Abrégé

Users exploiting near-to-eye (NR2I) displays for augmented reality and / or correction of low vision are typically wearing these NR2I displays for specific tasks or for extended periods of time, potentially all their time awake. Conflicting tradeoffs between user comfort and minimal fatigue and strain during use, ease of attachment, minimizing intrusiveness and aesthetics should be concurrently balanced with providing an optical vision system that provides the user with a wide field of view, high image resolution, and a large exit pupil for eye placement with sufficient eye clearance. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide NR2I displays meeting these conflicts whilst also addressing the inherent variations between user in respect of their head dimensions, head and eye geometry, as well as adapting the displayed content to reflect the user's task at-hand, visual defects or degradations, visual focus and intent upon various regions-of-interest within their field of view. Such HMDs providing enhanced user experiences.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G02C 5/14 - Branches
• H02J 7/00 - Circuits pour la charge ou la dépolarisation des batteries ou pour alimenter des charges par des batteries

Abrégé

Near-to-eye displays support a range of applications from helping users with low vision through augmenting a real world view to displaying virtual environments. The images displayed may contain text to be read by the user. It would be beneficial to provide users with text enhancements to improve its readability and legibility, as measured through improved reading speed and / or comprehension. Such enhancements can provide benefits to both visually impaired and non-visually impaired users where legibility may be reduced by external factors as well as by visual dysfunction(s) of the user. Methodologies and system enhancements that augment text to be viewed by an individual, whatever the source of the image, are provided in order to aid the individual in poor viewing conditions and / or to overcome physiological or psychological visual defects affecting the individual or to simply improve the quality of the reading experience for the user.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G09G 5/32 - Dispositions ou circuits de commande de l'affichage communs à l'affichage utilisant des tubes à rayons cathodiques et à l'affichage utilisant d'autres moyens de visualisation caractérisés par l'affichage de caractères ou de signes individuels en utilisant des signaux de commande d'affichage dérivés de signaux codés représentant les caractères ou les signes avec une mémoire de codes de caractères avec des moyens pour commander la position de l'affichage

Abrégé

Near-to-eye displays allow a user to be presented with images that are either augmented to address defects or aberrations within their vision or provide additional information. However, an acquired image typically contains content at different depths and absent depth information image processing applied to the acquired image may discount or apply an image modification that reduces visibility of an object. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for such near-to-eye displays to exploit depth information within the image processing and / or generate depth maps allowing images presented to the user to account for depth. It would be further beneficial for such enhancements to be compatible with the evolving low weight, low volume, low complexity, and low cost near-to-eye display systems. It would be further beneficial to provide a user with other non-visual stimuli based upon depth information within the image.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• A61F 9/08 - Dispositifs ou méthodes permettant au patient de voir en remplaçant la perception directe de la vue par une autre
• G09B 21/00 - Moyens d'enseignement ou de communication destinés aux aveugles, sourds ou muets

Abrégé

Near-to-eye displays within head mounted devices offer both users with and without visual impairments enhanced visual experiences either by improving or augmenting their visual perception. Unless the user directly views the display without intermediate optical elements then the designer must consider chromatic as well as other aberrations. Within the prior art the optical train is either complex through additional corrective elements adding to weight, cost, and size or through image processing. However, real time applications with mobile users require low latency to avoid physical side effects. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide near-to-eye displays mitigating these distortions and chromatic aberrations through pre-distortion based electronic processing techniques in conjunction with design optimization of the optical train with low weight, low volume, low complexity, and low cost. Further, it would be beneficial to exploit consumer grade low cost graphics processing units rather than application specific circuits.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G09G 5/36 - Dispositions ou circuits de commande de l'affichage communs à l'affichage utilisant des tubes à rayons cathodiques et à l'affichage utilisant d'autres moyens de visualisation caractérisés par l'affichage de dessins graphiques individuels en utilisant une mémoire à mappage binaire
• G06T 15/80 - Ombrage
• G06T 15/04 - Mappage de texture

Abrégé

A head worn display can be designed with an integrated camera for obtaining an image of a scene, transmitting the obtained image to a processor, modification of the image in substantially real time by the processor, and displaying the modified image on a display device worn by the individual. According to embodiments of the invention various methods are provided for adjusting the position of the displayed video in the horizontal left/right, vertical up/down, and horizontal in/out, and angular up/down dimensions relative to the individual's eyes.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02C 9/00 - Fixation de pièces optiques auxiliaires
• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• H04N 7/18 - Systèmes de télévision en circuit fermé [CCTV], c. à d. systèmes dans lesquels le signal vidéo n'est pas diffusé

Abrégé

A method and apparatus of displaying an electronic video image using a head-worn near-to-eye display in a non-immersive fashion, such that the wearer can choose, through simple adjustments of their neck and eye angles, to either look at the displayed video image or their natural environment. The invention also relates to the incorporation of prescription lenses into the optical chain of the near-to-eye display. The invention also relates to the use of motion and position sensors incorporated into the head-worn device to enable automatic stabilization of the video image. The invention also relates to the use of motion and position sensors incorporated into the head-worn device to automatically adjust the vertical angle of either the camera or the electronic display or both, by sensing the vertical angular position of the user's head.

Classes IPC  ?

• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• H04N 7/18 - Systèmes de télévision en circuit fermé [CCTV], c. à d. systèmes dans lesquels le signal vidéo n'est pas diffusé
• A63F 13/02 - Accessoires (dispositions d'entrée ou de sortie pour les calculateurs numériques électriques G06F 3/00)

Abrégé

Visual impairment, or vision impairment, refers to the vision loss of an individual to such a degree as to require additional support for one or more aspects of their life. Such a significant limitation of visual capability may result from disease, trauma, congenital, and / or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, such as eyeglasses or contact lenses, medication, or surgery. According to embodiments of the invention a method of augmenting a user's sight is provided comprising obtaining an image of a scene using a camera carried by the individual, transmitting the obtained image to a processor, selecting an algorithm of a plurality of spectral, spatial, and temporal image modification algorithms to be applied to the image by the processor, modifying the using the algorithm substantially in real time, and displaying the modified image on a display device worn by the individual.

Classes IPC  ?

• A61F 9/08 - Dispositifs ou méthodes permettant au patient de voir en remplaçant la perception directe de la vue par une autre
• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G06T 5/00 - Amélioration ou restauration d'image

Abrégé

A method and apparatus of displaying a magnified image comprising obtaining an image of a scene using a camera with greater resolution than the display, and capturing the image in the native resolution of the display by either grouping pixels together, or by capturing a smaller region of interest whose pixel resolution matches that of the display. The invention also relates to a method whereby the location of the captured region of interest may be determined by external inputs such as the location of a person's gaze in the displayed unmagnified image, or coordinates from a computer mouse. The invention further relates to a method whereby a modified image can be superimposed on an unmodified image, in order to maintain the peripheral information or context from which the modified region of interest has been captured.

Classes IPC  ?

• H04N 5/335 - Transformation d'informations lumineuses ou analogues en informations électriques utilisant des capteurs d'images à l'état solide [capteurs SSIS] 
• H04N 5/343 - Extraction de données de pixels provenant d'un capteur d'images en agissant sur les circuits de balayage, p.ex. en modifiant le nombre de pixels ayant été échantillonnés ou à échantillonner en commutant entre différents modes de fonctionnement utilisant des résolutions ou des formats d'images différents, p.ex. entre un mode d'images fixes et un mode d'images vidéo ou entre un mode entrelacé et un mode non entrelacé
• A61F 9/00 - Procédés ou dispositifs pour le traitement des yeux; Dispositifs pour mettre en place des verres de contact; Dispositifs pour corriger le strabisme; Appareils pour guider les aveugles; Dispositifs protecteurs pour les yeux, portés sur le corps ou dans la main
• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G06F 3/14 - Sortie numérique vers un dispositif de visualisation

Abrégé

A method of augmenting sight in an individual. The method comprises obtaining an image of a scene using a camera carried by the individual; transmitting the obtained image to a processor carried by the individual; selecting an image modification to be applied to the image by the processor; operating upon the image to create a modified image using either analog or digital imaging techniques, and displaying the modified image on a display device worn by the individual. The invention also relates to an apparatus augmenting sight in an individual. The apparatus comprises a camera, carried by the individual, for obtaining an image of a scene viewed by the individual; a display carried by the individual; an image modification input device carried by the individual; and a processor, carried by the individual. The processor modifies the image and displays the modified image on the display carried by the individual.

Classes IPC  ?

• H04N 7/18 - Systèmes de télévision en circuit fermé [CCTV], c. à d. systèmes dans lesquels le signal vidéo n'est pas diffusé
• A61F 9/00 - Procédés ou dispositifs pour le traitement des yeux; Dispositifs pour mettre en place des verres de contact; Dispositifs pour corriger le strabisme; Appareils pour guider les aveugles; Dispositifs protecteurs pour les yeux, portés sur le corps ou dans la main
• G02B 23/12 - Télescopes ou lunettes d'approche, p.ex. jumelles; Périscopes; Instruments pour voir à l'intérieur de corps creux; Viseurs; Pointage optique ou appareils de visée avec des moyens pour renverser ou intensifier l'image
• G02B 27/01 - Dispositifs d'affichage "tête haute"
• G02B 27/02 - Appareils pour regarder ou pour lire
• G02C 9/00 - Fixation de pièces optiques auxiliaires
• G06Q 50/00 - Systèmes ou procédés spécialement adaptés à un secteur particulier d’activité économique, p.ex. aux services d’utilité publique ou au tourisme