CN118284880A

CN118284880A - User interface mode for three-dimensional display

Info

Publication number: CN118284880A
Application number: CN202280077394.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: O·古特克内希特; P·L·哈加斯; R·汉内曼; M·E·布尔利; M·L·马
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2021-12-02
Filing date: 2022-12-01
Publication date: 2024-07-02

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology provide various user interface modes of a user interface of an application. The user interface modes may include: one or more bounded modes; a single application mode, such as an exclusive mode, and/or one or more full screen modes. In one or more implementations, access to various types of information by the application may be restricted based on the user interface mode of the user interface.

Description

User interface mode for three-dimensional display

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. provisional patent application 63/285,470 entitled "user interface mode for three-dimensional display (User Interface Modes for Three-Dimensional Display)" filed on month 2 of 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present description relates generally to electronic devices that include user interface modes, for example, for three-dimensional displays.

Background

Augmented reality technology aims to bridge the gap between virtual environments and physical environments by providing views of the physical environment augmented with electronic information. Thus, the electronic information appears to be part of the physical environment perceived by the user.

Drawings

Some features of the subject technology are set forth in the following claims. For purposes of illustration, however, several embodiments of the subject technology are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system architecture including various electronic devices that can implement the subject system in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment including a plurality of user interfaces displayed by an electronic device as appearing at a plurality of respective locations in a physical environment, in accordance with aspects of the subject technology.

FIG. 3 illustrates portions of the physical environment of FIG. 2 assigned to user interfaces displayed as appearing in the physical environment in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example electronic device that provides restricted access to scene information in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment having a user interface displayed in a bounded two-dimensional display mode, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment having a user interface displayed in a bounded two-dimensional display mode and a user interface displayed in a bounded three-dimensional display mode, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment in accordance with one or more implementations in which the displayed user interface is the only user interface displayed by the display, and in which the user interface includes a bounded two-dimensional UI window, a bounded partial three-dimensional UI window, and a bounded three-dimensional portion.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment in which a bounded two-dimensional user interface is the only user interface displayed by a display, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment in which a bounded three-dimensional user interface is the only user interface displayed by a display, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a full screen mixed reality user interface in which a portion of a physical environment is visible via a display, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a full screen virtual reality user interface in which a view of a physical environment is blocked by a display, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example switch of a user interface from a bounded mode to an exclusive mode in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example architecture for operating a cross-platform virtual reality application, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example architecture for operating a third party application in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of an example process for providing various user interface modes in accordance with aspects of the subject technology.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flow chart of an example process that may be performed by an application to provide various user interface modes in accordance with aspects of the subject technology.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example computing device that can be used to implement aspects of the subject technology.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. The subject technology is not limited to the specific details described herein, however, and may be practiced using one or more other embodiments. In one or more embodiments, structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.

A physical environment refers to a physical world that people can sense and/or interact with without the assistance of electronic devices. The physical environment may include physical features, such as physical surfaces or physical objects. For example, the physical environment corresponds to a physical park that includes physical trees, physical buildings, and physical people. People can directly sense and/or interact with the physical environment, such as by visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory, and olfactory. Conversely, an augmented reality (XR) environment refers to a fully or partially simulated environment in which people sense and/or interact via electronic devices. For example, the XR environment may include Augmented Reality (AR) content, mixed Reality (MR) content, virtual Reality (VR) content, and the like. In the case of an XR system, a subset of the physical movements of a person, or a representation thereof, are tracked and in response one or more characteristics of one or more virtual objects simulated in the XR environment are adjusted in a manner consistent with at least one physical law. As one example, the XR system may detect head movements and, in response, adjust the graphical content and sound field presented to the person in a manner similar to the manner in which such views and sounds change in the physical environment. As another example, the XR system may detect movement of an electronic device (e.g., mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, etc.) presenting the XR environment, and in response, adjust the graphical content and sound field presented to the person in a manner similar to how such views and sounds would change in the physical environment. In some cases (e.g., for reachability reasons), the XR system may adjust characteristics of graphical content in the XR environment in response to representations of physical movements (e.g., voice commands).

There are many different types of electronic systems that enable a person to sense and/or interact with various XR environments. Examples include wearable systems, projection-based systems, head-up displays (HUDs), vehicle windshields integrated with display capabilities, windows integrated with display capabilities, displays formed as lenses designed for placement on a person's eyes (e.g., similar to contact lenses), headphones/earphones, speaker arrays, input systems (e.g., wearable or handheld controllers with or without haptic feedback), smartphones, tablet computers, and desktop/laptop computers. The head-mounted system may have an integrated opaque display and one or more speakers. Alternatively, the head-mounted system may be configured to accept an external opaque display (e.g., a smartphone). The head-mounted system may incorporate one or more imaging sensors for capturing images or video of the physical environment and/or one or more microphones for capturing audio of the physical environment. The head-mounted system may have a transparent or translucent display instead of an opaque display. The transparent or translucent display may have a medium through which light representing an image is directed to the eyes of a person. The display may utilize digital light projection, OLED, LED, uLED, liquid crystal on silicon, laser scanning light sources, or any combination of these techniques. The medium may be an optical waveguide, a holographic medium, an optical combiner, an optical reflector, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transparent or translucent display may be configured to selectively become opaque. Projection-based systems may employ retinal projection techniques that project a graphical image onto a person's retina. The projection system may also be configured to project the virtual object into the physical environment, for example as a hologram or on a physical surface.

Implementations of the subject technology described herein provide various user interface modes for user interfaces of applications running on electronic devices. In one or more implementations, an application can provide a user interface that operates in a single user interface mode of a number of user interface modes available on an electronic device. In one or more implementations, an application can provide a user interface that can be switched between a plurality of user interface modes available on an electronic device.

In one or more implementations, a display of an electronic device can display a user interface of an application program as appearing in a first user interface mode at a perceivable location within a physical environment that is remote from the display (e.g., a location where the user interface would be perceived by a user when the user views the display). The electronic device may receive a user request to change the user interface to the second user interface mode and, in response to the user request, change the displayed user interface of the application to the second user interface mode.

The disclosed technology may also provide constrained scene information to an electronic device application operating based on the scene information based on a user interface mode of a UI of the application. For example, to allow an application to operate in a bounded UI mode based on context information of a physical environment (e.g., information of physical content of the physical environment) without allowing the application to access the entire context information, a system process of the electronic device may provide only a subset of the context information to the application when the UI is displayed in the bounded UI mode. This may help, for example, to protect the privacy of a user of the electronic device and/or other people in and/or associated with the physical environment.

The subset of the scene information may be a subset of the scene information that corresponds to a portion within a boundary of a User Interface (UI) in which the physical environment displays the application (e.g., a two-dimensional boundary or a three-dimensional boundary around an apparent location of the UI in a bounded UI mode). For example, context information corresponding to other portions of the physical environment may be obtained by the system process without being provided to the application. The system process may also restrict user information provided to the application, such as to a subset of the user information that occurs within a boundary in which the UI appears to be displayed in a bounded UI mode. For example, gesture inputs and/or gaze locations that occur within the boundary may be provided to the application program, and the application may be prevented from receiving gesture inputs and/or gaze locations that are outside the boundary. In one or more implementations, if the assigned volume of the application changes accordingly, the context information and/or user information available to the application may shrink or expand such that, for example, in use cases where the user interface of the application is switched/expanded to full screen mode (e.g., full screen Mixed Reality (MR) user interface mode), the application may have access to all context information. In one or more implementations, because the context information provided to the application is expandable when the user interface mode is switched to full screen UI mode, the electronic device can request user authorization to access the expanded context information before allowing the UI to enter full screen UI mode.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system architecture 100 including various electronic devices that can implement the subject system in accordance with one or more implementations. However, not all of the depicted components may be used in all embodiments, and one or more embodiments may include additional or different components than those shown in the figures. Variations in the arrangement and type of these components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

The system architecture 100 includes an electronic device 105, an electronic device 110, an electronic device 115, and a server 120. For purposes of explanation, the system architecture 100 is shown in fig. 1 as including an electronic device 105, an electronic device 110, an electronic device 115, and a server 120; however, the system architecture 100 may include any number of electronic devices and any number of servers or data centers including multiple servers.

The electronic device 105 may be a smartphone, tablet device, or a wearable device (such as a head-mountable portable system) that includes a display system capable of presenting a visualization of the augmented reality environment to the user 101. The electronic device 105 may be powered by a battery and/or any other power source. In one example, the display system of the electronic device 105 provides a stereoscopic presentation of the augmented reality environment to the user, enabling a three-dimensional visual display of a particular scene rendering. In one or more implementations, instead of or in addition to utilizing the electronic device 105 to access an augmented reality environment, a user may use the electronic device 104, such as a tablet, watch, mobile device, or the like.

The electronic device 105 may include one or more cameras, such as a camera 150 (e.g., a visible light camera, an infrared camera, etc.). Further, the electronic device 105 may include various sensors 152 including, but not limited to, cameras, image sensors, touch sensors, microphones, inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), heart rate sensors, temperature sensors, lidar sensors, radar sensors, sonar sensors, GPS sensors, wi-Fi sensors, near field communication sensors, and the like. Further, the electronic device 105 may include hardware elements, such as hardware buttons or switches, that may receive user input. User inputs detected by such sensors and/or hardware elements correspond to various input modalities for interacting with virtual content displayed within a given augmented reality environment. For example, such input modalities may include, but are not limited to, face tracking, eye tracking (e.g., gaze direction), hand tracking, gesture tracking, biometric readings (e.g., heart rate, pulse, pupil dilation, respiration, temperature, electroencephalogram, smell), recognition of speech or audio (e.g., specific thermal words), and activation of buttons or switches, etc. The electronic device 105 may also detect and/or classify physical objects in the physical environment of the electronic device 105.

The electronic device 105 may be communicatively coupled to a base device, such as the electronic device 110 and/or the electronic device 115. Generally, such base devices may include more computing resources and/or available power than electronic device 105. In one example, the electronic device 105 may operate in various modes. For example, the electronic device 105 may operate in a stand-alone mode independent of any base device. When the electronic device 105 operates in a stand-alone mode, the number of input modalities may be constrained by power limitations of the electronic device 105 (such as available battery power of the device). In response to the power limitation, the electronic device 105 may deactivate certain sensors within the device itself to maintain battery power.

The electronic device 105 may also operate in a wireless wired mode (e.g., connected with the base device via a wireless connection) to work in conjunction with a given base device. The electronic device 105 may also operate in a connected mode in which the electronic device 105 is physically connected to the base device (e.g., via a cable or some other physical connector), and may utilize power resources provided by the base device (e.g., where the base device charges the electronic device 105 while physically connected).

When the electronic device 105 is operating in a wireless wired mode or a connected mode, processing user input and/or rendering at least a portion of the augmented reality environment may be offloaded to the base device, thereby reducing the processing burden on the electronic device 105. For example, in one embodiment, electronic device 105 works in conjunction with electronic device 110 or electronic device 115 to generate an augmented reality environment that includes physical and/or virtual objects that enable different forms of interaction (e.g., visual, auditory, and/or physical or tactile interactions) between a user and the augmented reality environment in a real-time manner. In one example, the electronic device 105 provides a rendering of a scene corresponding to an augmented reality environment that may be perceived by a user and interacted with in real-time. Additionally, as part of rendering the rendered scene, the electronic device 105 may provide sound and/or haptic or tactile feedback to the user. The content of a given rendering scene may depend on available processing power, network availability and capacity, available battery power, and current system workload.

The electronic device 105 may also detect events that have occurred within the scene of the augmented reality environment. Examples of such events include detecting the presence of an organism (such as a person or pet, a particular person, entity, or object) in a scene. The detected physical objects may be categorized by electronic device 105, electronic device 110, and/or electronic device 115, and the location, position, size, dimension, shape, and/or other characteristics of the physical objects may be used to provide physical anchor objects for the XR application, thereby generating virtual content (such as a UI of the application) for display within the XR environment.

It should also be appreciated that electronic device 110 and/or electronic device 115 may also operate in conjunction with electronic device 105 or generate such an augmented reality environment independent of electronic device 105.

Network 106 may communicatively couple (directly or indirectly) electronic device 105, electronic device 110, and/or electronic device 115, for example, with server 120 and/or one or more electronic devices of one or more other users. In one or more implementations, the network 106 may be an interconnection network that may include the internet or devices communicatively coupled to the internet.

The electronic device 110 may include a touch screen and may be, for example, a smart phone including a touch screen, a portable computing device, such as a laptop computer including a touch screen, a peripheral device including a touch screen (e.g., a digital camera, an earphone), a tablet device including a touch screen, a wearable device including a touch screen (such as a watch, wristband, etc.), any other suitable device including, for example, a touch screen, or any electronic device having a touch pad. In one or more implementations, the electronic device 110 may not include a touch screen, but may support touch screen-like gestures, such as in an augmented reality environment. In one or more implementations, the electronic device 110 may include a touch pad. In fig. 1, by way of example, electronic device 110 is depicted as a mobile smartphone device with a touch screen. In one or more implementations, electronic device 110, electronic device 104, and/or electronic device 105 may be and/or may include all or part of the electronic system discussed below with respect to fig. 6. In one or more implementations, the electronic device 110 may be another device, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) camera, a tablet computer, or a peripheral device such as an electronic stylus, or the like.

The electronic device 115 may be, for example, a desktop computer, a portable computing device such as a laptop computer, a smart phone, a peripheral device (e.g., digital camera, headset), a tablet device, a wearable device such as a watch, wristband, etc. In fig. 1, by way of example, the electronic device 115 is depicted as a desktop computer. The electronic device 115 may be and/or may include all or part of an electronic system discussed below with respect to fig. 6.

The servers 120 may form all or part of a computer network or server farm 130, such as in a cloud computing or data center implementation. For example, server 120 stores data and software, and includes specific hardware (e.g., processors, graphics processors, and other special purpose or custom processors) for rendering and generating content of an augmented reality environment, such as graphics, images, video, audio, and multimedia files. In one embodiment, server 120 may function as a cloud storage server that stores any of the aforementioned augmented reality content generated by the above-described devices and/or server 120.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a physical environment 200 in which the electronic device 105 may operate. In the example of fig. 2, the electronic device 105 (e.g., the display 230 of the electronic device 105) displays virtual content at various locations in the physical environment 200 (e.g., at anchor points determined by the electronic device) that is to be perceived by a user viewing the display 230 of the electronic device 105. The combined physical environment and virtual content may form an XR environment when the virtual content is displayed by the electronic device 105 such that the virtual content appears to a user to be in the physical environment 200.

In the example of fig. 2, the display 230 of the electronic device 105 displays a User Interface (UI) 204 of an application running on the electronic device 105. In this example, the display location of the UI 204 on the display 230 is displayed in a bounded two-dimensional UI mode and may be anchored to the physical anchor location 205 by the electronic device 105 such that the UI 204 displayed in the viewable area 207 of the display 230 appears to a user as if disposed on a physical wall 201 in the physical environment 200. As shown in fig. 2, UI 204 may include one or more elements 206. Element 206 may include text input fields, buttons, selectable tools, scroll bars, menus, drop down menus, links, plug-ins, image viewers, media players, slider bars, game characters, other virtual content, and the like.

In the example of fig. 2, UI 204 is displayed in a viewable area 207 of display 230 of electronic device 105 to appear as if attached to physical wall 201 in physical environment 200 in an augmented reality environment generated in part by electronic device 105. In the example of fig. 2, the electronic device 105 also displays a UI 214 to be perceived by the user at another location in the physical environment (e.g., a UI of another application running on the electronic device and displayed at another location within the viewable area 207 of the display 230). In this example, UI 214 is displayed in bounded two-dimensional UI mode and may be anchored to a virtual anchor location 215 (e.g., an anchor location in the physical environment that is unassociated with the physical object). In this example, UI 214 appears as a floating UI in physical environment 200. In one or more implementations, the bounded two-dimensional UI mode may be a backward compatible UI mode that mimics the two-dimensional display of the same UI on a two-dimensional display device (e.g., a display of a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer) and receives information (such as button presses or clicks) only from the operating system of the electronic device 105. In one or more implementations, the bounded two-dimensional UI mode may be an XR bounded two-dimensional UI mode in which UI elements may be displayed, moved, and/or interacted with using three-dimensional gestures detected by electronic device 105 and provided to an underlying application of the UI.

In the example of fig. 2, a physical table 212 is also present in the physical environment 200. In this example, the electronic device 105 also displays a UI 226 to be perceived by the user (e.g., a UI of yet another application running on the electronic device and displayed at yet another location within the viewable area 207 of the display 230) on the surface 220 of the physical table 212 in the physical environment 200. In the example of FIG. 2, the UI 226 is displayed in a bounded three-dimensional UI mode. In one or more implementations, the display location of the UI 226 on the display 230 may be anchored by the electronic device 105 to the physical anchor location 228 on the surface 220 of the physical table 212. In one or more implementations, UI 226 may include a virtual game board (e.g., a virtual chess board, or other virtual chess board game settings), a virtual keyboard, a virtual character (e.g., a virtual animal, a human, or a fantasy character), or any other virtual object.

In various implementations, the physical anchor locations 205 and 228 and/or the virtual anchor location 215 may be generated by each application for its corresponding UI or may be generated by a system process of the electronic device 105 on behalf of the application based on scene information obtained using the camera 150 and/or the sensor 152 of the electronic device. However, in many use cases, it may be undesirable to allow applications underlying UI 204, UI 214, and/or UI 226 to access some or all of the context information describing the content of physical environment 200 and/or to access some or all of the user information (such as user gestures performed in the physical environment).

For example, it may generally be undesirable to allow an application to obtain image information, sensor information, and/or scene information based on image information and/or sensor information describing the entire physical environment 200. This is because physical environment 200 may include user-specific information and/or objects. As another example, it may be desirable to prevent one application from receiving gesture input information and/or voice input information provided to the UI of another application. For example, in one illustrative use case, the UI 204 may be a UI of a banking application and the UI 214 may be a UI of a social media application. In this illustrative use case, when a user performs gestures or other inputs to the banking application (e.g., to enter private and/or sensitive banking information, such as an account number and/or password), it may be desirable to prevent the social media application from receiving gesture information associated with those gestures.

However, since in an augmented reality environment, a user may not physically touch any physical sensor (e.g., touch sensor) co-located with the display pixels of the display UI, it may be difficult to determine which UIs (e.g., and which underlying applications) should receive user input and/or other scene information associated with the physical environment 200.

Aspects of the subject technology may facilitate operation of an application in various UI modes (including UI modes in which a display of an electronic device simultaneously displays UIs of multiple applications) based on context information and/or user information (such as gesture information) of physical environment 200 while protecting privacy of personally identifiable context information and/or user information. For example, the electronic device 105 may only allow each application running on the device to obtain scene information and/or user information (e.g., gesture information and/or gaze information) that appears and/or is generated within a subset of the physical environment defined by boundaries of the bounded UI that have been assigned to the application.

For example, fig. 3 illustrates an example in which, for each UI (e.g., and each underlying application), the electronic device 105 (e.g., a system process of the electronic device 105) assigns boundaries that define portions of the physical environment 200 that include locations away from the electronic device 105 that appear to display the UI (e.g., where the display 230 causes the UI to be perceived by a user of the electronic device 105, even though physical display may not occur at the perceived/apparent location).

In the example of fig. 3, display 230 of electronic device 105 displays representation 304 of UI 204, which is displayed on display 230 in a bounded two-dimensional UI mode such that UI 204 appears to a user viewing display 230 as a two-dimensional UI on physical wall 201 behind display 230. As shown, the display 230 of the electronic device 105 also displays a representation 314 of the UI 226 in a bounded two-dimensional UI mode that is displayed on the display 230 at a location that makes the UI 214 appear to be a floating two-dimensional UI, and displays a representation 326 of the UI 214 in a bounded three-dimensional UI mode that is displayed on the display 230 at a location that makes the UI 226 appear to be a three-dimensional UI located on the physical table 212. In various implementations as described herein, the display 230 may be a transparent or semi-transparent display that allows a user to view the physical environment directly through a viewable area of the display, or the display may be a pass-through video display that captures images of the physical environment and displays representations of physical environment objects along with device-generated content (e.g., representations 304, 314, and 326 including UIs 204, 214, and 226 in this example) in some UI modes on the display 230.

As shown in fig. 3, the electronic device can assign a boundary 344 (e.g., a two-dimensional boundary) to an application providing the UI 204 that defines a portion (e.g., a two-dimensional portion) of the physical environment 200 that includes where the UI 204 is displayed as appearing. In this example, the electronic device 105 also assigns a boundary 354 (e.g., a two-dimensional boundary) to the application providing the UI 214 that defines a portion (e.g., a two-dimensional portion) of the physical environment 200 that includes the location where the UI 214 is displayed to appear, and assigns a boundary 366 (e.g., a three-dimensional boundary) to the application providing the UI 226 that defines a portion (e.g., a three-dimensional portion) of the physical environment 200 that includes the location where the UI 226 is displayed to appear.

In the example of fig. 3, boundaries 344, 354, and 366 define portions of physical environment 200 that are linear two-dimensional regions or linear three-dimensional volumes within the physical environment. However, it should also be appreciated that the boundaries assigned to the application may have any suitable size or shape, and may also be adjusted and/or changed based on the UI mode, size, shape, location, and/or content of the corresponding UI and/or based on context information of the physical and/or XR environment in the vicinity of the assigned portion of the physical environment (e.g., based on the presence of physical and/or virtual objects (including other UIs)).

The electronic device 105 may obtain (e.g., using the camera 150 and/or the sensor 152) scene information corresponding to the physical environment 200 of the electronic device 105. For example, the system process may detect and/or identify physical objects in the physical environment 200, generate a three-dimensional map of the physical environment 200, and/or obtain other context information describing physical characteristics of the physical environment 200. The electronic device 105 may determine, for each of the UIs 204, 214, and 226, a respective subset of the scene information within the boundaries 344, 354, and 366 of the physical environment 200.

The electronic device 105 may provide a subset of the context information for each application to the application by the system process without providing the remainder of the context information to the application. The subset of the scene information corresponding to a particular portion of the physical environment 200 (e.g., the portion defined by the boundary 344, the boundary 354, and the boundary 366) may include the location of an anchor point (e.g., a physical and/or virtual anchor point) and/or the location, type, image, and/or other characteristics of one or more physical objects within the portion of the physical environment. For example, in the bounded UI mode of fig. 3, the application generating UI 204 may be informed of the presence of physical wall 201 or a portion thereof, but not of the presence of physical table 212. As another example, an application generating UI 226 may be informed of the presence of physical table 212 or a portion (e.g., surface) thereof, but not of the presence of physical wall 201.

As discussed herein, in the bounded UI mode of fig. 3, the electronic device 105 may also provide only a subset of the user information obtained by the electronic device to each application. For example, in operating the electronic device 105, a user may look around the physical environment 200, including viewing the UI 204, the UI 214, and/or the UI 226 at various times. The user may also move within the physical environment 200, including performing gestures corresponding to gesture inputs to the UI 204, the UI 214, and/or the UI 226 and/or performing hand movements that are not associated with gesture inputs to the electronic device 105 at various times. In one or more implementations, the electronic device 105 can provide gesture information to applications corresponding to the UI 204, 214, and/or 226 only when gesture inputs occur within the respective boundaries 344, 354, and/or 366 of these UIs.

As another example, fig. 3 illustrates how a user's eye 301 may have a line of sight (e.g., gaze direction 303) intersecting UI 204. Although only a single gaze direction 303 of a single eye 301 is illustrated in fig. 3, it should be appreciated that by obtaining gaze directions of both eyes of a user, the electronic device 105 may determine a gaze location 305 (e.g., a three-dimensional gaze location) at which the user's gaze is located at any given time. In this example, the electronic device 105 may determine that the gaze location 305 is within the boundary 344 and provide gaze information (e.g., gaze location) to the application corresponding to the UI 204. In this example, gaze information is not provided to an application corresponding to UI 214 or UI 226 (e.g., until the user's gaze moves to position gaze location 305 within boundary 354 or boundary 366 of the physical environment, or until the user switches UI modes of the application to expand the corresponding boundary). In this way, when one or more UIs are displayed in the bounded UI mode, the electronic device 105 provides only the application with the context information and/or user information used by the application for its own operation. In one or more implementations, no gaze information may be provided to an application having a UI in a bounded UI mode. For example, the system process of the electronic device 105 may instead use gaze locations within the boundary of the bounded UI to indicate that gesture input should be provided to the UI without providing any gaze information to the bounded UI. In one or more implementations, some or all of the gaze information may be provided (with user permission) to an application having a UI in full screen UI mode, as discussed in further detail below.

Fig. 4 illustrates how a system process of the electronic device 105 may control (e.g., restrict) access to scene information and/or user information by various applications. For example, fig. 4 illustrates an example architecture that may be implemented by the electronic device 105 in accordance with one or more implementations of the subject technology. For purposes of explanation, portions of the architecture of fig. 4 are described as being implemented by the electronic device 105 of fig. 1, such as by a processor and/or memory of the electronic device; however, appropriate portions of the architecture may be implemented by any other electronic device, including electronic device 110, electronic device 115, and/or server 120. However, not all of the depicted components may be used in all embodiments, and one or more embodiments may include additional or different components than those shown in the figures. Variations in the arrangement and type of these components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

Portions of the architecture of fig. 4 may be implemented in software or hardware, including by one or more processors and memory devices containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the operations described herein. For example, in fig. 4, the trapezoid boxes may indicate that the sensor 152, the camera 150, and the display 230 may be hardware components, and the rectangle boxes may indicate that the OS service 400, the application 402, the rendering engine 423, and the composition engine 427 may be implemented in software, including by one or more processors and memory devices containing instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform the operations described herein.

In the example of fig. 4, an application such as application 402 (e.g., an application having a UI 204 displayed in bounded two-dimensional UI mode as shown in fig. 2 and 3 or in full screen UI mode as described below) provides application data to rendering engine 423 for rendering the application data, such as UI 204 for rendering the application. The application 402 may be a game application, a media player application, a content editor application, a training application, a simulator application, a social media application, or generally any application that provides a UI or other content displayed at a location that depends on the physical environment, such as by anchoring the UI or other content to an anchor point in the physical environment. The application data may include application-generated content (e.g., windows, buttons, tools, characters, images, videos, etc.) and/or user-generated content (e.g., text, images, etc.) and information for rendering the content in the UI. In one or more implementations, the rendering engine 423 renders the UI 204 for display by a display (such as the display 230 of the electronic device 105). In one or more implementations, the OS service 400 can assign a portion of the physical environment of the electronic device (e.g., the portion defined by the boundary 344 of the physical environment 200, as in the example of fig. 3) to the application 402 (e.g., when the application 402 is running on the electronic device 105 and when the UI 204 is displayed by the display 230 in a bounded two-dimensional display mode).

As shown in fig. 4, additional information may be provided for display of the UI of the application 402, such as in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional (e.g., XR) scene (e.g., as in the examples of fig. 2 and 3). In the example of fig. 4, the sensors 152 may provide physical environment information (e.g., depth information from one or more depth sensors, motion information from one or more motion sensors) and/or user information to the OS service 400. The camera 150 may also provide the OS service 400 with images of the physical environment and/or one or more portions of the user (e.g., the user's eyes, hands, face, etc.). The OS service 400 may use environmental information (e.g., depth information and/or images) from the sensors 152 and cameras 150 to generate scene information, such as a three-dimensional map, of some or all of the physical environment of the electronic device 105. The OS service 400 may also determine a gaze location, such as gaze location 305 of fig. 3, based on the image and/or other sensor data representing the location and/or orientation of the user's eyes. The OS service 200 may also identify gestures (e.g., gestures) performed by the user of the electronic device 105 based on images and/or other sensor data representing the position and/or orientation of the user's hands and/or arms.

As shown in FIG. 4, in one or more implementations, an application 402 may provide a request to an OS service 400. For example, the request may be a request for scene information (e.g., information describing the content of the physical environment) and/or a request for user information (such as a request for gaze location and/or user gesture information). In one example, the request may be an anchor request for a physical anchor (e.g., horizontal surface, vertical surface, floor, table, wall, etc.).

As indicated in fig. 4, OS service 400 may determine a UI mode of a UI of an application and provide constrained information to application 402. In various implementations, the constrained information may be provided in response to a request from application 402, or may be provided without an explicit request from application 402. In one illustrative example, the constrained information may include scenario information and/or user information corresponding to portions of the physical environment that have been defined by boundaries 344 assigned to application 402 (e.g., by OS service 400).

The application 402 may include code that, when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device 105, generates application data for displaying the UI 204 on, near, attaching to, or otherwise associated with an anchor location corresponding to an anchor identified by an identifier provided from the OS service 400. The application 402 may include code that, when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device 105, modifies and/or updates application data based on user information (e.g., gaze location and/or gesture input) provided by the OS service 400. The application 402 may include code that, when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device 105, modifies and/or updates application data when a user switches to a different UI mode (e.g., from a two-dimensional UI mode to a three-dimensional UI mode, or from a bounded UI mode to a full screen UI mode).

Once the application data has been generated, the application data may be provided to the OS service 400 and/or rendering engine 423, as shown in FIG. 4. As shown, scene information may also be provided to the rendering engine 423. As an example, the scene information provided from the OS service 400 to the rendering engine 423 may include or be based on environmental information (such as a depth map of the physical environment) and/or object information of objects detected in the physical environment. The rendering engine 423 may then render the application data from the application 402 for display by the display 230 of the electronic device 105 as appearing at a desired location in the physical environment 200. For example, the representation 304 of the UI 204 may be rendered using application data (which may be based on constrained scene information corresponding to portions of the physical environment defined by the boundaries 344) and using scene information from the OS service 400 (which may include scene information of other portions of the physical environment) for display at an appropriate location on the display 230 as appearing to be located at a desired location in the physical environment 200. The display 230 may be, for example, an opaque display, and the camera 150 may be configured to provide a pass-through video feed to the opaque display. The UI 204 may be rendered for display on a display at a location corresponding to the display location of the physical anchor object in the pass-through video. As another example, display 230 may be a transparent or translucent display. The UI 204 may be rendered for display on a display at a location corresponding to directly seeing the physical environment 200 through a transparent or translucent display.

As shown, in one or more implementations, the electronic device 105 may further include a composition engine 427 that composes video images of the physical environment for display with the UI 204 from the rendering engine 423 based on the images from the camera 150. For example, the composition engine 427 may be provided in an electronic device 105 that includes an opaque display to provide pass-through video to the display. In an electronic device 105 implemented with a transparent or translucent display that allows a user to directly view the physical environment, the composition engine 427 may be omitted or not used in some cases, or may be incorporated into the rendering engine 423. While the example of fig. 4 illustrates the rendering engine 423 separate from the OS service 400, it is to be understood that the OS service 400 and the rendering engine 423 may form a common service and/or rendering operations for rendering content for display may be performed by the OS service 400. While the example of fig. 4 illustrates a rendering engine 423 separate from the application 402, it should be understood that in some implementations, the application 402 may render content for display by the display 230 without using a separate rendering engine. While a single application 402 is depicted in fig. 4, it is to be appreciated that multiple applications can run simultaneously on the electronic device 105, receiving constrained information corresponding to respective portions of the physical environment, and generating application data for rendering the respective UIs for display by the display 230 (e.g., simultaneously as in the examples of fig. 2 and 3). In one or more implementations, the composition engine 427 can compose application data for multiple UIs of multiple applications for simultaneous display.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an augmented reality environment having a user interface displayed in a bounded two-dimensional display mode, in accordance with one or more implementations. As shown in fig. 5, the viewable area 207 of the display 230 of the electronic device 105 may display a view 500 of a portion of the physical environment of the electronic device (e.g., a see-through video view) and a plurality of UIs (e.g., UI 204 and UI 214) of a plurality of applications. As shown, when operating in a bounded two-dimensional UI mode as in the example of fig. 5, UI 204 may have an associated two-dimensional boundary (e.g., boundary 344) as described herein. As shown, when operating in bounded two-dimensional UI mode concurrently with UI 204 as in the example of fig. 5, UI 214 may have associated two-dimensional boundaries (e.g., boundary 354) as described herein. In one or more implementations, the boundaries 344 and/or 354 may include a plurality of boundaries, such as scene boundaries within which scene information may be provided to a corresponding application, and clipping boundaries at which a UI or UI element may be clipped. As shown in fig. 5, each UI may be provided with a framework that may be used to select, pick up, or move the associated UI.

In the example of fig. 5, two bounded two-dimensional UIs are displayed in the viewable area 207. FIG. 6 illustrates another example in which UI 214 is displayed within boundary 354 in a bounded two-dimensional display mode and UI 226 is simultaneously displayed within boundary 366 in a bounded three-dimensional display mode, in accordance with one or more implementations. In the example use cases of fig. 5 and 6, a plurality of UIs are simultaneously displayed. In one or more other use cases, only one UI may be displayed, and the electronic device 105 may enhance the display area of one displayed UI. For example, fig. 7, 8, and 9 illustrate examples of an augmented reality environment in which the user interface of a single application is the only user interface displayed in the viewable area 207 of the display.

In the example of fig. 7, the displayed UI includes a plurality of UI elements. In this example, the displayed UI includes a two-dimensional UI window 700 displayed in a bounded two-dimensional display mode and having a two-dimensional sub-element 702. In this example, the displayed UI also includes a partial three-dimensional UI window 704 that is displayed in a bounded partial three-dimensional display mode and includes a two-dimensional frame and three-dimensional sub-element 706. In this example, the displayed UI further includes a bounded three-dimensional UI window 726 that is displayed in a bounded three-dimensional display mode and has a three-dimensional boundary 766. In this example, the electronic device 105 has determined that the content of the displayed UI is relevant to planet and has modified the portion of the visual area 207 outside the boundaries of the two-dimensional UI window 700, the partial three-dimensional UI window 704, and the bounded three-dimensional UI window 726 based on the content of the displayed UI (e.g., to display the augmentation 708, such as by displaying a translucent red background corresponding to the red of planet on the visual area 207).

Fig. 8 illustrates an example in which a single UI (e.g., UI 204) is displayed in a bounded two-dimensional UI mode and the electronic device 105 has displayed an enhancement 708 within the viewable area 207 and outside the boundaries of the single UI based on the contents of the single bounded two-dimensional UI. Fig. 9 illustrates an example in which a single UI (e.g., UI 226) is displayed in a bounded three-dimensional UI mode and the electronic device 105 has displayed an enhancement 708 within the viewable area 207 and outside the three-dimensional boundaries of the single UI based on the contents of the single bounded three-dimensional UI.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a full screen Mixed Reality (MR) user interface in accordance with one or more implementations in which a view 500 of a portion of a physical environment is visible via a display. In this example, virtual UI element 1000 may be displayed anywhere within viewable area 207 (e.g., may be perceived by a user at any specified location in a physical environment). In this example, the virtual UI element 1000 may be displayed (e.g., sized, oriented, placed, and/or anchored) based on scene content describing the physical environment (e.g., determined based on images, detected objects, maps, etc.). As discussed herein, because the amount of scene information that may be provided to an application having a UI in full screen UI mode (e.g., to allow virtual UI element 1000 to be displayed as perceptible at any location in a physical environment) is greater than the amount of scene information used to generate a bounded UI, electronic device 105 may obtain explicit authorization of a user to access additional scene information to the application before allowing the application to provide the UI in full screen UI mode. For example, in response to receiving an explicit authorization by a user to access additional scene information for an application, the operating system of electronic device 105 may provide ambient light information, object planes, scenes, grids, image tracking information, face tracking information, and/or other scene and/or user information to the application in a full screen UI mode that prevents the application from receiving in a bounded two-dimensional or three-dimensional UI mode.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a full screen virtual reality user interface in which a view of a physical environment is blocked by a display, in accordance with one or more implementations. As shown in fig. 11, in full-screen virtual reality user interface mode, the user interface displayed in viewable area 207 may include a virtual background 1100 that substantially blocks the user's view of the physical environment and one or more virtual objects 1102. As shown, a virtual representation 1104 of the user's own hand may also be displayed in the viewable area 207 of the display. The virtual representation 1104 of the user's hand may move and change (e.g., as determined by the one or more cameras 150 and/or the one or more sensors 152) with physical movements of the user's physical hand.

In one or more implementations, when the full screen user interface is a full screen virtual reality user interface as in the example of fig. 11, the electronic device 105 may provide device information corresponding to the location and/or positioning of the electronic device and hand position information corresponding to the location (e.g., and/or positioning) of the hand of the user of the electronic device to the application while preventing the application from accessing the scene information corresponding to the physical environment. For example, because the XR environment in the example of fig. 11 is fully virtual, there is no need to provide the application generating the UI with context information for placing or anchoring virtual object 1102 relative to the physical environment. In one or more implementations, when the user interface is displayed in the full-screen virtual reality user interface mode of fig. 11, the electronic device 105 can display a view of a portion of the physical environment on the display when the location of the electronic device is at or near the user drawn geofence. For example, a user of the electronic device may use gestures and/or device movements to define an area of the physical environment for using a full screen virtual reality user interface mode, and the electronic device may pass through a view of the physical environment instead of a full screen VR user interface when the user and/or device approaches or leaves the user-defined area.

In the examples of fig. 10 and 11, a full screen MR user interface and a full screen VR user interface are shown, respectively. In one or more implementations, the user interface of an application may switch between a bounded mode (e.g., a bounded 2D mode as in the example of UIs 204 and 214 of fig. 5 or a bounded 3D mode as in the example of UI 226 of fig. 6) in which the UI of the application is displayed within a 2D or 3D boundary (e.g., the UI content is cropped at the boundary) and the UIs of other applications may be displayed simultaneously, in which only the UIs of the application are displayed. In exclusive mode, the UI of the application may be borderless or not cropped and may be the only UI displayed. In the bounded mode, the UI of an application may be displayed separately or concurrently with one or more UIs of one or more other applications. The exclusive mode may be a full-screen MR display mode, a full-screen VR display mode, or a partial VR mode, in which the UI is displayed in a VR portal that covers a portion of the user's view of the physical environment while allowing the user to view another portion of the physical environment. For example, the enhancements of fig. 8 and 9 may be implemented as a VR portal that covers a portion of view 500 of the environment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a use case in which the UI of an application switches from bounded mode to exclusive mode in accordance with one or more implementations. In the example of fig. 12, UI 214 is displayed within boundary 354 in a bounded two-dimensional display mode and UI 226 is simultaneously displayed within boundary 366 in a bounded three-dimensional display mode 1200 (e.g., as described herein in connection with fig. 6). As shown, UI 226 may switch to exclusive mode 1202. For example, as part of a bounded 2D UI (e.g., UI 214) or a bounded 3D UI (e.g., UI 226), an application may provide an option for the application to switch to exclusive mode. In response to a user request to switch to exclusive mode, an application may provide a request to a system process of a device on which the application is running to switch the system to exclusive mode. The system process may determine (e.g., based on other applications or processes running on the device, movement of the device and/or displayed content at the device, time since last mode switch, physical environment of the device, power state of the device, or other information) whether to allow the application to switch to exclusive mode.

In the example of fig. 12, the system process switches UI 226 to exclusive mode 1202. As shown, in the exclusive mode of UI 226, UI 214 is removed from the display (e.g., and applications associated with UI 214 may remain active or may be disabled or paused). Fig. 12 also indicates how the boundary 366 of the UI 226 is removed in the exclusive mode, and the UI 226 is displayed in the unbounded mode. It should be appreciated that the boundary 366 of the UI 226 in the bounded 3D mode is depicted in fig. 12, but may not be visible to a user of the device (e.g., the boundary 366 is maintained by the device but is not displayed to the user).

In one or more implementations, when the UI 226 switches from the bounded mode to the exclusive mode, the UI 226 may initially be unchanged from the perspective of the user. However, as shown in fig. 12, since the boundaries of UI 226 have been removed in exclusive mode 1202, the UI elements or other content of UI 226 may be moved (e.g., by a user, such as by performing one or more gestures detected by a device) to appear anywhere in the physical environment. In the example of fig. 12, the exclusive mode 1202 is implemented as a full-screen MR mode in which the view 500 of a portion of the physical environment is visible via the display. In this example, UI elements 1204, 1206, and 1208 may be displayed anywhere within viewable area 207 of the display (e.g., may be perceived by a user at any specified location in the physical environment) (and/or may even be displayed to locations that are not within the viewable area to display when the viewable area is moved to include those locations). In this example, UI elements 1204, 1206, and 1208 may be displayed (e.g., sized, oriented, placed, and/or anchored) based on scene content describing the physical environment (e.g., determined based on images, detected objects, maps, etc.). In the example of fig. 12, in the exclusive mode, the UI element 1204 displayed in two dimensions in the bounded mode of the UI 226 may be expanded into three dimensions and placed to appear to be at a certain position in the physical environment. As another example, in exclusive mode, UI element 1206 may be expanded to a larger size and placed to appear to pass through at a location in the physical environment.

Because the amount of scene information and/or user information that may be provided to an application having a UI in an exclusive mode (e.g., to allow the virtual UI element 1000 to be displayed, movable, and/or re-sized to be perceivable at any location and/or orientation in a physical environment) is greater than the amount of information provided to the UI in a bounded UI mode, the electronic device 105 may obtain explicit authorization of a user to access additional scene information and/or user information to the application before allowing the application to move UI content beyond the original boundaries of the bounded UI. For example, in response to receiving explicit authorization by a user to access additional scene information and/or user information for an application, the operating system of electronic device 105 may provide ambient light information, object planes, scenes, grids, image tracking information, face tracking information, gesture information, and/or other scene and/or user information to the application in an exclusive mode that prevents the application from receiving in a bounded two-dimensional or three-dimensional UI mode.

In the example of fig. 12, switching from the bounded 3D mode to the exclusive mode is illustrated. However, in other use cases, switching from the bounded 2D mode to the exclusive mode may also be performed. In one example use case, a user may view a 2DUI view of a catalog of products for sale in UI 214 (e.g., a bounded 2D UI) and may switch to exclusive mode. In one or more implementations, the user's view of the UI 214 may be unchanged, but the functionality of the UI may be updated such that the user may use gestures to virtually pull a two-dimensional image of the product from the catalog, expand the product into three dimensions, and/or virtually size the product, and/or place the product to appear to the user to be at any location and/or orientation within the physical environment.

In one or more implementations, when the UI of the application is switched to the exclusive mode, the operating system of the display device on which the application is running and used to display the UI may assign a new origin of coordinates to the user's location. For example, in a bounded mode, the origin of the coordinate system that the application may use to place the UI element may be located at a corner of the boundary of the bounded UI. When a switch to exclusive mode occurs, the system process of the electronic device may set coordinates (0, 0) around the origin of the user's coordinate system to the user's location (e.g., at or near the user's foot). For example, one or more sensors of the device displaying the UI may be used to determine the location of the user. In one or more implementations, the user's location may not be available to display the UI elements in a bounded mode. In this way, the application may be provided with the ability to place the UI element at a desired location around the user, even if (in some implementations) no information about the user's location in the environment is received. Under one or more use cases, one or more other users of one or more other devices may be participating in joint interaction with the UI in the exclusive mode. In these example use cases, one or more avatars of one or more other users may be displayed at locations offset from the origin provided to the application for the exclusive mode and offset from each other.

In one or more implementations, an application (e.g., application 402) underlying UI 226 can animate transitions (e.g., transitions from fewer dimensions to more dimensions, transitions from more dimensions to fewer dimensions, translations, rotations, and/or resizing or scaling) of UI elements (such as UI elements 1204 and 1208 in exclusive mode). In one or more implementations, a device (e.g., electronic device 105) may include an exit mechanism for exiting exclusive mode or other full-screen mode. For example, actuating a virtual control element displayed in an exclusive or full screen mode or actuating a physical control element (e.g., a button) may cause the operating system of the device to exit the exclusive or full screen mode and restore the UI of the application to a bounded mode. In one or more implementations, the operating system may prevent the application from animating during transition to exit exclusive mode or other full-screen mode.

In one or more implementations, upon switching to exclusive mode, the system process may modify one or more operating characteristics of the electronic device (e.g., by modifying operation of one or more noise-producing components of the electronic device (such as a speaker or fan), modifying a frame rate or refresh rate of the display, and/or adding display that activates or deactivates a representation of the user's hand).

In one or more implementations, the application may be a full-screen-only virtual reality application configured for use across multiple platforms (e.g., a cross-platform virtual reality application). FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example architecture for operating a cross-platform virtual reality application (e.g., with an electronic device 105) in accordance with one or more implementations. In one or more implementations, a cross-platform virtual reality application running on the electronic device 105 can provide access to a display buffer for rendering display frames and to user hand information and/or device pose information by an operating system of the electronic device. In one or more implementations, cross-platform virtual reality applications running on the electronic device 105 may be prevented (e.g., by an operating system of the electronic device) from receiving scene information, such as pass-through video and/or scene mapping and/or detected object information. In one or more implementations, gestures detected by a cross-platform virtual reality application receiving system running on the electronic device 105 may be prevented (e.g., by an operating system of the electronic device) and hand information received from the operating system may be used instead to recognize gestures within the application. In one or more implementations, one or more external control devices (e.g., game controls) can be used to provide user input to the cross-platform virtual reality application via the electronic device 105.

As indicated in fig. 13, the application may interact with an integration engine (e.g., including a compositor) and tracking engine (e.g., including a device tracker to provide device pose information, a gaze tracker to provide user gaze information, and a hand tracker to provide hand position and/or positioning information) for display operations. For example, an application may interact with the tracking engine via an application Software Development Kit (SDK), a system plug-in, and a first system process for frame smoothing and display access. In this example, the application may interact with the integration engine via an application Software Development Kit (SDK), a system plug-in, and a second system process for obtaining device and hand pose information.

In one or more implementations, third party applications (e.g., applications developed by a developer other than the developer of the electronic device 105 and/or its operating system) may run on the electronic device 105 (e.g., with other open applications in a full screen or bounded scene). FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example architecture for operating a third party application in accordance with one or more implementations.

For example, a third party application developer may use the application developer's tool set to develop an application for deployment to the electronic device 150. As shown in fig. 14, at runtime (e.g., on the electronic device 105), the application translation layer may convert the application developer's tools into system entities for the operating system of the electronic device 105. A system process, such as a system entity-component-system (ECS) layer, a system network layer, and/or a system asset layer, may process and/or provide a system entity to a system rendering process that may render application content corresponding to a translated system entity from an application for display. For example, a system process of the electronic device 105 may provide an Application Programming Interface (API) for an application developer to build a translation layer at the application's game object or ECS level to translate application content into a system representation. The application development platform may also present different knobs to the developer based on platform differences for the various platforms of the deployment of the application.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of an example process 1500 for providing multiple user interface modes of a user interface of an application in accordance with implementations of the subject technology. For purposes of explanation, the process 1500 is described herein primarily with reference to the electronic device 105 of fig. 1. However, process 1500 is not limited to electronic device 105 of fig. 1, and one or more blocks (or operations) of process 1500 may be performed by one or more other components of other suitable devices, including electronic device 104, electronic device 110, and/or electronic device 115. For further explanation purposes, some blocks of process 1500 are described herein as occurring sequentially or linearly. However, multiple blocks of process 1500 may occur in parallel. Moreover, the blocks of process 1500 need not be performed in the order shown, and/or one or more blocks of process 1500 need not be performed and/or may be replaced by other operations.

As shown in fig. 15, at block 1502, a display (e.g., display 230) of an electronic device (e.g., electronic device 105) may display a user interface (e.g., UI 204) of an application (e.g., application 402) as appearing in a first user interface mode within a physical environment (e.g., physical environment 200) at a perceivable location (e.g., physical anchor location 205) remote from the display. For example, the electronic device may render the representation 304 of the UI 204 in the first user interface mode and display the representation 304 on the display 230 as appearing to be located at a desired three-dimensional location in the physical environment (e.g., as described herein in connection with fig. 3). For example, by adjusting the relative position of the right eye portion of representation 304 and the left eye portion of representation 304, electronic device 105 can control the depth at which UI 204 is presented to the user in a physical environment away from electronic device 105.

In one or more implementations, displaying the user interface of the application as appearing at a perceivable location within the physical environment can include receiving, at a system process, user interface information (e.g., application data as described herein in connection with fig. 4) of the user interface from the application in a system unit (e.g., a non-physical digital unit), and determining a zoom between the system unit and a physical unit in the physical environment based in part on context information of the physical environment. For example, the system process may determine a scaling between the system element and the physical element based on the location of the display of the UI 204 and/or other physical and/or virtual content in the vicinity of the UI 204 to display the UI 204 in a desired perceivable location, orientation, and/or size. Such use of system elements by applications may facilitate, for example, the OS service 400 allowing a user to pull the UI 204 closer, move the UI 204 farther, and/or switch between user interface modes (e.g., application processing operations are not required in some implementations).

At block 1504, the electronic device may receive a user request to change the user interface to a second user interface mode. For example, the user request may be a voice request, a gesture-based request, or a request provided via any input interface of the electronic device.

At block 1506, the electronic device may modify the displayed user interface of the application to a second user interface mode in response to the user request. In one or more implementations, the first user interface mode is a bounded two-dimensional mode of operation (e.g., as in the example of UI 204, UI 214, and/or UI window 700) and the second user interface mode is a bounded partial three-dimensional mode of operation (e.g., as in the example of UI window 704 of fig. 7). In one or more implementations, the first user interface mode is a bounded two-dimensional mode of operation (e.g., as in the example of UI 204, UI 214, and/or UI window 700) and the second user interface mode is a bounded three-dimensional display mode (e.g., as in the example of UI 226).

In one or more implementations, in a first user interface mode, a user interface (e.g., UI 204 or UI 226) is displayed within a boundary (e.g., a two-dimensional boundary, such as boundary 344, or a three-dimensional boundary, such as boundary 366) and concurrently with at least one other user interface (e.g., UI 214) of at least one other application being displayed within at least one other boundary (e.g., boundary 354). In one or more implementations, in the second user interface mode, the user interface is displayed within the boundary and is the only user interface displayed by the display of the electronic device (e.g., as in the examples of fig. 7, 8, and 9). For example, the user may close or minimize other displayed UIs, or may switch the user interface to exclusive mode.

In one or more implementations, the process 1400 can further include determining, by an operating system process of the electronic device, characteristics of content displayed in the user interface while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode. For example, the characteristic may be a color, emotion, theme, action, character, or other characteristic of the content. In one or more implementations, the process 1400 can further include modifying, by the operating system process, a portion of the display area (e.g., the visual area 207) that is outside of the boundary of the user interface based on the determined characteristics (e.g., by displaying the enhancements 708 as described herein in connection with fig. 7, 8, and 9) while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode.

In one or more implementations, in the first user interface mode and the second user interface mode, the boundary is a two-dimensional boundary (e.g., a two-dimensional boundary such as boundary 344 or 354). In one or more implementations, in the first user interface mode and the second user interface mode, the boundary is a three-dimensional boundary (e.g., a three-dimensional boundary such as boundary 366).

In one or more implementations, in the second user interface mode, the user interface is a full screen user interface (e.g., a full screen MR interface or a full screen VR interface).

For example, in one or more implementations, the full screen user interface may be a full screen mixed reality user interface in which a portion of the physical environment is visible via a display (e.g., as described herein in connection with fig. 10 and/or fig. 12).

In one or more implementations, modifying the displayed user interface of the application to the second user interface mode in response to the user request at block 1506 may include switching the displayed user interface of the application to the second user interface mode in response to the user request. In one or more implementations, the first user interface mode is a bounded mode (e.g., a bounded 2D display mode or a bounded 3D display mode) and the second user interface mode is an exclusive mode (e.g., as described herein in connection with fig. 12). For example, the bounded mode may be a bounded two-dimensional display mode or a bounded three-dimensional display mode, and the exclusive mode may be an unbounded mode (e.g., a mode in which the display only displays UI elements of the user interface and in which the UI elements of the user interface may be moved to any position without cropping).

In one or more implementations, another user interface of another application may be displayed in a bounded mode concurrently with the display of the user interface of the application in a bounded mode (e.g., as shown in connection with bounded mode 1200 of fig. 12), and the other user interface may be removed from the display in response to a switch of the user interface to an exclusive mode (e.g., as shown in connection with exclusive mode 1202 of fig. 12).

In one or more implementations, switching the displayed user interface to the exclusive mode may include providing a first origin of the user interface that is different from a second origin of the user interface in the bounded mode. For example, the first origin may be a user-centric origin, such as an origin located at or near a user's foot, and the second origin may be an interface-specific origin located relative to a location of another displayed user interface or a location of another object in the physical environment (which is known to the operating system of the electronic device and unknown to the application).

In one or more implementations, process 1500 can further include receiving a request to exit the exclusive mode at a system process (e.g., an operating system process, such as OS service 400) of the electronic device, and switching the user interface from the exclusive mode (e.g., by redisplaying another user interface of another application program displayed prior to entering the exclusive mode, and/or by restoring and/or updating a boundary of the user interface) to the bounded mode, while preventing animation by the application program during the switch from the exclusive mode to the bounded mode.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of an example process 1600 that may be performed by an application in accordance with implementations of the subject technology. For purposes of explanation, the process 1600 is described herein primarily with reference to the electronic device 105 of fig. 1. However, process 1600 is not limited to electronic device 105 of fig. 1, and one or more blocks (or operations) of process 1600 may be performed by one or more other components of other suitable devices, including electronic device 104, electronic device 110, and/or electronic device 115. For further explanation purposes, some blocks of process 1600 are described herein as occurring sequentially or linearly. However, multiple blocks of process 1600 may occur in parallel. Moreover, the blocks of process 1600 need not be performed in the order shown, and/or one or more blocks of process 1600 need not be performed and/or may be replaced by other operations.

As shown in fig. 16, at block 1602, an application (e.g., application 402) running on an electronic device (e.g., electronic device 105) may receive a user request to switch a user interface of the application from a bounded mode to an exclusive mode. In the bounded mode, the user interface may be displayed by a display of the electronic device (e.g., display 230) as appearing within boundaries (e.g., boundary 344, boundary 354, boundary 366) at perceivable locations within the physical environment that are remote from the display. For example, the user interface may include a control element (e.g., a user interface element representing a button or switch) that is accessible by a user (e.g., via a user gesture) to request a mode switch.

At block 1604, the application may provide a request to a system process (e.g., XR server 400) at the electronic device to switch the user interface from a bounded mode to an exclusive mode in response to the user request. In one or more implementations, in exclusive mode, the user interface may be a full screen mixed reality user interface. In one or more other implementations, in exclusive mode, the user interface may be a full screen virtual reality user interface or a full screen mixed reality user interface with a virtual reality portal.

At block 1606, the application may receive approval for the handoff from the system process. For example, the system process may approve the switch if other displayed content does not prohibit switching to exclusive mode, if the motion of the device and/or displayed content is below a motion threshold, and/or if a minimum period of time has elapsed since the last switch (as an example).

At block 1608, the application may modify at least one user interface element of the user interface for exclusive mode. For example, modifying the at least one user interface element may include replacing the at least one user interface element with a controllable user interface element movable to a position outside of the boundary of the bounded mode. In one or more implementations, the application may receive a user gesture input requesting movement of the controllable user interface element to a location outside of a boundary that was used to crop the user interface in the bounded mode, and the application may animate movement of the controllable user interface element to the location. In one or more implementations, in the bounded mode, the user interface may also include controllable user interface elements. However, in the bounded mode, the controllable user interface element may only be movable and/or resized within the clipping boundary.

In one or more implementations, the application can receive a user request to modify a controllable user interface element from a two-dimensional user interface element (e.g., user interface element 1204) to a three-dimensional user interface element, and modify the controllable user interface element from the two-dimensional user interface element to the three-dimensional user interface element in response to the user request (e.g., as shown in fig. 12). For example, a user may perform a gesture for pulling a two-dimensional image from a user interface, and an application may modify an animation of a transition from the two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional virtual object.

In one or more implementations, modifying the at least one user interface element may include modifying the at least one user interface element and/or other portions of the user interface to include an indication to switch to exclusive mode. In one or more other implementations, after the switch (and before any of the user interface elements are modified after the switch), the user interface and/or user interface elements thereof may appear the same as the user interface and/or user interface elements prior to the switch (e.g., in the bounded mode). For example, prior to modifying the controllable user interface element, the controllable user interface element may be displayed to appear the same as the at least one user interface element in the bounded mode. In these implementations, the boundary of the bounded mode may have been removed in a manner that is not visible to the user (e.g., until the user successfully modifies the user interface to extend beyond the previous boundary).

In one or more implementations in which the full screen user interface is a full screen mixed reality user interface, the process 1500 may also include providing scene information and gesture information from within the boundary to the application and preventing scene information and gesture information from outside the boundary from being provided to the application while the user interface is displayed in the first user interface mode. In this example, process 1400 may also include providing scene information and gesture information from portions of the physical environment outside of the boundaries of the user interface in the first user interface mode to the application while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode. In one or more implementations, the electronic device can request user authorization to enter the second user interface mode before providing scene information and gesture information from a portion of the physical environment outside of a boundary of the user interface in the first user interface mode to the application. The electronic device may then receive a user authorization at the electronic device. The electronic device may then provide the scene information and the gesture information from the portion of the physical environment outside the boundary of the user interface in the first user interface mode to the application in response to receiving the user authorization. In the event that no user authorization is received, the application may be prevented from providing a full screen UI and/or from receiving scene information and gesture information outside the boundaries of the user interface in the first user interface mode.

As another example, in one or more implementations, the full screen user interface may be a full screen virtual reality user interface in which a view of the physical environment is blocked by a display (e.g., as described herein in connection with fig. 11). In one or more implementations, process 1400 may also include providing device information corresponding to a location and/or position of the electronic device and hand position information corresponding to a location of a hand of a user of the electronic device to an application while preventing the application from accessing scene information corresponding to the physical environment when the full-screen virtual reality user interface is displayed. In one or more implementations, process 1400 can further include displaying a view of a portion of the physical environment on the display when the location of the electronic device is at or near the user-drawn geofence while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode. For example, a user may use a gesture or a removable electronic device to define an area for an electronic device of a physical environment to use in full-screen VR mode, and the electronic device may exit full-screen VR mode, either entirely or in part, when the device approaches or exits the area.

As described above, aspects of the subject technology may include a data set. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances, the collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or may be used to identify a particular person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, online identifiers, telephone numbers, email addresses, home address data, image data, audio data, environmental data, or records related to the user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology may be used to benefit users. For example, personal information data may be used to provide various user interface modes of a user interface of an application running on an electronic device. In addition, the present disclosure contemplates other uses for personal information data that are beneficial to the user. For example, health and fitness data may be used according to user preferences to provide insight into their overall health condition, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals who use technology to pursue health goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will adhere to established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, it would be desirable for such entity implementations and consistent applications to generally be recognized as meeting or exceeding privacy practices required by industries or governments maintaining user privacy. Such information about the use of personal data should be prominent and easily accessible to the user and should be updated as the collection and/or use of the data changes. The user's personal information should be collected only for legitimate use. In addition, such collection/sharing should only occur after receiving user consent or other legal basis specified in the applicable law. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to defend and secure access to such personal information data and to ensure that others who have access to personal information data adhere to their privacy policies and procedures. In addition, such entities may subject themselves to third party evaluations to prove compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be tailored to the particular type of personal information data being collected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards, including jurisdictional-specific considerations that may be employed to impose higher standards. For example, in the united states, the collection or acquisition of certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state law, such as the health insurance flow and liability act (HIPAA); while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be processed accordingly.

In spite of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which a user selectively prevents use or access to personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware elements and/or software elements may be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, in the case of various user interface modes providing a user interface for an application running on an electronic device, the present technology may be configured to allow a user to choose to "opt-in" or "opt-out" to participate in the collection of personal information data during or at any time after the registration service. In addition to providing the "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure also contemplates providing notifications related to accessing or using personal information. For example, the user may be notified that his personal information data will be accessed when the application is downloaded, and then be reminded again just before the personal information data is accessed by the application.

Further, it is an object of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use. Once the data is no longer needed, risk can be minimized by limiting the data collection and deleting the data. In addition, and when applicable, included in certain health-related applications, the data de-identification may be used to protect the privacy of the user. De-identification may be facilitated by removing identifiers, controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at a city level instead of at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data among users), and/or other methods such as differentiated privacy, as appropriate.

Thus, while the present disclosure broadly covers the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the various embodiments may be implemented without accessing such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology do not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example computing device that can be used to implement aspects of the subject technology in accordance with one or more implementations. Computing device 1700 may be and/or be part of any computing device or server for generating the features and processes described above, including but not limited to a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet device, a wearable device (such as goggles or glasses), etc. Computing device 1700 may include various types of computer-readable media and interfaces for various other types of computer-readable media. The computing device 1700 includes a persistent storage device 1702, a system memory 1704 (and/or buffers), an input device interface 1706, an output device interface 1708, a bus 1710, a ROM 1712, one or more processing units 1714, one or more network interfaces 1716, and/or subsets and variations thereof.

Bus 1710 generally represents all system, peripheral, and chipset buses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of computing device 1700. In one or more implementations, the bus 1710 communicatively connects the one or more processing units 1714 with the ROM 1712, the system memory 1704, and the persistent storage 1702. One or more processing units 1714 retrieve the instructions to be executed and the data to be processed from these various memory units in order to perform the processes of the subject disclosure. In different implementations, the one or more processing units 1714 may be a single processor or a multi-core processor.

The ROM 1712 stores static data and instructions required by the one or more processing units 1714 and other modules of the computing device 1700. In another aspect, persistent storage 1702 may be a read-write memory device. Persistent storage 1702 may be a non-volatile memory unit that stores instructions and data even when computing device 1700 is turned off. In one or more implementations, a mass storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) may be used as persistent storage 1702.

In one or more implementations, a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk, a flash drive, and corresponding disk drives) may be used as persistent storage 1702. Like persistent storage 1702, system memory 1704 may be a read-write memory device. However, unlike persistent storage 1702, system memory 1704 may be a volatile read-write memory, such as random access memory. The system memory 1704 may store any of the instructions and data that may be needed by the one or more processing units 1714 at runtime. In one or more implementations, the processes of the subject disclosure are stored in the system memory 1704, the persistent storage 1702, and/or the ROM 1712. One or more processing units 1714 retrieve the instructions to be executed and the data to be processed from these various memory units in order to perform one or more embodied processes.

The bus 1710 is also connected to an input device interface 1706 and an output device interface 1708. The input device interface 1706 enables a user to communicate information to the computing device 1700 as well as select commands. Input devices that may be used with input device interface 1706 may include, for example, an alphanumeric keyboard and a pointing device (also referred to as a "cursor control device"). The output device interface 1708 may, for example, enable display of images generated by the computing device 1700. Output devices that may be used with output device interface 1708 may include, for example, printers and display devices, such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), light Emitting Diode (LED) displays, organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays, flexible displays, flat panel displays, solid state displays, projectors, or any other device for outputting information.

One or more implementations may include a device that serves as both an input device and an output device, such as a touch screen. In these embodiments, the feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Finally, as shown in fig. 17, the bus 1710 also couples the computing device 1700 to one or more networks and/or to one or more network nodes through one or more network interfaces 1716. As such, computing device 1700 may be part of a computer network, such as a LAN, wide area network ("WAN") or intranet, or may be part of a network of networks, such as the internet. Any or all of the components of computing device 1700 may be used with the subject disclosure.

Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure may be implemented, in part or in whole, using a tangible computer-readable storage medium (or multiple tangible computer-readable storage media of one or more types) having one or more instructions written thereon. The tangible computer readable storage medium may also be non-transitory in nature.

A computer readable storage medium may be any storage medium that can be read, written, or otherwise accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computing device including any processing electronics and/or processing circuitry capable of executing the instructions. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media can comprise any volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, and TTRAM. The computer readable medium may also include any non-volatile semiconductor memory, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, NVRAM, flash, nvSRAM, feRAM, feTRAM, MRAM, PRAM, CBRAM, SONOS, RRAM, NRAM, racetrack, FJG, and Millipede memories.

Furthermore, the computer-readable storage medium may include any non-semiconductor memory, such as optical disk storage, magnetic tape, other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of storing one or more instructions. In one or more implementations, the tangible computer-readable storage medium may be directly coupled to the computing device, while in other implementations, the tangible computer-readable storage medium may be indirectly coupled to the computing device, for example, via one or more wired connections, one or more wireless connections, or any combination thereof.

The instructions may be directly executable or may be used to develop executable instructions. For example, the instructions may be implemented as executable or non-executable machine code, or may be implemented as high-level language instructions that may be compiled to produce executable or non-executable machine code. Further, the instructions may also be implemented as data, or may include data. Computer-executable instructions may also be organized in any format, including routines, subroutines, programs, data structures, objects, modules, applications, applets, functions, and the like. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, details including, but not limited to, the number, structure, sequence, and organization of instructions may vary significantly without altering the underlying logic, functionality, processing, and output.

While the above discussion primarily refers to a microprocessor or multi-core processor executing software, one or more embodiments are performed by one or more integrated circuits, such as an ASIC or FPGA. In one or more implementations, such integrated circuits execute instructions stored on the circuits themselves.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application. The various components and blocks may be arranged differently (e.g., arranged in a different order, or divided in a different manner) without departing from the scope of the subject technology.

It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes disclosed herein is an illustration of exemplary approaches. Based on design preference requirements, it should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of blocks in the process may be rearranged or all illustrated blocks may be performed. Any of these blocks may be performed simultaneously. In one or more embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the division of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such division in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the program components (e.g., computer program products) and systems may be generally integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

As used in this specification and any claims of this patent application, the terms "base station," "receiver," "computer," "server," "processor," and "memory" refer to an electronic or other technical device. These terms exclude a person or group of people. For purposes of this specification, the term "display" or "displaying" means displaying on an electronic device.

As used herein, the phrase "at least one of" after separating a series of items of any of the items with the term "and" or "is a modification of the list as a whole, rather than modifying each member (i.e., each item) in the list. The phrase "at least one of" does not require the selection of at least one of each item listed; rather, the phrase allows for the inclusion of at least one of any one item and/or the meaning of at least one of any combination of items and/or at least one of each item. For example, the phrase "at least one of A, B and C" or "at least one of A, B or C" each refer to a alone, B alone, or C alone; A. any combination of B and C; and/or A, B and C.

The predicates "configured to", "operable to", and "programmed to" do not mean any particular tangible or intangible modification to a subject but are intended to be used interchangeably. In one or more embodiments, a processor configured to monitor and control operations or components may also mean that the processor is programmed to monitor and control operations or that the processor is operable to monitor and control operations. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code may be interpreted as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code.

Phrases such as, for example, an aspect, the aspect, another aspect, some aspects, one or more aspects, an embodiment, the embodiment, another embodiment, some embodiments, one or more embodiments, a configuration, the configuration, other configurations, some configurations, one or more configurations, subject technology, disclosure, the present disclosure, other variations thereof, and the like are all for convenience and do not imply that disclosure involving such one or more phrases is essential to the subject technology nor that such disclosure be applicable to all configurations of the subject technology. The disclosure relating to such one or more phrases may apply to all configurations or one or more configurations. The disclosure relating to such one or more phrases may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as an aspect or some aspects may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa, and this applies similarly to other previously described phrases.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" or as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "has," and the like are used in either the description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element should be construed in accordance with the specification of 35u.s.c. ≡112 (f) unless the element is explicitly stated using the phrase "means for … …" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is stated using the phrase "step for … …".

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in a singular value is not intended to mean "one only" but rather "one or more" unless specifically so stated. The term "some" means one or more unless specifically stated otherwise. The terminology of male (e.g., his) includes female and neutral (e.g., her and its), and vice versa. Headings and sub-headings (if any) are used for convenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure.

Claims

1. A method, the method comprising:

Displaying, by a display of an electronic device, a user interface of an application program as appearing in a first user interface mode at a perceivable location within a physical environment remote from the display;

receiving, by the electronic device, a user request to change the user interface to a second user interface mode; and

Modifying a displayed user interface of the application to the second user interface mode in response to the user request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user interface mode is a bounded two-dimensional display mode and the second user interface mode is a bounded partial three-dimensional display mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user interface mode is a bounded two-dimensional display mode and the second user interface mode is a bounded three-dimensional display mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein in the first user interface mode, the user interface is displayed within a boundary and concurrently with at least one other user interface of at least one other application being displayed within at least one other boundary.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein in the second user interface mode, the user interface is displayed within the boundary and is the only user interface displayed by the display of the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, while displaying the user interface in the second user interface mode:

determining, by an operating system process of the electronic device, characteristics of content displayed in the user interface; and

Modifying, by the operating system process, a portion of the display area outside the boundary of the user interface based on the determined characteristic.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein in the first user interface mode and the second user interface mode, the boundary is a two-dimensional boundary.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein in the first user interface mode and the second user interface mode, the boundary is a three-dimensional boundary.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein in the second user interface mode, the user interface is a full screen user interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the full screen user interface is a full screen mixed reality user interface in which a portion of the physical environment is visible via the display.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing scene information and gesture information from within the boundary to the application and preventing scene information and gesture information from outside the boundary from being provided to the application while the user interface is displayed in the first user interface mode.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing scene information and gesture information from an area of the physical environment outside the boundary of the user interface in the first user interface mode to the application while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising, prior to providing scene information and gesture information from the physical environment to the application for the region outside the boundary of the user interface in the first user interface mode:

requesting, by the electronic device, authorization of a user to enter the second user interface mode; and

The user authorization is received at the electronic device.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the full screen user interface is a full screen virtual reality user interface in which a view of the physical environment is blocked by the display.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing device information corresponding to a location and/or position of the electronic device and hand position information corresponding to a location of a hand of a user of the electronic device to the application while the full screen virtual reality user interface is displayed while preventing the application from accessing scene information corresponding to the physical environment.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying a view of a portion of the physical environment on the display when the location of the electronic device is at or near a user drawn geofence while the user interface is displayed in the second user interface mode.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

A memory; and

One or more processors configured to:

Displaying, by a display of the device, a user interface of an application as appearing in a first user interface mode at a perceivable location within a physical environment remote from the display;

Receiving a user request to change the user interface to a second user interface mode; and

Switching a displayed user interface of the application to the second user interface mode in response to the user request.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the first user interface mode is a bounded mode, and wherein the second user interface mode is an exclusive mode.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

Displaying another user interface of another application in a bounded mode concurrently with the displaying of the user interface of the application in the bounded mode; and

The other user interface is removed from the display in response to a switch of the user interface to the exclusive mode.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the bounded mode comprises a bounded two-dimensional display mode or a bounded three-dimensional display mode, and wherein the exclusive mode comprises an unbounded mode.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch the displayed user interface to the exclusive mode in part by providing a first origin of the user interface that is different from a second origin of the user interface in the bounded mode.

22. The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

Receiving a request at a system process to exit the exclusive mode; and

The user interface is switched from the exclusive mode to the bounded mode while the application is prevented from animating during the switch from the exclusive mode to the bounded mode.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

Receiving, by an application running on an electronic device, a user request to switch a user interface of the application from a bounded mode to an exclusive mode, wherein in the bounded mode the user interface is displayed by a display of the electronic device as appearing within a boundary within a physical environment at a perceivable location remote from the display;

providing, by the application, a request to a system process at the electronic device to switch the user interface from the bounded mode to the exclusive mode in response to the user request;

receiving, by the application program, approval for the handover from the system process; and

At least one user interface element of the user interface is modified by the application for the exclusive mode.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to modify the at least one user interface element by replacing the at least one user interface element with a controllable user interface element movable to a position outside the boundary of the bounded mode.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

receiving, by the application, a user request to modify the controllable user interface element from a two-dimensional user interface element to a three-dimensional user interface element; and

Modifying the controllable user interface element from the two-dimensional user interface element to the three-dimensional user interface element in response to the user request.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein after the switching and before the modification of the controllable user interface element, the controllable user interface element is displayed to appear the same as the at least one user interface element in the bounded mode.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein in the exclusive mode, the user interface comprises a full screen mixed reality user interface.