Interacting with totems in augmented or virtual reality systems

1. An augmented reality display system, comprising:

one or more sensors configured to identify an inanimate physical object or a virtual object as a totem and to capture data pertaining to an interaction of the user of the augmented reality display system with the totem;

a processor configured to determine a user input based at least in part on the data pertaining to the interaction of the user with the totem; and

in response to the user input, an optical sub-system configured to emit light to at least one eye of the user to render a virtual content perceived by the user in relation to the totem that is also perceived by the user through the augmented reality display system that is wearable by the user, wherein

the virtual content includes one or more virtual input structures that are operatively coupled to the processor and appear to emanate from the totem to assimilate one or more physical input structures of one or more physical input devices that change their appearances as perceived by the user in response to interactions by the user;

the optical sub-system is further configured to present one or more first virtual input elements of the virtual content to the user in response to a first user input that manipulates the inanimate physical object or the virtual object into a first position or orientation with respect to a reference frame; and

the optical sub-system is further configured to present one or more second virtual input elements of the virtual content to the user in response to a second user input that manipulates the inanimate physical object or the virtual object into a second position or orientation with respect to the reference frame.

2. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , further comprising a database to store a correlation map, wherein the correlation map comprises a set of predetermined characteristics of the interaction with the totem and a corresponding set of user input commands, wherein the user input is determined based at least in part on the stored correlation map.

3. The augmented reality display system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one characteristic pertains to a movement of the totem, a direction of the movement of the totem, or placement of the totem relative to a real-world, and the data pertains to a relative movement between the user and the totem.

4. The augmented reality display system of claim 2 , wherein the optical sub-system is further configured to emit the light to the eyes of the user to render the virtual content so that the virtual content appears to be locked to a reference frame of the totem.

5. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sub-system is further configured to emit the light to the eyes of the user to render the virtual content by rendering one or more virtual structures as one or more virtual input structures on the totem, and the one or more virtual structures correspond to one or more respective functions, one or more respective categories of functions, one or more respective categories of contents, one or more respective media types, one or more respective tools, or one or more respective applications.

6. The augmented reality display system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more sensors are further configured to identify the interaction of the user with the one or more virtual structures rendered on the totem to determine the user input, and the totem includes no physical input structures or electronics to provide the user input.

7. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein a predetermined reference frame is consulted to determine the interaction of the user with the totem, and the predetermined reference frame comprises a head-centric reference frame, a hand-centric reference frame, a body-centric reference frame, or a world-centric reference frame.

8. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sub-system is further configured to emit the light to the eyes of the user to render the virtual content by rendering one or more virtual user interfaces according to a movement, an orientation, or a position or a change in the movement, the orientation, or the position of the totem.

9. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein the totem includes one or more first devices that are used to replicate a physical sensation of the interaction of the user with the totem.

10. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , further comprising:

one or more first devices that are used to generate tactile feedback to the user in response to the interaction that causes the virtual content rendered in relation to the real-world image of the totem to interact with an object.

11. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a position or a movement of the totem in response to the interaction of the user;

determining a mapping between the interaction of the user and the position or the movement of the totem;

determining one or more control functions based at least in part upon the mapping; and

providing one or more corresponding inputs that correspond to the one or more control functions to a computing device.

12. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein a real object is pre-designated as the totem.

13. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , further comprising an optical apparatus to render a virtual user interface in relation to the totem.

14. The augmented reality display system of claim 1 , wherein the data pertains to a number of interactions of the user with the totem that comprises a virtual object rendered by the optical sub-system, and the one or more sensors comprises at least one of an image-based sensor, a haptic sensor, or a depth sensor.

15. A machine implemented method for rendering virtual contents in relation to a totem, comprising:

identifying, with at least one or more sensors, an inanimate physical object or a virtual object as a totem;

capturing, at the one or more sensors, data pertaining to an interaction of the user of an augmented reality display system with the totem;

determining a user input based at least in part on the data pertaining to the interaction of the user with the totem; and

in response to the user input,

emitting light to at least one eye of the user to render a virtual content perceived by the user in relation to the totem that is also perceived by the user through the augmented reality display system that is wearable by the user, wherein

the virtual content includes one or more virtual input structures that are operatively coupled to a processor and appear to emanate from the totem to assimilate one or more physical input structures of one or more physical input devices that change their appearances as perceived by the user in response to interactions by the user;

rendering the virtual content at least by presenting one or more first virtual input elements of the virtual content to the user in response to a first user input that manipulates the inanimate physical object or the virtual object into a first position or orientation with respect to a reference frame; and

rendering the virtual content at least by presenting one or more second virtual input elements of the virtual content to the user in response to a second user input that manipulates the inanimate physical object or the virtual object into a second position or orientation with respect to the reference frame.

16. The machine implemented method of claim 15 , emitting the light to the eyes of the user to render the virtual content comprising:

determining a reference frame of the totem; and

rendering the virtual content that appears to be locked to a reference frame of the totem.

17. The machine implemented method of claim 15 , emitting the light to the eyes of the user to render the virtual content comprising:

rendering one or more virtual structures as one or more virtual input structures on the totem, wherein

the one or more virtual structures correspond to one or more respective functions, one or more respective categories of functions, one or more respective categories of contents, one or more respective media types, one or more respective tools, or one or more respective applications.

18. The machine implemented method of claim 17 , further comprising:

identifying, with the one or more sensors, the interaction of the user with the one or more virtual structures that are rendered on the totem;

determining, at a micro-processor, the user input based in part or in whole upon the interaction of the user with the one or more virtual structures, wherein the totem includes no physical input structures or electronics to provide the user input; and

transmitting one or more signals corresponding to the user input to a computing system.

19. The machine implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising:

identifying a movement, an orientation, or a position or a change in the movement, the orientation, or the position of the totem; and

rendering one or more virtual user interfaces according to the position or the change in the movement, the orientation, or the position of the totem.

20. The machine implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising:

generating one or more additional user interface elements in relation to the totem in the virtual content in response to a user interaction with at least one virtual input structure of the one or more virtual input structures.

21. The machine implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising:

rendering one or more user interface elements on the totem or on one or more corresponding physical features of the totem as if the one or more user interface elements reside on the totem.