Zonal Lens Segmentation for HMD Vision Correction and Beam Steering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing head-mounted display (HMD) devices face challenges in providing optical lenses that effectively correct refractive errors and provide smooth transitions while maintaining beam shaping, particularly for users with impaired vision, and conventional lenses can be cumbersome and uncomfortable due to high power requirements.
Innovation Solution
The use of zonal lenses with multiple optical zones, each characterized by a specific sag profile, to correct refractive errors, steer illumination, and provide a flat viewing window for sensors, with transition zones ensuring smooth transitions between these zones, fabricated using methods like diamond turning or 3D printing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional optical lenses are used in HMD devices, then refractive errors can be corrected, but the lenses become cumbersome and uncomfortable due to high power requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The lens is divided into multiple optical zones (first optical zone, second optical zone, third optical zone) with different sag profiles, each serving specific functions such as vision correction, beam steering, or sensor viewing. This segmentation allows the lens to achieve high refractive power while maintaining a thinner, lighter overall structure that improves user comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the lens are given different optical properties through varying sag profiles in each zone. The first optical zone has a first sag profile for vision correction, the second zone has a second sag profile for beam steering, and the third zone has a third sag profile for sensor viewing. This local differentiation enables functional optimization without requiring uniformly high power across the entire lens.
2Reliability
If optical lenses provide beam shaping and vision correction, then image quality improves, but smooth transitions between different optical zones become difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
Transition zones are introduced as intermediary regions between adjacent optical zones with different sag profiles. These transition zones provide smooth optical transitions, ensuring that light paths and image quality remain continuous and stable across the lens, while also facilitating precise manufacturing by breaking down the complex lens design into manageable segments with gradual transitions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple optical zones with different sag profiles are implemented, then functional versatility increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple optical zones with different functions (vision correction, beam steering, sensor viewing) are merged into a single integrated lens structure rather than using separate lenses for each function. This consolidation achieves functional versatility while reducing overall device complexity by eliminating the need for multiple separate optical components and their associated alignments and mountings.
Solution Approach 2:
The single lens structure serves multiple functions simultaneously through its zonal design: the first optical zone corrects refractive errors, the second optical zone steers illumination beams, and the third optical zone provides viewing windows for sensors. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components, thereby reducing overall system complexity despite the increased versatility.
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 zonal lenses enhance user comfort by reducing weight and thickness, improve image quality, and expand the field of view, while ensuring consistent illumination and sensor functionality in HMD devices.
Implementation Method 1
a first optical zone characterized by a first sag profile to correct a refractive error of an eye of a user and a second optical zone characterized by a second sag profile to redirect a path of an illumination light beam
Data Source
AI summary
An optical element may include two or more zones to perform functions in a head-mounted display (HMD) device. An optical component may include a first optical zone characterized by a first sag profile to correct a refractive error of an eye of a user and a second optical zone characterized by a second sag profile to redirect a path of an illumination light beam. A transition zone located between the first optical zone and the second optical zone may provide a smooth transition between the first optical zone and the second optical zone.