US20030128182A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Virtual mirror
Assignee: University of Minnesota Twin Cities
•
Filing: 2001-10-01
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2021-10-01
Abstract
Abstract A virtual mirror is rendered by a computer graphics display or screen. The display substantially replicates the optical properties of a physical mirror. The display is provided on a host vehicle.
Inventors
- 👤 Max Donath
- 👤 Craig Shankwitz
- 👤 Pi-Ming Cheng
- 👤 Sameer Pardhy
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 13:55
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/20; G06F16/29; B; B60; B60R; B60R2300/00; B60R2300/20; B60R2300/207; B60R2300/30; B60R2300/302; B60R2300/60; B60R2300/80; B60R2300/8046; B60R2300/8066
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 75
Claim 1
Independent Claim
59 words
1 . A method of generating a display on a mobile body, comprising: obtaining position information indicative of a position of the mobile body; obtaining display data indicative of items in proximity to the mobile body; generating a virtual mirror display of items that would be seen in a mirror with an unobstructed view based on the display data.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
59 words
1 . A method of generating a display on a mobile body, comprising: obtaining position information indicative of a position of the mobile body; obtaining display data indicative of items in proximity to the mobile body; generating a virtual mirror display of items that would be seen in a mirror with an unobstructed view based on the display data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: performing a mirror transformation on the display data, the mirror transformation transforming the display data into reflected data indicative of a reflection of the items.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: performing a stencil transformation on the reflected data to obtain stencil data indicative of conformance of the reflected data to a simulated physical mirror boundary.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: performing a forward transformation on the stencil data to obtain perspective data indicative of the stencil data in perspective on the virtual mirror display.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: rendering the virtual mirror display based on the perspective data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
34 words
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: prior to performing the mirror transformation, determining whether the display data is indicative of an item that will be displayed.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: if the display data is indicative of an item that will not be displayed, selecting other display data prior to performing the mirror transformation.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
8 . The method of claim 7 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: representing lines or object surface boundaries in the virtual mirror display by coordinate vectors; and mathematically transforming the coordinate vectors to create visual representations of objects.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining position information comprises: obtaining mobile body orientation data indicative of an orientation of the mobile body.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining display information comprises: accessing a geospatial database based on the position information.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
26 words
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein obtaining display information comprises: sensing objects proximate to the mobile body and not found in the geospatial database.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
34 words
12 . The method of claim 1 and further comprising: obtaining object information indicative of location of an object proximate the mobile body; and generating the virtual mirror display based on the object information.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
13 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: obtaining virtual mirror data indicative of spatial characteristics of the virtual mirror; and generating the virtual mirror display based on the virtual mirror data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
33 words
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein obtaining virtual mirror data comprises: obtaining location, orientation, shape and size data indicative of a desired location, orientation, shape and size of the virtual mirror.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
15 . The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining virtual mirror data comprises: obtaining virtual mirror data indicative of optical characteristics of the virtual mirror.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
38 words
16 . The method of claim 1 and further comprising: obtaining user information indicative of an orientation of a user viewing the virtual mirror display; and modifying the virtual mirror display based on changes in the user information.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
16 words
17 . The method of claim 16 wherein obtaining user information comprises: tracking user eye orientation.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
16 words
18 . The method of claim 16 wherein obtaining user information comprises: tracking user head orientation.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
19 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: displaying the items differently based on a position of the items relative to the mobile body.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
20 . The method of claim 19 wherein displaying the items differently comprises: changing a visual characteristic of the items based on a distance the items are from the mobile body.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
20 words
21 . The method of claim 19 wherein displaying the items differently comprises: changing an attribute of the virtual mirror.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
22 . The method of claim 21 wherein changing an attribute of the virtual mirror comprises: dynamically changing a computed radius of curvature of the virtual mirror in generating the virtual mirror display.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
24 words
23 . The method of claim 22 wherein changing an attribute of the mirror comprises: changing the virtual mirror between, flat, concave and/or convex.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
37 words
24 . The method of claim 22 wherein dynamically changing a radius of curvature comprises: changing the computed radius of curvature of different portions of the mirror such that the different portions have different radii of curvature.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
20 words
25 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: generating a rendering of the items.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
21 words
26 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: generating a plurality of virtual mirror displays.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
22 words
27 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: generating a display element representative of the items.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
28 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: selectively suppressing light reflection that would otherwise be seen in the virtual mirror display.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
27 words
29 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: oscillating display of the items in the virtual mirror display to create depth.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
32 words
30 . The method of claim 1 and further comprising: obtaining item information, indicative of physical characteristics of the items in proximity to the mobile body, by wireless transmission from the items.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
34 words
31 . The method of claim 30 wherein the items in proximity to the mobile body are motor vehicles having vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and wherein the vehicles transmit the VIN using wireless transmissions.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
24 words
32 . The method of claim 31 wherein a portion of the VIN is used to recreate a shape of the vehicle for display.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
30 words
33 . The method of claim 32 and further comprising: accessing a database based on the portion of the VIN, and returning data indicative of the shape of the vehicle.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
28 words
34 . The method of claim 33 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: displaying the shape of the vehicle based on the data indicative of the shape.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
19 words
35 . The method of claim 30 wherein the physical characteristics comprise position and orientation of other mobile bodies.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
25 words
36 . The method of claim 1 and further comprising: generating an alarm based on a position of the items relative to the mobile body.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
22 words
37 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: rendering the display on a flat panel display.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
34 words
38 . The method of claim 1 and further comprising: providing a stimulation output to stimulate a sense modality of a user based on a position of an item relative to the mobile body.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
21 words
39 . The method of clam 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: invoking exposed three dimensional graphics programming interfaces.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
21 words
39 . The method of clam 1 wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: invoking exposed three dimensional graphics programming interfaces.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
16 words
40 . The method of claim 39 wherein invoking comprises: defining a stencil to be drawn.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
24 words
41 . The method of claim 40 wherein invoking exposed programming interfaces further comprises: defining a mirror coordinate system using a model view matrix.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
20 words
42 . The method of claim 41 wherein invoking further comprises: rendering the stencil; and activating portions of the stencil.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
31 words
43 . The method of claim 42 wherein invoking further comprises: defining the model view matrix as a mirror transformation; and rendering a mirror view based on the model view matrix.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
35 words
44 . The method of claim 43 wherein invoking further comprises: defining the model view matrix as a forward-looking view; activating different portions of the stencil; and rendering the forward-looking view behind the virtual mirror.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
45 words
45 . The method of claim 11 wherein the mobile body comprises a motor vehicle and wherein generating a virtual mirror display comprises: generating the virtual mirror display as a rearview mirror on the motor vehicle displaying items obstructed from view by the motor vehicle.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
92 words
46 . A display system for generating a display on a mobile body, the display system comprising: a location system generating location data indicative of a location of the mobile body; a geospatial database storing display item information indicative of items to be displayed; a display device; and a controller coupled to the location system, the display device, and the geospatial data base and configured to access the geospatial database based on the location data and output display data to the display device indicative of a virtual mirror display of the items.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
92 words
46 . A display system for generating a display on a mobile body, the display system comprising: a location system generating location data indicative of a location of the mobile body; a geospatial database storing display item information indicative of items to be displayed; a display device; and a controller coupled to the location system, the display device, and the geospatial data base and configured to access the geospatial database based on the location data and output display data to the display device indicative of a virtual mirror display of the items.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
17 words
47 . The display system of claim 46 wherein the display device comprises a flat panel display.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
17 words
48 . The display system of claim 46 wherein the display device comprises a head mounted display.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
27 words
49 . The display system of claim 46 and further comprising: a projector receiving the display data and projecting the virtual mirror display on the display device.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
28 words
50 . The display system of claim 46 and further comprising: a ranging system, coupled to the controller, generating object data indicative of objects proximate the mobile body.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
31 words
51 . The display system of claim 46 and further comprising: an imaging system, coupled to the controller, generating object data indicative of physical characteristics of objects proximate the mobile body.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
21 words
52 . The display system of claim 51 wherein the physical characteristics comprise at least one of shape, size and color.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
45 words
53 . The display system of claim 50 wherein movement of the display device changes the virtual mirror display and the ranging system to generate object data based on a new virtual mirror display determined by a new position or orientation of the display device.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
26 words
54 . The display system of claim 46 wherein the controller is configured to output the display data indicative of objects in the virtual mirror display.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
39 words
55 . The display system of claim 54 wherein the controller is configured to perform a mirror transformation on the display data, the mirror transformation transforming the display data into reflected data indicative of a reflection of the items.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
46 words
56 . The display system of claim 55 wherein the controller is configured to perform a stencil transformation on the reflected data to obtain stencil data indicative of conformance of the reflected data to a boundary of a mirror positioned or oriented in a desired way.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
39 words
57 . The display system of claim 56 wherein the controller is configured to perform a forward transformation on the stencil data to obtain perspective data indicative of the stencil data in proper perspective on the virtual mirror display.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
24 words
58 . The display system of claim 57 wherein the controller is configured to render the virtual mirror display based on the perspective data.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
38 words
59 . The display system of claim 46 wherein the controller is configured to sense a change in orientation of the display device and modify the display data based on the change in orientation of the display device.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
41 words
60 . The display system of claim 46 wherein the controller is configured to provide the display data as being indicative of the items and outlined portions of the mobile body that would otherwise obstruct a mirror view of the items.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
16 words
61 . A computer generated display on a mobile body, comprising: a conformal virtual mirror display.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
16 words
61 . A computer generated display on a mobile body, comprising: a conformal virtual mirror display.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
35 words
62 . The computer generated display of claim 61 wherein the display comprises: a conformal mirror display of items that would be seen in a mirror mounted on the vehicle if the view were unobstructed.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
16 words
63 . The computer generated display of claim 62 wherein the items comprise: road lane boundaries.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
20 words
64 . The computer generated display of claim 63 wherein the items comprise: sensed objects proximate to the mobile body.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
17 words
65 . The computer generated display of claim 64 wherein the sensed objects comprise: other mobile bodies.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
26 words
66 . The computer generated display of claim 64 wherein the items comprise: at least one of traffic signs, guard rails, other road furniture, and landmarks.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
19 words
67 . The computer generated display of claim 62 wherein the mirror display is superimposed on an actual mirror.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
19 words
68 . The computer generated display of claim 67 wherein the mirror display emphasizes desired portions of the display.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
71 words
69 . A method of displaying data, comprising: (a) obtaining an indication of a location of a vehicle in space; (b) obtaining an indication of a location and orientation of the display device; (c) obtaining an indication of a position of a user's eye; (d) obtaining an indication of objects in a vicinity of the vehicle; and (e) generating a virtual mirror display based on the indications obtained in steps (a)-(d).
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
71 words
69 . A method of displaying data, comprising: (a) obtaining an indication of a location of a vehicle in space; (b) obtaining an indication of a location and orientation of the display device; (c) obtaining an indication of a position of a user's eye; (d) obtaining an indication of objects in a vicinity of the vehicle; and (e) generating a virtual mirror display based on the indications obtained in steps (a)-(d).
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
27 words
70 . The method of claim 69 and further comprising: (f) changing an orientation of the display device; and (g) changing the generated virtual mirror display accordingly.
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