Surface interactions in a virtual reality (VR) environment
A virtual reality (VR) system comprising a head-mounted display (HMD) and handheld controller set is enhanced to provide a more realistic end user VR experience, e.g., for generalized surface interactions in the VR environment. The techniques herein leverage controller-less calibration with any type of surface, followed by surface interactions in the VR environment. An example use case is an interactive fitness training session.
1. A method of spatially projecting a real-world object into a three-dimensional (3D) virtual space rendered in a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), comprising:
identifying an endpoint position of a user's appendage with respect to a reference frame in a 3D virtual environment, wherein the endpoint position is identified without a physical controller;
mapping given points of a surface of the real-world object surface to points in the reference frame of the VR environment, the given points comprising a surface of the real-world object;
projecting the surface into the 3D virtual space rendered by the VR HMD;
projecting onto the surface a set of visual cues, wherein position and timing of the visual cues projected onto the surface define a timed-interactivity of the user's appendage with respect to the surface;
tracking a user's simulated interaction with the real-world object responsive to interaction between the endpoint position of the user's appendage and the projected surface as the visual cues are projected.
2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the real-world object surface is a strike pad, and the visual cues are strike pad targeting cues.
3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the real-world object surface is a wall.
4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the visual cues comprise a representation of an action figure rendered in the VR environment.
5. The method as described in claim 4 wherein the user's simulated interaction is a fight between the user and the action figure rendered in the VR environment.
6. The method as described in claim 1 further including projecting onto the surface a video feed that depicts a human being.
7. The method as described in claim 1 further including providing sensory feedback to the user based in part on the interaction.