METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING NAVIGATION IN AN EXTENDED SCENE

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system for facilitating navigation toward a region of interest in an extended scene of video content include determining a timeline including information regarding at least one region of interest in the video content and displaying, in a portion of the video content currently being displayed, a visual indicator indicating a direction in which to move in the video content to cause the display of the at least one region of interest. In one embodiment of the present principles a timeline is attached to the content and carries information evolving over time about the region(s) of interest. A renderer processes the timeline and provides navigation information to a user using available means such as a graphical representation or haptic information, or a combination of several means.

Description

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. A method of displaying navigation information when rendering a large field-of-view content to a user, the rendering depicting a part of the content available to the user at a given time, the method comprising: obtaining data representative of a timeline, the data identifying a first region of interest (ROI) in the content, a first time at which the first ROI will be visible in the content, and a first viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the first ROI at the first time;determining a first path from a first current location of the user to the location of the first viewpoint; anddisplaying to the user a visual indication of the first path, the display of the visual indication of the first path allowing enough time for the user to move along the path to the location of the first viewpoint and to view the first ROI from the location of the first viewpoint by the first time.

18. The method of claim 17, the data further identifying a second ROI in the content, a second time at which the second ROI will be active in the content, and a second viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the second ROI at the second time, the method further comprising: determining a second path from a second current location of the user to the location of the second viewpoint; anddisplaying to the user a visual indication of the second path, the display of the visual indication of the second path allowing enough time for the user to move along the second path to the location of the second viewpoint and to view the second ROI from the location of the second viewpoint by the second time.

19. The method of claim 17, the data further identifying a first level of interest associated with the first ROI, the method further comprising displaying an indication of the first level of interest together with the visual indication of the first path.

20. The method of claim 17, the data further identifying coordinates of the first region of interest.

21. The method of claim 20, the identified coordinates comprising first coordinates corresponding to the first time and second coordinates for a second time.

22. The method of claim 17, the data further identifying a second time at which the first ROI is active in the content and a second viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the first ROI at the second time.

23. The method of claim 17, the data further identifying a viewing direction associated with the first viewpoint, the method further comprising alerting the user to view the first ROI by looking in the identified viewing direction.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the large field-of-view content comprises 2-dimensional content.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the large field-of-view content comprises 3-dimensional content.

26. A device configured to display navigation information when rendering a large field-of-view content to a user, the rendering depicting a part of the content available to the user at a given time, the device comprising at least one processor configured to: obtain data representative of a timeline, the data identifying a first region of interest (ROI) in the content, a first time at which the first ROI will be visible in the content, and a first viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the first ROI at the first time;determine a first path from a first current location of the user to the location of the first viewpoint; anddisplay to the user a visual indication of the first path, the display of the visual indication of the first path allowing enough time for the user to move along the path to the location of the first viewpoint and to view the first ROI from the location of the first viewpoint by the first time.

27. The device of claim 26, the data further identifying a second ROI in the content, a second time at which the second ROI will be active in the content, and a second viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the second ROI at the second time, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine a second path from a second current location of the user to the location of the second viewpoint; anddisplay to the user a visual indication of the second path, the display of the visual indication of the second path allowing enough time for the user to move along the second path to the location of the second viewpoint and to view the second ROI from the location of the second viewpoint by the second time.

28. The device of claim 26, the data further identifying a first level of interest associated with the first ROI, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: display an indication of the first level of interest together with the visual indication of the first path.

29. The device of claim 26, the data further identifying coordinates of the first region of interest.

30. The device of claim 29, the identified coordinates comprising first coordinates corresponding to the first time and second coordinates for a second time.

31. The device of claim 26, the data further identifying a second time at which the first ROI is active in the content and a second viewpoint from which the user will be able to view the first ROI at the second time.

32. The device of claim 26, the data further identifying a viewing direction associated with the first viewpoint, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to alert the user to view the first ROI by looking in the identified viewing direction.

33. The device of claim 26, wherein the large field-of-view content comprises 2-dimensional content.

34. The device of claim 26, wherein the large field-of-view content comprises 3-dimensional content.

35. A method of rendering at least one indicator when rendering a portion of a video content, the method comprising: obtaining data representative of a timeline from a metadata component of the video content, wherein the timeline comprises information representative of a time and a location at which a sequence of interest appears within a virtual scene in the video content, wherein the data is obtained before the time at which the sequence of interest appears in the virtual scene, wherein a user navigates inside the virtual scene in the video content from a current location of a current viewpoint at a current time to a subsequent location of a subsequent viewpoint before the time at which the sequence of interest appears;processing the timeline to identify the sequence of interest within the video content before the sequence of interest appears;determining the at least one indicator to direct attention toward the subsequent viewpoint from which to view the sequence of interest within the virtual scene, the at least one indicator being determined according to the current viewpoint in the virtual scene and the location of the sequence of interest within the virtual scene, wherein the current viewpoint has the current location and a current viewing direction, and the subsequent viewpoint has the subsequent location and a subsequent viewing direction within the virtual scene and wherein the subsequent location is different from the current location of the current viewpoint; andrendering the at least one indicator within a current field of view inside the virtual scene while rendering the portion of the virtual scene, wherein the at least one indicator is rendered prior to the time at which the sequence of interest appears.