AR Display Pixel Drive Strength Adjustment via Gaze Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Augmented reality (AR) devices face challenges with power consumption and overheating due to the need for high-power components, leading to reduced battery life and increased device size, which can cause discomfort and potential damage to users, especially when worn as head-mounted displays.
Innovation Solution
The system employs gaze tracking to dynamically adjust the drive strength of pixels in an AR display, reducing power consumption by partially or fully rendering virtual objects based on user attention, thereby minimizing heat production and extending battery life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high-power components are used to generate and render AR displays in real-time, then display rendering performance is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by continuously monitoring user gaze position and dynamically adjusting pixel drive strength in real-time. The system transitions from static full-power rendering to dynamic adaptive rendering where pixel power consumption varies based on whether the corresponding region is within the user's field of view, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining high display performance and reducing power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying different drive strength levels to different regions of the display based on gaze tracking data. Pixels within the user's field of view maintain high drive strength for optimal visibility, while pixels outside the field of view operate at reduced drive strength, creating a spatially differentiated power consumption pattern that addresses the power-performance tradeoff.
2Productivity
If high-power components are used to generate and render AR displays in real-time, then display rendering performance is improved, but heat generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts pixel drive strength based on real-time gaze tracking, transitioning from continuous high-power operation to adaptive power management. This dynamic adjustment directly reduces heat generation in regions outside the user's field of view while maintaining rendering performance in the visible region, resolving the contradiction between display performance and heat control.
Solution Approach 2:
By applying localized drive strength adjustments based on gaze position, the system creates heterogeneous power consumption patterns across the display. High-power regions are confined to the user's field of view where performance is critical, while peripheral regions operate at low power, thereby reducing overall heat generation without sacrificing essential display functionality.
3Temperature
If cooling components are added to manage heat, then temperature control is improved, but device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heat generation problem from the entire display system and isolates it to only the necessary regions (within field of view). By reducing power consumption in peripheral regions through gaze-based drive strength adjustment, the overall thermal load is decreased, allowing for reduced cooling component size or elimination of certain cooling mechanisms while maintaining adequate temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic gaze-tracking-based power adjustment creates a moving thermal profile that adapts to user attention. This dynamic approach reduces average heat generation across the device, allowing cooling systems to be optimized for variable thermal loads rather than continuous maximum loads, thereby potentially reducing the size and power requirements of cooling components.
4Illumination intensity
If continuous full-power rendering is used, then display visibility is improved, but battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic power management by continuously monitoring gaze position and adjusting pixel drive strength accordingly. This creates a time-varying power consumption pattern where full power is applied only when pixels are within the user's field of view, and reduced power is applied when pixels are outside the field of view, thereby extending battery life while maintaining display visibility during active viewing.
Solution Approach 2:
By applying different drive strength levels to different spatial regions based on gaze tracking, the system ensures high visibility (full drive strength) in the user's field of view while reducing power consumption in peripheral regions. This spatial differentiation maintains essential display functionality while reducing overall power consumption to extend battery life.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment provides a method, including: producing, using one or more optical engines of an augmented reality display, an augmented reality scene; identifying, based upon a location of a gaze of a user, at least one object the user is viewing; and adjusting, based upon the identification of the at least one object, a drive strength of one or more pixels associated with at least one virtual object on the augmented reality display. Other aspects are described and claimed.