Patent Application
20210231956
This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0009219, filed on Jan. 23, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure herein relates to a display device and an augmented reality apparatus including the same, and more particularly, to a display device including display blocks and an augmented reality apparatus including the same.
Augmented reality represents a technology of overlaying a virtual object to a real world that is seen to a user. In recent years, various contents based on the augmented reality are provided over various fields such as education, game, sports, or tourism. In order to realize the augmented reality, a position or an object of the real world to be overlaid by the virtual object may be specified.
Also, a display device having a see-through structure capable of simultaneously seeing the real world and the virtual object and an augmented reality apparatus including the same have been actively researched.
The present disclosure provides a display device having a simple structure and a high efficiency.
The present disclosure also provides an augmented reality apparatus having a see-through structure.
The object of the present invention is not limited to the aforesaid, but other objects not described herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from descriptions below.
An embodiment of the inventive concept provides a display device including: a display panel including display blocks; and an optics array including pin hole structures that one-to-one correspond to the display blocks. Here, each of the pin hole structures includes a pin hole and a shielding area configured to surround the pin hole, and the display blocks are spaced apart from each other in a first direction parallel to a top surface of the display panel and a second direction crossing the first direction and parallel to the top surface of the display panel.
In an embodiment, the display panel and the optics array may be spaced apart from each other in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.
In an embodiment, the display device may further include a spacer disposed between the display panel and the optics array.
In an embodiment, a thickness of the spacer in the third direction may be about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm.
In an embodiment, each of the pin hole structures may overlap at least a portion of one of the display blocks in the third direction.
In an embodiment, a width of the shielding area may be proportional to a spaced distance between the display panel and the optics array in the third direction.
In an embodiment, a resolution of each of the display blocks may be inversely proportional to a spaced distance between the display panel and the optics array in the third direction.
In an embodiment, each of the display blocks may include an organic light emitting diode (OLED).
In an embodiment, the display blocks may be arranged in a row in the first direction and arranged in a zigzag shape in the second direction.
In an embodiment, the display blocks may be arranged in a row in the first direction and the second direction.
In an embodiment of the inventive concept, an augmented reality apparatus includes: lenses disposed at positions corresponding to eyes of a user; lens rims configured to surround the lenses, respectively; temples each connected to an end of each of the lens rims. Here, each of the lenses includes: a display panel including display blocks; and an optics array including pin hole structures that one-to-one correspond to the display blocks. Also, each of the pin hole structures includes a pin hole and a shielding area configured to surround the pin hole, and the display blocks are spaced apart from each other in a first direction parallel to a top surface of the display panel and a second direction crossing the first direction and parallel to the top surface of the display panel
In an embodiment, each of the display blocks may include a transparent material.
In an embodiment, the display panel and the optics array may be spaced apart from each other in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction, and the augmented reality apparatus may further include a spacer disposed between the display panel and the optics array.
In an embodiment, the spacer may include a transparent material.
In an embodiment, a thickness of the spacer in the third direction may be about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm.
In an embodiment, a width of the shielding area may be proportional to a spaced distance between the display panel and the optics array in the third direction.
In an embodiment, a resolution of each of the display blocks may be inversely proportional to a spaced distance between the display panel and the optics array in the third direction.
In an embodiment, the display blocks may be arranged in a row in the first direction and arranged in a zigzag shape in the second direction.
In an embodiment, the display blocks may be arranged in a row in the first direction and the second direction.
In an embodiment, the shielding area may prevent images emitted from the display blocks from being transmitted to the eyes of the user without passing through the pin hole.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the inventive concept, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the inventive concept. In the drawings:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to sufficiently understand constitutions and effects of the present invention.
The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art. Further, the present invention is only defined by scopes of claims. In the figures, the dimensions of components may be exaggerated for clarity of illustration, and the ratio of each of the components may be exaggerated or reduced.
In the following description, the technical terms are used only for explaining a specific exemplary embodiment while not limiting the present disclosure. Unless terms used in embodiments of the present invention are differently defined, the terms may be construed as meanings that are commonly known to a person skilled in the art.
The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless referred to the contrary. The meaning of ‘comprises’ and/or ‘comprising’ specifies a component, a step, an operation and/or an element does not exclude other components, steps, operations and/or elements.
It will also be understood that when a layer is referred to as being “on” another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may also be present.
It will be understood that although the terms first and second are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to discriminate one region or layer from another region or layer. Therefore, a portion referred to as a first portion in one embodiment can be referred to as a second portion in another embodiment. An embodiment described and exemplified herein includes a complementary embodiment thereof. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
Hereinafter, a display device and an augmented reality apparatus including the same according to an embodiment of the inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to
Referring to
Referring to
The display panel 10 may include a plurality of display blocks DB. The display blocks DB may be spaced apart from each other in the first direction X or the second direction Y. For example, the display blocks DB may be arranged in a row in the first direction X and arranged in a zigzag shape in the second direction Y. As the display blocks DB are spaced apart from each other, external light may pass through a space between the display blocks DB. Thus, the display device according to an embodiment of the inventive concept may have a see-through structure capable of simultaneously seeing an image and surroundings and be used for an augmented reality (AR) apparatus in addition to a virtual reality (VR) apparatus. For example, a cross-section perpendicular to the third direction Z of each of the display blocks DB may have a square shape or a rectangular shape. However, the embodiment of the inventive concept is not limited thereto. For example, the cross-section perpendicular to the third direction Z of each of the display blocks DB may have various shapes such as a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and a polygonal shape unlike as illustrated in the drawing. The display blocks DB may, preferably, include a transparent material. For example, the display blocks DB may include a transparent organic light emitting diode (OLED). However, the embodiment of the inventive concept is not limited thereto. For example, the display blocks DB may include an opaque display such as a micro light emitting diode (LED). Although not shown, the display panel 10 may include a transparent material in the space between the display blocks DB. Also, although not shown, the display blocks DB may be electrically connected to at least one driving unit.
The optics array 20 may include a plurality of pin hole structures PHS. Each of the pin hole structures PHS may have a pin hole PH defined in a central portion thereof and a shielding area SA surrounding the pin hole PH. For example, the pin hole PH may have a square shape or a rectangular shape. However, the embodiment of the inventive concept is not limited thereto. For example, the pin hole PH may have various shapes such as a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and a polygonal shape. The pin hole structures PHS may be spaced apart from each other in the first direction X or the second direction Y. For example, the pin hole structures PHS may be arranged in a zigzag shape in the second direction Y. As the pin hole structures PHS are spaced apart from each other, external light may pass through a space between the pin hole structures PHS. Thus, the display device according to an embodiment of the inventive concept may have the see-through structure capable of simultaneously seeing an image and surroundings and be used for the augmented reality (AR) apparatus in addition to the virtual reality (VR) apparatus. Also, each of the pin hole structures PHS may correspond to one of the display blocks DB. More specifically, each of the pin hole structures PHS may overlap at least a portion of one of the display blocks DB. In other words, each of the display blocks DB and the pin hole PH of each of the pin hole structures PHS may have a one-to-one relationship. Thus, images emitted from the display blocks DB may pass through the corresponding pin hole PH. Here, the shielding area SA may prevent the images emitted from the display blocks DB from being transmitted to the eyes of the user through an area outside the pin hole PH. As the images emitted from the display blocks DB are transmitted to the eyes of the user through the pin hole PH, the use always watch an image that is in-focused and has a great depth regardless of a position of the image. For example, although an image surface is disposed with several centimeters from the eyes of the user, the user may always watch the in-focus image.
A process of transmitting an image to the eyes of the user by the display device according to an embodiment of the inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to
The images emitted from the display blocks DB may be transmitted to a cornea CR of the user through the pin hole PH of each of the pin hole structures PHS. Also, the images emitted from the display blocks DB may be refracted at the cornea CR of the user and arrived at a retina RT of the user. The user may recognize that the images emitted from the display blocks DB is emitted from a continuous virtual image surface VP. More specifically, the user may recognize that a virtual image VI including first to fourth images I1 to I4 is emitted from the virtual image surface VP. The first to fourth images I1 to I4 may be images emitted toward the eyes of the user from the display blocks DB, respectively. In terms of the user, each of the display blocks DB may be disposed on a portion shown through the pin hole PH. At least a portion of images FI arrived at the retina RT may overlap each other. When the images FI arrived at the retina RT of the user do not overlap each other, an image emitted from an edge of each of the display blocks DB may be seen darker than an image emitted from a central portion of each of the display blocks DB. Thus, the images FI arrived at the retina RT of the user are necessary to sufficiently overlap each other.
The shielding area SA of each of the pin hole structures PHS may be provided with a minimum length to prevent the images emitted from the display blocks DB from being transmitted to the cornea CR without passing through the pin hole PH. More specifically, a length ds in the second direction Y of the shielding area SA overlapping the pin hole PH in the second direction Y may satisfy [Mathematical equation 1] below. For example, the shielding area SA surround the pin hole PH may have a constant width. Here, the length ds in the second direction Y of the shielding area SA overlapping the pin hole PH in the second direction Y may be defined as a width of the shielding area SA.
Here, d0 is a maximum length of the cornea CR of the user in the second direction Y, d1 is a spaced distance between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z, and d2 is a spaced distance between the pin hole structures PHS and the cornea CR of the user in the third direction Z. Here, the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z may be extremely smaller than the spaced distance d2 between the pin hole structures PHS and the cornea CR of the user in the third direction Z. Thus, the spaced distance d1 may be ignored. Thus, approximation like the [Mathematical equation 1] may be possible. That is, the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z may be approximately proportional to the length ds in the second direction Y of the shielding area SA overlapping the pin hole PH in the second direction Y. As the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z decreases, the length ds in the second direction Y of the shielding area SA overlapping the pin hole PH in the second direction Y may also decrease. As the length ds in the second direction Y of the shielding area SA overlapping the pin hole PH in the second direction Y decreases, an area shielded by the shielding area SA in an image may also decrease.
Also, a length db in the second direction Y of each of the display blocks DB may satisfy [Mathematical equation 2] below.
Here, m is a distance in the third direction Z from the pin hole structures PHS to a surface obtained by connecting positions at which the first to fourth images I1 to I4 emitted from the display blocks DB are in-focused, and dh is a width of the pin hole PH in the second direction Y.
That is, the length ds of the shielding area SA in the second direction Y and the length db of the display blocks DB in the second direction Y may be designed to satisfy the [Mathematical equation 1] and the [Mathematical equation 2].
The display device according to an embodiment of the inventive concept may further include a spacer SP disposed between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS. The spacer SP may include a transparent material. A thickness of the spacer SP in the third direction Z may be substantially the same as the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z. For example, the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z may be about 0.01 mm to about 20 mm. Preferably, the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z may be about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm. as the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z decreases, a resolution of the display blocks DB may increase. That is, the resolution of the display blocks DB may be inversely proportional to the spaced distance d1 between the display blocks DB and the pin hole structures PHS in the third direction Z.
Referring to
The display device according to the embodiment of the inventive concept may transmit the image to the eyes of the user with the high efficiency through the simple structure thereof.
Also the augmented reality apparatus according to the embodiment of the inventive concept may watch the surroundings through the empty space between the display blocks spaced apart from each other to have the see-through structure.
Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to these exemplary embodiments but various changes and modifications can be made by one ordinary skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed. Thus, the above-disclosed embodiments are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2020-0009219 | Jan 2020 | KR | national |
