This disclosure relates generally to the field of optics, and in particular, relates to see-through head wearable displays.
A head mounted display (“HMD”) or head wearable display is a display device worn on or about the head. HMDs usually incorporate some sort of near-to-eye optical system to create a magnified virtual image placed a few meters in front of the user. Single eye displays are referred to as monocular HMDs while dual eye displays are referred to as binocular HMDs. Some HMDs display only a computer generated image (“CGI”), while other types of HMDs are capable of superimposing CGI over a real-world view. This latter type of HMD typically includes some form of see-through eyepiece and can serve as the hardware platform for realizing augmented reality. With augmented reality the viewer's image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display (“HUD”).
HMDs have numerous practical and leisure applications. Aerospace applications permit a pilot to see vital flight control information without taking their eye off the flight path. Public safety applications include tactical displays of maps and thermal imaging. Other application fields include video games, transportation, and telecommunications. There is certain to be new found practical and leisure applications as the technology evolves; however, many of these applications are limited due to the cost, size, weight, thickness, field of view, efficiency, and image quality of conventional optical systems used to implement existing HMDs.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. Not all instances of an element are necessarily labeled so as not to clutter the drawings where appropriate. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles being described.
Embodiments of an apparatus, system and method of operation for a curved eyepiece with a patterned optical combiner are described herein. In the following description numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the techniques described herein can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring certain aspects.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
Optical system 100 is well suited for use with head wearable displays having a near eye configuration. When integrated with a head wearable display, curved eyepiece 120 receives display light 155 generated by display panel 105 through an input surface 140 peripherally located from a viewing region 160 and emits display light 155 along an eye-ward direction in viewing region 160 toward a user's eye 165 within an eyebox 170. In one embodiment, display light 155 is guided within curved lightguide 127 by total internal reflection between input surface 140 and optical combiner 135. In other embodiments, angularly selective reflective coatings (e.g., multi-layer dichroic film stack) may be applied to promote reflections within curved lightguide 127 having sufficient obliqueness while transmitting near normal angles. In the illustrated embodiment, curved eyepiece 120 is see-through allowing the user to see ambient light incident through world facing surface 145.
During operation, display panel 105 generates display light 155 to form a display image (e.g., computer generated image). Display panel 105 may be implemented using a variety of display technologies including liquid crystal (“LC”) displays, light emitting diode (“LED”) displays, organic LED (“OLED”) displays, LC on silicon (“LCoS”) displays, or other micro display technologies.
In the illustrated embodiment, display light 155 is optionally directed through a polarization rotator 110. Polarization rotator 110 is orientated to align a linear polarization of display light 155 with a centerline of curved lightguide 127 to reduce asymmetries in birefringence. The centerline represents an axis of symmetry down the center of curved lightguide 127. In one embodiment, polarization rotator 110 is a half-wave plate rotator with an angular rotation β about a normal vector (axis 106) of the emission surface of display panel 105. Polarization rotator 110 may be used in embodiments where display panel 105 is a polarized display (e.g., LCoS, micro-LCD).
Display light 155 is further directed through prism 115 prior to entering into curved lightguide 127. Prism 115 is disposed proximate to input surface 140 to pre-compensate display light 155 for lateral chromatic aberrations resulting from reflections (e.g., total internal reflections) within curved lightguide 127. Lateral chromatic aberration is deleterious to image quality since it causes color components of a color image to separate or offset laterally. Prism 115 is designed to pre-compensate for this chromatic separation.
In the illustrated embodiment, display panel 105 and prism 115 are orientated relative to curved eyepiece 120 such that chief rays 175 of display light 155 output from the pixels of display panel 105 are guided through curved lightguide 127 and directed substantially through the center of eyebox 170. Each pixel of display panel 105 has its own chief ray, which ideally, is the center normal ray projecting out from the given display pixel. Ideally, curved eyepiece 120 is designed such that the chief ray from each pixel passes through a center of eyebox 170 with each chief ray passing through the center at a different angle due to each pixel's different location on display panel 105. In other words, pixel location on display panel 105 is translated into a ray angle at eyebox 170. This ideal scenario provides improved luminance uniformity across eyebox 170. However, the ideal goal may not be achievable in practice. Accordingly, herein we define the chief ray 175 of a given pixel to be a ray emitted from display panel 105 within a cone having a three degree arc from normal (as measured from an emission surface of display panel 105) for that given pixel. This “chief ray” is close enough to normal for practical implementations. By orientating display panel 105 and prism 115 relative to curved lightguide 127 and designing curved lightguide 127 with appropriate geometries, the display image is perceived to have a high degree of uniform luminance when viewed from eyebox 170 when chief rays 175 pass substantially through a center of eyebox 170. The inclusion of prism 115 facilitates the reduction of the size of input surface 140 along with compensation of axial and lateral chromatic aberrations. In contrast, prism 115 could be omitted by tilting display panel 105 to a more oblique angle relative to input surface 140; however, doing so results in a larger input surface 140, which changes the end shape of curved eyepiece 120 near input surface 140 and reduces image brightness.
As display light 155 is guided through curved lightguide 127 from input surface 140 to viewing region 160, the curvature of curved lightguide 127 imparts optical power with each reflection or refraction. Curved eyepiece 120 imparts refractive optical power at input surface 140 and upon emission of display light 155 out eye-ward facing surface 150. The illustrated embodiment of curved eyepiece 120 imparts reflective optical power via four total internal reflection interactions and one reflection off of optical combiner 135. The optical power interactions collectively serve to magnify the display image and displace the virtual image so that the user can bring the image into focus in a near-eye configuration. It should be appreciated that curved eyepiece 120 may be implemented with other number of reflective bounces to transport display light 155 from the peripheral input region to optical combiner 135.
Returning to
In one embodiment, the reflective elements are implemented as opaque reflectors. An example opaque reflector includes a sufficiently thick layer of metal (e.g., aluminum, silver, etc.) that substantially reflects all visible light incident upon a surface of a given reflective element. Other opaque reflective materials may be used. In other embodiments, the reflective elements may be partial reflectors or beam splitters (e.g., thin silver coating, multilayer dielectric thin film, etc.). In either embodiment, the total surface area fill factor of the partial reflectors to interstitial elements is selected such that optical combiner 135 is overall more transmissive than reflective. In one embodiment, optical combiner 135 is overall less than 30% reflective to incident visible light. In an embodiment where the reflective elements are opaque reflectors, the total surface area fill factor of the reflective elements to interstitial regions (e.g., gaps) is covered less than 30% by the reflective elements to achieve an overall reflectivity of less than 30%. Accordingly, by adjusting the fill factor of reflective elements, the overall reflectivity of optical combiner 135 can be adjusted. In one embodiment, optical combiner 135 is overall 15% reflective and 85% transmissive. Of course, other reflective/transmissive ratios may be implemented to achieve a viewing region 160 that is partially transmissive to ambient light 156 incident through world facing surface 145 such that viewing region 160 is see-through.
The individual reflective elements of optical combiner 135 are sized to prevent diffraction of display light 155 upon reflection. Accordingly, the surface area and perimeter shape of the reflective elements are selected to have a minimum size and shape that substantially does not induce diffraction at visible wavelengths. For example, the reflective elements may have a diameter or width of greater than 100 um (or surface area of greater than 7,850 um2. In various embodiments, the reflective elements have a diameter or width ranging between 100 um to 500 um. Of course, other dimensional sizes may be used (smaller or larger) as long as the feature size is not so small as to introduce undue diffraction in reflection (substantially undermines image quality) and is not so large as to introduce visible occlusions in the ambient light 156. However, it is noteworthy that 500 um feature sizes (e.g., 500 um diameter or width) are expected to be small enough to not be visible to the user in a near-to-eye configuration.
In the illustrated embodiment, curved eyepieces 120 are edged to conform to the shape of the frame assembly and secured into an eye glass arrangement so head wearable display 200 can be worn on the head of a user. The left and right ear arms 210 and 215 rest over the user's ears while nose bridge 205 rests over the user's nose. The frame assembly is shaped and sized to position viewing regions 160 (including optical combiners 135) in front of the user's eyes. In one embodiment, optical combiners 135 are positioned relative to the user's eyes such that the user looks slightly down (e.g., 7 degrees) and to the right or left (e.g., 15 degrees) to see the display image. Other angles may be implemented and other frame assemblies having other shapes may be used (e.g., a single contiguous headset member, a headband, goggles type eyewear, etc.). Optical combiners 135 within viewing regions 160 operate to redirect display light 155 to each eye while allowing ambient light 156 to pass through, thereby providing the user with an augmented view of the real-world.
Viewing region 160 of curved lightguide 127 is defined by optical combiner 135 disposed at the junction or interface between transition surfaces 415 and 430 when lens bodies 130 and 125 are mated together. In various embodiments, optical combiner 135 may be formed onto one of or both of transition surfaces 415 or 430. As illustrated, optical combiner 135 need not cover the entire extent of transition surfaces 415 or 430, but rather may cover just a portion thereof. The reflective elements of optical combiner 135 conform to the curvature of transition surfaces 415 and 430. As such, the this curvature introduces optical power in reflection to display light 155, while being substantially transparent to ambient light 156 that passes through the interstitial regions between the reflective elements.
Curved eyepiece 120 is implemented as a thin, curved eyepiece having a thickness less than 8 mm, and in one embodiment is about 4.0 mm thick. Lens bodies 125 and 130 may be formed of transparent optical grade plastic (e.g., polycarbonate, etc) having an index of refraction of 1.64. However, the higher the refractive index the thinner the curved eyepiece can be designed. A direct benefit of using higher index material is to reduce the angle at which TIR occurs. This effectively enables designs that reduce the angle of the output coupler, which can either increase the size of the eyebox for a given curved lightguide thickness or reduce the overall thickness of the curved eyepiece for a given eyebox size. Using higher index material for the curved eyepiece can also provide greater flexibility in the refractive index of the optical grade adhesives used to bond the lens bodies 125 and 130 together.
The curvatures of both eye-ward facing surface 150 and world-facing surface 145 may be implemented as spherical surfaces. Collectively, the curvature and slim nature of curved eyepiece 120 provide a desirable industrial design. Curved eyepiece 120 not only has desirable industrial design, but is also efficient since ideally the only lossy bounce for display light 155 traveling from input surface 140 to optical combiner 135 is the single redirection by optical combiner 135 itself. This permits optical combiner 135 and viewing region 160 to be substantially more transmissive than reflective thereby improving the see-through characteristic of curved eyepiece 120 in viewing region 160.
In the illustrated embodiment, world facing surface 145 provides a complementary curvature to offset the optical power of the curvature of eye-ward facing surface 150 encountered by ambient light 156. Furthermore, in one embodiment, lens bodies 125 and 130 are fabricated of the same transparent materials or transparent materials having substantially the same index of refraction. Thus, curved eyepiece 120 operates as a see-through display, which combines ambient light 156 with display light 155 directed out viewing region 160 along an eye-ward direction into eye 165. In this way, curved eyepiece 120 is capable of displaying an augmented reality to eye 165; however, the combined curvatures of world facing surface 145 and eye-ward facing surface 150 of curved eyepiece 120 complement each other and collectively do not impart lensing power to ambient light 156 as it passes through curved eyepiece 120 in viewing region 160. In other embodiments, the curvatures of world facing surface 145 and eye-ward facing surface 150 may be unbalanced to impart prescriptive lensing to ambient light 156.
The above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.
These modifications can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. The terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims, which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5880888 | Schoenmakers et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
5886822 | Spitzer | Mar 1999 | A |
6091546 | Spitzer | Jul 2000 | A |
6094241 | Yamazaki | Jul 2000 | A |
6384982 | Spitzer | May 2002 | B1 |
6760169 | Takahashi et al. | Jul 2004 | B2 |
6825987 | Repetto et al. | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6879443 | Spitzer et al. | Apr 2005 | B2 |
6961162 | Nakamura et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
7057814 | Boyd et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
7242527 | Spitzer et al. | Jul 2007 | B2 |
7411637 | Weiss | Aug 2008 | B2 |
7542209 | McGuire, Jr. | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7724443 | Amitai | May 2010 | B2 |
7944616 | Mukawa | May 2011 | B2 |
8004765 | Amitai | Aug 2011 | B2 |
8212859 | Tang et al. | Jul 2012 | B2 |
8471967 | Miao et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8488246 | Border et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
8639072 | Popovich et al. | Jan 2014 | B2 |
8665178 | Wang | Mar 2014 | B1 |
8830569 | Filipovich et al. | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8848289 | Amirparviz et al. | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8964298 | Haddick et al. | Feb 2015 | B2 |
8970571 | Wong | Mar 2015 | B1 |
8970962 | Filipovich et al. | Mar 2015 | B2 |
8989535 | Robbins | Mar 2015 | B2 |
9013793 | Gupta et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9366869 | Martinez et al. | Jun 2016 | B2 |
9625989 | Wilson et al. | Apr 2017 | B2 |
20050180687 | Amitai | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20070070859 | Hirayama | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20070091445 | Amitai | Apr 2007 | A1 |
20090122414 | Amitai | May 2009 | A1 |
20100046070 | Mukawa | Feb 2010 | A1 |
20100149073 | Chaum et al. | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20110075267 | Sugiyama | Mar 2011 | A1 |
20110149201 | Powell et al. | Jun 2011 | A1 |
20110193814 | Gay et al. | Aug 2011 | A1 |
20110213664 | Osterhout et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20120002294 | Dobschal | Jan 2012 | A1 |
20120062998 | Schultz | Mar 2012 | A1 |
20120162549 | Gao et al. | Jun 2012 | A1 |
20120212398 | Border et al. | Aug 2012 | A1 |
20120218481 | Popovich | Aug 2012 | A1 |
20120300311 | Simmonds | Nov 2012 | A1 |
20130016292 | Miao et al. | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20140063055 | Osterhout et al. | Mar 2014 | A1 |
20140140654 | Brown et al. | May 2014 | A1 |
20140285429 | Simmons | Sep 2014 | A1 |
20150062716 | Komatsu et al. | Mar 2015 | A1 |
20150177519 | Cakmakci et al. | Jun 2015 | A1 |
20150260992 | Luttmann et al. | Sep 2015 | A1 |
20150286056 | Takashima | Oct 2015 | A1 |
20160170215 | Mukawa | Jun 2016 | A1 |
20160341964 | Amitai | Nov 2016 | A1 |
20160357016 | Cakmakci et al. | Dec 2016 | A1 |
20170010465 | Martinez et al. | Jan 2017 | A1 |
20170045743 | Dobschal et al. | Feb 2017 | A1 |
20170192238 | Reidel et al. | Jul 2017 | A1 |
20170336636 | Amitai | Nov 2017 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
204758854 | Nov 2015 | CN |
102010041343 | Mar 2012 | DE |
102011007811 | Oct 2012 | DE |
102011007812 | Oct 2015 | DE |
102015117557 | Apr 2017 | DE |
2001066543 | Aug 2001 | JP |
2010062481 | Jun 2010 | WO |
WO 2013112705 | Aug 2013 | WO |
WO 2013175465 | Nov 2013 | WO |
WO 2015076335 | May 2015 | WO |
WO 2016006758 | Jan 2016 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Cakmakci, O.—Head-Worn Displays: A Review, Journal of Display Technology, issued Sep. 2006, 18 pages. |
Rolland, J. et al.—Head-Worn Displays: The Future Through New Eyes, Optics & Photonics News, issued Apr. 2009, 8 pages. |
Cakmakci, O. et al.—U.S. Appl. No. 14/139,277, Eyepiece for Head Wearable Display Using Partial and Total Internal Reflections, filed Dec. 23, 2013, 21 pages. |
Martinez, O. et al.—U.S. Appl. No. 14/537,780, Thin Curved Eyepiece for See-Through Head Wearable Display, filed Nov. 10, 2014, 23 pages. |
Cakmakci, O. et al.—U.S. Appl. No. 14/730,983, Efficient Thin Curved Eyepiece for See-Through Head Wearable Display, filed Jun. 4, 2015, 24 pages. |
Martinez, O. et al.—U.S. Appl. No. 14/792,084, Adding Prescriptive Correction to Eyepieces for See-Through Head Wearable Displays, filed Jul. 6, 2015, 27 pages. |
Cakmakci, O. et al. —U.S. Appl. No. 14/949,114, Curved See-Through Eyepiece Having a Tiled Field of View, filed Nov. 23, 2015, 19 pages. |
U.S. Appl. No. 15/093,227—Curved Eyepiece With Color Correction for Head Wearable Display, filed Apr. 7, 2016, 25 pages. |
PCT/US2016/064418—International Search Report and Written Opinion, dated Feb. 10, 2017, 12 pages. |
Combined Search and Examination Report dated May 19, 2017 for Great Britain Application No. GB1620780.5, 10 pages. |
Notification of Grant Patent Right dated Sep. 14, 2017 for Chinese Utility Model Application No. 201621455926.0, 6 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20170293144 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |