Eye-Tracking Optical Verification Tester for Environmental Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current testing solutions are inadequate for evaluating optical components, particularly see-through optical components, due to limitations in simulating a wide range of environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity, which are essential for ensuring their functionality in diverse applications like augmented reality head-mounted displays.
Innovation Solution
An eye-tracking optical verification tester system utilizing a Peltier or Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC) to control temperature, combined with a mechanical stage and environmental enclosure that allows for controlled humidity and pressure conditions, enabling optical tests under simulated environmental scenarios while maintaining a compact gas-tight or vacuum-tight configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a compact testing system is used, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to simulate wide range of environmental conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity) deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple environmental simulation functions (temperature control via TEC, humidity control, pressure control via vacuum pump) into a single integrated environmental enclosure chamber. This merging allows the compact system to simulate diverse environmental conditions without requiring separate large-scale testing equipment for each parameter.
Solution Approach 2:
The eye-tracking optical element is nested within the environmental enclosure chamber, which itself is integrated into the compact testing system. The mechanical stage with linear actuators is nested within the chamber to enable precise positioning. This nested arrangement maximizes functional density within a compact form factor while maintaining environmental control capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If environmental enclosure is made gas-tight or vacuum-tight for pressure control, then pressure simulation capability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a feedthrough mechanism as an intermediary component to handle light transmission through the gas-tight/vacuum-tight enclosure walls. This intermediary solution allows the enclosure to maintain its pressure-sealing integrity while still enabling optical measurements, avoiding the need for complex non-sealing structures.
3Measurement precision
If see-through optical components are tested, then measurement precision is improved, but the ability to control environmental conditions deteriorates due to light leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the optical measurement path from the environmental control system by using a mechanical stage with linear actuators to position the optical element externally or at the chamber boundary, while the environmental enclosure maintains sealed control over temperature, humidity, and pressure. This separation allows independent optimization of both measurement precision and environmental control.
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
The system effectively controls temperature, humidity, and pressure within the environmental enclosure, allowing for comprehensive optical verification tests of eye-tracking components, including transmission, haze, signal-to-noise ratio, and modulation transfer function, thereby ensuring their performance across various environmental contexts.
Implementation Method 1
A thermoelectric cooler (TEC), e.g., a Peltier cooler, operates according to the Peltier effect. The Peltier effect occurs when current is passed through a junction between two materials made of dissimilar conductors, creating a temperature differential.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, system, and method for an eye-tracking optical verification tester are described herein. In some aspects, a heating element such as a Peltier or Thermoelectric Cooler “TEC” includes a see-through void and may be used to control a temperature of an eye-tracking optical element. An environmental enclosure that is configured to assist in simulation of an environmental condition may hold the eye-tracking optical element. The eye-tracking optical element is to receive reflected light from an eye-tracking target and direct the reflected light to an eye-tracking camera.