Today, digital displays are very popular. They are used in mobile phones, smart phones, wearable devices, tablets, computers, cars, digital camera, TV, etc. However, in some cases, the user encounters challenges that significantly reduce his viewing experience.
Most people approaching 40 years old or above, lose the auto-focus capability of their eyes since their eye lenses lose their flexibility. The focus of their eyes remains fixed at a certain position thus, their clear vision is only at a certain distance: Most of them are “far-sighted” and see clearly the long distances (“Infinity”) therefore need reading glasses to read at the short distances. Another part of them is “short-sighted” and see clearly at short distances, therefore, can read without glasses but need optical glasses for the long distances such as driving, watching TV, Cinema, etc.
To fix it, the “far-sighted” people are using reading glasses which enable them to focus on near objects. However, they do not need the eyeglasses to see images that are far. In typical scenarios, most of the day they don't wear eyeglass, hence it is very common that when people need to read a message from their digital display (mobile phone, Tablet, digital watch etc.) they need the reading glasses which are not available. This is very annoying as they need to look after their eyeglass. There are many people who prefer not to use reading eyeglasses in public. Providing the capability to read the digital display without eyeglass is very attractive for those people.
In addition—ophthalmologists warn about the effects of overuse of laptop computers, tablets, cell phones, and now Smartwatches on our vision. With the growing popularity of mobile devices, most of us spend more and more of our time interacting with the world on small glowing screens. There is a lot of evidence that while there are many benefits to having the world at our fingertips, spending too much time focusing up close may be harming our eyes. Evidence show that since the exponentially growing use of displays, especially by children, in recent decades, the percentage of children and adults that need glasses, has dramatically risen due to the fact that their eyes have been strained every day, by focusing their eyes on their displays at short distances, for long periods of time.
There is a growing need to provide a method and apparatus that significantly improves the user experience and reduces eye strain in the mentioned above cases.
There may be provided an apparatus and method for projecting content displayed on a display.
The apparatus may include a first array of first microlenses that may include multiple first microlenses; a second array of second microlenses that may be spaced apart from the first array of first microlenses and may include multiple second microlenses; wherein a width of each first microlens and each second microlens may be smaller than a few times a pixel pitch of the display; wherein the second array of second microlenses may be located at a conjugate plane of the display; wherein a focal plane of the second microlenses may be located at the first microlens; wherein the apparatus may be configured to project different planes that differ from each other and may be located at a vicinity of focal planes of the second microlenses; wherein each plane bears visual information that may include multiple segments; and wherein an optical path of each segment passes through a dedicated pair of a second microlens and a corresponding first microlens.
The few times may be four times, may be less than four times or more than four.
The different planes may be located inside the depth of field of the second array of second microlenses.
Different pairs may have optical axes that may be not parallel to each other, wherein each pair may include a second microlens and a corresponding first microlens.
A distance between adjacent second microlenses may be smaller than a distance between corresponding adjacent first microlenses.
Different pairs may exhibit optical axes that intersect each other.
An area of a second microlens may be smaller than an area of a corresponding first microlens.
A ratio between a width (Dc2) of a second microlens and a width (Dc1) of a corresponding first microlens may substantially equal L/(L+H1), wherein H1 may be a distance between the second microlens and the first corresponding micro lens, and wherein L may be distance between the display and an intersection point between optical axes of different pairs.
The apparatus may include at least one transparent element positioned between the first microlenses array and the second microlenses array.
There may be an air gap between the at least one transparent element and the first microlenses arrays.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:
There are provided a method and an apparatus that may eliminate the need of using reading glass to read the content of a digital display.
This is done by adding an apparatus that may be shaped and sized as a thin film, on top of the display, which converts the image of the display to be conceived by the user eye as if it is far, at infinity for “far-sighted” and at near ranges for “near sighted” users thus, enabling the “far-sighted” and the “near sighted” users to view it at high resolution without the use of glasses. The method can be embedded as an additional thin layer of the display or can be used as an add-on transparent thin film or device, that covers the display.
The method and apparatus may be suited for both “far-sighted” and “near-sighted” eyes as well as for people that have perfect eye vision and do not need eyeglasses at all. With the proposed apparatus and method, the display will be visible at a high resolution for most eyes, and with no further eye correction is needed.
The method and apparatus may prevent the eye strain by providing the user of a display at the normal reading range (˜25-40 cm) with its image at Infinity, with no noticeable changes in magnification, resolution, color, brightness and other display features.
The method and apparatus overcome the need to tailor the optics to the user focus capabilities to see far objects. In addition, the method and apparatus reduce the reflection of the sun and the background scene when the display is used outdoors on a sunny day.
The apparatus may include a combination of different optical layers that can be embedded as a special thin film on top of the display as an add-on, see
The thin layer is composed of 3D Micro Lens Array (MLA) layers, where its cross section depicted in
Referring to
This configuration is typical for the various types of digital displays. Our thin layer element 150 of
We call the configuration of
Following is a short description of the proposed optical system for one MLA cell (see
Each lens of the 1st MLA 120, produces an image of a tiny portion of the display, of size D. This image is formed at the plane of the 2nd lens 135 that is part of the 2nd MLA. It is an inverted image of D with a magnification of: M=H1/H, that fills the 2nd lens. The size of the imaged portion of the display is thus D=Dc2/M. For simplicity and with no loss of generality, H and H1 are the “optical thicknesses” of the materials, that include their refractive indices, respectively.
The 1st lens 120 is at the focal plane of the 2nd lens 135, along the optical axis thus, the image of the aperture of the 1st lens 120 is projected to Infinity by the 2nd lens. Every point of this image (of the aperture of the 1st lens), receives light rays from every point of D on the display thus, it is a perfect blend of the RGB subpixels that constitute it. As Dc1 and Dc2 (the sizes of the lenses on both sides of the cell) are below the resolving power of the eye, the eye of an observer of the display, along the optical axis, will see a non-resolvable, tiny spot with the color of D on the display that is imaged onto his/her eye.
As indicated above, each cell images that small portion of the display, of size D, to infinity therefor, it emits parallel rays onto the eye. These rays are focused on the retina to a spot. As the size of the cell is much smaller than the input pupil of the eye (50-100 μm compared to 2-3 mm), several such parallel bundles of parallel rays, that origin from different areas on the display and are parallel to each other, will enter the eye from the same direction and therefore, will be focused at the same point on the retina. This will cause a mix of color from adjacent, but different parts of the display. This will result in blur and loss of resolution. In order to prevent this, the optical axes of all the cells that image the whole display need to point to the center of the pupil of the eye rather than being parallel to each other. In other words, the centers of each pair of cell lenses and the center of the pupil of the eye have to be on the same line over all the area of the display.
This is achieved in the following way:
Assume:
Then, the requirement for the optical axes of the eye and those of the two relevant cell lenses, to lie on a straight line, results in the requirement that the center of the inner lens is slightly higher (or lower) from the chief axis then the height of the outer lens (see
Using equivalent triangles relations, we get: Y1/Y2=(L−H)/(L−H−H1). Then the required vertical offset (OSy), between the lenses of a certain cell at a distance of Y from the chief axis is: OSy=Y1−Y2=Y*H1/L.
Let Ny=Y/Dc2 be the approximate number of outer lenses 135, that lie between the center of the display and Y then, OSy=(Y/Dc2)*Dc2*H1/L then OSy=Ny*Dc2*H1/L.
Multiplying that number of lenses (Ny) by the difference in their size (Dc1−Dc2) is equal to the total offset between the lenses at the height Y from the center: OSy=Ny*(Dc1−Dc2). Substituting OS from above we get Ny*(Dc1−Dc2)=Ny*Dc2*H1/L then Dc1−Dc2=Dc2*H1/L. And—Dc1=Dc2*(1+H1/L)
A similar assessment, along the X direction, results in the same requirement. This is the relation between the sizes of the inner and outer cells, so that all the centers of the pairs of lenses of each cell, all over the display, will lie on one optical axis with the eye. Thus, the resolution of the display will be preserved.
All the above optical concept is similar for all the pairs of the lenses of the two MLA layers.
The center of the entrance pupil of the eye and the center of each lens of the 2nd (outer) MLA, constitute an optical axis along which the above described, portion of the display (a square of size D) is imaged at the retina as an unresolvable spot at the proper color of that region of the display.
The optical axis of the eye and adjacent lenses of the outer MLA form optical axes that are at slightly different direction thus, the ensemble of the images of all the spots on the retina of the eye form a perfect imaged replica of the whole display on the retina.
The appearance of the display is not expected to be sensitive to the viewing angle (relative to the perpendicular to the display).
The resolving element of the image on the retina of the eye is D and as indicated above, its size is D=Dc/M. As M=H/H, three cases may be analyzed:
In summary, the resolution of the display will be preserved as long as D is kept below the resolving power of the eye.
Moreover, as will be detailed in some examples below, if the eye of the observer lost its autofocus capability (as for example, with elderly people that require reading glasses) and is fixed focused at a different distance than infinity, the image of the display on the retina of the eye will still be perfect due to the fact that it will draw the image from a plane that is in close proximity, within the depth of focus (in the range of nanometers . . . ) of the focal plane of the outer lens (see
The sub pixels 104 are blended on lens 120 to become a colored spot, where the intensity of the spot and its color are almost the same along the optical axis, in the proximity of the plane of the lens 120 and is noted as planes 121-126.
Planes 121-126 are examples of different plains that differ from each other and are located at a vicinity of focal planes of a second microlenses of the second array of second microlenses. Each plane of 121-126 bears visual information that represents the visual information displayed by the display—but is not an image of the display. The planes are close to each other—for example within a micron scale or sub-millimeter distance. The visual information has segments—each segments passes through a pair that include a first microlens and a second microlens.
The eye of user A, who is fixed focused at Infinity, gets its image from the focal plane 530 of the 2nd lens. This image is projected to infinity by the 2nd lens 135 and the lens of the user's eye 510 focuses it onto its retina 515.
In
As can be seen, even at a slightly displaced plane, along the optical axis, the image of each cell contains a color that is still an excellent representation of the color of that portion of the display (see 104 in
The method and apparatus may also reduce the effect of reflection of ambient light. As described above, in
This AIDMLA proposed imaging system is robust and insensitive to minor changes in the thicknesses of the layers and the glass. As will be evident from the examples below.
The system is also insensitive to minor in-corrections in the radii of the lenses, their shapes and surfaces. Due to the small size of its optical elements (of the order of magnitude of the display pixel pitch), below the resolving power of the perfect eye the proposed invention eliminates the requirements for corrections of possible optical aberrations (chromatic, spherical, comma, etc. . . . ) of its optical elements. This feature of the invention assures low prices of its development and production.
AIDMLA example and analysis (M=1).
Sensitivity to the amount of required correction of the eyesight:
Assume an eye that is fixedly corrected to a 0.5 m distance and the display is viewed from 0.25 m. That means that the image is imaginary at U=0.25 m from the 2nd (projecting) lens. By using the Newtonian lens equation, we find that the object plane is nearer to the lens than its focal plane by the amount of
see
At the worst-case scenario, we assume that the RGB different sub-pixel colors are aligned along a line that occupies the size of the whole cell thus, the maximal distance between the R and the B colors is Dc. From each point, the cone of light strikes the 1st lens 125 at a slightly different angle see
Substituting for x from the equation above we get S=F/U. In our case we get S=624/250000 S=0.0025=0.25%. This worst-case separation is an order of magnitude smaller, than the limit of a noticeable change in color (3%). Hence as noted in
This also means that errors of the order of 10-15 μm (˜10*x) in focal lengths and layer thicknesses are also tolerated thus, the system is robust and manufacturable.
Assume the system is similar to the above but now, the imaginary image should be at a distance U=2.25 m−0.25 m=2 m from the display.
Substituting in the above equation we get
μm and a maximal color separation of S=624/2000000=0.03% which is even two orders of magnitude below the noticeable change in color (3%).
AIDMLA example and analysis (M=0.5)
In summary, the proposed AIDMLA offers the following important features and advantages—resolution and no need for diopter correction of the eyes of the observer.
The resolution is determined by the cell size and magnification.
As the eye is at a relatively long distance compared to the size of the cell, each cell determines its line of sight to the eye and as the size of the cell is below the human resolution the original resolution of the display is preserved. From a viewing distance of 25 cm, the resolving element of the perfect eye is >90 μm.
This resolution is similar at a wide range of angles. As the line of sight moves from the perpendicular of the display, part of the light may come from adjacent inner lenses but as they are identical, the resolution and color of the display will not change.
Each type of eye will see the sharp image of a slightly different object plane of the outer MLA (135) but, as explained above, the color of the display will not change noticeably.
As an example for multi-layer approach, we use a layer that is composed of an array of rectangular micro-elements as described in
Layer 135 has two functionalities:
It should be noted that one can combine these layers in different ways or to use parts of these layers. This structure of layers is provided as an example of how the system and method can be implemented. The method presented can be embedded as a special layer 150 inside the display of the device or can be used as an add-on transparent element that covers the display.
Apparatus 150 is composed as an example, of 4 layers as follows:
The micro-lens array 135 has its focus f2 equal to H1 which ensures that the plane 125, at the center of lens 120 is projected to infinity. Given H and H1, the focal length f1 of 120 is chosen to image the display 105 onto the outer MLA 135 with a magnification of M=H1/H.
The apparatus may be added to the display, integrated with the display, may be an add-on to the display, and the like.
In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
Because the illustrated embodiments of the present invention may for the most part, be implemented using electronic components and circuits known to those skilled in the art, details will not be explained in any greater extent than that considered necessary as illustrated above, for the understanding and appreciation of the underlying concepts of the present invention and in order not to obfuscate or distract from the teachings of the present invention.
Any reference in the specification to a method should be applied mutatis mutandis to an apparatus capable of executing the method.
Any reference in the specification to an apparatus should be applied mutatis mutandis to a method that may be executed by the apparatus.
The term “and/or” is additionally or alternatively.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific examples of embodiments of the invention. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Moreover, the terms “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.
Any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality.
Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that boundaries between the above described operations merely illustrative. The multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed in additional operations and operations may be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of operations may be altered in various other embodiments.
However, other modifications, variations and alternatives are also possible. The specifications and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.
The phrase “may be X” indicates that condition X may be fulfilled. This phrase also suggests that condition X may not be fulfilled. For example—any reference to an apparatus as including a certain component should also cover the scenario in which the apparatus does not include the certain component.
The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having”, “consisting” and “consisting essentially of” are used in an interchangeable manner. For example—any method may include at least the steps included in the figures and/or in the specification, only the steps included in the figures and/or the specification. The same applies to the apparatus and the mobile computer.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
However, other modifications, variations and alternatives are also possible. The specifications and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.
In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word ‘comprising’ does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps then those listed in a claim. Furthermore, the terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one as or more than one. Also, the use of introductory phrases such as “at least one” and “one or more” in the claims should not be construed to imply that the introduction of another claim element by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an.” The same holds true for the use of definite articles. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as “first” and “second” are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.
Any combination of any component of any component and/or unit of apparatus that is illustrated in any of the figures and/or specification and/or the claims may be provided.
Any combination of any apparatus illustrated in any of the figures and/or specification and/or the claims may be provided.
Any combination of steps, operations and/or methods illustrated in any of the figures and/or specification and/or the claims may be provided.
Any combination of operations illustrated in any of the figures and/or specification and/or the claims may be provided.
Any combination of methods illustrated in any of the figures and/or specification and/or the claims may be provided.
Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, the scope of any and all embodiments having equivalent elements, modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across various embodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art based on the present disclosure. The limitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application. The examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. Furthermore, the steps of the disclosed methods may be modified in any manner, including by reordering steps and/or inserting or deleting steps. It is intended, therefore, that the specification and examples be considered as illustrative only, with a true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.
This application claims the priority of U.S. provisional patent 62/842,439 filing date May 3, 2019 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5973844 | Burger | Oct 1999 | A |
10359640 | Powell | Jul 2019 | B2 |
20150085259 | Schreiber | Mar 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200363564 A1 | Nov 2020 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62842539 | May 2019 | US |