the parallax effect to create an appearance of depth. When used as a background for a videoconference, this creates a more immersive experience because the background behind a videoconference participant appears to be three-dimensional rather than static. A 2D image is converted into an immersive background by application of multiple image-processing techniques including image segmentation, depth estimation, and image completion.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method of generating an immersive background comprising: receiving a two-dimensional (2D) image; segmenting the 2D image into a plurality of objects; assigning a depth to each of the plurality of objects; grouping the plurality of objects into a plurality of layers based on depth; performing image completion on a layer of the plurality of layers to add to the layer new image content that is not in the 2D image; generating a videoconference user interface (UI) showing a videoconference participant in front of the immersive background comprising the plurality of layers; tracking a viewpoint orientation of an observer of the videoconference UI; and adjusting a relative positioning of the plurality of layers based on a change in the viewpoint orientation of the observer and the parallax effect.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC)
- Official title
- IMMERSIVE BACKGROUNDS FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING
- Publication number
- US20260270370A1
- Application number
- 19069689
- Filed
- Mar 4, 2025
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04N 7/157 Electricity & electronicsG06T 5/77 Physics & computingG06T 7/11 Physics & computingG06T 7/50 Physics & computingG06T 2207/20081 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in AI & software
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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.