IP Library Granted Patent US 12,333,378
Granted Patent B1
US 12,333,378 · App. 18/420,067 · Granted Jun 17, 2025

Visual marker with user selectable appearance

Inventors: Mohamed Selim Ben Himane (Palo Alto, CA); Anselm Grundhoefer (Campbell, CA); Arun Srivatsan Rangaprasad (Sunnyvale, CA); Jeffrey S. Norris (Saratoga, CA); Paul Ewers (San Jose, CA); Scott G. Wade (Seattle, WA); Thomas G. Salter (San Francisco, CA); Tom Sengelaub (Oakland, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
G06K7/1443G06K7/1417G06K7/1456G06N20/00G06T7/90
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,333,378
App. No.
18/420,067
Granted
Jun 17, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that provide detecting and decoding of visual markers that encode data. In some implementations, a visual marker is detected in an image of a physical environment. In some implementations, detecting the visual marker is based on a pre-determined portion of the visual marker. In some implementations, detecting the visual marker is based on a predefined shape. In some implementations, a visual marker interpretation scheme is determined for decoding the visual marker. In some implementations, the visual marker is decoded based on one or more colors being attributed a same value. In some implementations, the visual marker is decoded based on one or more other colors being attributed a different value.

Claims (37)

1. A method comprising:

at an electronic device having a processor:

detecting a visual marker depicted in an image of a physical environment based on recognition of a first portion of the visual marker;

determining, based on a second portion of the visual marker, a visual marker interpretation scheme, wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme interprets each of a first color of the visual marker and a second color of the visual marker as a same value based on determining that the first color is within a threshold color distance from the second color; and

decoding a third portion of the visual marker based on the visual marker interpretation scheme.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recognition of the first portion of the visual marker comprises detecting one or more pre-determined shapes.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recognition of the first portion is based on visual inertial odometry (VIO) or simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recognition of the first portion is based on detecting a third color different from the first color and the second color.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a version of the visual marker based on decoding the first portion of the visual marker.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme further comprises interpreting a fourth color of the visual marker as a second value based on determining that the fourth color is greater than the threshold color distance from the first color or from the second color.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable on a computer to perform operations comprising:

at an electronic device having a processor:

detecting a visual marker depicted in an image of a physical environment based on recognition of a first portion of the visual marker;

determining, based on a second portion of the visual marker, a visual marker interpretation scheme, wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme interprets each of a first color of the visual marker and a second color of the visual marker as a same value based on determining that the first color is within a threshold color distance from the second color; and

decoding a third portion of the visual marker based on the visual marker interpretation scheme.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme comprises interpreting, based on determining that a first color is within a threshold color distance from a second color:

the first color of the visual marker as a first value, and

the second color of the visual marker as the first value.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme is a color-interpretation scheme.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the visual marker interpretation scheme is a shape-interpretation scheme.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the recognition of the first portion of the visual marker comprises detecting one or more pre-determined shapes.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the recognition of the first portion is based on visual inertial odometry (VIO) or simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the recognition of the first portion is based on detecting a single color.

14. A method comprising:

at an electronic device having a processor:

detecting a first color of a visual marker depicted in an image of a physical environment;

detecting a second color of the visual marker; and

based on determining that the second color is within a threshold color distance from the first color, interpreting each of the first color and the second color as a first value; and

decoding the visual marker based on said interpreting each of the first color and the second color as a first value.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting a third color of the visual marker; and

interpreting the third color as a second value.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein interpreting the third color as a second value is based on determining that the third color is greater than the threshold color distance from the first color or from the second color.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein decoding the visual marker is further based on the interpreting each of the first color and the second color as the first value and based on the interpreting the third color as the second value.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising detecting the visual marker based on recognition of a first portion of the visual marker.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the recognition of the first portion of the visual marker is based on a detecting a fourth color different from the first color and the second color.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first color and the second color are variations of a same color.

Continuity (2)
Continuation 17143411 · Jan 7, 2021
Provisional Application 62960796 · Jan 14, 2020
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