Information processing apparatus and computer program product for processing a virtual object

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

circuitry configured to

detect a first orientation of the information processing apparatus with respect to a reference environment, wherein the first orientation includes a position and a tilted attitude of the information processing apparatus,

attach a virtual object to the reference environment, the virtual object having an initial posture that is computed based on the detected first orientation of the information processing apparatus, and an offset of the virtual object with respect to the information processing apparatus,

display the virtual object on a display panel, the virtual object being displayed with the initial posture at a location determined by a touch operation on the display panel,

update the initial posture of the virtual object based on a change in the reference environment, the updated posture being computed based on the initial posture of the virtual object and a second orientation of the changed reference environment with respect to the information processing device, and

update the display of the virtual object corresponding to the change in the reference environment, the update being performed upon detection of a continuous touch operation on the display panel.

2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

display a plurality of virtual objects on the display panel of the information processing apparatus, and

emphasize a display attribute of each displayed virtual object based on a distance of the virtual object from the information processing apparatus.

3. The information processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

re-arrange the display of the plurality of virtual objects on the display panel of the information processing apparatus based on a predetermined condition being satisfied, the re-arranged display having a predetermined display space being set between the displayed virtual objects.

4. The information processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined condition is a number of virtual objects being displayed on the display panel of the information processing apparatus exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

5. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to sequentially store, for each virtual object, arrangement matrices corresponding to a plurality of images captured by the information processing apparatus with respect to the reference environment.

6. The information processing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

generate a track of the virtual object, the track indicating a sequence of orientations of the virtual object in a predetermined amount to time, and

display an animation of the virtual object based on the generated track.

7. The information processing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate the track of the virtual object by overlaying the sequence of orientations of the virtual object on a single image based on the stored arrangement matrices.

8. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to provide, via a communication interface, information of the virtual object in association with the reference environment to a management server that registers the information of the virtual object.

9. The information processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the object management server is implemented as a cloud resource at a remote location.

10. The information processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the information of the virtual object is available for retrieval by another information processing apparatus to share the virtual object, and display the virtual object when the another information processing apparatus views the reference environment in which the virtual object is attached.

11. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to display a user ID in association with another information processing device within the reference environment.

12. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to display, in association with the reference environment, a user ID of another information processing device that is not currently present in the reference environment.

13. The information processing apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the another information processing device is located in the reference at a time instant prior to a time corresponding to the location of the information processing apparatus in the reference environment.

14. The information processing apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the another information processing apparatus views the reference environment from a location outside the reference environment.

15. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to trigger the attaching of the virtual object in the reference environment, and displaying the virtual object on the display panel of the information processing apparatus in response to detecting the touch operation.

16. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to detect the initial posture of the virtual object based on image recognition, the detected posture being based on a reference plane that is part of a corresponding real object.

17. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive from a remote device, a detected first orientation of the remote device with respect to a reference environment, and a virtual object provided by the remote device, wherein the first orientation includes a position and a tilted attitude of the remote device; and

circuitry configured to

attach the virtual object to the reference environment of the remote device, the virtual object having an initial posture that is computed based on the detected first orientation of the remote device, and an offset of the virtual object with respect to the remote device,

display the virtual object on a display panel, the virtual object being displayed with the initial posture at a location determined by a touch operation on the display panel,

update the initial posture of the virtual object based on a change in the reference environment, the updated posture being computed based on the initial posture of the virtual object and a second orientation of the changed reference environment with respect to the remote device, and

update the display of the virtual object corresponding to the change in the reference environment, the update being performed upon detection of a continuous touch operation on the display panel.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions that when executed by the computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:

detecting a first orientation of an information processing apparatus with respect to a reference environment, wherein the first orientation includes a position and a tilted attitude of the information processing apparatus;

attaching a virtual object to the reference environment, the virtual object having an initial posture that is computed based on the detected first orientation of the information processing apparatus, and an offset of the virtual object with respect to the information processing apparatus;

displaying the virtual object on a display panel, the virtual object being displayed with the initial posture at a location determined by a touch operation on the display panel,

updating the initial posture of the virtual object based on a change in the reference environment, the updated posture being computed based on the initial posture of the virtual object and a second orientation of the changed reference environment with respect to the information processing device; and

updating the display of the virtual object corresponding to the change in the reference environment, the update being performed upon detection of a continuous touch operation on the display panel.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions that when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving from a remote device, a detected first orientation of the remote device with respect to a reference environment, and a virtual object provided by the remote device, wherein the first orientation includes a position and a tilted attitude of the remote device;

attaching the virtual object to the reference environment of the remote device, the virtual object having an initial posture that is computed based on the detected first orientation of the remote device, and an offset of the virtual object with respect to the remote device;

displaying the virtual object on a display panel, the virtual object being displayed with the initial posture at a location determined by a touch operation on the display panel;

updating the initial posture of the virtual object based on a change in the reference environment, the updated posture being computed based on the initial posture of the virtual object and a second orientation of the changed reference environment with respect to the remote device; and

updating the display of the virtual object corresponding to the change in the reference environment, the update being performed upon detection of a continuous touch operation on the display panel.