Digital signage for immersive views

Abstract

Techniques for generating and superimposing digital signage onto an immersive view. In an exemplary embodiment, certain entities are occluded or otherwise unviewable in an immersive view of an environment. For such entities, digital signage may be generated and superimposed in a suitable area of the immersive view, and further indicating, e.g., directions to such entities from a viewing location, as well as other metadata, such as business name, website, etc. To determine whether a nearby entity is displayed in the immersive view, a planar layout storing geometrical data associated with entities in the vicinity may be loaded and processed.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a memory storing an immersive view of an environment, a vantage point from which the immersive view is perceived, and data associated with a preferred entity not displayed in the immersive view from the vantage point;   a digital signage generation block configured to generate digital signage comprising the data associated with the preferred entity, the digital signage further comprising an indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view; and   a superimposition block configured to superimpose the digital signage onto the immersive view to generate an annotated immersive view.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the memory further storing a planar layout corresponding to the immersive view, the digital signage generation block configured to:
 based on the planar layout, determine a presence of a blocking entity between the vantage point and the preferred entity; and   generate the indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view if the presence of a blocking entity is determined.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , the planar layout comprising area and vertical height occupied by each of a plurality of entities, the plurality of entities comprising the preferred entity. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view comprising directions from the vantage point to the preferred entity. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the superimposition block configured to superimpose the digital signage onto the immersive view at a portion of the immersive view designated as blank space. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the superimposition block further configured to superimpose the digital signage onto a canvas area of the immersive view, the canvas area calculated to be non-overlapping with at least one dynamic occlusion present in the immersive view. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the digital signage further comprising a link to a second immersive view, the digital signage generation block further configured to receive user selection of the link, the apparatus further comprising a display for displaying the second immersive view responsive to user selection of the link. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a processor configured to receive a user query for a query entity type located in the vicinity of the vantage point, the preferred entity having an entity type corresponding to the query entity type, the preferred entity further being located within a predetermined distance from the vantage point. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the data associated with the preferred entity comprising a name of the preferred entity, business hours, or directions from the vantage point to the preferred entity. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the data associated with the preferred entity being derived from a sponsor of the preferred entity. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 retrieving an immersive view of an environment, a vantage point from which the immersive view is perceived, and data associated with a preferred entity not displayed in the immersive view from the vantage point;   generating digital signage comprising the data associated with the preferred entity, the digital signage further comprising an indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view; and   superimposing the digital signage onto the immersive view to generate an annotated immersive view.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 retrieving a planar layout corresponding to the immersive view;   based on the planar layout, calculating a presence of a blocking entity between the vantage point and the preferred entity; and   generating the indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view if a blocking entity is calculated to be present.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , the planar layout comprising area and vertical height occupied by each of a plurality of entities, the plurality of entities comprising the preferred entity. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , the indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view comprising directions from the vantage point to the preferred entity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , the superimposing comprising superimposing the digital signage onto the immersive view at a portion of the immersive view designated as blank space. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , the superimposing comprising superimposing the digital signage onto a canvas area of the immersive view, the canvas area calculated to be non-overlapping with at least one dynamic occlusion present in the immersive view. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , the digital signage further comprising a link to a second immersive view, the method further comprising:
 receiving user selection of the link; and   displaying the second immersive view responsive to user selection of the link.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving a user query for a query entity type located in the vicinity of the vantage point, the preferred entity having an entity type corresponding to the query entity type, the preferred entity further being located within a predetermined distance from the vantage point.   
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for retrieving an immersive view of an environment, a vantage point from which the immersive view is perceived, and data associated with a preferred entity not displayed in the immersive view from the vantage point;   means for generating digital signage comprising the data associated with the preferred entity, the digital signage further comprising an indication that the preferred entity is not displayed in the immersive view; and   means for superimposing the digital signage onto the immersive view to generate an annotated immersive view.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , the digital signage further comprising a link to a second immersive view, the apparatus further comprising:
 means for receiving user selection of the link; and   means for displaying the second immersive view responsive to user selection of the link.