Methods and systems for dynamically representing, within a virtual reality data stream being presented to a user, a proxy object that corresponds to an object in the real-world environment of the user

1. A method comprising:

presenting, by a virtual reality system to a user of the virtual reality system, virtual reality media content including representations of a plurality of objects;

detecting, by the virtual reality system, a characteristic of a real-world environment of the user as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user;

identifying, by the virtual reality system based on the detected characteristic of the real-world environment, a group of actionable real-world objects included in the real-world environment;

determining, by the virtual reality system, that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented in the virtual reality media content by a single proxy object rather than a plurality of separate proxy objects; and

dynamically integrating, by the virtual reality system in response to the identifying of the group of actionable real-world objects and based on the determining that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented by the single proxy object, the single proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user, the single proxy object configured to facilitate an action by the user with respect to the group of actionable real-world objects as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the characteristic of the real-world environment is performed by way of a sensor integrated with a media player device included within the virtual reality system.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the characteristic of the real-world environment detected by way of the sensor integrated with the media player device is one of:

a depth characterization of the real-world environment detected by way of a depth capture sensor;

an image characterization of the real-world environment detected by way of an image capture sensor;

a location of the real-world environment detected by way of a location sensor; and

an attitude characterization of the media player device with respect to the real-world environment detected by way of an attitude sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the characteristic of the real-world environment is performed by accessing predetermined data representative of the characteristic and determined prior to the presenting of the virtual reality media content to the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, by the virtual reality system, an additional characteristic of the real-world environment as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user;

identifying, by the virtual reality system based on the detected additional characteristic of the real-world environment, an additional actionable real-world object included in the real-world environment; and

dynamically integrating, by the virtual reality system in response to the identifying of the additional actionable real-world object and as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user, an additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user, the additional proxy object configured to facilitate an action by the user with respect to the additional actionable real-world object as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dynamically integrating of the additional proxy object comprises selecting, as the additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object, a virtualized representation of the additional actionable real-world object.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dynamically integrating of the additional proxy object comprises selecting, as the additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object, a virtual object selected from a library of virtual objects associated with a theme of the virtual reality media content.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising detecting, by the virtual reality system and by way of a sensor integrated with a media player device included within the virtual reality system, additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object;

wherein:

the detecting of the additional characteristic of the real-world environment is performed by accessing predetermined data representative of the additional characteristic and determined prior to the presenting of the virtual reality media content to the user;

the predetermined data representative of the additional characteristic of the real-world environment includes data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during a previous virtual reality presentation by the virtual reality system; and

the identifying of the additional actionable real-world object includes

identifying the additional actionable real-world object based on the predetermined data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during the previous virtual reality presentation and the additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object detected by way of the sensor, and

updating the data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during the previous virtual reality presentation to include the additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object detected by way of the sensor.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dynamically integrating of the additional proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user includes:

determining a location, within an immersive virtual reality world associated with the virtual reality media content presented to the user, for the additional proxy object to be located within the immersive virtual reality world;

determining a relative size, with respect to the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content, for the additional proxy object to be sized within the immersive virtual reality world; and

integrating the additional proxy object into the immersive virtual reality world at the determined location within the immersive virtual reality world and sized at the relative size with respect to the representations of the plurality of objects.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the identifying of the additional actionable real-world object includes

accessing a library including data representative of a plurality of known real-world objects, and

identifying the additional actionable real-world object based on the data representative of the plurality of known real-world objects; and

the dynamically integrating of the additional proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user further includes determining the additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object based on the identifying of the additional actionable real-world object based on the data representative of the plurality of known real-world objects included in the library.

12. A method comprising:

presenting, by a virtual reality system to a user of the virtual reality system, virtual reality media content including representations of a plurality of objects;

detecting, by the virtual reality system, a characteristic of a real-world environment of the user as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user;

accessing, by the virtual reality system, data representative of user input provided by the user during a previous virtual reality presentation to the user by the virtual reality system;

identifying, by the virtual reality system based on the detected characteristic of the real-world environment, a group of actionable real-world objects included in the real-world environment;

determining, by the virtual reality system, that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented in the virtual reality media content by a single proxy object rather than a plurality of separate proxy objects;

determining, by the virtual reality system based on the data representative of the user input provided by the user during the previous virtual reality presentation, a preference of the user with respect to the group of actionable real-world objects;

selecting, by the virtual reality system in response to the identifying of the group of actionable real-world objects and in response to the determining that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented in the virtual reality media content by the single proxy object and based on the determined preference of the user, a single user-customized proxy object corresponding to the group of actionable real-world objects; and

dynamically integrating, by the virtual reality system in response to the selecting of the single user-customized proxy object and as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user, a representation of the single user-customized proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user, the single user-customized proxy object configured to facilitate an action by the user with respect to the group of actionable real-world objects as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user.

13. The method of claim 12 , embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

14. A virtual reality system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled with the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to

present, to a user of the virtual reality system, virtual reality media content including representations of a plurality of objects;

detect a characteristic of a real-world environment of the user as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user;

identify, based on the detected characteristic of the real-world environment, a group of actionable real-world objects included in the real-world environment;

determine that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented in the virtual reality media content by a single proxy object rather than a plurality of separate proxy objects; and

dynamically integrate, in response to the identifying of the group of actionable real-world objects and based on the determination that the actionable real-world objects in the identified group are to be represented by the single proxy object, the single proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user, the single proxy object configured to facilitate an action by the user with respect to the group of actionable real-world objects, as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user.

15. The virtual reality system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions direct the processor to detect the characteristic of the real-world environment by way of a sensor integrated with a media player device included within the virtual reality system.

16. The virtual reality system of claim 15 , wherein the characteristic of the real-world environment detected by way of the sensor integrated with the media player device is one of:

a depth characterization of the real-world environment detected by way of a depth capture sensor;

an image characterization of the real-world environment detected by way of an image capture sensor;

a location of the real-world environment detected by way of a physical location sensor; and

an attitude characterization of the media player device with respect to the real-world environment detected by way of an attitude sensor.

17. The virtual reality system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that direct the processor to detect the characteristic of the real-world environment include instructions that direct the processor to access predetermined data representative of the characteristic and determined prior to the presentation of the virtual reality media content to the user.

18. The virtual reality system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to:

detect an additional characteristic of the real-world environment as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user;

identify, based on the detected additional characteristic of the real-world environment, an additional actionable real-world object included in the real-world environment; and

dynamically integrate, in response to the identifying of the additional actionable real-world object and as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user, an additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object with the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content presented to the user, the additional proxy object configured to facilitate an action by the user with respect to the additional actionable real-world object as the virtual reality media content is presented to the user.

19. The virtual reality system of claim 18 , wherein the instructions that direct the processor to dynamically integrate the additional proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects include instructions that direct the processor to select, as the additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object, a virtualized representation of the additional actionable real-world object.

20. The virtual reality system of claim 18 , wherein the instructions that direct the processor to dynamically integrate of the additional proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects include instructions that direct the processor to select, as the additional proxy object corresponding to the additional actionable real-world object, a virtual object selected from a library of virtual objects associated with a theme of the virtual reality media content.

21. The virtual reality system of claim 18 , wherein:

the instructions, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to detect, by way of a sensor integrated with a media player device included within the virtual reality system, additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object;

the instructions that direct the processor to detect the additional characteristic of the real-world environment include instructions that direct the processor to access predetermined data representative of the additional characteristic and determined prior to the presentation of the virtual reality media content to the user;

the predetermined data representative of the additional characteristic of the real-world environment includes data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during a previous virtual reality presentation by the virtual reality system; and

the instructions that direct the processor to identify the additional actionable real-world object include instructions that direct the processor to

identify the additional actionable real-world object based on the predetermined data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during the previous virtual reality presentation and the additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object detected by way of the sensor, and

update the data representative of the additional actionable real-world object that was stored during the previous virtual reality presentation to include the additional data representative of the additional actionable real-world object detected by way of the sensor.

22. The virtual reality system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions that direct the processor to dynamically integrate the additional proxy object with the representations of the plurality of objects include instructions that direct the processor to:

determine a location, within an immersive virtual reality world associated with the virtual reality media content presented to the user, for the additional proxy object to be located within the immersive virtual reality world;

determine a relative size, with respect to the representations of the plurality of objects included within the virtual reality media content, for the additional proxy object to be sized within the immersive virtual reality world; and

integrate the additional proxy object into the immersive virtual reality world at the determined location within the immersive virtual reality world and sized at the relative size with respect to the representations of the plurality of objects.