IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,609,094
Granted Patent B2
US 12,609,094 · App. 18/781,894 · Granted Apr 21, 2026

Foveated imaging based on regions of interest

Inventors: Hao Meng (San Diego, CA); Lukai Cai (San Diego, CA); Zhen Liu (San Diego, CA); Pawan Kumar Baheti (Bangalore, IN); Simon Peter William Booth (San Diego, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
G09G5/391G02B27/0093G02B27/0172G06F3/013G06V10/25G02B2027/0138G09G2340/0407
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,609,094
App. No.
18/781,894
Granted
Apr 21, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and techniques are described herein for displaying images. For instance, a method for displaying images is provided. The method may include obtaining image data for display at a display of a head-mounted device (HMD); determining a content-based region of interest (ROI) within the image data based on content of the image data; determining a gaze-based ROI of the image data based on gaze information; displaying, at the display, content-based-ROI image data of the content-based ROI at a first resolution; displaying, at the display, gaze-based ROI image data of the gaze-based ROI at a second resolution; and displaying, at the display, peripheral image data outside the content-based ROI and outside the ROI at a third resolution.

Claims (89)

1 . An apparatus for displaying images, the apparatus comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to:

obtain image data for display at a display of a head-mounted device (HMD);

identify pixels of the image data that represent content in the image data;

in response to determining that one or more characteristics of the pixels satisfy a threshold, determine a content-based region of interest (ROI) within the image data based on the pixels;

determine a gaze-based ROI of the image data based on gaze information;

display, at the display, content-based-ROI image data of the content-based ROI at a first resolution;

display, at the display, gaze-based ROI image data of the gaze-based ROI at a second resolution; and

display, at the display, peripheral image data outside the content-based ROI and outside the ROI at a third resolution.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the gaze information based on an image of an eye of a user captured by a user-facing camera of the HMD.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the first resolution based on a distance between the content-based ROI and the gaze-based ROI.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the image data is based on an image captured by a scene-facing camera of the HMD.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the image data comprises virtual content to be displayed at the display of the HMD.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, to determine that the one or more characteristics of the pixels satisfy the threshold, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of:

compare at least one color of the pixels to a color threshold;

compare a brightness of the pixels to a brightness threshold;

compare a visual complexity of the pixels to a visual-complexity threshold; or

compare movement of the content between the image data and prior image data to a movement threshold.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a classification of the content based on the image data; and

in response to determining that the classification of the content satisfies a criterion, determine the content-based ROI within the image data based on the pixels;

wherein the classification of the content comprises at least one of:

an association between a user of the HMD and the content;

a label determined by a classifier; or

an assigned label.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the first resolution based on at least one of:

at least one color of the pixels;

a brightness of the pixels;

a visual complexity of the pixels;

movement of the content; or

a classification of the content.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a level of processing for the content-based ROI based on at least one of:

at least one color of the pixels;

a brightness of the pixels;

a visual complexity of the pixels;

movement of the content; or

a classification of the content.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the content comprises at least one of:

a person;

an object;

a virtual object; or

a virtual entity.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine, based on a plurality of factors, that the content satisfies a criterion; and

responsive to determining that the content satisfies the criterion, determine the content-based ROI within the image data based on the content.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a respective weight value for each factor of the plurality of factors; and

determine a score for the plurality of factors based on the respective weight value determined for each factor of the plurality of factors;

wherein, to determine that the content satisfies the criterion, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the score for the plurality of factors is greater than a score threshold.

13 . An apparatus for displaying images, the apparatus comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to:

obtain image data for display at a display of a head-mounted device (HMD), wherein the image data is based on at least one image captured by a scene-facing camera of the HMD;

identify pixels of the image data that represent content in the image data;

determine, based on a plurality of factors, that the content satisfies a criterion based on one or more characteristics of the pixels;

responsive to determining that the content satisfies the criterion, determine a content-based region of interest (ROI) within the image data based on the pixels;

display, at the display, ROI image data of the content-based ROI at a first resolution; and

display, at the display, peripheral image data outside the content-based ROI at a second resolution, wherein the second resolution is lower than the first resolution.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of factors comprise at least two of:

at least one color of the pixels;

a brightness of the pixels;

a visual complexity of the pixels; or

movement of the content between the image data and prior image data.

15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a classification of the content based on the image data,

in response to determining that the classification of the content satisfies a criterion, determine the content-based ROI within the image data based on the pixels;

wherein the classification of the content comprises at least one of:

an association between a user of the HMD and the content; or

a label determined by a classifier.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the content comprises a person and the classification of the content comprises a relationship between a user of the HMD and the person.

17 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a respective weight value for each factor of the plurality of factors; and

determine a score for the plurality of factors based on the respective weight value determined for each factor of the plurality of factors;

wherein, to determine that the content satisfies the criterion, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the score for the plurality of factors is greater than a score threshold.

18 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the content comprises at least one of:

a person; or

an object.

19 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein, to identify the content, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of:

detect a person in the image data; or

detect an object in the image data.

20 . A method for displaying images, the method comprising:

obtaining image data for display at a display of a head-mounted device (HMD);

identify pixels of the image data that represent content in the image data;

in response to determining that one or more characteristics of the pixels satisfy a threshold, determining a content-based region of interest (ROI) within the image data based on the pixels;

determining a gaze-based ROI of the image data based on gaze information;

displaying, at the display, content-based-ROI image data of the content-based ROI at a first resolution;

displaying, at the display, ROI image data of the ROI at a second resolution; and

displaying, at the display, peripheral image data outside the content-based ROI and outside the ROI at a third resolution.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 19, 2024
From: MENG, HAO; CAI, LUKAI; LIU, ZHEN; BAHETI, PAWAN KUMAR; BOOTH, SIMON PETER WILLIAM
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 068324/0411 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20260031065A1 · Jan 29, 2026
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