US 12,175,882 B2
Hands-on laboratory and demonstration equipment with a hybrid virtual/augmented environment, along with their methods of use
Kambiz Hamadani, San Marcos, CA (US); Ali Ahmadinia, San Marcos, CA (US); Xin Ye, San Marcos, CA (US); and Yuanyuan Jiang, San Marcos, CA (US)
Assigned to The Trustees of the California State University, Long Beach, CA (US)
Filed by The Trustees of the California State University, Long Beach, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 3, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/217,927.
Application 18/217,927 is a continuation of application No. 16/384,134, filed on Apr. 15, 2019, granted, now 11,694,575.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/657,771, filed on Apr. 14, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0351919 A1, Nov. 2, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G09B 23/28 (2006.01); G06T 19/00 (2011.01); G09B 19/00 (2006.01)
CPC G09B 23/28 (2013.01) [G06T 19/006 (2013.01); G09B 19/00 (2013.01)] 3 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for utilizing laboratory equipment in a hybrid reality environment, comprising:
at least two pieces of laboratory equipment having at least one feature;
at least one optical tracking module for optical tracking of a position and an orientation of the at least two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment, wherein the optical tracking enables a detection of at least one functionally relevant corresponding interaction between at least two of the at least two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment;
a plurality of uniquely-identifiable sets of markers that are coupled to the at least two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment, wherein the marker comprises at least one non-degenerate marker geometry that is passively tracked or at least one digital encoded identity that is actively tracked, wherein each piece of virtualized laboratory equipment is coupled with the plurality of uniquely-identifiable set of markers, and wherein the set of markers and the at least two pieces of laboratory equipment are entirely optically tracked;
a virtual model, stored in a memory, comprising at least two 3-D virtual representations of the two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment and the plurality of uniquely-identifiable sets of markers that are coupled to the at least two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment;
an experimentation module that:
accesses the virtual model stored in the memory;
receives input from the at least one optical tracking module regarding the position and the orientation of the at least one two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment;
determines, based entirely on the input from the at least one optical tracking module, the at least one functionally relevant corresponding interaction between the at least two pieces of virtualized laboratory equipment, at least a portion or part of a user, or a combination thereof;
determines a consequence of the at least one functionally relevant corresponding interaction; and
renders, to a display, a hybrid representation comprising a particular set of the at least two 3-D virtual representations, at least a part or portion of the user, the at least one functionally relevant corresponding interaction, the consequence of the at least one functionally relevant corresponding interaction, or a combination thereof.