US6741241B1 — Generating registration data for a virtual set

Claim 1

Independent Claim 74 words

A method of generating registration data for a virtual set comprising: identifying a plane in a real set; associating said real plane to a plane defined in a virtual scene; and determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data, wherein said registration data defines a transformation for the virtual scene to facilitate the combination of said virtual scene with image data derived from the real set.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 74 words

A method of generating registration data for a virtual set comprising: identifying a plane in a real set; associating said real plane to a plane defined in a virtual scene; and determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data, wherein said registration data defines a transformation for the virtual scene to facilitate the combination of said virtual scene with image data derived from the real set.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 25 words

A method according to claim 1 , wherein planes in said real set are defined by identifying the position of a plurality of co-planar points.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 33 words

A method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of planes are identified in the real set and each of said planes is associated to a respective plane in the virtual scene.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 29 words

A method according to claim 1 , wherein said virtual scene data is defined by a scene tree, relating a plurality of objects with respect to a root origin.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 28 words

A method according to claim 1 , wherein said position determining step includes removing scaling effects from said virtual plane with reference to a scene tree of objects.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 31 words

A method according to claim 1 , wherein said difference determining step includes determining a relationship between a real plane and a corresponding virtual plane in terms of translations and rotations.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 31 words

A method according to claim 6 , wherein said rotations and translations are defined by matrices and a registration matrix is generated by a concatenation of said rotation and translation matrices.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 79 words

The method of claim 1 wherein: the identifying of the real plane in the real set, is effected with respect to a first three dimensional co-ordinate origin; identifying the virtual plane in the virtual set is effected with respect to a second three dimensional co-ordinate origin; the determining of said differences is effected by comparing a vertex on each said plane with its respective origin, to obtain a transformation; and said transformations are combined to generate said registration data.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 34 words

A method according to claim 8 , wherein said registration data is further modified by an operator, such that multiple registration data sets may be defined for a unique real set virtual set combination.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 24 words

A method according to claim 8 , wherein a plurality of planes is identified for combination in each of said real and virtual sets.

Claim 12

Independent Claim 49 words

A method of generating registration data for a virtual set, comprising: identifying a three-dimensional registration object in a real set; identifying a three-dimensional model of said registration object in a virtual set; and combining real and virtual positions of said registration object in order to generate said registration data.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 49 words

A method of generating registration data for a virtual set, comprising: identifying a three-dimensional registration object in a real set; identifying a three-dimensional model of said registration object in a virtual set; and combining real and virtual positions of said registration object in order to generate said registration data.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 73 words

A method of combining virtual scene data with images from a real set, comprising: generating an image of a real set; rendering an image of a virtual set from said virtual scene data, in combination with registration data; and combining said real image with said rendered image wherein said registration data is determined by a process of matching a positional attribute of a plane common to said real set and said virtual set.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 73 words

A method of combining virtual scene data with images from a real set, comprising: generating an image of a real set; rendering an image of a virtual set from said virtual scene data, in combination with registration data; and combining said real image with said rendered image wherein said registration data is determined by a process of matching a positional attribute of a plane common to said real set and said virtual set.

Claim 16

Independent Claim 71 words

A method of producing image data in a virtual set, comprising: loading virtual scene data; generating registration data; and using said registration data to combine real and virtual images, wherein said registration generation comprises: identifying a real plane in said real images; associating said real plane to a plane defined in a virtual scene, and determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 71 words

A method of producing image data in a virtual set, comprising: loading virtual scene data; generating registration data; and using said registration data to combine real and virtual images, wherein said registration generation comprises: identifying a real plane in said real images; associating said real plane to a plane defined in a virtual scene, and determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 97 words

An apparatus for generating registration data for a virtual set, comprising: means for identifying the real plane in the real set; means for associating said real plane to a virtual plane defined in a virtual set; means for determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data, wherein said registration data defines a transformation for virtual scene data to facilitate the combination of said virtual data with image data derived from the real set; and means for employing said registration data to align the virtual plane with the real plane.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 97 words

An apparatus for generating registration data for a virtual set, comprising: means for identifying the real plane in the real set; means for associating said real plane to a virtual plane defined in a virtual set; means for determining differences in position between said real plane and said virtual plane to produce registration data, wherein said registration data defines a transformation for virtual scene data to facilitate the combination of said virtual data with image data derived from the real set; and means for employing said registration data to align the virtual plane with the real plane.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 28 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 , including means for identifying the position of a plurality of co-planar points in order to define a plane in said real set.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 34 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 , including means for identifying a plurality of planes in the real set and means for associating each of said planes to a respective plane in the virtual scene.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 33 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 , including means for defining the virtual scene data by a scene tree, wherein said scene tree relates a plurality of objects with respect to a root origin.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 24 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 , including means for removing scaling effects from the virtual plane with reference to a scene tree of objects.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 27 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 , including means for determining a relationship between a real plane and a corresponding virtual plane in terms of translations and rotations.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 35 words

Apparatus according to claim 19 , including means for defining said rotations and translations in the form of matrices, including means for generating a registration matrix by a concatenation of said rotation and translation matrices.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 79 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions executable by a computer to generate registration data for a virtual set, said registration data being required to facilitate alignment of virtual scene data with real set data, such that the computer performs the steps of reading data representing a selected reference plane in a real set; identifying a corresponding virtual plane from said virtual scene data; and computing a registration matrix to map said real reference plane to said corresponding virtual plane.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 79 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions executable by a computer to generate registration data for a virtual set, said registration data being required to facilitate alignment of virtual scene data with real set data, such that the computer performs the steps of reading data representing a selected reference plane in a real set; identifying a corresponding virtual plane from said virtual scene data; and computing a registration matrix to map said real reference plane to said corresponding virtual plane.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 23 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps according to claim 21 , wherein a translation between said vertices is calculated.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 23 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps according to claim 22 , wherein rotations of said virtual plane are calculated.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 29 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps according to claim 23 , wherein said registration data is defined in terms of a four-by-four array of characters.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2007-05-25	2007-11-24	2008-05-25	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2011-05-25	2011-11-24	2012-05-25	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2015-05-25	2015-11-24	2016-05-25	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Generating registration data for a virtual set

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