Patent Application
20200060810
The present disclosure relates to ophthalmic devices having embedded controlling elements, and more specifically, to the embedded controlling elements and method for customizing calibration settings for users.
Near and far vision needs exist for all. In young non-presbyopic patients, the normal human crystalline lens has the ability to accommodate both near and far vision needs and those viewing items are in focus. As one ages, the vision is compromised due to a decreasing ability to accommodate as one ages. This is called presbyopia.
Adaptive optics/powered lens products are positioned to address this and restore the ability to see items in focus. But, what is required is knowing when to “activate/actuate” the optical power change. While a manual indication or use of a key fob to signal when a power change is required is one way to accomplish this change. However, leveraging anatomical/biological conditions/signals may be more responsive, more user friendly and potentially more “natural” and thus more pleasant.
A number of things happen when we change our gaze from far to near. Our pupil size changes, our line of sight from each eye converge in the nasal direction coupled with a somewhat downward component as well. However, to sense/measure these items are difficult, one also needs to filter out certain other conditions or noise, (e.g., blinking, what to do when one is lying down, or head movements).
In reference to
Sensing of multiple items may be required to remove/mitigate any false positive conditions that would indicate a power change is required when that is not the case. Use of an algorithm may be helpful. Additionally, threshold levels may vary from patient to patient, thus some form of calibration will likely be required as well.
An ophthalmic device may be configured to activate and/or perform various operations based on the presence on a characteristic. The thresholds for performing these operations may vary from user to user, and from situation to situation. User behavior may not perfectly match the instructions provided by user. The user may have to recalibrate an ophthalmic device every time the user replaces his or her ophthalmic device. Thus, there is a need for more sophisticated ophthalmic devices that determine user characteristics based on history of sensor data and store calibration settings in user profiles.
A system of the present disclosure comprises: a first ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon an eye of a user; and a first sensor system disposed in or on the first ophthalmic device, the first sensor system comprising a first sensor and a first processor operably connected to the first sensor and configured for: searching for a user profile associated with the user;
determining a failure to find the user profile associated with the user; causing, based on determining the failure, the first sensor system to enter a calibration mode; determining, during the calibration mode, to modify a calibration setting associated with the eye of the user; generating a user profile associated with the user comprising the modified calibration setting; and causing calibration of a second ophthalmic device based on the generated user profile.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system comprising: a first ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon a first eye of a user and comprising a first sensor system and a first processor; and a second ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon a second eye of a user and comprising a second sensor system and a second processor configured for: searching for a user profile associated with the user; determining the user profile associated with the user; configuring, based on the user profile, a calibration setting of the second sensor system of the second ophthalmic device; and causing the first ophthalmic device to configure, based on the user profile, a calibration setting of the first sensor system of the first ophthalmic device.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method comprising: searching, by a first ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon an eye of a user and comprising a first sensor system and a first processor, for a user profile associated with the user; determining a failure to find the user profile associated with the user; causing, based on determining the failure, the first sensor system to enter a calibration mode; determining, during the calibration mode, to modify a calibration setting associated with the eye of the user; generating a user profile comprising the modified calibration setting; and causing calibration of a second ophthalmic device based on the user profile.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method comprising: searching, by a first ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon a first eye of a user and comprising a first sensor system and a first processor, for a user profile associated with the user; determining the user profile associated with the user; configuring, based on the user profile, a calibration setting of the first sensor system of the first ophthalmic device; and causing a second ophthalmic device to configure, based on the user profile, a calibration setting of a second sensor system of the second ophthalmic device.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system comprising: a first ophthalmic device configured to be disposed within or upon an eye of a user, wherein the first ophthalmic device comprises a lens; and a first sensor system disposed in or on the first ophthalmic device, the first sensor system comprising a first sensor and a first processor operably connected to the first sensor and configured for: receiving, from a remote device, a user profile comprising one or more calibration settings associated with the user; causing, based on the user profile, configuration of the first sensor system; determining, based on one or more of user input or a history of movements of the eye the user, a characteristic of the user; modifying, based on the characteristic of the user, the user profile; and adjusting, based on the modified user profile, the lens of the first ophthalmic device.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method comprising: receiving, by a first ophthalmic device and from a remote device, a user profile comprising one or more calibration settings associated with a user, wherein the first ophthalmic device is configured to be disposed within or upon an eye of the user and comprises a lens, a first sensor system, and a first processor; causing, based on the user profile, configuration of the first sensor system; determining, based on one or more of user input or a history of movements of the eye the user, a characteristic of the user; modifying, based on the characteristic of the user, the user profile; and adjusting, based on the modified user profile, the lens of the first ophthalmic device.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosure is applicable to other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product.
The present methods and systems relate to an ophthalmic system comprising one or more ophthalmic devices, such as a system comprising at least one ophthalmic device for each eye of a user. In such a system, calibration and configuration of the one or more ophthalmic devices may be useful to ensure that a user receives assistance from the one or more ophthalmic devices at appropriate times. Calibration may be based on a history of movement of the eye (e.g., or other part of the user, such as eye lid). The history of movement of the eye may be used to determine characteristics of the user. The history of movement of the eye may be used to adjust settings, such as user defined settings (e.g., parameters), thresholds (e.g., an accommodation threshold, a gaze threshold). The history of movement of the eye may be used to filter out movements of the user, such as microsaccades movements and involuntary blinking. The history of movement of the eye may be used to determine whether to change an operational mode of the one or more ophthalmic devices. For example, the history of movement of the eye may be used to determine to change to a near mode (e.g., accommodation mode), a normal mode (e.g., unassisted viewing), and/or far mode (e.g., gaze mode).
As an illustration, because everyone's eyes are a bit different, (e.g., pupil spacing and location, lens-on-eye position, etc.), even at a fixed close distance, initial vergence angles will differ from patient to patient. It is important once ophthalmic devices (e.g., lenses) are placed in or on the eye to calibrate what the initial vergence angle is, so that differences in this angle can be assessed while in service. This value can be used for subsequent calibration calculations. In addition to these physical characteristics of the user, the system may perform calibration, filtering, and/or the like based on a history of movement of the eye of the user. The history of movement may be used to determine characteristics of the user, such as dwell characteristics or other movements. These characteristics of the user may be used to updated, refined, modify, and/or the like calibration values set based on an initial calibration process and/or value input by the user.
User profiles may be used to store calibration settings associated with particular users. An example ophthalmic device may generate a user profile as customized calibration settings are determined based on user input and/or automatically detected. A user profile may be based on a default profile, which may be updated over time. The user profile may be transmitted from one ophthalmic device to another. Additionally, remote devices, such as a mobile device or a wearable device may be used to generate, store, communicate and/or the like user profiles. As an example, if an ophthalmic devices is replaced by another ophthalmic device, the user profile can be transmitted to the new ophthalmic device to ensure that the user is able to continue with the same calibration settings.
Now referring to
A system controller 101 controls an activator 112 (e.g., lens activator) that changes the adaptive optics/powered lens (see
The sensor element 109 can comprise a plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107). Examples of sensors can comprise a multidimensional sensor, a capacitive sensor, an impedance sensor, an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a displacement sensor, a neuromuscular sensor, an electromyography sensor, a magnetomyography sensor, a phonomyography, or a combination thereof. The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can comprise a lid position sensor, a blink detection sensor, a gaze sensor, a divergence level sensor, an accommodation level sensor, a light sensor, a body chemistry sensor, neuromuscular sensor, or a combination thereof. The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can comprise one or more contacts configured to make direct contact with tear film of an eye of the user.
As an illustration, the plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can comprise a first sensor 103, such as a first multidimensional sensor that includes an X-axis accelerometer. The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can comprise a second sensor 105, such as a second multidimensional sensor that includes a Y-axis accelerometer. The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can comprise a third sensor 107, such as a third multidimensional sensor that includes a Z-axis accelerometer. The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) further provide calibration signals 105 to a calibration controller 110. The calibration controller 110 conducts a calibration sequence based on the calibration signals from the plurality of multidimensional sensors (103, 105 and 107) as a result of user actions which is sensed by the plurality of multidimensional sensors (103, 105 and 107) and provides calibration control signals to the system controller 101. The system controller 101 further receives from and supplies signals to communication elements 118. Communication elements 118 allow for communications between user lens and other devices such a near-by smartphone. A power source 113 supplies power to all of the above system elements. The power source can comprise a battery. The power sources may be either a fixed power supply, wireless charging system, or may be comprised of rechargeable power supply elements. Further functionality of the above embedded elements is described herein.
As another embodiment, the three axis accelerometers can be replaced by a three-axis magnetometer. Calibration would be similar because each axis would potentially require calibration at each extreme of each axis.
In the context of using sensors to determine vergence, specifically accelerometers, there are opportunities to calibrate. Offsets, due to the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and/or due to the electronics, mounting on the interposer, etc. can cause variations with the algorithms and thus cause some errors in the measurement of vergence. In addition, human anatomy from person to person, is different. For instance, eye to eye space can vary from 50 to 70 mm and can cause a change in trigger points based on eye spacing alone. So there is a need to take some of these variables out of the measurement, thus calibration and customization performed by the current embodiment when the lens are on the user. This serves to improve the user experience by both adding the preferences of the user and to reduce the dependencies of the above-mentioned variations. Calibration settings, such as vergence settings, including eye spacing, vergence angle, and/or the like may be stored in a user profile associated with a user.
The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) can measure acceleration both from quick movements and from gravity (9.81 m/s2). The plurality of sensors (103, 105 and 107) usually produce a code that is in units of gravity (g). The determination of vergence depends on the measurement of gravity to determine position, but other methods may depend on the acceleration of the eye. There are going to be differences and inaccuracies that will require base calibration before use calibration.
The current embodiment uses three sensors on each ophthalmic device. However, calibration may be done using two sensors, e.g., the first sensor 103 (e.g., X-axis accelerometer) and the second sensor 105 (e.g., Y-axis accelerometer). In either embodiment, each accelerometer has a full scale plus, full scale minus, and zero position. The errors could be offset, linearity, and slope errors. A full calibration would calibrate to correct all three error sources for all of axes sensors being used.
One way to calibrate the sensors is to move them such that each axis is completely perpendicular with gravity, thus reading 1 g. Then the sensor would be turned 180 degrees and it should read −1 g. From two points, the slope and intercept can be calculated and used to calibrate. This is repeated for the other two sensors. This is an exhaustive way of calibrating the sensors and thus calibrating the vergence detection system.
Another way is to reduce the calibrate effort for the lens is to have the wearer do just one or two steps. One way is to have the wearer look forward, parallel to the floor, at a distance wall. Measurements taken at this time can be used to determine the offset of each axis. Determining the offset for each axis in the area where the user will spend most of the time provides a greater benefit to maintain accuracy. The offset for each axis may be stored in a user profile associated with the user.
Given that everyone is a little different, customizable features can prove a better user experience for all users than a one size fits all approach. When using the lens with just two modes, accommodation and gaze, then the point where this is a switch from gaze to accommodation one can have several parameters in addition to the switching threshold that would affect the user experience.
The threshold going from gaze to accommodation is depended on the user, the user's eye condition, the magnification of the lens, and the tasks. For reading, the distance between the eye and book is about 30 cm, where computer usage is about 50 cm. A threshold set for 30 cm wouldn't work well for computer work, but 50 cm would work for both. However, this longer threshold could be problematic for other tasks by activating too early, depending on the magnification and the user's own eye condition. Thus, the ability to alter this threshold, both when the lens is first inserted and at any time afterwards as different circumstances could require different threshold points, provides the user customization to improve visibility, comfort and possibly safety. Even having several present thresholds is possible and practical, where the user would choose using the interfaces described here to select a different threshold. In addition, the user could alter the threshold or other parameters by re-calibrating per the embodiments of the present disclosure as described hereafter.
Still referring to
Custom Modes are common now in cars, i.e. sport, economy, etc. which allow the user to pick a mode based on anticipated activity where the system alters key parameters to provide the best experience. Custom Modes are also integrated into the lens of the current embodiments. Calibration and customization settings can be optimized for a given mode of operation. If the user is working in the office, it is likely that the user will need to go between states (gaze and accommodation), or even between two different vergence distances because of the nature of the tasks. Changes in the threshold, hysteresis, noise immunity, and possible head positions would occur to provide quicker transitions, possible intermediate vergence positions, and optimization for computer tasks, as well as, tasks that there is a lot if switching between gaze and accommodation. Thus, options to switch the lens into different modes to optimize the lens operation can provide an enhanced user experience. Furthermore, in an “Exercise” mode, the noise filtering is increased to prevent false triggering and additional duration of positive signal is required before switching to prevent false switching of the lens being triggered by stray glances while running. A “Driving” mode might have the lens being configured for distant use or on a manual override only. Of course, various other modes that could be derived as part of the embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, the user profile may comprise a plurality of custom modes. The user profile may store different calibration settings (e.g., accommodation thresholds, noise filtering settings, hysteresis values) for different user modes. The calibration settings for each mode may be automatically determined (e.g., based on a history of movements of the user) and/or manually determined and stored in the user profile. For example, if an ophthalmic device is in a particular custom mode, calibration settings determined during the custom mode may be stored in the user profile and associated with the particular custom mode.
In today's world, the smart phone is becoming a person's personal communications, library, payment device, and connection to the world. Apps for the smartphone cover many areas and are widely used. One possible way to interact with the lens of the present disclosure is to use a phone app. The app could provide ease of use where written language instructions are used and the user can interact with the app providing clear instructions, information, and feedback. Voice activation options may also be included. For instance, the app provides the prompting for the sensor calibrations by instructing the user to look forward and prompting the user to acknowledge the process start. The app could provide feedback to the user to improve the calibration and instruct the user what to do if the calibration is not accurate enough for optimal operation. This would enhance the user experience.
As an example, the app of the smartphone may be configured to store one or more user profiles. The app may generate a user profile based on calibration settings entered by the user (e.g., or another user, such as an eye specialist). The app may comprise a user interface for activating/deactivating calibration options, adjusting values of calibration settings, creating custom modes, and/or the like. The app may have also be configured to select settings based on feedback from the user. For example, the user may be given simple questions yes or no questions or be asked to rate the user experience. The answers to such questions may be used to update the user profile. The app of the smartphone may be configured to communicate with a remote device, such as a server. The server may be configured to send user profiles to the app (e.g., based on authentication of a user account). The server may receive a user profile from another location, such as a computer associated with an eye specialist. The user profile may be provided to the smartphone app. A user profile customized by the user may be sent to the server by the smart phone. The server may aggregate information associated with a plurality of customized user profiles to determine and/or suggest adjusting the calibration settings for different users.
Additional indicators, if the smart phone was not available, can be simple responses from the system to indicate start of a calibration cycle, successful completion, and unsuccessful completion. Methods to indicate operation include, but are not limited to, blinking lights, vibrating haptics drivers, and activating the lens. Various patterns of activation of these methods could be interpreted by the user to understand the status of the lens. The user can use various methods to signal the lens that he/she is ready to start or other acknowledgements. For instance, the lens could be opened and inserted into the eyes awaiting a command. Blinks or even closing one's eyes could start the process. The lens then would signal the user that it is starting and then when it finishes. If the lens requires a follow-up, it signals the user and the user signals back with a blink or eye closing.
The system controller 101 can be configured to store, maintain, adjust, generate, search for, and/or otherwise manage a user profile associated with the user. The user profile may be used to customize the ophthalmic device for use by a particular user. The user profile may be updated and/or generated based on adaptive algorithms as described herein. The adaptive algorithms may be configured to modify user profile data, such as settings, thresholds, calibration data, calibration settings, filtering operations and/or the like based on a history of movement of the user (e.g., movement of one or more eyes of the user). The user profile data may also be determined based on user input or be provided by a service (e.g., a service configured to allow an eye specialist to update user profiles locally or remotely). For example, the system may comprise at least two ophthalmic devices, as shown later in
An accommodation threshold may be defined for in a variety of ways, such as presetting the threshold of which the accommodation would be activated. Eye to eye spacing of various users may cause a small change in the accommodation threshold among users. This variation may be corrected by the doctor and/or some customization software which would upload the correction factor for the individual user. The correction factor may be stored in a user profile associated with the user. Another method adjusts an accommodation threshold while an ophthalmic device is on the user based on instructions from the user. The method automatically takes in account several variables including user preference, eye distance, eye position, lens position to create a custom threshold for the user. This custom threshold may be stored in the user profile. The user knows the accommodation threshold that he/she set and adapts their behavior accordingly. The user can further modify the accommodation threshold for changing circumstances to better fit the current activity, if necessary. Thus, the user profile may be updated and/or further refined by the user over time (e.g., as the user's needs change, as the user's eyes change).
The user profile may be used to restore and refine adaptive (e.g., automatic) adjustment to the accommodation threshold to enhance the user's experience by fine tuning the threshold by observing the habits of the user. Observation of dwell time vs. distance might prove to be confounding to the user and be “too helpful.” For example, if the user has been reading for a while at 30 cm and then the user wants to use the computer at 50 cm, the threshold may have been previously adjusted to 30 cm and thus, does not activate at 50 cm. In this situation, the user has two choices: 1) wait staring at the screen until the ophthalmic device determines that the user really wants to see at 50 cm or 2) that user moves to 30 cm and lives with it. These choices may be improved upon using adaptive algorithms. Adaptive algorithms may be used to update user profiles, generate user profiles, and/or the like.
In some implementations, the accommodation threshold may be a single point threshold or binary switch where once reached, the ophthalmic devices are activated. For a good user experience, the following conditions may be met: the lenses are needed and activated, or not needed and deactivated. Both other cases are not desirable, i.e., not needed and activated or needed and not-activated. Thus, the accommodation threshold may be adjusted to prevent the latter two scenarios. For instance, the previous example shows that a static accommodation threshold may have resulted in the user being in undesirable scenarios, but a simple 50 cm accommodation threshold would have worked for the 30 cm book reading position and the 50 cm computer screen reading position.
Adaptive algorithms may be used to achieve an optimal accommodation threshold. The optimal accommodation threshold may be stored in a user profile. The optimal accommodation threshold may be the longest distance that the user needs the magnification and no longer than necessary to prevent the ophthalmic device from being Active while the ophthalmic device is not needed.
The ophthalmic system may receive the information that the user customized, e.g., a user defined threshold. The ophthalmic system may monitor where the user activates the accommodation by exceeding that user defined accommodation threshold. The ophthalmic system may determine if the user dwells (e.g., looks as a fixed distance) at exactly the accommodation threshold or if the user dwells at a different distance, such as a longer distance than the accommodation threshold. The adaptive system may add or subtract distance to the accommodation threshold and/or some additional Hysteresis since the user usually uses ophthalmic device at the longest distance.
The adaptive algorithm may update the accommodation threshold based on user input. For example, if the user started dwelling at 60 cm, it may be difficult to determine if the user desired to activate the ophthalmic device. If a user is reading, it may be difficult to determine whether the accommodation threshold should be adjusted to 30 cm. User input may be used to determine if a user dwelling at a specific distance should be used as a basis to adjust the accommodation threshold. The user may communicate with the one or more ophthalmic devices by a gesture, voice command, entering a command via a user interface (e.g., mobile phone, computer, tablet). The user may communicate that the user rejects a particular adjustment of the accommodation threshold.
Adaptive algorithms may be implemented in a system where the one or more ophthalmic devices determined that a user wanted to accommodate and the system tracked and adapted to the longest distance threshold for accommodation.
Adaptive algorithms may be implemented to adjust user defined threshold to work better with the actual habits of the user. Small changes to threshold and hysteresis may be made to prevent chattering. The system may be configured to ignore or be slower to react to sudden changes after a long period of fixation.
Adaptive algorithms may be implemented to filter (e.g., reject, ignore) user behavior. For example, involuntary blink rate may be determined. Each user may have unique blink habits, the system can adapt to filter and/or reject these false signals. The system may be used for microsaccades filtering, e.g., filtering small movements made by the eye of the user. Involuntary blink rate and other user characteristics (e.g., detected by an ophthalmic device) may be stored in a user profile.
Adaptive algorithms may be used to modify multiple accommodation thresholds. For example, accommodation thresholds may comprise a gaze threshold for transitioning from accommodation to gaze (e.g., or activating gaze from being deactivated) and an accommodation threshold for transitioning from gaze to accommodation (e.g., or activating accommodation from being deactivated). The gaze threshold and/or accommodation thresholds may be stored in the user profile.
The system may be configured to store adaptive algorithm data (e.g., the history of movement of user, any adjustments made for certain situations, and/or the like). The adaptive algorithm data may be stored on local memory of the one or more ophthalmic devices. The adaptive algorithm data may be transmitted to and stored on a remove device, such as a user device (e.g., mobile phone), a remote server, and/or the like.
The system controller 101 can be configured to generate and/or update user profiles based on adaptive algorithms. For example, system controller 101 may be configured to perform the methods disclosed in
Referring to
Other embodiments to customize the threshold can be accomplished. One way is to have the user's doctor determine the comfortable distance for the user by measuring the distance between the eyes of the patent, the typical distance for certain tasks, and then calculate the threshold. From there, using trial and error methods, determine the comfortable distance. Various thresholds can be programmed into the lens and the user can select the task appropriate threshold. The doctor may generate a user profile customized to the user and load the user profile into an ophthalmic device and/or other
Another method is to allow the user to select his threshold himself. The lens can use the same system that it uses to measure the user's relative eye position to set the accommodation threshold. Where the user's preference of when to activate the extra lens power. There is an overlap where the user's eyes can accommodate unassisted to see adequately and where the user's eyes also can see adequately with the extra power when the lens is active. At what point to activate determined by user preference. Providing a means for the user to set this threshold, improves the comfort and utility of the lenses. The procedure follows this sequence:
To have a good user experience, the user can receive confirmation that the system has completed any adjustments or customization. In addition, the system can be configured to determine if the user performed these tasks properly and if not, and then request that the user preforms the procedure again. Cases that prevent proper customization and adjustment may include excessive movement during measurement, head not straight, lens out of tolerance, etc. The interactive experience will have far less frustrated or unhappy users.
Feedback can be given through various means. Using a phone app provides the most flexibility with the screen, cpu, memory, internet connection, etc. The methods as discussed for calibration per the embodiments of the present disclosure can be done in conjunction with the use of a smartphone app with use of the communication elements as described in reference to
As a part of continual improvement for the lens, data for the ophthalmic devices can be collected and sent back to the manufacturer (anonymously) via the smartphone app to be used to improve the product. Collected data includes, but not limited to, accommodation cycles, errors, frequency that poor conditions occur, number of hours worn, user set threshold, etc.
Other methods to indicate operation include, but not limited to, blinking lights, vibrating haptics drivers, and activating the ophthalmic devices. Various patterns of activation of these methods could be interpreted by the user to understand the status of the ophthalmic device.
Referring now to
Communication between the two ophthalmic devices (305, 307) can be performed in order to update settings (e.g., threshold), communicate a history of sensor data, and/or the like. The ophthalmic devices (305, 307) can periodically communicate data, such as sensor data, output of calculations (e.g., characteristic of a user), parameter data (e.g., filters applied). For example, a user profile determined (e.g., generated, received), by one of the ophthalmic devices may sent to the other ophthalmic device. The user profile may comprise calibration settings for both a left eye and right eye. As calibration settings are updated for a particular ophthalmic device, these settings may be sent to the other ophthalmic device in the other eye of a user. Each of the two ophthalmic devices may store a redundant copy of the user profile or one of the two ophthalmic devices may store the user profile (e.g., calibration settings may be communicated between the two ophthalmic devices). If the user profile comprises a history of movements of the user, sensor data of one of the ophthalmic devices may be communicated to the other ophthalmic device to be stored in the user profile. Communication between the two ophthalmic devices (305, 307) can be periodically performed, such as a predefined number of times during a time period, according to specific schedule, in response to a triggering condition, and/or the like.
As an example, communication between the ophthalmic devices (305, 307) can be important to detect proper calibration. Communication between the two ophthalmic devices (305, 307) may take the form of absolute or relative position, or may simply be a calibration of one lens to another if there is suspected eye movement. If a given ophthalmic device detects calibration different from the other ophthalmic device, it may activate a change in stage, for example, switching a variable-focus or variable power optic equipped contact lens to the near distance state to support reading. Other information useful for determining the desire to accommodate (focus near), for example, lid position and ciliary muscle activity, may also be transmitted over the communication channel 313. It should also be appreciated that communication over the channel 313 could comprise other signals sensed, detected, or determined by the embedded elements (309, 311) used for a variety of purposes, including vision correction or vision enhancement.
The communications channel (313) comprises, but not limited to, a set of radio transceivers, optical transceivers, or ultrasonic transceivers that provide the exchange of information between both lens and between the lenses and a device such as a smart phone, FOB, or other device used to send and receive information. The types of information include, but are not limited to, current sensor readings showing position, the results of system controller computation, synchronization of threshold and activation. In addition, the device or smart phone could upload settings, sent sequencing signals for the various calibrations, and receive status and error information from the lenses.
Still referring to
Referring to
In reference to
At step 602, sensor data representing movement of an eye of a user, may be received. The sensor data may be received by a first sensor system disposed on or in a first ophthalmic device. The first ophthalmic device may be disposed within or upon an eye of the user. The first ophthalmic device may comprise a contact lens or an implantable lens, or a combination of both. The sensor data may comprise data from a vibration sensor, a capacitance sensor, an impedance sensor, an accelerometer, a combination thereof, and/or the like. For example, the sensor data may comprise eye movement, eyelid movements, eyelid position, eye position, eye muscle position, eye muscle movements, speed and/or direction of eye movements, a combination thereof, and/or the like. Example sensors for detection of the sensor data are described further herein. The senor data may be stored in a user profile associated with the user.
At step 604, storage of a history of movement of the eye may be caused. Causing storage of the history of movement of the eye may comprise causing storage in a local storage of the first sensor system. Causing storage of the history of movement of the eye may comprise causing storage in remote storage external to first sensor system. The remote storage may comprise a mobile device, a remote server, a tablet, a computing station, and/or the like. The history of movement of the user may be stored in the user profile associated with the user.
At step 606, a dwell characteristic may be determined. The dwell characteristic may indicate a distance at which the eye is fixated when an event occurs. The dwell characteristic may be determined based on the history of movement. The event may comprise activating the first ophthalmic device. The event may comprise the eye remaining fixated at the distance for a minimum amount of time. The dwell characteristic may comprise an activity (e.g., or context) associated with dwelling at a distance. For example, the activity may comprise a user activity, such as watching television, reading a booking, driving a car, working, running, walking, and/or the like. The sensor data may be used to determine the activity. Accelerometer values may indicate that the user is moving eyes side to side, indicating a reading motion. A range of eye movement may be determined. Different ranges of eye movement may be associated with different activities. Different distances at which the eye is fixated may be associated with different activities. The dwell characteristic may be stored in the user profile.
The sensor data from a variety of sensors may be used to more accurately determine when to cause output of a signal indicative of performing an action (e.g., to change a parameter), and/or what activity a user is engaged in. For example, a voting scheme may be used in which different data and/or sensors may be given different weights in making a determination. The weighting may vary depending on the context. For example, several sensors may generate data indicative of the same activity, such as reading a book. First sensor data from one sensor may indicate that a user's eye is fixated at a distance close to the user. Second sensor data from another sensor may indicate that the user is not moving the eye back and forth, suggesting that the user is not reading. The second sensor data may be given more weight in a determination of whether to adjust an accommodation threshold, and/or determine whether the user is reading a book or not.
At step 608, an output of a signal indicative of performing an action may be caused. Output of the signal indicative of performing the action may be caused based on (e.g., in response to) determining the dwell characteristic.
Causing output of the signal indicative of performing the action may comprise causing adjustment of a parameter. A parameter (e.g., or calibration setting) of the user profile may be adjusted. The parameter may comprise a threshold, such as an accommodation threshold and/or a gaze threshold. The threshold may be a threshold for enabling a viewing mode, such as a near viewing mode (e.g., accommodation mode), a far viewing mode (e.g., a gaze mode). The accommodation threshold may comprise a threshold for activating an ophthalmic device (e.g., or a lens of an ophthalmic device) to perform accommodation operation. The accommodation threshold may comprise a distance threshold indicative of a minimum or maximum distance at which the eye is fixated before activating the ophthalmic device (e.g., the lens) to perform the accommodation operation. The activation of the lens may comprise activation by the user, activation by the ophthalmic device (e.g., based on analysis of sensor data), receiving an instruction for activation, and/or the like. The accommodation threshold may comprise a time threshold indicative of a minimum time at which the eye is fixated at a distance before activating the lens to perform the accommodation operation. The accommodation operation may comprise adjusting (e.g., activating, turning on) the ophthalmic device (e.g., or lens) to allow the eye to focus at a distance.
Causing adjustment of the parameter may comprise increasing or decreasing the parameter (e.g., a value of an accommodation threshold, a value of a gaze threshold). For example, the accommodation threshold and/or gaze threshold may be increased from a first distance to a second distance (e.g., as shown in
The parameter (e.g., or value thereof) may be determined based on an instruction from the user indicating the parameter. The parameter (e.g., accommodation threshold, gaze threshold, activation threshold, deactivation threshold, hysteresis value) may comprise a user defined parameter. Causing adjustment of the parameter may comprise adjusting the user defined parameter (e.g., threshold). For example, the history of the movement of the eye and/or the dwell characteristic may not match the user defined parameter. Thus, the user defined parameter (e.g., threshold) may be increased and/or decreased as the behavior of the user changes over time.
In an aspect, input from the user associated with adjusting the accommodation threshold may be received. The input may indicate whether the user accepts or rejects the adjusting of the parameter. The dwell characteristic may be adjusted if the input indicates that the user rejects the adjusting of the parameter. For example, an accommodation threshold may be adjusted after user move his or her eye up closely at a drawing. Following adjustment, the user may indicate that the user rejects the adjustment of the accommodation threshold, as the user does not typically look closely at a drawing. A history of user input (e.g., indicating acceptance or rejection of a parameter or adjustment of a parameter) may be stored in the user profile.
In an aspect, it may be determined that a current movement of the eye satisfies the dwell characteristic. Causing output of a signal indicative of performing an action (e.g. or adjusting an accommodation threshold or gaze threshold) may be performed in response to determining that the eye satisfies the dwell characteristic. For example, the dwell characteristic may be associated with a particular action of the user, such as reading a book, reading a computer screen, driving, playing a sport, and/or the like. The current movement may indicate that the user is performing the action. Different accommodation thresholds may be associated with different actions of the user. The ophthalmic system may be configured to adjust one or more parameters as the ophthalmic system determines that a user is engaged in a different action associated with a different parameter settings (e.g., thresholds).
In reference to
At step 704, storage of a history of movement of at least one of the eye or an eye lid of the eye may be caused. The storage may be caused based on the sensor data. Causing storage of the history of movement of the eye may comprise causing storage in a local storage of the first sensor system. Causing storage of the history of movement of the eye may comprise causing storage in remote storage external to first sensor system. The remote storage may comprise a mobile device, a remote server, a tablet, a laptop, a computing station, and/or the like. The history of movement may be stored in the user profile.
At step 706, a characteristic of the user may be determined. The characteristic of the user may be determined based on the history of movement. The characteristic of the user may comprise a blink rate, a microsaccades movement, a dwell characteristic, a vergence characteristic a combination thereof, and/or the like. The characteristic of the user may comprise a dwell time indicative of a minimum time that the eye is fixated at a distance before activating a lens to perform an accommodation operation. The determined characteristic may be stored in the user profile.
At step 708, it may be determined that a current movement of at least one of the eye or the eye lid matches the characteristic of the user. For example, sensor data associated with a time frame (e.g., within a predefined time of the present time) may be analyzed to determine a current characteristic. The current characteristic may comprise a blink rate, a movement pattern, an eye fixation distance, vergence value, and/or the like. The current characteristic may be compared to the characteristic of the user previously determined. If the current characteristic is within a threshold similarity to the characteristic of the user previously determined, then it may be determined that the current movement matches the characteristic of the user.
At step 710, sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may be filtered. The sensor data may be filtered in response to determining that the current movement of at least one of the eye or the eye lid matches the characteristic of the user. Filtering sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may comprise rejecting the sensor data. Filtering sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may comprise determining that the sensor data is not indicative of a command from the user. Filtering the sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may comprise filtering involuntary blink movements based on the blink rate. Filtering the sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may comprise filtering microsaccades movement. Filtering the sensor data from the first sensor associated with the current movement may comprise filtering movement of the eye movement that does not satisfy a dwell characteristic (e.g., a dwell time, a dwell distance).
The initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802 may be determined by a professional, user input, or be a default setting. The initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802 may be stored in a default profile or a user profile associated with the user. The initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802 may be modified based on user behavior. For example, as shown by the line 806, the user may attempt to focus at a distance between the initial near threshold 804 and the initial far threshold 802. If the user dwells at the distance for a time period, it may be determined to modify the initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802. An adapted far threshold 808 and/or an adapted near threshold 810 may be determined (e.g., in response to the determination to modify the initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802). The adapted far threshold 808 and/or an adapted near threshold 810 may be selected to minimize switching between operation modes. The user profile may be updated to add the adapted far threshold 808 and the adapted near threshold 810. For example, the initial near threshold 804 may be replaced by the adapted near threshold 810 in the user profile. The initial far threshold 802 may be replaced by the adapted far threshold 808 in the user profile.
Additional information may be used to determine whether to modify the initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802. The additional information may be used with a dwell distance and/or dwell time to determine whether to modify the initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802. The additional information may comprise one or more of eye position, eyelid position, vergence angle, eye muscle movement, eye movement, and/or the like. For example, the additional information may be determined based on signals and/or data from a capacitance sensor (e.g., to detect eye position or eyelid position). The additional information may be determined based on signals and/or data from an impedance sensor. The additional information may be determined based on signals and/or data from one or more accelerometers (e.g., to determine vergence angle, eye movement, eye position).
As an illustration, the additional information may provide additional context for determining whether to perform an action, such as modifying the initial near threshold 804 and/or the initial far threshold 802. For example, it can be determined that a user is using a computer based on vibration detected by a vibration sensor due to typing, moving a mouse, and/or the like. The angle and/or distance of eye fixation may be determined by one or more of an impedance sensor, a capacitance sensor, an accelerometer, and/or the like. An accommodation threshold or other threshold associated with viewing a computer display may be adjusted to an appropriate level based on the distance of the eye fixation (e.g., thereby allowing the ophthalmic device to more accurately change operation of a lens to an appropriate setting for computer display viewing).
In an aspect, an updated hysteresis value may be determined based on the additional information, dwell time, dwell distance, a combination thereof, and/or the like. An initial hysteresis value may comprise a difference between the initial far threshold 802 and the initial near threshold 804. A determination may be made to modify the initial hysteresis value to determine an updated hysteresis value. The updated hysteresis value may comprise a difference between the adapted far threshold 808 and the adapted near threshold 810. One or more of the adapted far threshold 808 and the adapted near threshold 810 may be determined based on the updated hysteresis value.
The following figures and description provide examples of a variety of sensors that may be used to determine dwell characteristics (e.g., dwell context, user activity) associated with a user.
In this exemplary embodiment, the sensor 902 may be at least partially embedded into the ophthalmic device 900. The sensor 902 may be in mechanical communication with the eye, for example disposed to sense vibration associated with (e.g., translating through) the eye. The sensor 902 may be in electrical communication with the eye, for example in series with the eye (e.g., disposed to sense a change in impedance associated with the eye). For sensing impedance, the sensor 902 may comprise one or more adjustable resistors, such as programmable resistors. For sensing vibration, the sensor 902 may be or comprise one or more components configured to sense a displacement (e.g., vibration) at or near the eye. The sensor 902 may comprise a micro ball sensor, a piezo vibration sensor, a cantilever sensor, a microphone, and the like. The sensor 902 may comprise a piezoelectric, sonic, subsonic, and/or ultrasonic sensor component. The sensor 902 may comprise an emitter/detector pair. The sensor 902 may be configured to generate an electrical signal indicative of the sensed vibration. As such, when characteristics of the ciliary muscle change, the sensor 902 may sense displacement(s) due to such change and may generate the electrical signal indicative of such change or resultant characteristic. For example, there may be various signals detected by the sensor 902 depending on the state that a ciliary muscle is in, such as whether it is contracting or relaxing, or on the type of action that a ciliary muscle is trying to perform, such as causing the eye to focus on a near object or a far object. As a further example, particular states of the ciliary muscle representing one or more characteristics of the ciliary muscle at a given time, may be associated with a particular displacement signature indicative of the particular state. Additionally or alternatively, the change between states of the ciliary muscle may be associated with a particular displacement signature indicative of the particular transition between states. A set of displacement signatures may be determined (e.g., via experimentation) and may be stored for subsequent comparison. The set of displacement signatures may be generated using machine learning, heuristics, signal processing, and/or comparison to one or more predetermined signatures. The set of displacement signatures may be user specific and/or time specific based on actual or predictive use patterns over a period of time. Displacement signature and/or other characteristics associated with states of the ciliary muscle of an eye of the user may be determined for a particular user. These signatures and characteristics may be stored in a user profile.
The sensor 902 may be configured to receive an electrical current flowing through the eye. As such, when the impedance of the eye changes, for example, due to a change in characteristics of the ciliary muscle, the sensor 902 may be configured to the change in characteristics of the ciliary muscle. For example, there may be various signals detected by the sensor 902 depending on the state that a ciliary muscle is in, such as whether it is contracting or relaxing, or on the type of action that a ciliary muscle is trying to perform, such as causing the eye to focus on a near object or a far object.
Example signatures include those associated with the ciliary muscle contracting and relaxing in response to an accommodative stimulus to change lens focus. Peak intensity of muscle movement may occur when the stimulus changes near/far or far/near, which may be represented by a derivative of the signals 1102, 1106 (
Returning to
As set forth above, the sensor 902 and the sensor circuit 904 are configured to capture and isolate the signals indicative of characteristic of the ciliary muscle from the noise and other signals produced in or by the eye and convert it to a signal usable ultimately by the system controller 914. The system controller 914 is preferably preprogrammed to recognize the various signals produced by the ciliary muscle under various conditions and provide an appropriate output signal to the actuator 918.
In this exemplary embodiment, the analog-to-digital converter 906 may be used to convert an analog signal output from the amplifier into a digital signal for processing. For example, the analog-to-digital converter 906 may convert an analog signal output from the sensor circuit 904 into a digital signal that may be useable by subsequent or downstream circuits, such as a digital signal processing system 908 or microprocessor. A digital signal processing system or digital signal processor 908 may be utilized for digital signal processing, including one or more of filtering, processing, detecting, and otherwise manipulating/processing sampled data to discern a ciliary muscle signal from noise and interference. The digital signal processor 908 may be preprogrammed with the ciliary muscle responses described above. The digital signal processor 108 may be implemented utilizing analog circuitry, digital circuitry, software and/or preferably a combination thereof. For example, various ciliary muscle signals that may occur within a certain frequency range may be distinguishable from other signals, noise, and interference that occur within other frequency ranges. Certain commonly occurring noise and interference signals may be notched at various stages in the signal acquisition chain utilizing analog or digital filters, for example, harmonics of 50/60 Hz AC mains and fluorescent lights. It may be advantageous to filter various noise and interference signals through a combination of analog and digital signal processing, for example to use differential circuit design techniques to reject common-mode noise that could overload a sensitive amplifier, while performing time- and frequency-domain analysis (e.g. to differentiate ciliary muscle signals from eye movements) in digital signal processing.
A power source 916 supplies power for numerous components comprising the non-contact sensor system. The power may be supplied from a battery, energy harvester, or other suitable means as is known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Essentially, any type of power source may be utilized to provide reliable power for all other components of the system. A ciliary muscle signal, processed from analog to digital, may enable activation of the system controller 914. Furthermore, the system controller 914 may control other aspects of a powered contact lens depending on input from the digital signal processor 908, for example, changing the focus or refractive power of an electronically controlled lens through an actuator 918.
In further alternate exemplary embodiments, the system controller 914 may receive input from sources including one or more of a contact sensor, a blink detector, capacitance sensor, impedance sensor, accelerometer, and/or a fob control. By way of generalization, it may be obvious to one skilled in the art that the method of activating, adjusting parameters (e.g., accommodation threshold, gaze threshold) and/or controlling the system controller 914 may require the use of one or more activation methods. For example, an electronic or powered contact lens may be programmable specific to an individual user, such as programming a lens to recognize both of an individual's ciliary muscle signals when performing various actions, for example, focusing on an object far away, or focusing on an object that is near, and an individual's blink patterns. In some exemplary embodiments, using more than one method to activate an electronic contact lens, such as ciliary muscle signal detection and blink detection, may give the ability for each method to crosscheck with another before modification of a parameter (e.g., or activation/deactivation) of the ophthalmic device occurs. An advantage of crosschecking may include mitigation of false positives, such as minimizing the chance of unintentionally triggering a lens to activate.
In one exemplary embodiment, the crosschecking may involve a voting scheme, wherein a certain number of conditions are met prior to any action taking place. The actuator 918 may comprise any suitable device for implementing a specific action based upon a received command signal. The actuator 918 may comprise an electrical device, a mechanical device, a magnetic device or any combination thereof. The actuator 918 receives a signal from the system controller 914 in addition to power from the power source 916 and produces some action based on the signal from the system controller 914. For example, if the system controller 914 signal is indicative of the wearer trying to focus on a near object, the actuator 918 may be utilized to somehow change the refractive power of the electronic ophthalmic lens.
In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the contacts 1002 may provide for a direct electrical connection to the tear film and the eye surface. For example, the contacts 1002 may be implemented as metal contacts that are exposed on the back curve of the ophthalmic device 1000 and be made of biocompatible conductive materials, such as gold or titanium. Furthermore, the contact lens polymer may be molded around the contacts 1002, which may aid in comfort on the eye and provide improved conductivity through the ophthalmic device 1000. Additionally, the contacts 1002 may provide for a low resistance connection between the eye's surface 912 and the electronic circuitry within the ophthalmic device 1000. Four-terminal sensing, also known as Kelvin sensing, may be utilized to mitigate contact resistance effects on the eye. The sensor circuit 1004 may emit a signal with several constituent frequencies or a frequency sweep, while measuring the voltage/current across the contacts 1002.
In an alternate exemplary embodiment, the sensor circuit 1004 may be configured to sense a vibration, a change in impedance, and/or the like produced by the contraction or relaxation of the ciliary muscle 910. It is important to note that various types of sensors may be utilized, given that the eye comprises various fluids, including tears which are excellent conductors. The sensor circuit 1004 may be configured to measure vibration, wherein the vibration may change based upon what a ciliary muscle is trying to do, such as contracting or relaxing. In this exemplary embodiment, the analog-to-digital converter 1006 and the digital signal processing 1008 may be configured differently for a contact-based sensor as opposed to a non-contact based sensor, as described in
In an alternate exemplary embodiment, the sensor circuit 1004 may be configured to read a potential difference across the eye arising from a voltage or current produced by the contraction or relaxation of the ciliary muscle 910. It is important to note that various types of sensors may be utilized, given that the eye comprises various fluids, including tears which are excellent conductors. The sensor circuit 1004 may be configured to measure the impedance of an eye wherein the impedance may change in a certain location based upon what a ciliary muscle is trying to do, such as contracting or relaxing. In this exemplary embodiment, the analog-to-digital converter 1006 and the digital signal processing 1008 may be configured differently for a contact-based sensor as opposed to a non-contact based sensor, as described in
As described in the literature, there is a correlation between a measurable electrical signal and a focal length. As illustrated in
In some exemplary embodiments, characteristics of an electrical signal (e.g., trace 1102, 1104) such as shape, frequency content, timing, and amplitude, may vary due to several factors including one or more of a detection method utilized (e.g., vibration, impedance, or field strength), an individual's eye physiology, ciliary muscle fatigue, electrolyte levels in the eye, state of presbyopia, interference, and focal length. For example, depending on the type of detection method used, the correlation between desired focus and measurable electrical parameter may have the opposite polarity from what is illustrated in
Additionally, for example, a signal may be distorted from carrying one or more of significant noise, interference from other muscles, and interference from various environmental sources or due to the effects of aging, disease or genetics. Accordingly, studies of eye response and individual user measurement and training may be used to program the digital signal circuitry to properly detect the eye's desired focal length. Parameters of the digital signal processing may be adjusted in response to other measurements, for example, time of day, measured electrolyte levels, ambient light levels and the like. Furthermore, recorded samples of a user's eye focus signals may be used in conjunction with interference detection and mitigation techniques. It is important to note that any type of sensor may be utilized in accordance with the present disclosure. As long as there is muscle movement associated with changing conditions, it may be sensed, processed and utilized to enhance, augment or simply provide vision correction.
In an aspect, dwell characteristics associated with movement of an eyelid or an eye may be determined based on one or more capacitive touch sensors. The capacitive touch sensors may be used to track movements of the eye of the use. The movements may be recognized as a dwell characteristic, a gesture, a user activity (e.g., for determining context), and/or the like. The movements may be used as trigger for causing output of a signal indicative of an action perform. The movements may be used as a trigger for adjusting a parameter, such as a dwell mode, dwell threshold, a calibration setting of a user profile and/or the like. The capacitive touch sensors may be used to sense a capacitance within or upon an eye of the user of the ophthalmic device. As an example, the capacitive touch sensors may be configured to detect a capacitance that may be affected by a position of one or more of an upper eyelid and a lower eyelid of the user. As such, the sensed capacitance may be indicative of a position of the eyelid(s) and may represent a gaze or position of the eye. One or more of the capacitive touch sensors may be configured as linear sensor 1200 (
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The capacitive touch sensors may comprise a variable capacitor, which may be implemented in a physical manner such that the capacitance varies with proximity or touch, for example, by implementing a grid covered by a dielectric. Sensor conditioners create an output signal proportional to the capacitance, for example, by measuring the change in an oscillator comprising the variable capacitor or by sensing the ratio of the variable capacitor to a fixed capacitor with a fixed-frequency AC signal. The output of the sensor conditioners may be combined with a multiplexer to reduce downstream circuitry.
In
The present methods and systems may determine one or more angles of movement associated with the gaze of the user (e.g., regardless of whether the user's eyelids are open or closed). The angle of movement may be used to determine a dwell characteristic, an activity of a user (e.g., reading, watching media, driving, talking to others), whether to filter out a movement of the eye, whether to adjust a threshold (e.g., accommodation threshold, gaze threshold), whether to adjust a hysteresis value, and/or the like.
In reference to
Searching for the user profile associated with the user may comprise one or more of searching for the user profile in storage of (e.g., hard drive, memory, cache, flash drive, removable drive) the first ophthalmic device, querying (e.g., sending a message indicating a request for a user profile) a second ophthalmic device, or querying a remote device. The remote device may comprise one or more of a mobile device, a wearable device, or a computing station. Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) a pairing of the first ophthalmic device and one or more of the second ophthalmic device or the remote device. Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) an initialization sequence (e.g., started by turning on or restarting the first ophthalmic device), a request from the second ophthalmic device, entering a calibration mode, a request from a user (e.g., a gesture or movement of the user is recognized as a request to search and/or load the user profile). Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) determining an identity of the user (e.g., based on a user credential, based on a biometric, an eye scan), authorizing the user for a service (e.g., a premium service, a subscribed service), and/or the like.
At step 1904, a failure to find the user profile associated with the user may be determined. For example, the failure may be determined after the user profile is searched for in a predetermined number of places. The failure may be determined when a default profile or other setting is discovered indicating that the first ophthalmic device has not be customized with a user profile.
At step 1906, the first ophthalmic device may be caused to enter a calibration mode. For example, the first sensor system of the first ophthalmic device may be caused to enter a calibration mode. The first sensor system may be caused to enter a calibration mode based on (e.g., or in response to) determining the failure (e.g., step 1904). The first ophthalmic device (e.g., or a remote device) may indicate to the user that the first ophthalmic device is entering a calibration mode. Example calibration modes that involve user input are illustrated further herein, such as in
At step 1908, it may be determined to modify a calibration setting associated with the eye of the user. The determination may be made during the calibration mode. The calibration setting may comprise an accommodation threshold associated with switching between a near focus mode and a far focus mode. The calibration setting may comprise a vergence angle or eye separation distance. The calibration setting may comprise an impedance setting. The calibration setting may comprise a hysteresis setting indicative of a separation between a threshold for activating a near focus mode and threshold for activing a far focus mode.
At step 1910, a user profile comprising the modified calibration setting may be generated. Generating the user profile associated with the user comprising the modified calibration setting may comprise generating the user profile based on a default profile. The user profile may comprise a plurality of calibration settings, a history of movements of the user (e.g., sensor data), characteristics of the user (e.g., determined based on the movements), user patterns, user feedback in response to calibration settings, filtration settings (e.g., based on involuntary eye movements of the user), and/or the like.
At step 1912, calibration of a second ophthalmic device may be caused. The calibration of the second ophthalmic device may be caused based on the user profile. Causing calibration of the second ophthalmic device (e.g., based on the user profile) may comprise transmitting the calibration setting (e.g., or the user profile) to a remote device configured to transmit the calibration setting to the second ophthalmic device. Causing calibration of a second ophthalmic device (e.g., based on the generated user profile) may comprise transmitting the calibration setting (e.g., or the user profile) to the second ophthalmic device in response to one or more of detecting the second ophthalmic device or generating the user profile comprising the modified calibration setting.
The generated user profile may be updated based on one or more of user feedback or a history of movements of the user. For example, the user profile may be updated based on the adaptive algorithms described further herein.
In reference to
Searching for the user profile associated with the user may comprise one or more of searching for the user profile in storage of (e.g., hard drive, memory, cache, flash drive, removable drive) the first ophthalmic device, querying a second ophthalmic device, or querying a remote device. The remote device may comprise one or more of a mobile device, a wearable device, or a computing station.
Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) a pairing of the first ophthalmic device and one or more of the second ophthalmic device or the remote device. Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) an initialization sequence (e.g., started by turning on or restarting the first ophthalmic device), a request from the second ophthalmic device, entering a calibration mode, a request from a user (e.g., a gesture or movement of the user is recognized as a request to search and/or load the user profile). Searching for the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) determining an identity of the user (e.g., based on a user credential, based on a biometric, an eye scan), authorizing the user for a service (e.g., a premium service, a subscribed service), and/or the like.
At step 2004, the user profile associated with the user may be determined (e.g., detected, discovered, located, identified). The user profile may be located based on a user identifier, user credentials (e.g., eye signature). For example an image or other signature associated with the user's eye may be matched to a stored image or signature associated with a user profile. The user profile may be located on the first ophthalmic device, on another ophthalmic device (e.g., a second ophthalmic device paired with the first ophthalmic device). The user profile may be located on remote device, such as a server configured to store user profiles, a mobile device of the user, a base station, and/or the like.
The user profile may comprise a plurality of calibration settings, a history of movements of the user (e.g., sensor data), characteristics of the user (e.g., determined based on the movements), user patterns, user feedback in response to calibration settings, filtration settings (e.g., based on involuntary eye movements of the user), and/or the like.
At step 2006, a calibration setting of the first ophthalmic device may be configured. The calibration setting may comprise a calibration setting of the first sensor system of the first ophthalmic device. The calibration setting may be configured, based on the user profile. For example, the first ophthalmic device may determine the calibration setting from the user profile. The calibration setting may be associated with a timestamp in the user profile. If a threshold amount of time has passed, the calibration setting may be reset, or the user may be monitored to determine if the calibration setting is still accurate.
The calibration setting may comprise an accommodation threshold associated with switching between a near focus mode and a far focus mode. The calibration setting may comprise a vergence angle or eye separation distance. The calibration setting may comprise an impedance setting. The calibration setting may comprise a hysteresis setting indicative of a separation between a threshold for activating a near focus mode and threshold for activing a far focus mode.
At step 2008, a second ophthalmic device may be caused to configure, based on the user profile, a calibration setting of the second ophthalmic device. The second ophthalmic device may be caused to configure the calibration setting based on the user profile. The calibration setting may comprise a calibration setting of a second sensor system of the second ophthalmic device. Causing the second ophthalmic device to configure, based on the user profile, the calibration setting of the second ophthalmic device may comprise transmitting the calibration setting to a remote device configured to transmit the calibration setting to the second ophthalmic device. Causing the second ophthalmic device to configure, based on the user profile, the calibration setting of the second ophthalmic device may comprise transmitting the calibration setting to the second ophthalmic device in response to one or more of detecting the second ophthalmic device or determining the user profile.
The user profile may be updated based on one or more of user feedback or a history of movements of the user. The user profile may comprise a default profile comprising one or more calibration settings customized for the user. For example, the user profile may be updated based on the adaptive algorithms described further herein.
In reference to
At step 2102, a user profile may be received. The user profile may comprise one or more calibration settings associated with a user. The user profile may be received by a first ophthalmic device. The first ophthalmic device may be configured to be disposed within or upon an eye of the user. The first ophthalmic device may comprise a lens, a first sensor system, and a first processor.
The one or more calibration settings may comprise an accommodation threshold associated with switching between a near focus mode and a far focus mode. The one or more calibration settings may comprise a vergence angle or eye separation distance. The one or more calibration settings may comprise an impedance setting. The one or more calibration settings may comprise a hysteresis setting indicative of a separation between a threshold for activating a near focus mode and threshold for activing a far focus mode.
The user profile may be received from a remote device. The remote device may comprise a mobile device, a wearable device, or a computing station. The remote device may comprise a second ophthalmic device. Receiving the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) a pairing of the first ophthalmic device and one or more of the second ophthalmic device or the remote device. Receiving the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) an initialization sequence (e.g., started by turning on or restarting the first ophthalmic device), a message from the second ophthalmic device, entering a calibration mode, a request from a user (e.g., a gesture or movement of the user is recognized as a request to search and/or load the user profile). Receiving the user profile may be based on (e.g., or in response to) determining an identity of the user (e.g., based on a user credential, based on a biometric, an eye scan), authorizing the user for a service (e.g., a premium service, a subscribed service), and/or the like.
At step 2104, configuration of the first sensor system may be caused based on the user profile. The user profile may comprise one or more calibration settings customized for the user. The user profile may comprise a default profile customized for a user during a calibration mode.
At step 2106, a characteristic of the user may be determined. The characteristic of the user may be determined based on one or more of user input or a history of movements of the eye the user. The user input may comprise user input indicating rejection of at least one of the one or more calibration settings. The history of movements of the eye of the user may be associated with a calibration mode. The characteristic of the user may comprise a blink rate, a microsaccades movement, a dwell characteristic, a vergence characteristic a combination thereof, and/or the like. The characteristic of the user may comprise a dwell time indicative of a minimum time that the eye is fixated at a distance before activating a lens to perform an accommodation operation.
At step 2108, the user profile may be modified. The user profile may be modified based on the characteristic of the user. For example, the user profile may be updated based on the adaptive algorithms described further herein. Characteristics of the user may be associated with corresponding calibration settings (e.g., at a remote device, in memory of the first ophthalmic device). If a characteristic and a corresponding calibration setting is determined, then the user profile can be updated to add the calibration setting. As another example, a calibration setting may be calculated and/or generated based on the characteristic of the user.
At step 2110, the lens of the first ophthalmic device may be adjusted. The lens may be adjusted based on the modified user profile. Adjusting (e.g., based on the modified user profile) the lens of the first ophthalmic device may comprise adjusting one or more of a focal length, a focal point, or a refractive index of the lens.
It is important to note that the above described elements may be realized in hardware, in software or in a combination of hardware and software. In addition, the communication channel may comprise any include various forms of wireless communications. The wireless communication channel may be configured for high frequency electromagnetic signals, low frequency electromagnetic signals, visible light signals, infrared light signals, and ultrasonic modulated signals. The wireless channel may further be used to supply power to the internal embedded power source acting as rechargeable power means.
The present disclosure may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product being used by a controller for causing the controller to carry out aspects of the present disclosure.
Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
