Plenoptic Cellular Axis Redirection via Fresnel Prisms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic displays and cameras are limited in accurately capturing and displaying the full photonic environment, lacking integration and suffering from bulkiness, complexity, and high power requirements, which hinders their ability to provide accurate and comfortable light field recreation for applications like VR, AR, and MR.
Innovation Solution
An electronic display assembly with a microlens layer, image sensor layer, and Fresnel prisms that redirect light, allowing for direct sensor-to-display systems with in-layer signal processing, enabling accurate light field capture and display, and forming flexible, high-resolution 3D arrays for near-eye displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If light field displays and cameras are integrated into a single assembly, then accuracy of light field recreation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines light field capture and display functions into a single integrated assembly. The image sensor layer captures light fields while the display layer reproduces them, with both layers sharing common microlens structures and cellular organization. This merging enables accurate light field recreation by ensuring precise correspondence between capture and display geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly is segmented into distinct functional layers (image sensor layer, display layer, microlens layers) that can be independently optimized yet work together as a unified system. Each layer is divided into cells with opaque walls, creating modular units that simplify the overall complexity while maintaining integration.
2Measurement precision
If Fresnel prisms are added to redirect light into cells, then light field capture accuracy is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Fresnel prisms are introduced as intermediary optical elements between the incoming light and the image sensor cells. These prisms redirect light rays into the cellular structures, ensuring that light from different angles is properly directed to corresponding sensor elements. This intermediary component enables accurate light field capture while maintaining a relatively simple cellular architecture.
3Measurement precision
If microlens layers with opaque cell walls are used to eliminate optical cross-talk, then light field accuracy is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Opaque cell walls are introduced to create local optical isolation within the microlens layers. Each cell is independently enclosed, preventing light from adjacent cells from interfering with the optical path. This local quality control eliminates optical cross-talk and improves light field accuracy by ensuring that each cellular unit operates independently with its dedicated optical path.
4Use of energy by moving object
If direct sensor-to-display system is implemented with in-layer signal processing, then power consumption and complexity are reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Signal processing is performed within the display layer itself, using the displayed image data to directly control the light field reproduction without requiring separate processing stages. This preliminary action of embedding processing functionality in the display layer reduces the need for additional power-consuming components and simplifies the overall system architecture.
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
This solution provides a lightweight, accurate, and efficient system for recreating light fields, reducing complexity and power consumption, enabling seamless integration of light field capture and display for VR, AR, and MR applications with high-resolution, flexible 3D arrays.
Implementation Method 1
a first Fresnel prism adjacent to the first microlens layer, the first Fresnel prism configured to redirect the incoming light into the first plurality of cells
Implementation Method 2
a second Fresnel prism adjacent to the second microlens layer, the second Fresnel prism configured to redirect the emitted light from the second plurality of cells
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, an electronic display assembly includes a first and second microlens layer. The first microlens layer includes a first plurality of cells and the second microlens layer includes a second plurality of cells. Each cell of the first and second plurality of cells includes a transparent lenslet and a plurality of opaque walls configured to prevent light from bleeding into adjacent cells. The electronic display assembly further includes an image sensor layer adjacent to the first microlens layer, and a display layer adjacent to the second microlens array. The electronic display assembly further includes a first Fresnel prism adjacent to the first microlens layer, the first Fresnel prism configured to redirect the incoming light into the first plurality of cells. The electronic display assembly further includes a second Fresnel prism adjacent to the second microlens layer, the second Fresnel prism configured to redirect the emitted light from the second plurality of cells.