Microsoft Files Patent for Automatic Object Tracking for AR Displays

While many see augmented reality as just another gaming platform, Microsoft has another idea in mind: automatic object tracking so you will never feel that frustration of trying to remember where you last placed your house keys, or your glasses, or your wallet, or everything else in your life. Microsoft actually filed it at the US patent office in September 2, 2016 and is a continuation of a previously filed object tracking patent application.

Microsoft explains that much productivity time is lost whenever events such as losing ones keys happen but with a head-mounted display that has automatic object tracking, this dilemma is solved instantly. For this to be possible the heads up display has to of course recognize the environment first and recognize each object in the room and then keep track of where they constantly are through out the day and stored on a database. Microsoft’s technology compensates for events when the keys are also covered underneath a newspaper for example and since it keeps a history of where the objects are, it could also learn from the user’s habits so it can build probabilities of where the item is located.

The patent filing abstract states: Embodiments are disclosed herein that relate to the automatic tracking of objects. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method of operating a mobile computing device having an image sensor. The method includes acquiring image data, identifying an inanimate moveable object in the image data, determining whether the inanimate moveable object is a tracked object, if the inanimate moveable object is a tracked object, then storing information regarding a state of the inanimate moveable object, detecting a trigger to provide a notification of the state of the inanimate moveable object, and providing an output of the notification of the state of the inanimate moveable object.

Microsoft is betting heavily on Augmented Reality more so than Virtual Reality, projecting 80 million units sold by 2020 compared to 65 million in VR.