Back-to-back Displays with Switchable Diffuser for Handheld and Head-worn Modes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic devices with displays are inflexible and unable to provide users with desired content in various situations, particularly in scenarios requiring both handheld and head-worn usage.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device featuring back-to-back displays, where one display is adjustable for user-specific vision correction and can switch between handheld and head-worn modes, using microlenses, tunable lenses, holograms, and a switchable diffuser to overlay virtual images on real-world content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a display is designed for head-mounted virtual reality usage with microlenses and tunable lenses, then virtual reality image quality and eye box control are improved, but the display cannot be used for direct viewing when held in hand
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a switchable diffuser that can dynamically change its optical properties between two states: a diffuse scattering state for direct viewing and a transparent state for virtual reality viewing. This dynamic switching allows the same display structure to serve multiple functions without requiring separate physical displays for each usage mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The display assembly is designed to perform multiple functions: it can display images directly when held in hand, and it can project virtual reality images when worn on the head. The back-to-back display configuration with switchable diffuser enables a single device to serve both handheld and head-mounted purposes, eliminating the need for separate devices.
2Ease of operation
If microlenses and tunable lenses are added to accommodate vision defects, then user comfort and image focus are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs tunable lenses whose optical parameters (focal length, refractive index) can be dynamically adjusted to accommodate different user vision requirements. This allows the system to adapt to various vision defects without requiring custom-manufactured lenses for each user, standardizing production while maintaining personalization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The switchable diffuser acts as an intermediary optical element that works in conjunction with the microlenses and tunable lenses. It mediates between the light source and the user's eye, enabling the complex optical system to function in two distinct modes and simplifying the overall control architecture.
3Adaptability or versatility
If back-to-back displays are implemented for dual-mode usage, then adaptability between handheld and head-worn modes is improved, but device weight and volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two display functions into a single integrated assembly by placing displays back-to-back and sharing common optical components. The switchable diffuser and lens structures are shared between the two display surfaces, allowing the system to achieve dual-mode functionality without the weight penalty of completely separate display assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adding displays in the same spatial dimension (which would increase volume and weight linearly), the patent utilizes the third dimension by placing displays back-to-back on opposite sides of a common substrate. This dimensional arrangement allows both displays to share the same physical space, reducing overall device volume and weight while maintaining dual functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables flexible content presentation, accommodating user vision defects and switching between direct viewing and virtual reality overlays, enhancing usability in diverse situations.
Implementation Method 1
lenses in the display are used to direct the images into an eye box
Implementation Method 2
tunable lenses or other optical components that allow control circuitry in the device to adjust the first display to accommodate vision defects of the user
Implementation Method 3
a switchable diffuser may be incorporated into the second display. In the first mode of operation, the switchable diffuser may diffuse light from the pixels
Implementation Method 4
holograms, lasers, and other structures for displaying images in multiple selectable eye boxes
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may have back-to-back displays. A user-facing display may have microlenses, tunable lens structures, holograms, lasers, and other structures for displaying images in multiple eye boxes while the electronic device is being worn on the head of a user. In some configurations, a switchable diffuser may be incorporated into the user-facing display. In one mode, the switchable diffuser allows microlenses of the pixels of the user-facing display to provide images to eye boxes in which images from the display are viewable. In another mode, the switchable diffuser diffuses light from the pixels so that the user-facing display may be used while the device is being held in the hand of the user.