Generating a virtual reality environment

Abstract

A method executed by a computing device includes generating a virtual reality environment utilizing a group of object representations by identifying a priority asset of a set of common illustrative assets for the object representations. The method further includes rendering the priority asset utilizing a first level of resolution to produce a set of priority asset video frames and Selecting a subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce a common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment. The method further includes rendering other representations of the group of object representations utilizing a second level of resolution to produce remaining portions of the video frames for the virtual reality environment. The method further includes linking the common portion and the remaining portion of the video frames to produce the virtual reality environment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for creating a virtual reality environment regarding a topic, the method comprises:
 generating, by a computing entity, the virtual reality environment utilizing a group of object representations in accordance with interaction information for at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein at least some of the object representations are associated with corresponding three dimensional (3-D) physical objects, wherein the interaction information includes 3-D models and position information for the at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein a first set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a first piece of information regarding the topic, wherein a second set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a second piece of information regarding the topic, wherein the generating the virtual reality environment includes:
 identifying, by the computing entity, a set of common illustrative assets based on the first and second set of object representations, wherein the set of common illustrative assets belongs to the first and second sets of object representations and depict one or more aspects regarding the topic pertaining to the first and second pieces of information; 
 determining, by the computing entity, a priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets, wherein the priority asset is associated with an importance status level that is greater than an importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; 
 rendering, by the computing entity, the priority asset utilizing a first level of resolution to produce a set of priority asset video frames; 
 selecting, by the computing entity, a subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce a common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations to reduce duplicative rendering; 
 rendering, by the computing entity, another representation of the first set of object representations utilizing a second level of resolution to produce a first remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first set of object representations, wherein the second level of resolution is a lower video resolution level than the first level of resolution; 
 rendering, by the computing entity, another representation of the second set of object representations utilizing the second level of resolution to produce a second remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the second set of object representations; and 
 linking, by the computing entity, the common portion, the first remaining portion, and the second remaining portion of the video frames to produce the virtual reality environment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises:
 outputting, by the computing entity, a representation of the set of common illustrative assets as instructor output information; 
 receiving, by the computing entity, instructor input information in response to the instructor output information; and 
 interpreting, by the computing entity, the instructor input information to produce at least some of the group of object representations. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises:
 determining, by the computing entity, the group of object representations by:
 interpreting a first set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 obtaining the first set of object representations based on the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 interpreting a second set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the second piece of information regarding the topic, and 
 obtaining the second set of object representations based on the second piece of information regarding the topic. 
 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying the set of common illustrative assets comprises one or more of:
 interpreting instructor input information to identify the common illustrative asset; and   identifying a common object representation of the first and second sets of object representations as the set of common illustrative assets.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets comprises one or more of:
 determining a first importance status level of a first common illustrative asset of the set of common illustrative assets;   comparing the first importance status level to the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; and   establishing the first common illustrative asset as the priority asset when the first importance status level is greater than the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting the subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce the common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations comprises:
 identifying a first priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a first aspect of the first set of object representations;   identifying a second priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a second aspect of the second set of object representations; and   establishing the common portion of video frames to include the first priority asset video frame when more than a minimum threshold number of pixels of the first and second priority asset video frames are the same.   
     
     
         7 . A computing device comprises:
 an interface;   a local memory; and   a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the local memory, wherein the local memory stores operational instructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes the computing device to:
 generate a virtual reality environment utilizing a group of object representations in accordance with interaction information for at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein at least some of the object representations are associated with corresponding three dimensional (3-D) physical objects, wherein the interaction information includes 3-D models and position information for the at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein a first set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a first piece of information regarding a topic, wherein a second set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a second piece of information regarding the topic, wherein the processing module generates the virtual reality environment by:
 identifying a set of common illustrative assets based on the first and second set of object representations, wherein the set of common illustrative assets belongs to the first and second sets of object representations and depict one or more aspects regarding the topic pertaining to the first and second pieces of information; 
 determining a priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets, wherein the priority asset is associated with an importance status level that is greater than an importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; 
 rendering the priority asset utilizing a first level of resolution to produce a set of priority asset video frames; 
 selecting a subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce a common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations to reduce duplicative rendering; 
 rendering another representation of the first set of object representations utilizing a second level of resolution to produce a first remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first set of object representations, wherein the second level of resolution is a lower video resolution level than the first level of resolution; 
 rendering another representation of the second set of object representations utilizing the second level of resolution to produce a second remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the second set of object representations; and 
 linking the common portion, the first remaining portion, and the second remaining portion of the video frames to produce the virtual reality environment. 
 
   
     
     
         8 . The computing device of  claim 7 , wherein the processing module further functions to:
 output, via the interface, a representation of the set of common illustrative assets as instructor output information;   receive, via the interface, instructor input information in response to the instructor output information; and   interpret the instructor input information to produce at least some of the group of object representations.   
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 7 , wherein the processing module further functions to:
 determine the group of object representations by:
 interpreting a first set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 obtaining the first set of object representations based on the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 interpreting a second set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the second piece of information regarding the topic, and 
 obtaining the second set of object representations based on the second piece of information regarding the topic. 
   
     
     
         10 . The computing device of  claim 7 , wherein the processing module generates the virtual reality environment by identifying the set of common illustrative assets by one or more of:
 interpreting instructor input information to identify the common illustrative asset; and   identifying a common object representation of the first and second sets of object representations as the set of common illustrative assets.   
     
     
         11 . The computing device of  claim 7 , wherein the processing module generates the virtual reality environment by determining the priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets by one or more of:
 determining a first importance status level of a first common illustrative asset of the set of common illustrative assets;   comparing the first importance status level to the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; and   establishing the first common illustrative asset as the priority asset when the first importance status level is greater than the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic.   
     
     
         12 . The computing device of  claim 7 , wherein the processing module generates the virtual reality environment by selecting the subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce the common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations by:
 identifying a first priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a first aspect of the first set of object representations;   identifying a second priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a second aspect of the second set of object representations; and   establishing the common portion of video frames to include the first priority asset video frame when more than a minimum threshold number of pixels of the first and second priority asset video frames are the same.   
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer readable memory comprises:
 a first memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a processing module, causes the processing module to:
 generate a virtual reality environment utilizing a group of object representations in accordance with interaction information for at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein at least some of the object representations are associated with corresponding three dimensional (3-D) physical objects, wherein the interaction information includes 3-D models and position information for the at least some of the object representations of the group of object representations, wherein a first set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a first piece of information regarding a topic, wherein a second set of object representations of the group of object representations is associated with a second piece of information regarding the topic, wherein the processing module generates the virtual reality environment by:
 identifying a set of common illustrative assets based on the first and second set of object representations, wherein the set of common illustrative assets belongs to the first and second sets of object representations and depict one or more aspects regarding the topic pertaining to the first and second pieces of information; and 
 determining a priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets, wherein the priority asset is associated with an importance status level that is greater than an importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; 
 
   a second memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes the processing module to further generate the virtual reality environment by:
 rendering the priority asset utilizing a first level of resolution to produce a set of priority asset video frames; 
 selecting a subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce a common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations to reduce duplicative rendering; 
 rendering another representation of the first set of object representations utilizing a second level of resolution to produce a first remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first set of object representations, wherein the second level of resolution is a lower video resolution level than the first level of resolution; and 
 rendering another representation of the second set of object representations utilizing the second level of resolution to produce a second remaining portion of the video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the second set of object representations; and 
   a third memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes the processing module to further generate the virtual reality environment by:
 linking the common portion, the first remaining portion, and the second remaining portion of the video frames to produce the virtual reality environment. 
   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable memory of  claim 13  further comprises:
 a fourth memory element stores operational instructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes the processing module to:
 output a representation of the set of common illustrative assets as instructor output information; 
 receive instructor input information in response to the instructor output information; and 
 interpret the instructor input information to produce at least some of the group of object representations. 
 
 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable memory of  claim 13  further comprises:
 a fifth memory element stores operational instructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes the processing module to:
 determine the group of object representations by:
 interpreting a first set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 obtaining the first set of object representations based on the first piece of information regarding the topic, 
 interpreting a second set of knowledge bullet points of the topic to produce the second piece of information regarding the topic, and 
 obtaining the second set of object representations based on the second piece of information regarding the topic. 
 
 
 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable memory of  claim 13 , wherein the processing module functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the first memory element to cause the processing module to generate the virtual reality environment by identifying the set of common illustrative assets by one or more of:
 interpreting instructor input information to identify the common illustrative asset; and   identifying a common object representation of the first and second sets of object representations as the set of common illustrative assets.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable memory of  claim 13 , wherein the processing module functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the first memory element to cause the processing module to generate the virtual reality environment by determining the priority asset of the set of common illustrative assets by one or more of:
 determining a first importance status level of a first common illustrative asset of the set of common illustrative assets;   comparing the first importance status level to the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic; and   establishing the first common illustrative asset as the priority asset when the first importance status level is greater than the importance status threshold level with regards to the topic.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable memory of  claim 13 , wherein the processing module functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the second memory element to cause the processing module to generate the virtual reality environment by selecting the subset of the set of priority asset video frames to produce the common portion of video frames for the virtual reality environment with regards to the first and second sets of object representations by:
 identifying a first priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a first aspect of the first set of object representations;   identifying a second priority asset video frame of the set of priority asset video frames that represents a second aspect of the second set of object representations; and   establishing the common portion of video frames to include the first priority asset video frame when more than a minimum threshold number of pixels of the first and second priority asset video frames are the same.