Steerable Hybrid Display Waveguide Foveal Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing near-eye displays face challenges in providing high resolution over a large field of view while minimizing rendering and data requirements, particularly in virtual and augmented reality applications, where a field of view greater than 90 degrees is needed, and the form factor often resembles regular eye-glasses, complicating optical design.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid display system that combines a steerable foveal display with a field display, where the foveal display provides high resolution at the center of the field of view and a lower resolution field display covers a wider area, using a waveguide to direct images to the user's eye, with the steerable foveal display positioned to align with the user's fovea and the field display covering peripheral vision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a single display system is used to provide both high resolution and wide field of view, then either resolution or field of view must be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The display system is segmented into two distinct displays: a high-resolution foveal display for the center of vision and a lower-resolution field display for peripheral vision. This segmentation allows each display to be optimized for its specific function, with the foveal display providing detailed imagery where the user looks directly and the field display providing broader contextual information without requiring equivalent pixel density.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the visual field are assigned different quality levels. The foveal region (center of vision) receives high-resolution imagery from the foveal display, while the peripheral regions receive lower-resolution imagery from the field display. This local quality differentiation matches the human visual system's varying sensitivity across the visual field, providing high resolution where needed without uniformly sacrificing field of view.
2Measurement precision
If high resolution is provided across the entire field of view, then rendering requirements and data rates increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
High-resolution data is transmitted only for the small foveal region where the user's gaze is directed, while lower-resolution data is transmitted for the larger peripheral field. This local quality approach dramatically reduces the total data rate required, as the high-resolution foveal display covers a minimal angular area compared to providing high resolution across the entire wide field of view.
3Area of stationary object
If optical systems are designed to provide wide field of view with high resolution, then device complexity and form factor constraints are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The optical system is segmented into separate optical paths for the foveal display and field display. Each optical path can be independently optimized and designed with simpler components appropriate for its resolution and field of view requirements. The foveal optical path handles high-resolution imagery with precise optical elements, while the field optical path handles lower-resolution imagery with simpler optics, reducing overall system complexity.
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 approach enables high resolution images over a wide field of view, reducing rendering and data requirements, and allows for a compact form factor suitable for augmented and virtual reality applications, providing seamless image perception without pixelation.
Implementation Method 1
both images input into a waveguide to be directed to the user's eye
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2
AI summary
A system including a steerable mirror, a waveguide, first optics, intermediate optics, and final optics. The system includes a first light path for a foveal image element, the first light path including the first optics, the steerable mirror to steer a position of the foveal image element to a particular orientation, intermediate optics, and the final optics to direct the foveal image element to an in-coupling region of the waveguide. The system further includes a second light path for a field image element, the second light path including final optics.