Steerable Foveal Display Positioning for Wide Field of View
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Solution Overview
Problem
Near-eye display systems face challenges in achieving high resolution over a wide field of view while minimizing pixelation and reducing rendering, data rate, and panel requirements, which is crucial for virtual and augmented reality applications.
Innovation Solution
A steerable positioning element, such as a mirror or lens, is used to position a high-resolution display at the user's fovea, utilizing piezoelectric elements and magnetic sensors for precise movement, allowing the display to pivot along two axes and adjust its position based on user gaze and surroundings to maintain high resolution across a wide field of view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a high-resolution display is used to avoid pixelation, then the resolution is improved, but the panel requirements and data rate increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a steerable display element that can dynamically change its orientation and position. This dynamic capability allows the display to present high-resolution content selectively to the user's fovea (central vision) while reducing resolution in peripheral areas, thereby maintaining perceived image quality without requiring uniformly high resolution across the entire display panel, thus reducing panel requirements and data rates.
2Area of stationary object
If the field of view is increased to greater than 90 degrees, then the field of view is improved, but the resolution requirements increase to maintain image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the display resolution across different regions of the field of view. High resolution is concentrated in the foveal region where the user's gaze is directed, while peripheral regions use lower resolution. This approach allows the system to provide a wide field of view without requiring uniformly high resolution across the entire visual field, thereby resolving the contradiction between FOV size and resolution requirements.
3Measurement precision
If a steerable display element is used to position high-resolution display at the user's fovea, then the resolution is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The steerable display element serves multiple functions: it acts as both the display medium and the positioning mechanism, and it can dynamically adjust to track user gaze while also controlling the virtual image focus. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate eye-tracking cameras and independent focus control mechanisms, thereby managing device complexity while achieving high-resolution foveal display.
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 solution enables high-resolution displays over a large field of view, reducing pixelation and improving user experience in virtual and augmented reality by precisely positioning the display to match the user's gaze, thereby enhancing the visual acuity and reducing the computational and hardware demands.
Implementation Method 1
utilizing piezoelectric elements and magnetic sensors for precise movement, allowing the display to pivot along two axes
Implementation Method 2
utilizing piezoelectric elements and magnetic sensors for precise movement
Implementation Method 3
A steerable positioning element, such as a mirror or lens, is used to position a high-resolution display at the user's fovea
Data Source
AI summary
A display system comprising a steerable display having a monocular field of view of at least 1 degree, positioned within a scannable field of view of at least 20 degrees, the steerable display positioned for a user. In one embodiment, the steerable display is positioned for the user's fovea.