Virtual Personal Interface for Control and Travel Between Virtual Worlds

Abstract

Methods and systems described herein are directed to a virtual personal interface (herein “personal interface”) for controlling an artificial reality (XR) environment, such as by providing user interfaces for interactions with a current XR application, providing detail views for selected items, navigating between multiple virtual worlds without having to transition in and out of a home lobby for those worlds, executing aspects of a second XR application while within a world controlled by a first XR application, and providing 3D content that is separate from the current world. While in at least one of those worlds, the personal interface can itself present content in a runtime separate from the current virtual world, corresponding to an item, action, or application for that world. XR applications can be defined for use with the personal interface to create both a 3D world portion and 2D interface portions that are displayed via the personal interface.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of navigating multiple virtual worlds in artificial reality, the method comprising:
 providing a personal interface with 2D interfaces to multiple applications,
 wherein each application has a 3D world building portion that controls one of the virtual worlds executed in a first runtime, and a 2D interface portion that controls one of the 2D interfaces executed in a second runtime of the personal interface; and 
   transitioning to a subsequent virtual world by:
 receiving a selection of an application, of the multiple applications, corresponding to the subsequent virtual world; 
 displaying, via the second runtime of the personal interface, the 2D interface portion of the selected application, wherein the 2D interface portion of the selected application comprises one or more travel cards, each travel card defining a link to a respective travel destination for the subsequent virtual world; 
 receiving a selection of a travel destination via the displayed 2D interface portion of the selected application; and 
 causing, in response to the selection, the selected application to generate and display a 3D world, in the first runtime, corresponding to the selected travel destination. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the receiving the selection of the application corresponding to the subsequent virtual world occurs concurrently with display for a current virtual world.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the personal interface appears with consistent controls in both a current virtual world and the subsequent virtual world.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the travel destinations correspond to one or more of (a) places within the subsequent virtual world, (b) events within the subsequent virtual world, (c) people within the subsequent virtual world, or (d) any combination thereof.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving a selection of an item, in the subsequent virtual world, that corresponds to a controller; 
 accessing content, from the controller, via a deeplink associated with the selected item; and 
 presenting the content, from the controller, on the personal interface in the second runtime of the personal interface. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating, in the second runtime of the personal interface exclusive of the first runtime, 3D content by the personal interface in response to receiving a 3D content trigger action for an item in the subsequent virtual world or on the personal interface; and 
 displaying the generated 3D content by the personal interface according to a display option, wherein the display option specifies one of 3D content being displayed A) at a specified location relative to the personal interface, B) with the personal interface as a window into another 3D world which is the 3D content, or C) with the personal interface being a portal to a volume containing the 3D content. 
 
     
     
         7 . A computing system for navigating multiple virtual worlds in artificial reality, 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 a personal interface with 2D interfaces to multiple applications,
 wherein each application has a 3D world building portion that controls one of the virtual worlds executed in a first runtime, and a 2D interface portion that controls one of the 2D interfaces executed in a second runtime of the personal interface; and 
 
 transitioning to a subsequent virtual world by:
 receiving a selection of an application, of the multiple applications, corresponding to the subsequent virtual world, 
 displaying, via the second runtime of the personal interface, the 2D interface portion of the selected application, 
 receiving a selection of a travel destination via the displayed 2D interface portion of the selected application, and 
 causing, in response to the selection, the selected application to generate and display a 3D world, in the first runtime, corresponding to the selected travel destination. 
 
   
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the 2D interface portion of the selected application comprises one or more travel cards, each travel card defining a link to a respective travel destination for the subsequent virtual world.   
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the travel destinations correspond to one or more of (a) places within the subsequent virtual world, (b) events within the subsequent virtual world, (c) people within the subsequent virtual world, or (d) any combination thereof.   
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the receiving the selection of the application corresponding to the subsequent virtual world occurs concurrently with display for a current virtual world.   
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the personal interface appears with consistent controls in both a current virtual world and the subsequent virtual world.   
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 7 , wherein the process further comprises:
 receiving a selection of an item, in the subsequent virtual world, that corresponds to a controller;   accessing content, from the controller, via a deeplink associated with the selected item; and   presenting the content, from the controller, on the personal interface in the second runtime of the personal interface.   
     
     
         13 . The computing system of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the method further comprises generating, in the second runtime of the personal interface exclusive of the first runtime, 3D content by the personal interface in response to receiving a 3D content trigger action for an item in the subsequent virtual world or on the personal interface; and   displaying the generated 3D content by the personal interface according to a display option, wherein the display option specifies one of 3D content being displayed A) at a specified location relative to the personal interface, B) with the personal interface as a window into another 3D world which is the 3D content, or C) with the personal interface being a portal to a volume containing the 3D content.   
     
     
         14 . A machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for navigating multiple virtual worlds in artificial reality, the method comprising:
 providing a personal interface with 2D interfaces to multiple applications,
 wherein each application has a 3D world building portion that controls one of the virtual worlds executed in a first runtime, and a 2D interface portion that controls one of the 2D interfaces executed in a second runtime of the personal interface; and 
   transitioning to a subsequent virtual world by:
 receiving a selection of an application, of the multiple applications, corresponding to the subsequent virtual world, 
 displaying, via the second runtime of the personal interface, the 2D interface portion of the selected application, 
 receiving a selection of a travel destination via the displayed 2D interface portion of the selected application, and 
 causing, in response to the selection, the selected application to generate and display a 3D world, in the first runtime, corresponding to the selected travel destination. 
   
     
     
         15 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the 2D interface portion of the selected application comprises one or more travel cards, each travel card defining a link to a respective travel destination for the subsequent virtual world.   
     
     
         16 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 ,
 wherein the travel destinations correspond to one or more of (a) places within the subsequent virtual world, (b) events within the subsequent virtual world, (c) people within the subsequent virtual world, or (d) any combination thereof.   
     
     
         17 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the receiving the selection of the application corresponding to the subsequent virtual world occurs concurrently with display for a current virtual world.   
     
     
         18 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the personal interface appears with consistent controls in both a current virtual world and the subsequent virtual world.   
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the method further comprises receiving a selection of an item, in the subsequent virtual world, that corresponds to a controller;   accessing content, from the controller, via a deeplink associated with the selected item; and   presenting the content, from the controller, on the personal interface in the second runtime of the personal interface.   
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the method further comprises generating, in the second runtime of the personal interface exclusive of the first runtime, 3D content by the personal interface in response to receiving a 3D content trigger action for an item in the subsequent virtual world or on the personal interface; and   displaying the generated 3D content by the personal interface according to a display option wherein the display option specifies one of 3D content being displayed A) at a specified location relative to the personal interface, B) with the personal interface as a window into another 3D world which is the 3D content, or C) with the personal interface being a portal to a volume containing the 3D content.