Wearable data display

Abstract

A transparent wearable data display having a source of collimated light a deflector for deflecting the collimated light into a scanned beam, and a first array including one column and integer N rows of switchable grating elements sandwiched between first and second parallel transparent substrates. The substrates together functioning as a first light guide, and a second array including M columns and N rows of switchable grating elements sandwiched between third and fourth parallel transparent substrates which together function as a second lightguide. Transparent electrodes are applied to opposing substrates. A first coupling for directing the scanned beam into a first TIR light path of the first lightguide along the first array column; and a second coupling for directing the first TIR light into a second TIR path of the second lightguide along a row of elements of the second array.

Description

REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 573,067 with filing date 24 Aug. 2011 entitled “Wearable Data Display”.REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0002]Each of the following applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety: PCT Application No.: US2008 / 001909, with International Filing Date: 22 Jul. 2008, entitled LASER ILLUMINATION DEVICE; PCT Application No.: US2006 / 043938, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A TRANSPARENT DISPLAY; PCT Application No.: PCT / GB2010 / 001982 entitled COMPACT EDGE ILLUMINATED EYEGLASS DISPLAY PCT Application No.: PCT / GB2010 / 000835 with International Filing Date: 26 Apr. 2010 entitled COMPACT HOLOGRAPHIC EDGE ILLUMINATED EYEGLASS DISPLAY; and PCT Application No.: PCT / GB2010 / 002023 filed on 2 Nov. 2010 entitled APPARATUS FOR REDUCING LASER SPECKLE, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 555,661 filed 4 Nov. 2005 entitled SWITCHABLE VIEWFINDER DISPLAY; U.S. ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a small, lightweight device that shows high-speed, easy-to-see information wearing just a few pounds on your head. It's transparent to external light, so it's easy to see what's happening around you.

Problems solved by technology

The above goals are not achieved by current technology.

Current wearable displays only manage to deliver see through, adequate pupils, eye relief and field of view and high brightness simultaneously at the expense of cumbersome form factors.

In many cases weight is distributed in the worst possible place for a wearable display, in front of the eye.

Microdisplays, which provide high-resolution image generators in tiny flat panels, do not necessarily help with miniaturizing wearable displays because the requirement for very high magnifications inevitably results in large diameter optics.

Several ultra low form factor designs offering spectacle-like form factors are currently available but usually require aggressive trade-offs against field of view, eye relief and exit pupil.

A Bragg grating is then recorded by illuminating the liquid material with two mutually coherent laser beams, which interfere to form the desired grating structure.

When an electric field is applied to the hologram via the electrodes, the natural orientation of the LC droplets is changed thus reducing the refractive index modulation of the fringes and causing the hologram diffraction efficiency to drop to very low levels.

Images