Head-Mounted Display External Response Indicator

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing head-mounted displays hinder smooth communication between the wearer and outside individuals, as they often interrupt the user's experience with notifications, and fail to accurately convey the wearer's intentions or awareness of external communications.

Innovation Solution

A head-mounted display system that includes sound receivers, voice detectors, head movement detectors, and external displays to indicate the wearer's response to external voices, allowing seamless communication without interrupting the user's experience, and optionally featuring speaking person identifiers, sound source locators, and voice superimposers for enhanced accuracy and usability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the head-mounted display provides notifications to the wearer, then communication with outside persons is facilitated, but the user's immersive experience is interrupted

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication facilitationVSAvoidimmersive experience continuity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an external display as an intermediary device that conveys notification information to outside persons without directly interrupting the wearer's immersive experience. The external display acts as a mediator between the head-mounted display system and the external environment, allowing communication facilitation while preserving the user's immersive state.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent shifts the notification display from the wearer's visual field (internal dimension) to an external dimension visible to outside persons. By projecting notification information onto an external display surface, the system resolves the contradiction by operating in a different spatial dimension that does not interfere with the immersive experience.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Loss of information

If the head-mounted display displays notification information externally, then outside persons can understand wearer's status, but the wearer's intentions may still not be accurately conveyed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation transmission to outside personsVSAvoidaccuracy of wearer's intention recognition
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system detects the wearer's head movements in response to notifications and uses this information to update the external display. This feedback loop enhances the accuracy of intention recognition by continuously monitoring and displaying the wearer's reactive behaviors, thereby improving both information transmission and measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary detection of head movements and prepares updated notification information before actually displaying it externally. By anticipating and preparing the intention recognition data in advance, the system ensures accurate conveyance of wearer's intentions when the external display is updated.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If the head-mounted display uses traditional notification methods, then communication is possible to some extent, but smooth communication allowing mutual understanding of intentions is not achieved

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication capabilityVSAvoidcommunication efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transforms the static notification display into a dynamic system that adapts based on the wearer's head movements and responses. The external display content changes dynamically according to detected wearer behavior, enabling smooth communication by visually representing the wearer's intentions in real-time, thereby significantly improving communication efficiency while maintaining ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3495942B1Head-mounted display and control method thereof
Publication Date: 2023.05.24 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP3495942B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3495942B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3495942B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure provides a head-mounted display that achieves smooth communication that allows a wearer of the head-mounted display and an outside person to understand their intentions with each other, and a control method of controlling the head-mounted display. Head-mounted display 10 includes: sound receiver 11 that receives a sound coming from a specific direction; voice detector 14 that detects a voice from the sound received by sound receiver 11; head movement detector 15 that detects movement of the head of the wearer of head-mounted display 10; external display 16 that displays externally visible information; and response detector 17 that, when voice detector 14 detects the voice, and head movement detector 15 detects movement of the head of the wearer facing toward the specific direction, displays information indicating that the wearer has responded to the voice on external display 16.