Element-Based Switching of Ray Casting Rules

Abstract

Elements in an artificial reality environment (e.g., objects or volumes) can be assigned different ray casting rules. In response to detecting a corresponding trigger, such as the user entering the volume or interacting with the object, the ray casting rules associated with that element can be implemented. Implementing the ray casting rules can control aspects of the ray such as the ray's shape, size, effects of the ray, where a ray originates, whether the ray is directed along a particular plane, or how rays are controlled. In some cases, an artificial reality system can cast multiple rays at the same time, which are controlled by the same feature of a user. Using priority rules (e.g., weighting factors, hierarchies, filters, etc.), the artificial reality system can determine which ray is primary, allowing the user to use the primary ray to interact with elements.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for receiving user-input using multiple alternate rays, the method comprising:
 providing an artificial environment with multiple rays that are simultaneously controlled by one or more particular features of a user;   applying a ray weighting or ranking system to determine a primary ray from among the multiple rays;   causing display properties of each of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray; and   in response to a ray action, causing a result of the ray action in that is dependent on the determined primary ray.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple rays include at least two rays with different shapes and/or curvatures from each other. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the multiple rays, that are simultaneously controlled by a particular feature of the user, is a straight ray cast at an angle from a line determined for the feature of user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the multiple rays, that are simultaneously controlled by a particular feature of the user, is a ray cast as a curved line. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the multiple rays, that are simultaneously controlled by a particular feature of the user, is a straight ray cast perpendicular to a line determined for the feature of user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the multiple rays, that are simultaneously controlled by a particular feature of the user, is a straight ray cast along a line determined for the feature of user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more particular features of the user comprises at least part of a hand of the user, an eye of the user, a controller handled by the user, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the multiple rays have different origin points that are different features of the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the result is a first result; and   wherein the same ray action is performed at a different time, when a different one of the multiple rays has been determined to be the primary ray, to produce a second result that is different from the first result due to the difference in primary rays.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ray weighting or ranking system includes using a hierarchy of the multiple rays with corresponding weights. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ray weighting or ranking system includes setting a weighting value to assign to rays when the ray is determined as corresponding to the user's current focus. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ray weighting or ranking system includes a weighting value to assign to rays when the ray is determined as actionable, wherein the ray is determined as actionable when a result of an available user command will be affected by the status of the ray. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ray weighting or ranking system includes a weighting value to assign to rays when the ray is determined as actionable. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the causing display properties of each of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray includes hiding all rays except the determined primary ray. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the causing display properties of each of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray includes displaying the primary ray more prominently than the one or more rays not determined to be the primary ray. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a process for receiving user-input using multiple alternate rays, the process comprising:
 providing an artificial environment with multiple rays that are simultaneously controlled by one or more particular features of a user;   applying a ray weighting or ranking system to determine a primary ray from among the multiple rays;   causing display properties of at least one of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray; and   in response to a ray action, causing a result of the ray action in that is dependent on the determined primary ray.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the multiple rays include at least two rays with different shapes and/or curvatures from each other. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 ,
 wherein the one or more particular features of the user comprises at least part of a hand of the user, an eye of the user, a controller handled by the user, or any combination thereof; and   wherein the causing display properties of the at least one of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray includes hiding all rays except the determined primary ray.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the ray weighting or ranking system includes one or more of:
 a hierarchy of the multiple rays with corresponding weights;   a weighting value to assign to rays when the ray is determined as corresponding to the user's current focus;   a weighting value to assign to rays when the ray is determined as actionable, wherein the ray is determined as actionable when a result of an available user command will be affected by the status of the ray; or   any combination thereof.   
     
     
         20 . A computing system for receiving user-input using multiple alternate rays, the computing system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform a process comprising:
 providing an artificial environment with multiple rays that are simultaneously controlled by one or more particular features of a user; 
 applying a ray weighting or ranking system to determine a primary ray from among the multiple rays; 
 causing display properties of at least one of the multiple rays to be set according to the results of determining the primary ray; and 
 in response to a ray action, causing a result of the ray action in that is dependent on the determined primary ray.