Patent Application
20180321484
The present systems, devices, and methods generally relate to electronic display technologies and particularly relate to electronic display technologies that are well-suited for use in wearable heads-up displays.
Electronic devices are commonplace throughout most of the world today. Advancements in integrated circuit technology have enabled the development of electronic devices that are sufficiently small and lightweight to be carried by the user. Such “portable” electronic devices may include on-board power supplies (such as batteries or other power storage systems) and may be designed to operate without any wire-connections to other, non-portable electronic systems; however, a small and lightweight electronic device may still be considered portable even if it includes a wire-connection to a non-portable electronic system. For example, a microphone may be considered a portable electronic device whether it is operated wirelessly or through a wire-connection.
The convenience afforded by the portability of electronic devices has fostered a huge industry. Smartphones, audio players, laptop computers, tablet computers, and ebook readers are all examples of portable electronic devices. However, the convenience of being able to carry a portable electronic device has also introduced the inconvenience of having one's hand(s) encumbered by the device itself. This problem is addressed by making an electronic device not only portable, but wearable.
A wearable electronic device is any portable electronic device that a user can carry without physically grasping, clutching, or otherwise holding onto the device with their hands. For example, a wearable electronic device may be attached or coupled to the user by a strap or straps, a band or bands, a clip or clips, an adhesive, a pin and clasp, an article of clothing, tension or elastic support, an interference fit, an ergonomic form, etc. Examples of wearable electronic devices include digital wristwatches, electronic armbands, electronic rings, electronic ankle-bracelets or “anklets,” head-mounted electronic display units, hearing aids, and so on.
While wearable electronic devices may be carried and, at least to some extent, operated by a user without encumbering the user's hands, many wearable electronic devices include at least one electronic display. Typically, in order for the user to access (i.e., see) and interact with content presented on such electronic displays, the user must modify their posture to position the electronic display in their field of view (e.g., in the case of a wristwatch, the user may twist their arm and raise their wrist towards their head) and direct their attention away from their external environment towards the electronic display (e.g., look down at the wrist bearing the wristwatch). Thus, even though the wearable nature of a wearable electronic device allows the user to carry and, to at least some extent, operate the device without occupying their hands, accessing and/or interacting with content presented on an electronic display of a wearable electronic device may occupy the user's visual attention and limit their ability to perform other tasks at the same time.
The limitation of wearable electronic devices having electronic displays described above may be overcome by wearable heads-up displays. A wearable heads-up display is a head-mounted display that enables the user to see displayed content but does not prevent the user from being able to see their external environment. A wearable heads-up display is an electronic device that is worn on a user's head and, when so worn, secures at least one electronic display within the accessible field of view of at least one of the user's eyes, regardless of the position or orientation of the user's head, but this at least one display is either transparent or at a periphery of the user's field of view so that the user is still able to see their external environment. Examples of wearable heads-up displays include: the Google Glass®, the Optinvent Ora®, the Epson Moverio®, the Sony Glasstron®, just to name a few.
A challenge in the design of most wearable heads-up display devices is the need to provide focused, high-quality images to the user without limiting the user's ability to see their external environment, and while at the same time minimizing the bulk of the wearable heads-up display unit itself. All of the wearable heads-up display devices available today are noticeably bulkier than a typical pair of corrective eyeglasses or sunglasses and there remains a need in the art for electronic display technology that enables wearable heads-up display devices of more aesthetically-appealing design while simultaneously providing high-quality images to the user without limiting the user's ability to see their external environment.
A wearable heads-up display may be summarized as including: a support structure that in use is worn on a head of a user; a first transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the first transparent element is substantially planar and positioned within a field of view of at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; and a first scanning display element positioned on or proximate a surface of the first transparent element in the field of view of the at least one eye of the user, the first scanning display element comprising: a light-emitting element; a collimator to, in use, collimate light provided by the light-emitting element; and a controllable light-redirecting element to, in use, controllably redirect light provided by the light-emitting element to specific locations of the at least one eye of the user.
A wearable heads-up display may be summarized as including: a support structure that in use is worn on a head of a user; a transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure and positioned within a field of view of at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; and a scanning display element positioned on or proximate a surface of the transparent element in the field of view of the at least one eye of the user, the scanning display element comprising: a light source; a collimator to collimate light signals provided by the light source; and a controllable beam-steerer to, in use, controllably redirect light provided by the light source to specific regions of the at least one eye of the user.
A wearable heads-up display may be summarized as including: a support structure that in use is worn on a head of a user; a transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the transparent element is positioned within a field of view of an eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; and a scanning projector positioned on or proximate a surface of the transparent element in the field of view of the eye of the user, the scanning projector comprising: a light source; and a dynamic optical beam-steerer positioned to receive light signals provided by the light source and controllably redirect the light signals towards select regions of the eye of the user.
The wearable heads-up display may further include a collimator to collimate light signals provided by the light source. The collimator may include a parabolic reflector positioned in between the light source and the dynamic optical beam-steerer with respect to a path of light signals provided by the light source. The light source may be oriented to direct light signals away from the eye of the user and the parabolic reflector may be oriented to reflect the light signals from the light source towards the eye of the user.
The light source may include at least one light source selected from the group consisting of: a light-emitting diode and a laser. The dynamic optical beam-steerer may be controllably rotatable about at least two axes. The dynamic optical beam-steerer may be transmissive of the light signals provided by the light source. The dynamic optical beam-steerer may controllably redirect the light signals towards select regions of the eye of the user by at least one of reflection, refraction, and/or diffraction.
The transparent element may include a prescription eyeglass lens. The transparent element may be positioned within a field of view of a first eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, and the wearable heads-up display may further include: a second transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the second transparent element is positioned within a field of view of a second eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; and a second scanning projector positioned on or proximate a surface of the second transparent element in the field of view of the second eye of the user, the second scanning projector comprising: a second light source; and a second dynamic optical beam-steerer positioned to receive light signals provided by the second light source and controllably redirect the light signals towards select regions of the second eye of the user.
The support structure may have a general shape and appearance of an eyeglasses frame.
The wearable heads-up display may further include a processor physically coupled to the support structure and communicatively coupled to the scanning projector; and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium physically coupled to the support structure and communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: control the light signals provided by the light source of the scanning projector; and control the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector to redirect the light signals provided by the light source towards select regions of the eye of the user.
The scanning projector may include a first scanning projector, and the wearable heads-up display may further include: a second scanning projector positioned on or proximate the transparent element in the field of view of the eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, the second scanning projector physically spaced apart from the first scanning projector, wherein the second scanning projector comprises: a second light source; and a second dynamic optical beam-steerer positioned to receive light signals provided by the second light source and controllably redirect the light signals towards select regions of the eye of the user. The wearable heads-up display may further include: at least one additional scanning projector positioned on or proximate the transparent element in the field of view of the eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, the at least one additional scanning projector physically spaced apart from the first scanning projector and the second scanning projector, wherein the at least one additional scanning projector comprises: at least one additional light source; and at least one additional dynamic optical beam-steerer positioned to receive light signals provided by the at least one additional light source and controllably redirect the light signals towards select regions of the eye of the user. The wearable heads-up display may further include an eye-tracker carried by the support structure, wherein both the first scanning projector and the second scanning projector are selectively activatable/deactivatable based, at least in part, on a position of the eye of the user as determined by the eye-tracker.
The various embodiments described herein include a method of operating a wearable heads-up display when the wearable heads-up display is worn on a head of a user, the wearable heads-up display including a transparent element positioned in a field of view of an eye of the user and a scanning projector positioned in the field of view of the eye of the user on or proximate the transparent element, the scanning projector comprising a light source and a dynamic optical beam-steerer. The method may be summarized as including: configuring the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector in a first configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user; generating a first light signal representative of at least a first portion of an image by the light source of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user; and redirecting the first light signal towards a first region of the eye of the user by the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user.
The method may further include: configuring the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector in a second configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user; generating a second light signal representative of at least a second portion of the image by the light source of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user; and redirecting the second light signal towards a second region of the eye of the user by the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user. The image may include N portions, where N is an integer greater than 2, and the method may further include: until i=(N+1), where i is an integer with an initial value of 3, sequentially: configuring the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector in an ith configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user; generating an ith light signal representative of at least an ith portion of the image by the light source of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user; and redirecting the ith light signal towards an ith region of the eye of the user by the dynamic optical beam-steerer of the scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user; and incrementing i by 1.
The wearable heads-up display may include a processor communicatively coupled to the light source and to the dynamic optical beam-steerer, and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the processor, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions, and the method may further include executing the processor-executable instructions by the processor to: cause the processor to instruct the light source of the scanning projector to generate the first light signal representative of at least a first portion of the image within the field of view of the eye of the user; and cause the processor to instruct the dynamic optical beam-steerer to adopt the first configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user.
The wearable heads-up display may further include a second scanning projector positioned on or proximate the transparent element and within the field of view of the eye of the user, the second scanning projector physically spaced apart from the first scanning projector and the second scanning projector comprising a second light source and a second dynamic optical beam-steerer, the method may further include: configuring the second dynamic optical beam-steerer of the second scanning projector in a first configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user; generating a light signal representative of at least a portion of an image by the second light source of the second scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user; and redirecting the light signal towards a region of the eye of the user by the second dynamic optical beam-steerer of the second scanning projector within the field of view of the eye of the user. The wearable heads-up display may include an eye-tracker, and the method may further include: determining a position of the eye of the user by the eye-tracker; and selectively activating/deactivating the first scanning projector and/or the second scanning projector based, at least in part, on the position of the eye of the user determined by the eye-tracker.
A wearable heads-up display may be summarized as including: a support structure that in use is worn on a head of a user; a first transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the first transparent element is substantially planar and positioned within a field of view of at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; a first light-emitting element physically coupled to the support structure and positioned proximate a periphery of the first transparent element; a first controllably rotatable reflector physically coupled to the support structure and positioned to, in use, receive a light provided by the first light-emitting element and reflect the light provided by the first light-emitting element; a first set of static light-redirection elements, each static light-redirection element in the first set of static light-redirection elements positioned on or proximate the first transparent element in the field of view of the at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, wherein in use at least one static light-redirection element in the first set of static light-redirection elements receives the light reflected by the first controllably rotatable reflector and redirects the light reflected by the first controllably rotatable reflector towards the at least one eye of the user, the at least one static light-redirection element selected by an angle of the first controllably reflector.
The first light-emitting element may include a register of light-emitting diodes. The first controllably rotatable reflector may include an elongated reflective bar that is controllably rotatable about an axis that is parallel to or collinear with a longitudinal axis thereof, and the elongated reflective bar may be positioned to, in use, receive a respective light provided by each respective light-emitting diode in the register of light-emitting diodes and reflect the respective light provided by each respective light-emitting diode in the register of light-emitting diodes.
The first light-emitting element may include at least one laser. The first controllably rotatable reflector may be controllably rotatable about at least two orthogonal axes.
The wearable heads-up display may further include at least one collimator positioned in between the first light-emitting element and the first controllably rotatable reflector, wherein in use the light provided by the first light-emitting element passes through the at least one collimator before receipt by the first controllably rotatable reflector.
The first transparent element may include a prescription eyeglass lens.
Each static light-redirection element in the set of static light-redirection elements may include a respective thin-film element that is affixed to the first transparent element. Each static light-redirection element in the set of static light redirection elements may be selected from the group consisting of: a prismatic structure, a prismatic film, a refractive element, a reflector, a parabolic reflector, and a holographic optical element.
The first transparent element may be positioned within a field of view of a first eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, and the wearable heads-up display may further include: a second transparent element physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the second transparent element is substantially planar and positioned within a field of view of a second eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; a second light-emitting element physically coupled to the support structure and positioned proximate a periphery of the second transparent element; a second controllably rotatable reflector physically coupled to the support structure and positioned to, in use, receive a light provided by the second light-emitting element and reflect the light provided by the second light-emitting element; a second set of static light-redirection elements, each static light-redirection element in the second set of static light-redirection elements positioned on or proximate the second transparent element in the field of view of the second eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, wherein in use at least one static light-redirection element in the second set of static light-redirection elements receives the light reflected by the second controllably rotatable reflector and redirects the light reflected by the second controllably rotatable reflector towards the second eye of the user, the at least one static light-redirection element in the second set of static light-redirection elements selected by an angle of the second controllably reflector.
The support structure may have a general shape and appearance of a set of eyeglasses.
The wearable heads-up display may further include a processor physically coupled to the support structure and communicatively coupled to both the first light-emitting element and the first controllably rotatable reflector; and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium physically coupled to the support structure and communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: control the light provided by the first light-emitting element; and control an angle of the first controllably rotatable reflector.
A method of operating a wearable heads-up display when the wearable heads-up display is worn on a head of a user, the wearable heads-up display including a transparent element positioned in a field of view of the user, at least one light-emitting element positioned at a periphery of the transparent element and substantially outside of the field of view of the user, a controllably rotatable reflector positioned at a periphery of the transparent element and substantially outside of the field of view of the user, and a set of static light-redirection elements positioned on or proximate the transparent element and within the field of view of the user, may be summarized as including: positioning the controllably rotatable reflector in a first rotational orientation; generating a first light signal representative of at least a first portion of an image by the at least one light-emitting element; reflecting the first light signal towards a first static light-redirection element in the set of static light-redirection elements by the controllably rotatable reflector, the first static light-redirection element determined by the first rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector; and redirecting the first light signal towards an eye of the user by the particular static light-redirection element.
The method may further include: positioning the controllably rotatable reflector in a second rotational orientation; generating a second light signal representative of a second portion of the image by the at least one light-emitting element; reflecting the second light signal towards a second static light-redirection element in the set of static light-redirection elements by the controllably rotatable reflector, the second static light-redirection element determined by the second rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector; and redirecting the second light signal towards the eye of the user by the second static light-redirection element. The image may include N portions, where N is an integer greater than 2, and the method may further include: until i=(N+1), where i is an integer with an initial value of 3, sequentially: positioning the controllably rotatable reflector in an ith rotational orientation; generating an ith light signal representative of an ith portion of the image by the at least one light-emitting element; reflecting the ith light signal towards an ith static light-redirection element in the set of static light-redirection elements by the controllably rotatable reflector, the ith static light-redirection element determined by the ith rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector; redirecting the ith light signal towards the eye of the user by the ith static light-redirection element; and incrementing i by 1.
The method may further include collimating the first light signal by at least one collimator.
The wearable heads-up display may include a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one light-emitting element and to the controllably rotatable reflector, and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the processor, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions, and the method may further include executing the processor-executable instructions by the processor to: cause the processor to instruct the at least one light-emitting element to generate the first light signal representative of at least a first portion of the image; and cause the processor to instruct the controllably rotatable reflector to adopt the first rotational orientation.
A wearable heads-up display may be summarized as including: a support structure that in use is worn on a head of a user; a first transparent element that is physically coupled to the support structure, wherein the first transparent element is substantially planar and positioned within a field of view of at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user; a first light-emitting element physically coupled to the support structure and positioned proximate a periphery of the first transparent element; a first light-redirecting element physically coupled to the support structure and positioned to, in use, receive a light provided by the first light-emitting element and redirect the light provided by the first light-emitting element; a first controllably rotatable reflector positioned on or proximate the first transparent element in the field of view of the at least one eye of the user when the support structure is worn on the head of the user, wherein in use the first controllably rotatable reflector receives the light redirected by the first controllably rotatable reflector and reflects the light towards the at least one eye of the user.
A method of operating a wearable heads-up display when the wearable heads-up display is worn on a head of a user, the wearable heads-up display including a transparent element positioned in a field of view of the user, at least one light-emitting element positioned at a periphery of the transparent element and substantially outside of the field of view of the user, a light-redirecting element positioned at a periphery of the transparent element and substantially outside of the field of view of the user, and a controllably rotatable reflector positioned on or proximate the transparent element and within the field of view of the user, may be summarized as including: positioning the controllably rotatable reflector in a first rotational orientation; generating a first light signal representative of at least a first portion of an image by the at least one light-emitting element; redirecting the first light signal towards the controllably rotatable reflector by the light-redirecting element; and reflecting the first light signal towards an eye of the user by the controllably rotatable reflector.
In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements or acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some of these elements are arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn are not necessarily intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements, and have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawings.
In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with portable electronic devices and head-worn devices, have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or” is generally employed in its broadest sense, that is as meaning “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the embodiments.
The various embodiments described herein provide systems, devices, and methods for wearable heads-up displays that are at least partially transparent. The wearable heads-up displays described herein are significantly less bulky and less massive than other wearable heads-up displays available today.
Various wearable heads-up displays described herein each employ at least one “scanning projector” positioned within the field of view of an eye of the user and oriented to scan an image directly onto the user's eye in a similar way to that by which a conventional projector projects an image onto a display screen. The various embodiments of scanning projectors described herein each comprise at least one light-emitting element (e.g., a “light source,” “laser”, “light emitting diode(s)”) that produces and/or provides (e.g., generates and/or emits) an image in portions (e.g., “light signals”) at a time (e.g., on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a row-by-row basis, or a column-by-column basis) and a dynamic optical beam-steerer that directs the light signal portions of the image towards corresponding regions of the user's eye. As will be discussed in more detail later on, the dynamic optical beam-steerer may employ any of a variety of components and/or techniques, including without limitation, one or more of: a “reflector,” a “refractor,” a “diffractor,” a “mirror,” a “half silvered mirror,” a “dichroic filter,” a “prism,” an “optic,” and the like, and/or one or more element(s) that use any or all of reflection, refraction, and diffraction, either individually or in combination. The scanning projector generates and scans light directly over the user's eye to produce an image seen by the user. In the present systems, devices, and methods, the scanning projector is placed directly in the user's field of view, either on or at least proximate a transparent element of the wearable heads-up display such that the user may simultaneously see light from the external environment and light projected by the scanning projector of the wearable heads-up display.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, reference is often made to a “transparent element” of a wearable heads-up display. As described in more detail later on, the wearable heads-up displays of the present systems, devices, and methods may be sized and dimensioned similar to (or otherwise have the general shape and appearance of) a pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses. In some embodiments, elements of the wearable heads-up display devices described herein may even be added to an existing pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses in order to convert the existing pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses into a wearable heads-up display as described herein. Accordingly, a “transparent element” of the wearable heads-up displays described herein may resemble or literally be a lens from a pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses, including but not limited to a prescription lens. Throughout the remainder of this description, the term “lens” is generally used to refer to such a “transparent element,” though a person of skill in the art will appreciate that the transparent element(s) of the present systems, devices, and methods may take other “non-lens” forms in some implementations. For example, in some implementations a transparent element may be better characterized as a window having no substantial optical power or “lensing” effect on light transmitted therethrough. Furthermore, the term “transparent” should be interpreted generally as “substantially transparent” and does not limit the present systems, devices, and methods to lenses and transparent elements having 100% transparency.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, the term “dynamic” is often used to describe one or more optical beam-steerer(s). Unless the specific context requires otherwise, the term “dynamic optical beam-steerer” is used to describe a system or device that is controllably variable (either rigidly of flexibly, e.g., by deformation) in at least one parameter (e.g., its shape, its position, its rotation, its orientation, its index of refraction, its optical power, and/or another optical property or other optical properties) with respect to light signals that are incident thereon, where a direction or path of such incident light is controllably affected (e.g., redirected) by such controllably variable property. As examples, a dynamic optical beam-steerer may include any or all of: a medium having a controllable refractive index, a variable lens, a tunable diffraction grating, a mechanical mirror-based gimbal or beam-director, one or more rotatable mirrors or micromirrors (e.g., MEMS-based or galvanometer-based), multiple prisms (e.g., Risley prisms), phased-array optics, and/or the like.
A person of skill in the art will appreciate that, in general, one or more reflective element(s) may be replaced by one or more refractive element(s) and/or one or more diffractive element(s), and vice versa, with some re-alignment of the optical path sometimes necessary, to achieve the same final end trajectory of a light signal.
Light source 110 generates and/or emits (e.g., “provides”) one or more light signal(s) 111 that represent(s) an image, or respective portions thereof. Light signals 111 are collimated by collimator 140 and redirected (e.g., steered) towards select regions of the user's eye 190 by beam-steerer 130. In the illustrated example, light source 110 and collimator 140 are both realized using a single microLED element (such as a microLED element available from InifiniLED Limited) in which an LED 110 is combined with a parabolic reflector 140 to produce collimated light 111. In accordance with the present systems, articles, and methods, the microLED is combined with a dynamic optical beam-steerer 130 which may comprise and/or implement any of the aforementioned beam-steering devices/techniques.
Parabolic reflector 140 is positioned in between light source 110 and dynamic optical beam-steerer 130 with respect to a path of light signals 111 provided by light source 110. Light source 110 is oriented to direct light signals 111 away from the eye 190 of the user and parabolic reflector 140 is oriented to reflect light signals 111 from light source 110 back towards the eye 190 of the user. In the illustrated embodiment, beam-steerer 130 is transmissive of light signals 111 provided by light source 110 and controllably rotatable about two orthogonal axes. Thus, beam-steerer 130 receives and relays collimated light (collimated beforehand by parabolic reflector 140); however, in some implementations one or more collimator(s) may be added downstream from beam-steerer 130 to collimate the light that is output thereby, or beam-steerer 130 may itself be adapted to receive non-collimated light and output collimated light.
Dynamic optical beam-steerer 130, within the field of view of eye 190, controls the angle at which light 111 output (also within the field of view of eye 190 though initially directed away from eye 190 in the illustrated embodiment) by light source 110 impinges on the eye 190. As described previously, the human eye can position a light source in the field of view based on the angle at which light from the source enters the eye; thus, the configuration of beam-steerer 130 determines the position of light signals 111 in the field of view of eye 190. In synchronization with a steering or “scan” pattern swept or otherwise effected by beam-steerer 130, light source 110 may modulate the intensity and/or color (if, for example, an RGB LED or RGB laser system is used) of light signals 111 (e.g., each light signal corresponding to a respective portion of an image).
Light source 110 may sequentially generate portions or aspects (e.g., pixels, rows, columns, etc.) of an image and these portions or aspects may be scanned over the eye 190 of the user by dynamic optical beam-steerer 130 to produce the collective image. Light from the user's external environment is depicted by rays 181, 182, 183, and 184, which pass through lens 101 and into the user's eye 190 substantially unaffected. Scanning project 120 may block or occlude a small amount of light from the user's external environment from reaching eye 190, but scanning projector 190 is positioned in such close proximity to eye 190 that eye 190 cannot focus thereupon, and scanning projector 120 is advantageously small enough (e.g., smaller than the pupil of the eye into which the scanning projector projects) that any such occlusion is negligible. Scanning projector 120 may be communicatively coupled to a power source and/or a control system (not illustrated in
The wearable heads-up displays described herein may be used to display static or dynamic content (at virtually any resolution), including without limitation: text, images, notifications, maps, videos, menus, gauges, and/or dynamic user interfaces. As an example, 1080p video having a frame rate of 24 fps with a 16:9 aspect ratio may be presented by a display taught herein by synchronously modulating the light source (110, 210, 310) and the beam-steerer (130, 330) to project 1080 rows and 1920 columns at a switching at a rate of about 26 kHz (e.g., 1080 rows multiplied by 24 frames). Such is entirely feasible using, for example one or more laser diode(s) for the light source (110, 210, 310) and one or more microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based device(s) (e.g., digital micromirror) in the beam-steerer (130, 330).
While displays 100, 200, and 300 each implement a single scanning projector (120, 220, and 320, respectively) positioned in the user's field of view, alternative implementations may include multiple scanning projectors (120, 220, 320) positioned at multiple positions in the user's field of view on the lens (101, 201, 301, respectively), with each scanning projector communicatively coupled to a common or respective controller (e.g., 222) through a respective thin or substantially transparent electrically conductive pathway (e.g., 221). The use of multiple scanning projectors (120, 220, 320) can increase the field of view of the display (100, 200, 300) by using each scanning projector (120, 220, 320) to project a respective portion of a larger complete image, and/or the use of multiple scanning projectors (120, 220, 320) can increase the effective “eyebox” of the optical system by using each scanning projector (120, 220, 320) to project a respective copy of the same image. Increasing the effective eyebox enables the user to see the projected image from a wider range of eye positions; however, since scanning projectors (120, 220, 320) positioned in the user's field of view may block the transmission of light from external sources, it can be advantageous to use a small number of scanning projectors (120, 220, 320), such as 1, 2, 5 or fewer, between 5 and 10, or fewer than 20. In some implementations, a square grid of scanning projectors (120, 220, 320) may be used, such as 4 scanning projectors, 9 scanning projectors, 16 scanning projectors, and so on.
The various embodiments described herein may also include systems and methods for eye tracking. As an example, display 400 includes an eye-tracker 470 (only a single component drawn, though a person of skill in the art will appreciate that an eye-tracker may include multiple components, such as for example an infrared light source and an infrared light detector). In use, eye-tracker 470 determines the position of the user's eye and/or the user's gaze direction relative to lens 401 and, in particular, relative to scanning projectors 421, 422, 423, and 424. With this information, display 400 may selectively control which of scanning projectors 421, 422, 423, and/or 424 is/are used to steer light signals into the user's eye. For example, if one or more of scanning projectors 421, 422, 423, and/or 424 is/are not capable of steering light signals into the region of the user's pupil given the user's pupil position as determined by eye-tracker 470, then that one or more dynamic reflector 421, 422,423, and/or 424 may be deactivated until the user moves their pupil to a new position. In other words, each of scanning projectors 421, 422, 423, and 424 may be selectively activatable/deactivatable based, at least in part, on a position of the at least one eye of the user as determined by eye-tracker 470.
The transparent displays described herein may be used in applications outside of the space of wearable heads-up displays (e.g., as televisions, monitors, and the like) or in more specialized applications such as window display screens. In applications where a transparent display is typically viewed from a distance (e.g., on the order of meters) the collimators described may not be necessary. However, with the use of collimators, the transparent displays described herein are particularly well-suited for use in wearable heads-up display devices. In such devices, a single transparent display may be positioned in the field of view of one eye of the user while no transparent display is positioned in the field of view of the other eye of the user, or a single transparent display may be positioned in (and span) the fields of views of both eyes of the user, or a first transparent display (e.g., 100, 200, 300) may be positioned in the field of view of a first eye of the user and a second transparent display (e.g., 100, 200, 300) may be positioned in the field of view of a second eye of the user. In the latter case, the second transparent display may essentially duplicate the first transparent display, with or without stereoscopic adjustment as desired.
In order to control the content displayed on first transparent display 501, wearable heads-up display 500 includes a first processor 521 physically coupled to support structure 510 and communicatively coupled to the first set of scanning projectors of first display 501; and a first non-transitory processor-readable storage medium 531 physically coupled to support structure 510 and communicatively coupled to first processor 521. First non-transitory processor-readable storage medium 531 stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by first processor 521, cause first processor 521 to: control the light provided by the light sources and control the angle/position/orientation of each beam steerer in the first set of scanning projectors of display 501. In some implementations, a single processor and a single non-transitory processor-readable storage medium may control the operations of both first display 501 and second display 502; however, in the illustrated example of
In some applications of wearable heads-up displays 500 that employ two transparent displays 501 and 502, both transparent displays 501 and 502 may simultaneously display visual content to the user. However, in other applications, it may be advantageous to rapidly alternate which of the two displays 501 and 502 is displaying content to the user while the other of displays 502 and 501 is in a state of maximal transparency. For example, in an application in which video is displayed to a user, all odd frames may be displayed on first display 501 while second display 502 is in a state of maximal transparency and all even frames may be displayed on second display 502 while first display 501 is in a state of maximal transparency. This approach can maximize the user's perception of light from external sources without noticeably detracting from the quality of the content displayed on displays 501 and 502. Similar techniques are employed in, for example, shutter-based 3D glasses.
In some applications of a wearable heads-up display, it may be advantageous for displayed content to be projected towards to a specific and limited region of the user's eye such that the displayed content may go in and out of the user's field of view depending on where the user is looking (i.e., the user will see the displayed content only if the user moves his/her pupil into the region where the displayed content is projected). For example, if all of the light signals generated by the wearable heads-up display are generally directed towards the top of the user's eye, then the user may only see the displayed content when the user glances upwards. Conversely, in other applications it may be advantageous for displayed content to remain visible to the user over a wide range of eye positions. In other words, it may be advantageous for the user to be able to see the displayed content regardless of where the user is looking (or, at least, when the user is looking in any of multiple different directions). The range of eye positions over which specific content is visible to the user is generally referred to as the “eyebox.” An application in which displayed content is only visible from a single or small range of eye positions has a “small eyebox,” and an application in which displayed content is visible form a wide range of eye positions has a “large eyebox.”
At 601, a dynamic optical beam-steerer (e.g., 130, 330) of the display is configured in a first configuration (e.g., in a first rotational orientation) within the field of view of an eye of the user. The beam-steerer may include, for example, a MEMS-based component and the configuration of the dynamic beam-steerer may be controlled by, for example, a processor on-board the wearable heads-up display in response to the processor executing processor-executable instructions stored in a non-transitory processor-readable medium also located on-board the wearable heads-up display. The configuration of the beam-steerer may be controllable in a single or multiple dimensions.
At 602, a light source (e.g., 110, 210, 310, or 410) generates and emits, within the field of view of the eye of the user, a first light signal representative of at least a first portion of an image. The light source may include one or more LED(s) and/or OLED(s) of any number of colors, and/or one or more laser device(s)/module(s). The light source and the dynamic optical beam-steerer may be integrated together in a single package as a scanning projector. The first portion of the image may include a first pixel of the image, or a modulated pattern corresponding to the pixels of a first row of an image.
At 603, the dynamic optical beam-steerer redirects the first light signal towards a first region of the eye of the user within the field of view of the eye of the user. The placement of the corresponding image in the user's field of view depends on the configuration of the dynamic beam-steerer established at 601.
Acts 601, 602, and 603 may be repeated sequentially for multiple light signals respectively corresponding to multiple portions of an image. For example, acts 601, 602, and 603 may be repeated for a second light signal corresponding to a second portion of the image using a second configuration of the dynamic beam-steerer. When the image includes N portions, where N is an integer greater than 2, method 600 may include, until i=(N+1), where i is an integer with an initial value of 3, sequentially: configuring the dynamic beam-steerer in an ith configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user; generating an ith light signal representative of an ith portion of the image by the light source within the field of view of the eye of the user; redirecting the ith light signal towards an ith region of the eye of the user by the dynamic beam-steerer within the field of view of the user; and incrementing i by 1.
In general, method 600 may include sequentially repeating acts 601, 602, and 603 for successive portions of the image until the Nth or final portion of the image is reached. Once the Nth or final portion of the image is reached, method 600 may proceed to act 604.
At 604, the dynamic optical beam-steerer is configured in a Nth configuration within the field of view of the eye of the user similar to act 601.
At 605, the light source generates and emits an Nth light signal representative of at least a Nth portion of the image within the field of view of the eye of the user similar to act 602.
At 606, the dynamic beam-steerer redirects the Nth light signal towards an Nth region of the eye of the user within the field of view of the eye of the user similar to act 603.
As previously described, a user may be better able to focus on images displayed on the transparent displays described herein when employed in wearable heads-up displays if the light signals corresponding to the images are directed in substantially parallel beams. To this end, method 600 may include collimating the light signals by at least one collimator and/or the light-redirection element may be engineered to produce/output substantially collimated light when the light is redirected.
The wearable heads-up display may include a processor and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the processor that together control at least some of the acts of method 600. For example, method 600 may further include executing, by the processor on-board the wearable heads-up display, processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory processor-readable medium to: cause the processor to instruct the at least one light source to generate and emit the light signal representative of at least a portion of the image per act 602/605; and cause the processor to instruct the dynamic beam-steerer to adopt the configuration per act 601/604.
As described previously and depicted in
As also depicted in
In exemplary display 700, light-redirecting elements 731 are static reflectors. That is, light-redirecting elements 731 are fixed in place and designed to reflect light signals 711 received from controllably rotatable reflector 720 (each specific static light-redirecting element 731 being selected by a respective rotational orientation of controllably rotatable reflector 720) into the user's field of view. Exemplary reflectors that may serve as light-redirecting elements 731 include, without limitation, prismatic structures such as prismatic reflectors and/or prismatic film, parabolic structures, and/or one or more holographic optical element(s). However, in alternative implementations, light-redirecting elements 731 may redirect light signals 711 by refraction as opposed to by reflection.
In both exemplary display 700 and exemplary display 800, light-emitting element 710, 810 and controllably rotatable reflector 720, 820 may be implemented in a variety of different configurations. Two exemplary configurations are provided in
In both display 900 and display 1000, the light-emitting element 910, 1010 and the controllably rotatable reflector 920, 1020 are depicted on the portion of the support structure 950, 1050 that forms the perimeter of the lens 901, 1001, and specifically, at the “top” of the lens 901, 1001. This configuration is used for illustrative purposes only and in alternative implementation a light-emitting element and controllably rotatable reflector may be positioned at a side of bottom of a lens and/or on an arm of a support structure.
Controllably rotatable reflectors 920 and 1020 are shown in dashed lines in
The wearable heads-up displays described herein may be used to display static or dynamic content (at virtually any resolution), including without limitation: text, images, maps, videos, menus, gauges, and/or dynamic user interfaces. As an example, 1080p video having a frame rate of 24 fps with a 16:9 aspect ratio may be displayed by a display taught herein with a set of static light-redirecting elements (e.g., 730, 830, 930, 1030, and/or 1130) elements having 1080 rows, a light-emitting element having 1920 individual light-emitting diodes (e.g., 911), and with both the controllably rotatable reflector (720, 820, 920, 1020, and/or 1120) and the light-emitting element (e.g., 710, 810, 910, 1010, and/or 1110) being capable of switching at a rate of about 26 kHz (i.e., 1080 rows multiplied by 24 frames). Such is entirely feasible using, for example OLED technology for light-emitting elements 911 and a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based micromirror (e.g., digital micromirror) for the controllably rotatable reflector (720, 820, 920, 1020, and/or 1120).
The transparent display elements described herein may be used in applications outside of the space of wearable heads-up displays (e.g., as televisions, monitors, and the like) or in more specialized applications such as window display screens. In applications where a transparent display element is typically viewed from a distance (i.e., on the order of meters) the collimators described may not be necessary. However, with the use of collimators, the transparent display elements described herein are particularly well-suited for use in wearable heads-up display devices. In such devices, a single transparent display element may be positioned in the field of view of one eye of the user while no transparent display element is positioned in the field of view of the other eye of the user, or a single transparent display element may be positioned in (and span) the fields of views of both eyes of the user, or a first transparent display element (e.g., 700, 800, 900, 1000, or 1100) may be positioned in the field of view of a first eye of the user and a second transparent display element (e.g., 700, 800, 900, 1000, or 1100) may be positioned in the field of view of a second eye of the user. In the latter case, the second transparent display element may essentially duplicate the first transparent display element.
In order to control the content displayed on first transparent display element 1201, wearable heads-up display 1200 includes a first processor 1221 physically coupled to support structure 1210 and communicatively coupled to both the first light-emitting element and the first controllably rotatable reflector of first display element 1201; and a first non-transitory processor-readable storage medium 1231 physically coupled to support structure 1210 and communicatively coupled to first processor 1221. First non-transitory processor-readable storage medium 1231 stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by first processor 1221, cause first processor 1221 to: control the light provided by the first light-emitting element and control an angle of the first controllably rotatable reflector. In some implementations, a single processor and a single non-transitory processor-readable storage medium may control the operations of both first display element 1201 and second display element 1202; however, in the illustrated example of
Some implementations of the present systems, articles, and methods may employ off-board processing as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/989,848, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
In some applications of wearable heads-up displays 1200 that employ two transparent display elements 1201 and 1202, both transparent display elements 1201 and 1202 may simultaneously display visual content to the user. However, in other applications, it may be advantageous to rapidly alternate which of the two display elements 1201 and 1202 is displaying content to the user while the other of display elements 1202 and 1201 is in a state of maximal transparency. For example, in an application in which video is displayed to a user, all odd frames may be displayed on first display element 1201 while second display element 1202 is in a state of maximal transparency and all even frames may be displayed on second display element 1202 while first display element 1201 is in a state of maximal transparency. This approach can maximize the user's perception of light from external sources without noticeably detracting from the quality of the content displayed on display elements 1201 and 1202. Similar techniques are employed in, for example, shutter-based 3D glasses.
At 1301, a controllably rotatable reflector (e.g., 720, 820, 920, 1020, or 1120) of the display is positioned in a first rotational orientation. The reflector may include, for example, a digital micromirror such as a MEMS-based micromirror and the positioning of the reflector may be controlled by, for example, a processor on-board the wearable heads-up display in response to the processor executing processor-executable instructions stored in a non-transitory processor-readable medium also located on-board the wearable heads-up display. The rotational orientation of the reflector may be controllable in a single or multiple rotational dimensions depending on the implementation and the nature of the light-emitting element (as described previously, for example, with reference to
At 1302, a first light-emitting element (e.g., 710, 810, 910, 1010, or 1110) generates a first light signal representative of a first portion of an image. The first light-emitting element may include LEDs and/or OLEDs of any number of colors, and or one or more laser devices/modules. If the first light-emitting element is arranged in a row and positioned above or below the field of view of the user (e.g., as element 910 in
At 1303, the controllably rotatable reflector reflects the first light signal towards a first static light-redirecting element (e.g., 730, 830, 930, 1030, or 1130) at or proximate a lens of the display. The first static light-redirecting element may be one of a set of static light-redirecting elements that is effectively selected by the first rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector. Depending on the implementation (e.g., display 700 vs. display 800) the controllably rotatable reflector may reflect the first light signal directly towards the first static light-redirecting element (as in display 700) or the controllably rotatable reflector may reflect the first light signal into a plane of the lens of the display, in which the first light signal may be totally internally reflected until it impinges upon the first static light-redirecting element.
At 1304, the first static light-redirecting element redirects the first light signal towards an eye of the user and into the user's field of view so that the user sees the first light signal. Depending on the specific implementation (e.g., display 700 vs. display 800), the first light-redirecting element may reflect (per display 700) or refract (per display 800) the first light signal towards the eye of the user.
Acts 1301, 1302, 1303, and 1304 may be repeated sequentially for multiple light signals respectively corresponding to multiple portions of an image. For example, acts 1301, 1302, 1303, and 1304 may be repeated for a second light signal corresponding to a second portion of the image using a second rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector and a second static light-redirecting element. When the image includes N portions, where N is an integer greater than 2, method 1300 may include, until i=(N+1), where i is an integer with an initial value of 9, sequentially: positioning the controllably rotatable reflector in an ith rotational orientation; generating an ith light signal representative of an ith portion of the image by the at least one light-emitting element; reflecting the ith light signal towards an ith static light-redirection element in the set of static light-redirection elements by the controllably rotatable reflector, the ith static light-redirection element determined by the ith rotational orientation of the controllably rotatable reflector; redirecting the ith light signal towards the eye of the user by the ith static light-redirection element; and incrementing i by 1.
In general, method 1300 may include sequentially repeating acts 1301, 1302, 1303, and 1304 for successive portions of the image until the Nth or final portion of the image is reached. Once the Nth or final portion of the image is reached, method 1300 may proceed to act 1305.
At 1305, the controllably rotatable reflector is positioned in a Nth rotational orientation similar to act 1301.
At 1306, the light-emitting element generates an Nth light signal representative of at least a Nth portion of the image similar to act 1302.
At 1307, the controllably rotatable reflector reflects the Nth light signal towards a Nth static light-redirecting element similar to act 1303.
At 1308, the Nth static light-redirecting element redirects (e.g., reflects or refracts depending on the implementation) the Nth light signal towards the eye of the user similar to act 1304.
As previously described, a user may be better able to focus on images displayed on the transparent display elements described herein when employed in wearable heads-up displays if the light signals corresponding to the images are directed in substantially parallel beams. To this end, method 1300 may include collimating the light signals by at least one collimator.
Furthermore, the wearable heads-up display may include a processor and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the processor that together control at least some of the acts of method 1300. For example, method 1300 may further include executing, by the processor on-board the wearable heads-up display, processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory processor-readable medium to: cause the processor to instruct the at least one light-emitting element to generate the first light signal representative of at least a first portion of the image per act 1302/1306; and cause the processor to instruct the controllably rotatable reflector to adopt the first rotational orientation per act 1301/1305.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, the term “static” is often used to describe one or more light-redirecting element(s). Unless the specific context requires otherwise, the term ‘static” is used to indicate that the corresponding elements (i.e., static light-redirecting elements) are substantially fixed in place relative to the wearable heads-up display and not controllable, movable, rotatable, etc. In other words, a static element is a passive element, such as a reflector or refractor that is fixed in place. The term static is used to distinguish such elements from active elements of a wearable heads-up display that are dynamically controllable, movable, rotatable, etc. (such as a controllably rotatable reflector).
Exemplary displays 700 and 800 from
While display 1500 implements a single controllably rotatable reflector 1520 positioned in the user's field of view and a static light-redirecting element 1530 positioned on an arm 1551 of the support structure 1550, alternative implementations may include multiple controllably rotatable reflectors 1520 positioned at multiple positions in the user's field of view on lens 1501 (with each communicatively coupled to a common or respective controller 1522 through a respective electrically conductive pathway 1521) and, in such implementations, light-redirecting element 1530 may be controllably switchable between a number of discrete positions, each discrete position oriented to redirect light from light-emitting element 1510 to a respective one of the multiple controllably rotatable reflectors 1520. However, since controllably rotatable reflectors 1520 positioned in the user's field of view may block the transmission of light from external sources, it can be advantageous to use a small number of controllably rotatable reflectors 1520, such as 1, 2, 4, or 8.
Though displays 1400 and 1500 represent a reconfiguration of many of the same elements from displays 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200, displays 1400 and 1500 may be operated in a very similar manner to displays 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200 in order to effectively scan an image over a user's field of view without significantly impeding the user from seeing light from external sources. Thus, displays 1400 and 1500 may be operated according to a slightly modified version of method 1300.
At 1601, a controllably rotatable reflector is positioned in a first rotational orientation in a similar way to that described for act 1301 of method 1300. The difference between act 1601 and act 1301 is that for act 1601 the reflector is positioned directly within the field of view of the user whereas for act 1301 the reflector is positioned substantially outside of the field of view of the user.
At 1602, a light-emitting element generates a first light signal representative of at least a first portion of an image in a similar way to that described for act 1302 of method 1300.
At 1603, a light-redirecting element (e.g., a static reflector 1530) redirects the first light signal towards the controllably rotatable reflector, and at 1604, the controllably rotatable reflector reflects the light signal towards an eye of the user based on the first rotational orientation. Thus, acts 1603 and 1604 of method 1600 essentially swap the roles of the controllably rotatable reflector and the light-redirecting element for acts 1303 and 1304 of method 1300.
In a similar way to that described for method 1300, acts 1601, 1602, 1603, and 1604 for be sequentially repeated for multiple iterations until the last, final, or Nth light signal is reached, at which point method 1600 proceeds to act 1605.
At 1605, the controllably rotatable reflector is positioned in a Nth rotational orientation similar to act 1601.
At 1606, the light-emitting element generates an Nth light signal representative of at least a Nth portion of the image similar to act 1602.
At 1607, the light-redirecting element redirects the Nth light signal towards the controllably rotatable reflector similar to act 1603.
At 1608, the controllably rotatable reflector reflects the Nth light signal towards the eye of the user similar to act 1604.
Each implementation of a wearable heads-up display described herein may be summarized as including a transparent near-eye display that can be integrated into a wearable display with the form factor of a regular pair of glasses.
The various implementations described herein may optionally include systems, devices, and methods for eye-tracking. For example, the angle at which controllably rotatable reflector 1420/1520 from displays 1400/1500 may be automatically adjusted or otherwise based on the location of the user's pupil as determined through one or more eye tracking scheme(s). In some implementations, the display may be capable (e.g., by using a sufficiently long register of LEDs as a light source and/or by using a sufficiently wide range of rotation for a controllably rotatable reflector) of projecting an image towards the user's eye but over an area that is larger than the user's field of view, and in this case the portion of the total projection area that overlies the area of the user's pupil may be dynamically detected via eye-tracking and the display may dynamically limit projection of the image to be within that dynamic area.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, reference is often made to “controllably rotatable” reflectors and reflectors being “rotational oriented” at a particular “angle.” A person of skill in the art (e.g., in the art of micromirrors such as digital MEMS-based micromirrors) will appreciate that the concept of “rotation” is used herein as a generalization and that a similar effect may be achieved by a bending or deformation of a micromirror surface.
In some implementations, one or more optical fiber(s) may be used to guide light signals along some of the paths illustrated herein. For example, light may travel from a light-emitting element to a first point of redirection (i.e., to a controllably rotatable reflector in displays 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200 or to a static light-redirecting element in displays 1400 and 1500) through one or more optical fiber cable(s).
In some implementations, an elongated bar micromirror used to rotate about a single rotational axis (e.g., reflector 920 from display 900 of
The wearable heads-up display devices that employ total internal reflection within a transparent lens (e.g., display 800 of
This description includes various non-limiting examples of light sources generally referred to as “light-emitting elements.” For example, a row/register of LEDs is described as a light-emitting element in display 900 and a laser module is described as a light-emitting element in display 1000. In accordance with the present systems, articles, and methods, other light-emitting elements and/or combinations thereof may be employed in the wearable heads-up displays described herein. As an example, a register of LEDs as used in display 900 may be replaced by the combination of a register of digital micromirrors and a single line-scan laser (i.e., a laser with a lens that spreads the beam of the laser out as a line) oriented so that the line-scan aligns with and shines on the register of micromirrors. Similarly, the register of LEDs in display 900 may be replaced by a register of shutters through which the output of a line-scan laser is selectively/controllably transmitted or blocked depending on the respective state of each shutter in the register of shutters. Another example of a light source that may be used in the present systems, articles, and methods is a “Grating Light Valve” such as that developed by Sony circa 2002.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, reference is often made to static light-redirecting elements located on or proximate a lens of a wearable heads-up display device. Examples of such static light-emitting structures include, without limitation, prismatic structures deposited directly on the lens as a thin film (e.g., optical lighting film, or OLF, available from 3G). In accordance with the present systems, articles, and methods, the static light-redirecting elements described herein may serve as “transparent optical combiners” that advantageously direct light corresponding to an image generated by a light-emitting element towards the user's eye while simultaneously allowing a majority of external light from the user's environment to pass through with minimal distortion. In general, such combiners may be molded or machined into an existing lens material (e.g., a lens from a user's existing pair of eyeglasses) or formed by a lithography process and deposited onto a surface of a lens (e.g., a lens from a user's existing pair of eyeglasses) as thin film. If a user's existing pair of eyeglasses is used, then the other elements of the display (e.g., light-emitting element, collimator, controllably rotatable reflector, battery, processor, transceiver, etc.) may likewise be added to the support structure(s) of the existing pair of eyeglasses.
Each implementation of a wearable heads-up display described herein may be summarized as including a transparent near-eye display that can be integrated into a wearable display with the form factor of a regular pair of glasses.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, reference is often made to “rotating” beam-steerers and beam-steerers being “oriented” at a particular “angle” or “configuration.” A person of skill in the art (e.g., in the art of micromirrors such as digital MEMS-based micromirrors) will appreciate that the concept of “rotation” is used herein as a generalization and that a similar effect may be achieved by a bending or deformation of a micromirror surface.
In some implementations, one or more optical fiber(s) may be used to guide light signals along some of the paths illustrated herein. For example, light may travel from a light source to a first point of redirection (e.g., to a light-redirection element) through one or more optical fiber cable(s).
The wearable heads-up displays described herein may include one or more sensor(s) (e.g., microphone, camera, thermometer, compass, and/or others) for collecting data from the user's environment. For example, one or more camera(s) may be used to provide feedback to the processor of the wearable heads-up display and influence where on the transparent display(s) any given image should be displayed.
The wearable heads-up displays described herein may include one or more on-board power sources (e.g., one or more battery(ies)), a wireless transceiver for sending/receiving wireless communications, and/or a tethered connector port for coupling to a computer and/or charging the one or more on-board power source(s).
The wearable heads-up displays described herein may receive and respond to commands from the user in one or more of a variety of ways, including without limitation: voice commands through a microphone; touch commands through buttons, switches, or a touch sensitive surface; and/or gesture-based commands through gesture detection systems.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims the term “communicative” as in “communicative pathway,” “communicative coupling,” and in variants such as “communicatively coupled,” is generally used to refer to any engineered arrangement for transferring and/or exchanging information. Exemplary communicative pathways include, but are not limited to, electrically conductive pathways (e.g., electrically conductive wires, electrically conductive traces), magnetic pathways (e.g., magnetic media), and/or optical pathways (e.g., optical fiber), and exemplary communicative couplings include, but are not limited to, electrical couplings, magnetic couplings, and/or optical couplings.
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, infinitive verb forms are often used. Examples include, without limitation: “to detect,” “to provide,” “to transmit,” “to communicate,” “to process,” “to route,” and the like. Unless the specific context requires otherwise, such infinitive verb forms are used in an open, inclusive sense, that is as “to, at least, detect,” to, at least, provide,” “to, at least, transmit,” and so on.
The above description of illustrated embodiments, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Although specific embodiments of and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art. The teachings provided herein of the various embodiments can be applied to other portable and/or wearable electronic devices, not necessarily the exemplary wearable electronic devices generally described above.
For instance, the foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, schematics, and examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, schematics, and examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the present subject matter may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs executed by one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs executed by on one or more controllers (e.g., microcontrollers) as one or more programs executed by one or more processors (e.g., microprocessors, central processing units, graphical processing units), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings of this disclosure.
When logic is implemented as software and stored in memory, logic or information can be stored on any processor-readable medium for use by or in connection with any processor-related system or method. In the context of this disclosure, a memory is a processor-readable medium that is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or means that contains or stores a computer and/or processor program. Logic and/or the information can be embodied in any processor-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions associated with logic and/or information.
In the context of this specification, a “non-transitory processor-readable medium” can be any element that can store the program associated with logic and/or information for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, and/or device. The processor-readable medium can be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette (magnetic, compact flash card, secure digital, or the like), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), digital tape, and other non-transitory media.
The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. To the extent that they are not inconsistent with the specific teachings and definitions herein, U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/749,359, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/017,089 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/053,598 are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary, to employ systems, circuits and concepts of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/017,089 and/or U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/053,598 to provide yet further embodiments.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62017089 | Jun 2014 | US | |
| 62053598 | Sep 2014 | US | |
| 62117316 | Feb 2015 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15845384 | Dec 2017 | US |
| Child | 16025820 | US | |
| Parent | 14749359 | Jun 2015 | US |
| Child | 15845384 | US |
