Head-Mounted Display Adjustable Optical Components for AR Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Head-mounted displays used for virtual and augmented reality struggle to effectively overlay computer-generated content on real-world objects due to issues like visibility, glare, and color compatibility, which can distract users and hinder content readability.
Innovation Solution
A head-mounted display system with a transparent display and adjustable optical components such as tunable lenses, light modulators, and color filters, controlled by circuitry that adjusts based on real-time data from cameras and sensors to optimize image placement, opacity, and color cast, allowing users to view real-world objects while overlaying computer-generated content at multiple focal planes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If computer-generated images are overlaid on real-world objects through a transparent display, then augmented reality content is provided, but the images may be difficult to see against real-world objects due to visibility issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing adjustable optical components (light modulators, color filters, polarizers) that can be independently adjusted in different regions of the field of view. This allows selective modification of optical properties in specific areas to enhance computer-generated content visibility without affecting the entire field of view, thereby resolving the contradiction between providing augmented reality content and maintaining visibility against varying real-world backgrounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by dynamically adjusting optical parameters (light transmission, color cast, polarization) of the transparent display and overlapping components based on environmental conditions and content requirements. This enables optimization of image visibility under different lighting conditions and against different real-world objects, resolving the visibility contradiction.
2Loss of information
If adjustable components are added to block glare and highlight objects of interest, then content readability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple optical functions into a integrated system where adjustable components (light modulators, color filters, polarizers) are combined with the transparent display and controlled by unified control circuitry. This consolidation achieves glare blocking and content highlighting capabilities while managing overall device complexity through integrated control rather than separate independent systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable components serve multiple functions simultaneously - they can block glare, highlight objects of interest, adjust color balance, and modify light transmission. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby improving content readability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
3Illumination intensity
If multiple adjustable components are used to adjust light transmission, color cast, and polarization, then augmented reality content visibility is enhanced, but the system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by making the optical components adjustable and reconfigurable in real-time based on environmental conditions and content requirements. The light modulators, color filters, and polarizers can dynamically change their properties, allowing the system to adapt to varying lighting conditions and optimize augmented reality content visibility without requiring multiple fixed-component systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback mechanisms where sensors detect environmental conditions (lighting, glare sources) and the control circuitry adjusts the optical components accordingly. This closed-loop control enables automatic optimization of light transmission and color adjustment, reducing the need for manual configuration and simplifying the user interaction with the complex multi-component system.
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
Enhances the visibility and readability of computer-generated content by adjusting for glare, color balance, and object highlighting, improving the overall augmented reality experience by seamlessly integrating virtual and real-world elements.
Implementation Method 1
A head-mounted display that is displaying augmented reality content may overlay computer-generated images on real-world objects
Implementation Method 2
Tunable lenses and other optical systems may be provided in the transparent display or other portions of the head-mounted display so that displayed images may be placed at multiple different focal planes within a user's field of view
Implementation Method 3
The adjustable components may include an adjustable light modulator
Implementation Method 4
The adjustable components may include an adjustable color filter
Implementation Method 5
The adjustable components may include an adjustable polarizer
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device such as a head-mounted display or other display system may have a transparent display. The transparent display may be formed from a transparent display panel or a display device that provides images to a transparent optical coupler. A user may view real-world objects through the transparent display. Control circuitry can direct the transparent display to display computer-generated content over selected portions of the real-world objects. The head-mounted display may have adjustable components through which the user may view the real-world objects. The adjustable components may include an adjustable light modulator, an adjustable color filter, and an adjustable polarizer. The control circuitry may adjust these components based on information from a front-facing camera that captures images of the real-world objects, based on information from a gaze tracking camera, and based on other input.