Patent Grant
9635352
Three-dimensional (3D) video images for consumer television and other applications have become widespread. The hardware for 3D video images is well-known and typically involves substantially identical left and right video image channels of the same scene, except that the two image channels are taken from different lateral positions often separated by a few inches, yielding slightly different images so as to mimic views from each of a person's eyes. Viewers usually look at the 3D display via special glasses or Fresnel lenses, which allow each video image channel to effectively reach one eye only, which projects two slightly different images onto the retinas of the viewer's eyes. The viewer's visual cortex processes the binocular disparities of the two slightly different images together in a way that permits 3D, or stereoscopic depth perception.
A 3D display utilizing technologies described above typically requires a viewer to view the images being displayed from within a volume of space in front of the display for optimal 3D viewing. If the viewer's head leaves this volume of space in front of the display, the stereo image visualized by the viewer may be adversely affected, which may create eye strain and may lead to improper viewing of the 3D images, and therefore should be avoided.
An embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein is directed to a method. The method may include: providing a first pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of a predefined volume of space with respect to a first axis; providing a second pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of the predefined volume of space with respect to a second axis; and configuring the first pair of indicators and the second pair of indicators to provide a first type of visual indication visible to a viewer only from positions outside of the predefined volume of space.
An additional embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein is directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include a first pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of a predefined volume of space with respect to a first axis and a second pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of the predefined volume of space with respect to a second axis. The first pair of indicators and the second pair of indicators may be configured to provide a first type of visual indication visible to a viewer only from positions outside of the predefined volume of space.
A further embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein is directed to a display device. The display device may include a screen. The display device may also include a first pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of a predefined volume of space in front of the screen with respect to a horizontal axis and a second pair of indicators positioned to visually indicate boundaries of the predefined volume of space in front of the screen with respect to a vertical axis. The first pair of indicators and the second pair of indicators may be configured to provide a first type of visual indication visible to a viewer only from positions outside of the predefined volume of space.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the inventive concepts and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles and features of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
The numerous objects and advantages of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
In certain instances, it may be important for a viewer of the 3D display 100 to keep the viewer's head position within the head box 102 for proper viewing. More specifically, viewing the 3D display 100 from a horizontal position (x-axis) and/or a vertical position (y-axis) outside of the head box 102 may create undesirable visual effects such as stereo reversal or the like. Furthermore, undesirable visual effects such as stereo reversal may not always be readily apparent to the viewer, and if the viewer is using the 3D display 100 to remotely operate a machine, for example, the consequences of stereo reversal may be detrimental.
Referring generally to
From the perspective of a viewer 140, as long as the head position of the viewer 140 stays within the defined horizontal boundaries of the head box 102, the viewer 140 only sees green light from the visual indicators 104 and 106. On the other hand, if the head position of the viewer 140 leaves the head box 102 and moves too far left, for example, the green light from the visual indicator 104 becomes invisible and the viewer 140 instead sees red light from the visual indicator 104, which provides an intuitive visual indication to the viewer 140 that the head position of the viewer 140 is too far left and improper viewing of the 3D display 100 may occur.
It is to be understood that the directional light emitters within each visual indicator (e.g., 104R and 104G) are shown side-by-side merely for illustrative purposes. It is contemplated that the directional light emitters within each visual indicator (e.g., 104R and 104G) may also be arranged top-and-bottom, stacked, or in various other manners without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
It is also contemplated that the visual indicators 108 and 110 may be configured in a similar manner and utilized for indicating the vertical (y-axis) boundaries of the head box 102. More specifically, as depicted in the side view shown in
From the perspective of the viewer 140, as long as the head position of the viewer 140 stays within the defined vertical boundaries of the head box 102, the viewer 140 only sees green light from the visual indicators 108 and 110. On the other hand, if the head position of the viewer 140 leaves the head box 102 and moves too high, for example, the green light from the visual indicator 108 becomes invisible and the viewer 140 instead sees red light from the visual indicator 108, which provides an intuitive visual indication to the viewer 140 that the head position of the viewer 140 is too high and improper viewing of the 3D display 100 may occur.
It is contemplated that the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may include more than two directional light emitters. For instance, in addition to the red and green emitters described above, a yellow emitter may be configured to emit yellow light in a direction between the red and green emitters, visually indicating a transitional region to the viewer 140. In this manner, when yellow light becomes visible to the viewer 140, the viewer 140 may consider taking corrective actions before moving too far out of the head box 102, in which case red light would become visible as previously described.
It is to be understood that the color choices of red, green, and/or yellow described in the examples above are merely exemplary. Color choices may vary without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein as long as the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 are configured to be visually distinguishable for the purpose of indicating head box 102 boundaries.
It is also contemplated that the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to only emit directional light in directions that are outside of the head box 102 in some embodiments. In other words, the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may appear unlit from the perspective of the viewer 140 if the head position of the viewer 140 is within the head box 102. The viewer 140 may only see directional light from the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, or 110 when the head position of the viewer 140 moves outside of the head box 102. It is to be understood that in such embodiments, wherein the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 are configured to only emit directional light in directions that are outside of the head box 102, the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 can be colored in any manner without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
Alternatively, the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to only emit directional light in directions that are visible from within the head box 102 in some embodiments. In other words, the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may appear unlit from the perspective of the viewer 140 if the head position of the viewer 140 is outside of the head box 102. It is contemplated that whether to configure the visual indicators 104, 106, 108 and 110 to be visible or invisible from within the head box 102 may vary based on specific implementations without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
It is further contemplated that the circular shapes of the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 are exemplary, and they may vary without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein. For example, as shown in
Furthermore, it is contemplated that the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to be compatible with night vision devices (e.g., night vision goggles or the like). For instance, the light emitters utilized by the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to emit light of certain spectrum, color and/or brightness settings that are compatible with a given night vision device. Alternatively and/or additionally, the light emitters utilized by the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 may support a day light operation mode and a night vision operation mode, allowing the viewer 140 to selectively engage one of the operation modes as needed. It is contemplated that ambient light sensor(s) may also be utilized to automate the operation mode selection process without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
It is noted that the examples described above referenced directional light emitters as light sources for the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110. While using directional light emitters (sources) is one way of controlling visibilities of the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 from the perspective of the viewer 140, other techniques may be utilized to control visibilities of the visual indicators 104, 106, 108, and 110 as well. For instance, optical filters (e.g., polarizers) may be utilized in some embodiments to block light at certain angles. Referring to an example depicted in
It is further contemplated that optical filters (e.g., polarizers) may be utilized to selectively block visibility of the screen 114 in some embodiments. More specifically, one or more optical filters may be utilized to block viewing angles from all but within the head box 102, effectively eliminating improper viewing of the 3D display 100.
Referring now to
In some embodiments, both the horizontal and the vertical boundary indicators are configured to provide a first type of visual indications that are visible to a viewer from positions outside of the predefined 3D space in a step 206. Such visual indications may be presented using a particular choice of color (e.g., red in the examples above) and/or a particular choice of shape (e.g., a triangle or an arrow shown in the examples above), indicating to the viewer that corrective actions are needed when such visual indications become visible. Additionally and/or alternatively, the horizontal and the vertical boundary indicators may be configured to provide a second type of visual indications that are visually distinct from the first type of visual indications. In some embodiments, the second type of visual indications may be visible to the viewer from positions within the predefined 3D space in a step 208. It is to be understood that the second type of visual indications may be presented using a particular choice of color (e.g., green in the examples above) or shape. It is also to be understood that providing the second type of visual indications may be optional; the lack of visual indication (e.g., blank or unlit boundary indicators) may be recognized by the viewer as an indication that the viewer is within the predefined 3D space.
To reiterate, the 3D boundary indication techniques in accordance with the inventive concepts disclosed herein provide effective visual indications regarding horizontal and vertical positions with respect to a given 3D space without the need for complex and expensive head tracking sensors or devices. It is contemplated that the 3D boundary indication techniques in accordance with the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be configured to indicate improper (or proper) viewing angles of a display device as previously described. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the 3D space boundary indication techniques disclosed herein may be utilized for other purposes as well, without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
For instance, the 3D boundary indication techniques disclosed herein may be utilized to provide indications to a pilot making a visual approach to a runway. More specifically, current implementations of visual approach slope indicators utilize a set of lights on the side of an airport runway to provide visual descent guidance information during approach. The 3D boundary indication techniques disclosed herein, on the other hand, may provide more intuitive indications compared to the current implementations. Referring to an example shown in
It is to be understood that the present disclosure may be conveniently implemented in forms of a software, hardware or firmware package. It is to be understood that embodiments of the inventive concepts described in the present disclosure are not limited to any underlying implementing technology. Embodiments of the inventive concepts of the present disclosure may be implemented utilizing any combination of software and hardware technology and by using a variety of technologies without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts or without sacrificing all of their material advantages.
It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an example of exemplary approaches. It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged while remaining within the broad scope of the present disclosure. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.
It is believed that the inventive concepts disclosed herein and many of their attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts or without sacrificing all of their material advantages. The form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.
The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/951,050, filed Mar. 11, 2014. Said U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/951,050 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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| 7070299 | Williams | Jul 2006 | B2 |
| 20060220904 | Jarlengrip | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20120223255 | Walker | Sep 2012 | A1 |
| 20140028809 | Bruls | Jan 2014 | A1 |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61951050 | Mar 2014 | US |
