Near-eye Display Eyebox Extension via Dynamic Eye Tracking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional near-eye lightfield displays face a tradeoff between eyebox size and field of view, resulting in a limited eyebox that can lead to occlusion of imagery due to variability in inter-pupillary distance and accurate positioning of the user's eye, causing issues with image clipping or vignetting.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a dynamic eyebox adjustment technique using eye tracking components to determine the user's eye pose and shift or scale the array of elemental images, allowing for a larger eyebox without reducing the field of view by adjusting the position and size of the elemental images relative to the display panel.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Area of stationary object

If the eyebox size is increased in a conventional near-eye lightfield display, then the field of view is reduced, but a larger eyebox is needed to accommodate variability in inter-pupillary distance and eye positioning

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveeyebox sizeVSAvoidfield of view
Core Design Contradiction:
Area of stationary objectVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic eyebox adjustment by tracking the user's eye pose (position and orientation) and shifting/scale the array of elemental images in real-time. This makes the eyebox adaptable to different eye positions and orientations while maintaining a wide field of view, resolving the contradiction between fixed eyebox size and field of view requirements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the position and scale parameters of the elemental image array based on detected eye pose. By dynamically adjusting these parameters, the eyebox can be effectively enlarged and repositioned to accommodate varying inter-pupillary distances and eye positioning accuracy without compromising field of view

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If the eyebox size is increased to accommodate variability in inter-pupillary distance, then the field of view is reduced, but user experience deteriorates due to image clipping or vignetting

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimage display reliabilityVSAvoidfield of view
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses eye tracking to continuously monitor the user's eye pose and provides feedback to the rendering system. This feedback loop enables real-time adjustment of the elemental image array position and scale, ensuring the eyebox remains properly aligned with the user's eye and preventing image clipping or vignetting while maintaining wide field of view

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system proactively adjusts the elemental image array configuration based on detected eye pose before viewing quality deteriorates. By anticipating and correcting misalignment issues through dynamic adjustment, the system prevents image clipping and vignetting from occurring in the first place

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3625648B1Near-eye display with extended effective eyebox via eye tracking
Publication Date: 2021.04.07 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3625648B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3625648B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3625648B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A near-eye display system (100) includes a display panel (118) to display a near-eye lightfield frame (120) comprising an array of elemental images (22) and an eye tracking component (106, 108) to track a pose (320) of a user's eye (304). The system further includes a rendering component (104) to position the array of elemental images within the near-eye lightfield frame based on the pose of the user's eye. A method of operation of the near-eye display system includes determining, using the eye tracking component, a first pose (320) of the user's eye and determining a shift vector (324) for an array of elemental images (122) forming a near-eye lightfield frame (120) based on the first pose of the user's eye. The method further includes rendering the array of elemental images at a position (320) within the near-eye lightfield frame that is based on the shift vector.