Background The number of devices connected to the Internet is increasing rapidly, including not only traditional communication devices, such as computers and mobile phones, but also various peripheral devices, such as printers, data projectors, etc. In addition, sensors and actuators can be embedded practically in any physical object, which enable to identify the physical objects and link them to wired and wireless networks, for example using NFC (Near-Field Connection) or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology.

All these devices connected to Internet or being provided with some other means of communication are, at least in theory, controllable through a network connection. For example, a visitor coming to an office may wish to use a peripheral device, e.g. a printer, in the office. On the other hand, someone may see an interesting device in a shop or on a street, and he/she may wish to obtain more information about the device.

Nevertheless, no universally valid and intuitive method for obtaining information about these devices or controlling them remotely has been presented. Summary

Now there has been invented an improved method and technical equipment implementing the method for at least alleviating the problems. Various aspects of the invention include a method, apparatuses and computer programs, which are characterized by what is stated in the independent claims. Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method comprising: capturing, by a device equipped with a camera, at least one image about a physical object; recognizing the physical object on the basis of the at least one captured image; retrieving a 3-dimensional (3D) model of the physical object from a memory; and displaying the 3D model of the physical object on a display of the device.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises recognizing the physical object by computer vision.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises providing an estimation of confidence of recognition of the physical object, indicated as proportional to a perfect match. According to an embodiment, the method further comprises in response to the estimation of confidence of recognition of the physical object indicating a non-perfect match, prompting a plurality of 3D models of physical objects on the display of the device for a user to select. According to an embodiment, the method further comprises providing means for rotating the 3D model on the display.

According to an embodiment, the display is a touch screen and said means for rotating the 3D model are responsive to a touch detected on the screen.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises providing the 3D model with additional information about the physical object to be shown on the display.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises obtaining identification data of an apparatus recognized as the physical object via an Internet connection or a close-proximity radio connection.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises establishing a connection between the device and the apparatus recognized as the physical object based on the identification data.

According to an embodiment, the establishing the connection includes performing authentication and authorization between the device and the apparatus to check the access rights of the user of the device.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises providing the 3D model with at least one interactive user interface of the apparatus for controlling the operation of apparatus remotely. According to an embodiment, the method further comprises displaying an area of the at least one interactive user interface of the apparatus highlighted on the 3D model; and in response to a user command detected on said area, displaying the corresponding interactive user interface of the apparatus on the display of the device. According to an embodiment, the method further comprises in response to a user command detected on said interactive user interface, transmitting a corresponding command to the apparatus via the connection established between the device and the apparatus.

According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: capturing, by a device equipped with a camera, at least one image about a physical object; recognizing the physical object on the basis of the at least one captured image; retrieving a 3D model of the physical object from a memory; and displaying the 3D model of the physical object on a display of the device.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a computer program embodied on a non- transitory computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions causing, when executed on at least one processor, at least one apparatus to: capturing, by a device equipped with a camera, at least one image about a physical object; recognizing the physical object on the basis of the at least one captured image; retrieving a 3D model of the physical object from a memory; and displaying the 3D model of the physical object on a display of the device.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for capturing at least one image about a physical object; means for recognizing the physical object on the basis of the at least one captured image; means for retrieving a 3-dimensional (3D) model of the physical object from a memory; and means for displaying the 3D model of the physical object.

These and other aspects of the invention and the embodiments related thereto will become apparent in view of the detailed disclosure of the embodiments further below.

List of drawings

In the following, various embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Figs. 1 a and 1 b show a system and devices suitable to be used in a remote control system according to an embodiment;

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a remote control method according to an embodiment;

Figs. 3a - 3c show an exemplified implementation of the remote control method on a mobile device according to an embodiment;

Figs. 4a - 4e show how a user of the mobile device may rotate the 3D model on the display according to an embodiment;

Figs. 5a - 5d show an exemplified implementation of interactive user interfaces in the remote control method according to an embodiment; and

Figs. 6a - 6d show another exemplified implementation of the remote control method on a mobile device according to an embodiment. Description of embodiments

Figs. 1 a and 1 b show a system and devices suitable to be used in an augmented reality system according to an embodiment. In Fig. 1 a, the different devices may be connected via a fixed network 210 such as the Internet or a local area network; or a mobile communication network 220 such as the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network, 3rd Generation (3G) network, 3.5th Generation (3.5G) network, 4th Generation (4G) network, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth®, or other contemporary and future networks. Different networks are connected to each other by means of a communication interface 280. The networks comprise network elements such as routers and switches to handle data (not shown), and communication interfaces such as the base stations 230 and 231 in order for providing access for the different devices to the network, and the base stations 230, 231 are themselves connected to the mobile network 220 via a fixed connection 276 or a wireless connection 277.

There may be a number of servers connected to the network, and in the example of Fig. 1 a are shown servers 240, 241 and 242, each connected to the mobile network 220, which servers may be arranged to operate as computing nodes (i.e. to form a cluster of computing nodes or a so-called server farm) for the augmented reality system. Some of the above devices, for example the computers 240, 241 , 242 may be such that they are arranged to make up a connection to the Internet with the communication elements residing in the fixed network 210. There are also a number of end-user devices such as mobile phones and smart phones 251 , Internet access devices (Internet tablets) 250, personal computers 260 of various sizes and formats, televisions and other viewing devices 261 , video decoders and players 262, as well as video cameras 263 and other encoders. These devices 250, 251 , 260, 261 , 262 and 263 can also be made of multiple parts. The various devices may be connected to the networks 210 and 220 via communication connections such as a fixed connection 270, 271 , 272 and 280 to the internet, a wireless connection 273 to the internet 210, a fixed connection 275 to the mobile network 220, and a wireless connection 278, 279 and 282 to the mobile network 220. The connections 271 -282 are implemented by means of communication interfaces at the respective ends of the communication connection.

Fig. 1 b shows devices for an augmented reality system according to an example embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1 b, the server 240 contains memory 245, one or more processors 246, 247, and computer program code 248 residing in the memory 245 for implementing, for example, an augmented reality system. The different servers 241 , 242, 290 may contain at least these elements for employing functionality relevant to each server.

Similarly, the end-user device 251 contains memory 252, at least one processor 253 and 256, and computer program code 254 residing in the memory 252 for implementing, for example, gesture recognition. The end-user device may also have one or more cameras 255 and 259 for capturing image data, for example stereo video. The end-user device may also contain one, two or more microphones 257 and 258 for capturing sound. The end-user device may also contain sensors for generating the depth information using any suitable technology. The different end-user devices 250, 260 may contain at least these same elements for employing functionality relevant to each device. In another embodiment of this invention, the depth maps (i.e. depth information regarding the distance from the scene to a plane defined by the camera) obtained by interpreting video recordings from the stereo (or multiple) cameras may be utilised in the augmented reality system. The end-user device may also have a time-of-flight camera, whereby the depth map may be obtained from a time-of- flight camera or from a combination of stereo (or multiple) view depth map and a time-of- flight camera. The end-user device may generate depth map for the captured content using any available and suitable mechanism. The end user devices may also comprise a screen for viewing single-view, stereoscopic (2- view), or multiview (more-than-2-view) images. The end-user devices may also be connected to video glasses 290 e.g. by means of a communication block 293 able to receive and/or transmit information. The glasses may contain separate eye elements 291 and 292 for the left and right eye. These eye elements may either show a picture for viewing, or they may comprise a shutter functionality e.g. to block every other picture in an alternating manner to provide the two views of three-dimensional picture to the eyes, or they may comprise mutually orthogonal polarization filters, which, when connected to similar polarization realized on the screen, provide the separate views to the eyes. Other arrangements for video glasses may also be used to provide stereoscopic viewing capability. Stereoscopic or multiview screens may also be autostereoscopic, i.e. the screen may comprise or may be overlaid by an optics arrangement, which results into a different view being perceived by each eye. Single-view, stereoscopic, and multiview screens may also be operationally connected to viewer tracking in such a manner that the displayed views depend on viewer's position, distance, and/or direction of gaze relative to the screen.

It needs to be understood that different embodiments allow different parts to be carried out in different elements. For example, parallelized processes of the augmented reality system may be carried out in one or more processing devices; i.e. entirely in one user device like 250, 251 or 260, or in one server device 240, 241 , 242 or 290, or across multiple user devices 250, 251 , 260 or across multiple network devices 240, 241 , 242, 290, or across both user devices 250, 251 , 260 and network devices 240, 241 , 242, 290. The elements of the augmented reality system may be implemented as a software component residing on one device or distributed across several devices, as mentioned above, for example so that the devices form a so-called cloud.

The number of devices connected to the Internet is increasing exponentially. These devices include not only traditional communication devices, such as computers and mobile phones, but also various peripheral devices, such as printers, data projectors, etc. In addition, sensors and actuators can be embedded practically in any physical object, which enable to link the physical objects to wired and wireless networks, for example using the Internet Protocol (IP). Thus, any physical object can be provided with a unique identification. The network connection may be based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC (Near-Field Connection) or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology or a wired connection to the Internet. The network connection and the unique identification enable these billions of devices to produce, transmit, receive and process information in different environments, such as logistic applications and factories as well as in the work and everyday lives of people. This concept, in which the Internet and wireless technologies connect different sources of information such as sensors, mobile devices, vehicles etc. in an ever tighter manner, is also referred to as "Internet of Things" (loT).

All these devices connected to Internet or being provided with some other means of communication are, at least in theory, controllable through a network connection. For example, a visitor coming to an office may wish to use a peripheral device, e.g. a printer, in the office. On the other hand, someone may see an interesting device in a shop or on a street, and he/she may wish to obtain more information about the device.

Nevertheless, no universally valid and intuitive method for obtaining information about these devices or controlling them remotely has been presented. If a user wishes to obtain more information about an interesting device, he/she must typically first determine the particulars of the device; the manufacturer, the model details, etc. and then, for example, browse from the Internet further information about the device.

Also the remote control of such devices is made practically impossible, or at least cumbersome, for visitors. Typically, the control of the devices is subordinated to the administrator of the network they are connected to. Thus, a user wishing to control a device must typically first request access rights from the administrator and then connect to the same network with the device. However, the administrators may not be willing to grant access rights for visitors for security reasons. In order to alleviate these problems, a new method for remotely controlling devices connected to a network is presented herein. The method utilizes so-called augmented reality, which refers to a technology in which user's perception of the real world is enhanced by rendering "augmented" virtual content, typically generated by a computing device, on top of a view from the real world. The virtual content may include, for example, 2D-models, such as virtual labels, 3D-models, such as virtual articles, illumination and/or shading. The virtual content is aligned with the view of the real world so as to enhance the information content of the view of the real world or to provide usability through the view of the real world. A method according to a first aspect and various embodiments related thereto are now described by referring to the flow chart of Figure 2. With a device equipped with a camera, the camera is pointed to a physical object and at least one image is captured (200) about the object. The physical object is recognized (202) on the basis of at least one captured image. According to an embodiment, a computer vision application is used for identifying the object. Various computer vision applications are based on algorithms that analyze properties of the external world by means of the light reflected from various objects. In identification/recognition algorithms, distinct features of the image data are extracted and segmented according to predefined rules and based on this analysis, the detected object is classified to belong to at least one predefined category. The categories may be arranged in hierarchical manner, starting from coarse fidelity distinguishing e.g. office peripherals or vehicles from other objects. The coarse fidelity categories may then be divided into several finer fidelity sub-categories, for example in the category of vehicles distinguishing e.g. automobiles from tractors and other working machines, or in a category of office peripherals distinguishing e.g. displays from printers, etc. These sub-categories may then be divided into one or several hierarchical finer fidelity sub-categories until the desired level of fidelity is obtained. The computer vision application may be provided with an optical character recognition (OCR) application for recognizing characters and/or words included in the physical object. The use of natural language may help to obtain a reliable recognition of the physical object.

It is nevertheless possible that an absolutely reliable recognition of the physical object is not achieved, for example due to inadequate image quality, which may result e.g. from poor illumination conditions. According to an embodiment, the computer vision application may provide an estimation of confidence of recognition, which may be indicated as proportional to a perfect match. The perfect match may be indicated, for example, as 100% or as a particular color or by any other illustrative means. According to an embodiment, in case of a non-perfect match the user may be provided with several options of physical objects to choose from in order to find the correct physical object. For example, in case of 90% confidence level a couple of physical objects, say 2 or 3, could be shown, but the number of physical objects to be shown may increase as the confidence level decreases; i.e. in case of 60% confidence level, for example 5 options of physical objects could be shown.

On the basis of the recognition data of the physical object, a 3D model about the physical object is retrieved (204) from a memory. The memory may be included in the device, it could be an external memory connected to the device, such as a memory stick or an optical disc, or it could be a remote database located in a network.

The 3D model database may be operated and maintained by one or more apparatus manufacturers. The manufacturers may provide updates of 3D models of their apparatuses to the database, which may be, for example, manufacturer-specific or apparatus-type- specific (e.g. printers). On the other hand, the 3D model database may also be a general database for all kinds of physical objects, operated e.g. by a third party, whereby the database may be sub-divided into appropriate categories to help to find a 3D model of the recognized physical object. The most commonly used 3D models may be downloaded e.g. regularly the memory of the device for decreasing the need for retrieving the 3D models from the network every time.

The 3D model may then be shown on a display of the device (206). The user interface of the device may provide means for rotating the 3D model freely on the display. The display may preferably be a touch screen, whereby the user of the device may rotate the 3D model by touching the screen. The 3D model may also be provided with additional information of the physical object, such as specifications or user manual of an apparatus identified as the physical object.

According to an embodiment, the user of the device may be provided with an opportunity to control the apparatus identified as the physical object. For that purpose, the device may obtain identification data of the apparatus (208). The identification data may be, for example, an IP address, if the apparatus is connected to Internet, or any other kind of identification data obtainable directly from the apparatus, for example via a close-proximity radio connection. The close-proximity radio connection could be, for example, a connection based on WLAN, Bluetooth, NFC (Near-Field Connection) or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology.

According to an embodiment, the identification data of the apparatus may be utilized already, when trying to recognize the physical object. Thus, the step of obtaining the identification data of the apparatus (208) may be carried out before any of the above steps 200 - 206. If such identification data is available, the recognition of the apparatus may be fostered. Once the identification data of the apparatus has been obtained, the device may start establishing a connection to the apparatus (210). The connection may be, for example, any of the connections mentioned above, i.e. a data connection via Internet, a close-proximity radio connection or a connection via a mobile communication network.

As a part of establishing the connection, authentication and authorization (212) may be performed between the device and the apparatus to ensure that the user of the device has access rights to control the apparatus. If the apparatus is connected to Internet, the access rights may be controlled by a dedicated server in the network, whereby the user device may first request for the access rights and if granted, the authentication and authorization process may be carried out by the server. If the apparatus is not connected to Internet, the apparatus itself may comprise an application carrying out the authentication and authorization process. The 3D model may then be provided with an interactive user interface (214) of the apparatus for controlling the operation of the apparatus remotely. According to an embodiment, at least a primary user interface of the apparatus is provided in the 3D model with interactive functionalities. According to an embodiment, the 3D model of the apparatus may comprise several interactive points, shown to the user of the device as highlighted, for example, and the user may access the interactive points by the control means of the user interface of the device, e.g. by touching the interactive points on the touch screen.

As a response to the commands given by the user through the control means of the user interface of the device, the corresponding commands are sent to the apparatus via the connection established between the device and the apparatus. The apparatus then executes the commands and thereby operates according to the commands given at the user interface of the 3D model.

An example of the augmented reality remote control according to some of the embodiments is illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5. The example relates to controlling a data projector with a mobile device. The user of the mobile device may, for example, enter a conference room and notice the data projector, which the user wishes to use for projecting content from the mobile device. Figure 3a shows a view from the display of the mobile device, showing how the user of the mobile device has pointed the camera of the mobile device towards the data projector. On the basis of at least image captured by the camera, the computer vision application of the mobile device recognizes the data projector. A successful recognition of the apparatus may be indicated e.g. as highlighted outline of the apparatus, as shown in Figure 3b. The mobile device then retrieves a 3D model of the data projector from a memory, for example from the 3D model database located in a network server. The 3D model is shown on the display of the mobile device, as illustrated in Figure 3c. Figures 4a - 4e show how the user of the mobile device may rotate the 3D model on the display, for example by sliding a finger to a certain direction on a touch screen. After establishing a connection to the data projector and authentication/authorization process, the 3D model is shown on the display of the mobile device with an interactive user interface. The interactive areas of the 3D model are shown highlighted, as depicted in Figures 5a and 5b. The highlighted area in Figure 5a refers to the control panel of the data projector, and when the user of the mobile device touches the highlighted area, a more detailed interactive user interface of the control panel is shown on the display of the mobile device, as depicted in Figure 5c. The user may control the operation of the data projector via this user interface. The highlighted area in Figure 5b refers to the rear connector panel of the data projector, and touching this highlighted area opens a more detailed interactive user interface of the connector panel, as depicted in Figure 5d. From the detailed connector panel, the user may select the inputs and outputs he/she wishes to access from his/her mobile device. Hence, by using the established connection and the interactive user interfaces of the 3D model, the user may remotely connect the mobile device to the data projector to project content from his/her mobile device.

Another example of the augmented reality remote control according to some of the embodiments is illustrated in Figure 6. The example relates to identifying and controlling a vehicle with a mobile device. Again, the user of the mobile device points the camera of the mobile device towards the vehicle in order to capture at least one image of the vehicle. After being recognized by the computer vision application of the mobile device, the mobile device retrieves a 3D model of the recognized vehicle from a memory, and the 3D model may then be rotated to be shown from different views, as shown in Figures 6a - 6c. The 3D model may be provided with additional information about the vehicle, such as model specifications, as shown in Figure 6d. The OCR application of the computer vision may also be utilized to read the license plate of the vehicle, whereby the additional information may include the registered owner of the vehicle. If the vehicle is provided with a wireless connection, such as a close-proximity radio, and the user of the mobile device has access rights to control the vehicle, an interactive user interface may be shown on the display of the mobile device, and the user may, for example, switch on stand-by lights or a heating apparatus or open the trunk lid. A further example of the augmented reality remote control according to some of the embodiments relates to controlling operations of a building. The user of the mobile device may point the camera of the mobile device towards a building, for example user's home, and in response to being recognized by the computer vision application of the mobile device, the mobile device retrieves a 3D model of the interior of the building from a memory. From the 3D model shown on the display of mobile device, the user may then select an appropriate interactive user interface for controlling the operations of the building, such as switching on/off a burglar alarm, a heating system or indoor/outdoor lights. A skilled man appreciates that any of the embodiments described above may be implemented as a combination with one or more of the other embodiments, unless there is explicitly or implicitly stated that certain embodiments are only alternatives to each other.

The various embodiments may provide advantages over the state of the art. For example, only by capturing an image of a physical object may provide further information about the object, and optionally an user interface for controlling operations of the object. Furthermore, recognizing the physical objects by computer vision and automatically retrieving a 3D model corresponding to the physical object may provide the user quickly with information about the physical object and a user interface for controlling it. Moreover, the 3D model shown on the display of mobile device provides an intuitive manner for observing the physical object and for controlling its operations. Controlling various apparatuses remotely in visited place does not necessarily require connecting to a local area network.

In general, the various embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof. The embodiments of this invention may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

Programs, such as those provided by Synopsys, Inc. of Mountain View, California and Cadence Design, of San Jose, California automatically route conductors and locate components on a semiconductor chip using well established rules of design as well as libraries of pre stored design modules. Once the design for a semiconductor circuit has been completed, the resultant design, in a standardized electronic format (e.g., Opus, GDSII, or the like) may be transmitted to a semiconductor fabrication facility or "fab" for fabrication. The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.