This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to electronic devices such as head-mounted devices.
Electronic devices such as head-mounted devices may have displays for displaying images. The displays may be housed in a head-mounted support structure.
A head-mounted device may include left and right optical modules configured to display images and a head-mounted support structure coupled to the left and right optical modules. The head-mounted support structure may include a flexible portion that is configured to conform to a face when the head-mounted support structure is worn, a rigid portion that is separated from the flexible portion by a gap, and sidewall structures that bridge the gap between the rigid portion and the flexible portion. A portion of the sidewall structures may have an adjustable transparency.
A head-mounted device may have first and second opposing sides and may include a first structure on the first side of the head-mounted device, a second structure on the second side of the head-mounted device that at least partially surrounds a central opening, a sidewall structure that extends between the first structure and the second structure and that has an adjustable transparency, and left and right optical modules configured to display images that are viewable through the central opening.
A head-mounted device may include left and right optical modules configured to display images, a flexible structure that is configured to conform to a face, a rigid structure that is separated from the flexible structure by a gap, and sidewall structures that bridge the gap between the rigid structure and the flexible structure. The left and right optical modules may be viewable through a central opening defined by the flexible structure and the sidewall structures may include a sidewall display that is viewable through the central opening.
A head-mounted device may include a head-mounted support structure that allows the device to be worn on the head of a user. The head-mounted device may have displays that are supported by the head-mounted support structure for presenting a user with visual content. The head-mounted device may also have sensors such as front-facing cameras and other sensors for gathering information on the environment surrounding the device.
The head-mounted device may include a component such as a sidewall structure that is switchable between an opaque mode, a transparent mode, and/or a partially transparent mode. In the opaque mode, the component may block ambient light from passing into the interior of the head-mounted device (such that the user cannot see the surrounding environment). In the transparent mode, the component may allow ambient light to pass into the interior of the head-mounted device (such that the user can see portions of the surrounding environment). The opaque mode may provide a more immersive experience for the user of the head-mounted device, whereas the transparent mode may allow the user to see objects in their surrounding physical environment.
To present a user with images for viewing from eye boxes such as eye box 34, device 10 may include rear-facing displays in optical modules 16. There may be, for example, a left rear-facing display in left optical module 16L for presenting an image through a left lens to a user's left eye in a left eye box and a right rear-facing display in right optical module 16R for presenting an image through a right lens to a user's right eye in a right eye box.
The user's eyes are located in eye boxes 34 at rear side R of device 10 when inwardly facing surface 18 of housing 12 rests against the outer surface of the user's face. On rear side R, housing 12 may have cushioned structures (sometimes referred to as light seal structures) to enhance user comfort as surface 18 rests against the user's face.
Device 10 may have forward-facing components such has forward-facing cameras 20 on front side F that face outwardly away from the user. Cameras 20 may generally be oriented in the +Y direction of
In one possible arrangement, support structure 12 includes a sidewall that extends from front structure 52 in the negative Y-direction continuously around the perimeter of the front structure 52. Alternatively, to minimize the weight of the head-mounted support structure, discrete support posts 54 may be dispersed around the perimeter of the front structure 52. The support posts are each coupled between the rigid front structure 52 and the flexible rear structure 56. Air-filled gaps (or gaps filled with another desired filler material) may separate adjacent support posts.
Front structure 52 may be an opaque structure that extends across the entire front side of device 10. Alternatively, front structure 52 may be a ring-shaped structure that extends in a ring around the front side of device 10. Flexible rear structure 56 may be a ring-shaped structure that extends in a ring around some or all of the rear side of device 10. Flexible rear structure 56 may be ring-shaped (with a central opening) to allow the user to view optical modules 16 (through the central opening) while device 10 is worn by the user. Flexible rear structures 56 (sometimes referred to as light seal structures) may include a flexible plastic structure 56-P and/or a cushion 56-C. The cushion may optionally be a removable cushion.
When head-mounted device 10 is worn on the head of a user, the flexible rear structure(s) 56 may conform to the user's face. To provide an immersive experience to the viewer and preserve high contrast in the display viewed by the user during operation, it may be desirable to block ambient light from reaching the user's eyes. This ensures the only light viewed by the user is from the display in the head-mounted device. Light seal structures 56 may be sufficiently flexible and/or compressible to conform to a user's face during operation, preventing stray light from entering the head-mounted device.
Flexible rear structures 56 may include a flexible plastic structure 56-P. The flexible plastic structure 56-P may be sufficiently flexible to conform to the shape of a user's face when worn by the user. However, the flexible plastic structure may have sufficient rigidity to hold its shape while being worn (e.g., and does not bias towards or away from the user's face while being worn). The flexible plastic structure may not be compressible. In contrast, the flexible rear structures 56 may also include a cushion 56-C that is compressible. The cushion 56-C may also be sufficiently flexible to conform to the shape of a user's face when worn by the user. The compressible cushion may be pressed against the user's face to form a tight light seal while still remaining comfortable for the user.
Head-mounted support structure 12 may optionally be covered on one or more sides by a textile layer 64 (sometimes referred to as fabric layer 64). Textile layer 64 may be formed from an opaque or light-shielding material (e.g., black yarn) or may formed from an underlying material coated with an opaque or light-shielding material (e.g., black dye or ink). The textile layer 64 may be formed by a woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric. As examples, the textile layer 64 may be formed from any suitable type of fabric such as knit fabric, woven fabric, braided fabric, etc.
Each support structure may optionally be attached to the flexible structure 56 using a pivoting portion with a spherical joint. The spherical joint may allow for the flexible structure 56 to be pressed against the user's face at any desired angle, allowing the flexible structure 56 to conform to the user's face as much as possible (promoting a tight light seal).
It should be noted that head-mounted support structure 12 in
When textile layer 64 is included, the textile layer may form a continuous cover over support posts 54, air gaps between the support posts, and/or front structure 52. The textile layer therefore covers a space (gap) between front structure 52 and rear structure 56. A portion of the textile layer between front structure 52 and rear structure 56 (e.g., that fills the gap between front structure 52 and rear structure 56) may sometimes be referred to as a sidewall structure.
In the example of
It may be desirable for sidewall structures in head-mounted device 10 (e.g., structures that extend between rear structure 56 and front structure 52) to instead have an adjustable transparency. For example, a sidewall structure may be operable in at least two modes. In a first mode, the sidewall structure may have a relatively low transparency (e.g., less than 20%, less than 10%, less than 5%, etc.). In this mode, the sidewall structure blocks ambient light and contributes to the light seal for the head-mounted device. In a second mode, the sidewall structure may have a relatively high transparency (e.g., greater than 80%, greater than 90%, greater than 95%, etc.). In this mode, the sidewall structure passes ambient light and allows the user to view portions of their physical environment.
Each adjustable transparency sidewall structure has an adjustable transparency. Each adjustable transparency sidewall structure 70T may be adjusted between two fixed transparencies (e.g., one high transparency mode and one low transparency mode) or may be adjustable to any target transparency within a range of transparencies. In other words, the sidewall structure may have a maximum transparency and a minimum transparency. The sidewall structure may be operable at only the minimum and maximum transparencies or may be adjusted to have any intermediate transparency between the maximum and minimum transparencies.
In
Although shown in
The example in
Each adjustable transparency sidewall structure may have a uniform transparency or may be split into discrete zones with individually controllable transparencies.
As shown in
The arrangement of the textile layer in
Any desired structures may be used to form each sidewall structure 70T. As some examples, sidewall structures 70T may include one or more of an electrochromic layer, a liquid crystal layer, stretchable fabric, sliding mechanical blinds, rotating mechanical blinds, a chamber with transparent walls that is selectively filled with opaque liquid, etc.
Each adjustable transparency sidewall structure from
It is noted that any of the sidewall structures 70T from
Control circuitry 96 may control the adjustable sidewall structures 70T based on a variety of factors. As shown in
Control circuitry 96 may adjust the transparency of one or more adjustable sidewall structures 70T in response to user selection. In other words, the user may use one or more components (such as buttons and/or touch sensors 94) to provide user input indicating the user desires a change in the transparency of structures 70T. Control circuitry 96 then adjusts the transparency of one or more adjustable sidewall structures 70T according to the user input.
Instead or in addition, control circuitry 96 may adjust the transparency of one or more adjustable sidewall structures 70T in response to a detected context (e.g., based on an application running on the head-mounted device and/or information from the application running on the head-mounted device). In other words, control circuitry 96 may evaluate the current context of the head-mounted device and adjust the transparency of structures 70T accordingly. As an example, the control circuitry 96 may detect that a user is viewing a movie using head-mounted device 10 (e.g., based on an application running on the head-mounted device and/or information from the application running on the head-mounted device). When control circuitry 96 detects the user is viewing a movie, the control circuitry 96 may reduce the transparency of the adjustable sidewall structures to maximize the immersion for the user. In another example, the control circuitry 96 may detect that a user is exercising (e.g., based on an application running on the head-mounted device and/or information from the application running on the head-mounted device). When control circuitry 96 detects the user is exercising, the control circuitry 96 may increase the transparency of the adjustable sidewall structures to improve the user's peripheral vision.
Instead or in addition, control circuitry 96 may adjust the transparency of one or more adjustable sidewall structures 70T in response to information from outward-facing camera(s) 20. For example, outward-facing camera(s) 20 may capture images of an object or person approaching the user. In this case, the control circuitry 96 may increase the transparency of the adjustable sidewall structures to improve the user's peripheral vision.
Instead or in addition, control circuitry 96 may adjust the transparency of one or more adjustable sidewall structures 70T in response to gaze-tracking information from inward-facing camera(s) 92, head-tracking information from motion sensors 98, and/or hand-tracking information from outward-facing camera(s) 20.
As previously mentioned, a single adjustable sidewall structure may have a plurality of discrete zones.
In one example, zones of an adjustable sidewall structure may be controlled to block the user's physical environment while allowing the user's body (e.g., the user's arms, hands, and/or torso) to be visible. Images from cameras 20 and/or 92 may be used by control circuitry 96 to determine the position of the user's body and the corresponding zones that should be made transparent to allow the user's body to be visible.
In another example, zones of an adjustable sidewall structure may be controlled to block bright external light sources that would otherwise cause glare on optical modules 16L and 16R. Ray tracing, the position of the bright external light sources as determined using camera(s) 20, and/or the position of the user's head as determined using motion sensors 98 may be used to determine which zones to make opaque to block the bright external light sources.
In yet another example, zones of an adjustable sidewall structure may be controlled to match the tone mapping, dynamic range, and/or brightness of the display system in the head-mounted device.
Instead or in addition of including adjustable transparency sidewall structures, head-mounted device 10 may include one or more sidewall displays.
In
The example in
Each sidewall display may be formed using any desired display technology. For example, the sidewall displays may include organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, light-emitting diode (LED) display panels such as microLED display panels, projection-based displays (e.g., using the optional light projector 164 depicted in
The sidewall display may have a lower resolution and/or pixel density than the displays in optical modules 16L and 16R. The sidewall display may have a pixel density of less than 400 pixels per inch (PPI), less than 200 pixels per inch (PPI), less than 100 pixels per inch (PPI), less than 50 pixels per inch (PPI), less than 10 pixels per inch (PPI), etc.
The sidewall displays may be used to display images of the user's physical environment (e.g., pass-through images to simulate the area covered by the sidewall displays being transparent). Images from outward-facing cameras within head-mounted device 10 may be used to display the images of the physical environment on the sidewall displays.
The sidewall displays may also be used to display computer-generated content such as text, graphics, etc. The computer-generated content may match the computer-generated content on the displays in optical modules 16L/16R such that the user perceives the sidewall displays as extensions of the displays in optical modules 16L/16R. This effectively increases the field-of-view of the displays (for the left and right eyes) in optical modules 16L/16R.
In one possible arrangement, the sidewall displays may have a higher refresh rate than the displays in optical modules 16L/16R (e.g., by a factor of 2 or more, by a factor of 3 or more, by a factor of 4 or more, etc.). The refresh rate of the sidewall displays may be a multiple of the refresh rate of the displays in optical modules 16L/16R. A high refresh rate in the sidewall displays may improve user comfort when operating head-mounted device 10.
If desired, the resolution of the sidewall displays may vary as a function of visual acuity. For example, the human eye has lower resolution at increasingly high viewing angles. Accordingly, the resolution of a sidewall display may vary as a function of expected viewing angle for the user's eye(s). As another example, the resolution of sidewall displays along the left and/or right edges (e.g., displays 162-1 and 162-3 in
A microlens array may optionally be formed over each sidewall display.
As described above, one aspect of the present technology is the gathering and use of information such as information from input-output devices. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances, data may be gathered that includes personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personal information data can include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, username, password, biometric information, or any other identifying or personal information.
The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information, in the present technology, can be used to the benefit of users. For example, the personal information data can be used to deliver targeted content that is of greater interest to the user. Accordingly, use of such personal information data enables users to have control of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personal information data that benefit the user are also contemplated by the present disclosure. For instance, health and fitness data may be used to provide insights into a user's general wellness, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology to pursue wellness goals.
The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use of such personal information data will comply with well-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personal information data private and secure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and should be updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving the informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities should consider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to such personal information data and ensuring that others with access to the personal information data adhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adapted for the particular types of personal information data being collected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards, including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the United States, collection of or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), whereas health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained for different personal data types in each country.
Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to, personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the present technology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” of participation in the collection of personal information data during registration for services or anytime thereafter. In another example, users can select not to provide certain types of user data. In yet another example, users can select to limit the length of time user-specific data is maintained. In addition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the access or use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notified upon downloading an application (“app”) that their personal information data will be accessed and then reminded again just before personal information data is accessed by the app.
Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and handled in a way to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can be minimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, when appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at a city level rather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users), and/or other methods.
Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use of information that may include personal information data to implement one or more various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the various embodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing personal information data. That is, the various embodiments of the present technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.
The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/484,427, filed Feb. 10, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/497,622, filed Apr. 21, 2023, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63484427 | Feb 2023 | US | |
63497622 | Apr 2023 | US |