Head-mounted display apparatus

Abstract

A head-mounted display apparatus, comprising a spherical inner display screen which has a spherical curved display surface and is used for displaying spherical panoramic images. The spherical inner display screen may be implemented by tiling together a plurality of curved display units or as an integrally formed flexible display panel, and, by means of a position adjustment structure, may cooperate with a spherical shell. The head-mounted display apparatus can achieve 360-degree seamless panoramic display and improve display continuity and immersive experience, thus being suitable for fields such as virtual reality and panoramic simulation.

Description

A head-mounted display device Technical Field

[0001] 0001.

[0002] This invention relates to the fields of virtual reality (VR) and head-mounted display technology, and more particularly to an immersive head-mounted display device capable of providing a natively matched display environment for panoramic images and video content. Background Technology

[0003] 0002.

[0004] With the development of imaging technology, content formats such as 360° panoramic images, videos, and computer-generated immersive environments are becoming increasingly popular and are widely used in fields such as virtual tourism, remote work, real estate displays, immersive film and television, and games. However, there is a fundamental mismatch between the display devices currently available in the consumer market and the image formats of these panoramic media, making it impossible to achieve a truly immersive experience.

[0005] 0003.

[0006] Currently, users primarily view panoramic content in two ways: First, on traditional flat screens (such as mobile phones, computers, and TVs), switching perspectives by swiping with their fingers or dragging with a mouse. This method completely destroys the sense of immersion; users cannot experience being surrounded by the screen, feeling as if they are peering into the world through a narrow window. Second, using existing VR headsets. While these devices provide a certain sense of space through binocular stereoscopic vision and head tracking, their core display unit is still one or two flat screens. This indirect imaging scheme of "flat screen + lens" has inherent flaws: the user's field of view (FOV) is limited to a finite window (usually less than 120°), and there are always noticeable black borders or visual boundaries at the screen edges, making it impossible to achieve a truly borderless panoramic view.

[0007] 0004.

[0008] Essentially, existing display devices are not natively designed for the specific content format of "panoramic media." Panoramic content is spherical, while the display interface is flat, resulting in a structural disconnect between content and hardware. This prevents the core advantage of panoramic media—complete immersion—from being fully realized. The market urgently needs a dedicated display device that can directly correspond to the panoramic content format. Summary of the Invention

[0009] 0005.

[0010] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the aforementioned gaps and deficiencies in the prior art and provide a spherical immersive head-mounted display device. It uses a spherical inward-facing display screen as the native display interface, fundamentally solving the problem of incompatibility between spherical content and planar displays at the physical level, creating a full-view, borderless, and highly comfortable immersive visual environment for the user.

[0011] 0006.

[0012] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0013] A spherical immersive head-mounted display device includes:

[0014] The support component is used to stably fix the device to the user's head. The support component can be an adjustable mechanical bracket or a shoulder support structure, and can be locked with a knob to ensure stable wearing.

[0015] A spherical inward-facing display screen, fixed in the head-mounted display device, is used to create an immersive spherical display cavity for the user;

[0016] The image processing module is used to perform real-time distortion correction processing on the panoramic image and output the processed image signal to the spherical inward display screen for display.

[0017] 0007.

[0018] Furthermore, the spherical inward display screen is a flexible curved screen splicing structure or an integrally formed curved screen, and its spherical coverage angle is ≥180° (horizontal viewing angle) × 90° (vertical viewing angle).

[0019] 0008.

[0020] Furthermore, the spherical inward-facing display screen forms a complete sphere, achieving complete coverage of the user's field of vision.

[0021] 0009.

[0022] Furthermore, the surround panoramic image can be a 360° spherical panoramic image, a hemispherical panoramic image, or a multi-view stitched panoramic image.

[0023] 0010.

[0024] Furthermore, it also includes a ventilation system integrated within the head-mounted display device to create airflow within the spherical display cavity, ensuring unobstructed breathing for the user. The optimal method for airflow exchange within the sphere is through the head-mounted inlet at the bottom of the spherical display. The ventilation system comprises a miniature fan and breathable mesh, forming a circulation path of 'bottom air intake - up and down along the inner wall of the sphere - bottom air exhaust'.

[0025] 0011.

[0026] Furthermore, it may also include an optical filter disposed between the spherical inward-facing display and the user's eyes for optimizing the color and contrast of the displayed content or filtering harmful blue light.

[0027] 0012.

[0028] Furthermore, it also includes an audio component integrated within the head-mounted display device. The audio component employs a non-contact external speaker, distributed on the side or top of the spherical display cavity, and plays stereo or spatial audio synchronized with the surround panoramic image through air conduction, achieving a contactless wearing experience.

[0029] 0013.

[0030] Furthermore, it also includes a data interface module disposed on the head-mounted display device for receiving the surround panoramic image data and control commands.

[0031] 0014.

[0032] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0033] Filling a market gap: For the first time, a dedicated display device natively compatible with spherical panoramic media formats is provided, solving the fundamental problem of incompatibility between "spherical content" and "flat display", and realizing a leap from "viewing" to "immersive" experience.

[0034] 0015.

[0035] Revolutionary immersion: The spherical inward-facing display physically eliminates visual boundaries, and its coverage of ≥180°×90° far exceeds that of traditional VR devices, providing users with an unprecedented immersive visual experience where they are completely enveloped by the screen.

[0036] 0016.

[0037] Simplified optical structure and improved image quality: Since the screen itself is the final imaging surface, the complex and expensive optical lens groups in traditional VR devices can be significantly reduced or eliminated. The spherical screen's surround display is naturally adapted to the spherical perspective of panoramic content, eliminating the need for frequent calculations of image cutting and perspective transformation at different angles. This reduces the real-time computational load on the image processing module, reduces screen response latency, and avoids ghosting or stuttering in dynamic scenes.

[0038] 0017.

[0039] Systematic comfort design: The non-contact wearing method solves the pressure of traditional head-mounted devices, effectively improving the comfort of wearing for a long time and making a deep immersive experience possible.

[0040] 0018.

[0041] Non-contact audio experience: Non-contact external speakers eliminate the physical contact limitations of traditional headphones, avoiding ear pressure from prolonged wear, ensuring audio clarity through directional sound technology, and enhancing the long-term wearing comfort of the device together with the ventilation system.

[0042] 0019. Attached Figure Description

[0043] 0020.

[0044] Figure 1: The spherical internal display in the head-mounted display device. 1 is the head-mounted entrance, and 2 is the outer layer of the display screen (non-display surface). When using it, the user needs to place their head or upper body at a suitable depth inside the sphere, so that their eyes are located at the center of the sphere.

[0045] Figure 2: One embodiment of the head-mounted display device and its mounting structure. 3 is the housing of the head-mounted display device, and 4 is an interface such as a data or circuit interface. The height and angle can be adjusted vertically and horizontally by fixing it to a desktop or other suitable device, allowing the user to wear the display at the optimal comfort angle.

[0046] 0021.

[0047] Figure 3: A simplified diagram of ventilation within the head-mounted display device (non-standard mechanical drawing). 5 and 6 are the ventilation inlets and outlets, respectively. Airflow can be achieved by connecting an electric fan via pipes or other means, with the airflow following the direction of the spherical inner wall, ensuring comfortable breathing for the user. 7 is the outer shell of the head-mounted display device, and 8 is the display surface and / or touch surface of the spherical inner screen, presenting images to the user and / or enabling control interaction. The structure and location of other components of this head-mounted display device are not included in the figure.

[0048] 0022.

[0049] The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, nor do they represent the only implementation of the invention in different application scenarios. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements within the spirit and principles of the invention, and all such modifications should be covered within the protection scope of the invention. Detailed Implementation

[0050] 0023.

[0051] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Example

[0052] 0024.

[0053] As shown in Figure 2, the spherical immersive head-mounted display device of the present invention uses a bracket design for its support component, which is fixed by an adjustable support rod to ensure stability and comfort when worn. The large cylinder on the left side of the figure is the display screen, which houses the core display unit—the spherical inward-facing display screen.

[0054] 0025.

[0055] As shown in Figure 1, in this embodiment, the spherical inward-facing display screen adopts a one-piece molded Micro-OLED curved screen, with a spherical coverage angle of approximately 360° (horizontal) × 150° (vertical), far exceeding the field of vision of human eyes. This design ensures that the user's field of vision is completely filled by the displayed image when looking normally and moving their eyes, and the visual boundaries are completely eliminated, achieving an ultimate sense of immersion.

[0056] 0026.

[0057] Data input: External host (such as PC, game console or media player) inputs raw surround panoramic image data or processed access data adapted to the publicly available specifications of this device through data interface (such as HDMI 2.1, USB or wireless or wired network).

[0058] 0027.

[0059] Coordinate Mapping and Distortion Correction: The image processing module executes a preset distortion correction algorithm. This algorithm is essentially a "reverse mapping" process from the target coordinates on the spherical display screen to the source plane image coordinates.

[0060] 0028.

[0061] Model building: A precise spherical geometric model is pre-built for the spherical inward-facing display, defining the three-dimensional coordinates (θ, φ) of each pixel.

[0062] 0029.

[0063] Backsampling: For each target pixel P(θ, φ) on the spherical display screen, the algorithm calculates the corresponding sampling point S(u, v) in the source plane image based on its spherical coordinates.

[0064] 0030.

[0065] Image rendering and output: The processor samples the source image near the S(u, v) coordinate point (usually using bilinear interpolation algorithm to ensure smoothness), obtains color information, and then drives the spherical object to emit light at the target pixel P on the display screen.

[0066] 0031.

[0067] Synchronous Experience: At the same time, 3D spatial audio signals synchronized with the panoramic images are played through audio components (built-in high-fidelity speakers), together creating a complete immersive audiovisual environment.

[0068] 0032.

[0069] The preferred range for the spherical coverage angle in this invention is defined as ≥180°×90° because this range represents a technological threshold for achieving a qualitative leap from "window-like viewing" to "immersive experience." It covers and exceeds the core area of ​​the human eye's binocular overlapping field of vision, effectively eliminating the visual boundary perception for the vast majority of users. However, the scope of protection of this invention should not be strictly limited to this value. Any design scheme that approaches or achieves a borderless visual experience by substantially increasing the spherical coverage angle (e.g., reaching 170°×85° or greater), because its technical problems, means, and effects are consistent with the core concept of this invention, should be considered to fall within the scope and spirit of protection of this invention. Example

[0070] 0033.

[0071] In another embodiment, the spherical inward-facing display can be constructed from multiple flexible AMOLED curved screens seamlessly joined together. The support components can be designed as a lighter shoulder-load-bearing structure.

[0072] 0034.

[0073] For those skilled in the art, various changes and modifications can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is intended to cover all modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Industrial applicability

[0074] The spherical immersive head-mounted display device provided by this invention is composed of mature hardware components in the field, such as a curved display screen, an image processor, a head-mounted support structure, a fan, and speakers. Its manufacturing process can be achieved using existing manufacturing electronics assembly and software programming technologies. Therefore, this device can be mass-produced and used, and has broad application prospects in fields such as virtual reality, education and training, industrial simulation, and entertainment.

Claims

1. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] A head-mounted display device, characterized in that: It includes a spherical inner display screen for displaying a surround panoramic image in an inward direction, thereby forming an immersive spherical display cavity.

2. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, characterized in that, The spherical inner display screen is a flexible curved screen splicing structure, an integrated curved screen, or a projection-type curved display structure, with a display coverage angle ≥180° (horizontal viewing angle) × 90° (vertical viewing angle), achieving a surround-style borderless display.

3. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, The surround panoramic image includes 360° spherical panoramic image, hemispherical panoramic image, multi-view stitched panoramic image, and combinations of the above images.

4. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, It also includes a support assembly for securing the device to the user's head.

5. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, It also includes a ventilation system for creating airflow within the spherical display cavity to ensure unobstructed breathing for the user.

6. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, It also includes an interface module for transmitting data, used to receive surround panoramic image data.

7. [Amended according to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, It also includes an audio component for playing audio synchronized with the surrounding panoramic image.

8. [Amended pursuant to Rule 26 14.11.2025] The head-mounted display device of claim 1, wherein, The spherical inner display screen is one or any combination of a touch screen, a non-touch screen, or a projection screen.

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