CN-121986285-A - Diopter adjustment for head mounted displays using electrically controllable lenses

Abstract

Use of an electrically controllable lens to provide a Head Mounted Display (HMD) with diopter adjustment capabilities is disclosed. The electrically controllable lens may be coupled to, or coupleable to, a pair of lens tubes of the HMD, and configured to direct light emitted by a display panel of the HMD toward an eye of a user wearing the HMD. The processor may be configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to provide control signals to the electrically controllable lens to adjust the optical power of the electrically controllable lens.

Inventors

• J. M. hadman

Assignees

• 威尔乌集团

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20241010

Priority Date

20231010

Claims (20)

1. 1. A system, the system comprising: a Head Mounted Display (HMD), the Head Mounted Display (HMD) comprising: display panel, and A pair of lens tubes; A pair of electrically controllable lenses comprising a first electrically controllable lens and a second electrically controllable lens, the pair of electrically controllable lenses configured to: Coupled to the pair of lens tubes, and Directing light emitted by the display panel toward an eye of a user wearing the HMD; processor, and A memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: providing a first control signal to the first electrically controllable lens to adjust a first optical power of the first electrically controllable lens, and Providing a second control signal to the second electrically controllable lens to adjust a second optical power of the second electrically controllable lens.
2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first control signal causes the first electrically controllable lens to: Adjusting the phase of light passing through the center of the first electrically controllable lens by a first amount, and The phase of the light passing through the perimeter of the first electrically controllable lens is adjusted by a second amount different from the first amount.
3. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to receive first user input data indicating that the user has provided a first user input to adjust the first optical power of the first electrically controllable lens, and The first control signal is provided to the first electrically controllable lens based at least in part on the first user input data.
4. 4. A system according to claim 3, wherein: the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to receive second user input data indicating that the user has provided a second user input to adjust the second optical power of the second electrically controllable lens, and The second control signal is provided to the second electrically controllable lens based at least in part on the second user input data.
5. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the pair of electrically controllable lenses are accessories of the HMD and are configured to be coupled to the pair of lens tubes by the user.
6. 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver, wherein: the first control signal being transmitted wirelessly to the first electrically controllable lens via the transceiver, and The second control signal is wirelessly transmitted to the first electrically controllable lens via the transceiver.
7. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein: the HMD further includes a pair of lenses disposed within the pair of lens tubes, and The pair of electrically controllable lenses is configured to be disposed between the pair of lenses and the eyes of the user wearing the HMD.
8. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: Providing a first series of control signals including the first control signal to the first electrically controllable lens in synchronization with a refresh rate of the display panel, and Providing a second series of control signals including the second control signal to the second electrically controllable lens in synchronization with the refresh rate of the display panel.
9. 9. A method, the method comprising: Receiving, by a processor, user input data indicating that a user wearing a Head Mounted Display (HMD) has provided user input to adjust optical power of an electrically controllable lens of the HMD, and A control signal is provided by the processor to the electrically controllable lens to adjust the optical power of the electrically controllable lens based at least in part on the user input data.
10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the control signal causes the electrically controllable lens to have: A first optical power at the center of the electrically controllable lens, and A second optical power at a periphery of the electrically controllable lens, the second optical power being different from the first optical power.
11. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the electrically controllable lens is a first electrically controllable lens of a pair of electrically controllable lenses of the HMD, the pair of electrically controllable lenses including the first electrically controllable lens and a second electrically controllable lens, the method further comprising: receiving, by the processor, second user input data indicating that the user has provided a second user input to adjust a second optical power of the second electrically controllable lens, and A second control signal is provided by the processor to the second electrically controllable lens to adjust the second optical power of the second electrically controllable lens based at least in part on the second user input data.
12. 12. A system, the system comprising: a Head Mounted Display (HMD), the Head Mounted Display (HMD) comprising: display panel, and A pair of lens tubes; a pair of electrically controllable lenses coupled or coupleable to the pair of lens tubes and configured to direct light emitted by the display panel toward an eye of a user wearing the HMD; processor, and A memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to provide control signals to an electrically controllable lens of the pair of electrically controllable lenses to adjust optical power of the electrically controllable lens.
13. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein each of the pair of electrically controllable lenses is independently controllable.
14. 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the control signal causes the electrically controllable lens to: adjusting the phase of light passing through the center of the electrically controllable lens by a first amount, and The phase of the light passing through the periphery of the electrically controllable lens is adjusted by a second amount different from the first amount.
15. 15. The system of claim 12, wherein: the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to receive user input data indicating that the user has provided user input to adjust the optical power of the electrically controllable lens, and The control signal is provided to the electrically controllable lens based at least in part on the user input data.
16. 16. The system of claim 12, wherein the pair of electrically controllable lenses are accessories of the HMD and are configured to be coupled to the pair of lens tubes by the user.
17. 17. The system of claim 12, wherein: The HMD further includes a pair of lenses within the pair of lens tubes, and The pair of electrically controllable lenses is configured to be disposed between the pair of lenses and the eyes of the user wearing the HMD.
18. 18. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to provide a series of control signals including the control signal to the electrically controllable lens in synchronization with a refresh rate of the display panel.
19. 19. The system of claim 12, wherein: The electrically controllable lens is the first electrically controllable lens of the pair of electrically controllable lenses, and The computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to provide a second control signal to a second electrically controllable lens of the pair of electrically controllable lenses to adjust a second optical power of the second electrically controllable lens.
20. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second optical power is different than an optical power of the first electrically controllable lens.

Description

Diopter adjustment for head mounted displays using electrically controllable lenses Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application is an international application entitled "diopter adjustment of head mounted displays using electrically controllable lenses (DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT FOR A HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY USING ELECTRICALLY-CONTROLLABLE LENSES)" filed on 10 months 2023 entitled "U.S. provisional application No. 63/589,099, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Head Mounted displays (Head Mounted DISPLAY HMD) are used in a wide variety of fields including engineering, medical, military and video games. The HMD presents graphical information or images to the user as part of a Virtual reality (Virtual REALITY VR), augmented reality (Augmented REALITY AR), and/or Mixed reality (Mixed REALITY MR) environment. As an example, while playing a VR video game, a user may wear an HMD to be immersed in a virtual environment. Some users of HMDs have vision impairment, such as myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism. However, wearing their prescription glasses under an HMD may cause discomfort to such users. Technical solutions are provided herein to improve and enhance these and other systems. Drawings Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example HMD having a pair of lens tubes to which an electrically controllable lens may be coupled and a pair of example electrically controllable lenses according to embodiments disclosed herein. Fig. 2 illustrates a front view of an example pair of electrically controllable lenses whose optical power can be adjusted via providing control signals to the electrically controllable lenses in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein. Fig. 3 illustrates a side view of an electrically controllable lens, and a technique for using the electrically controllable lens to increase or decrease the optical power of the electrically controllable lens, in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an example process for controlling an electrically controllable lens of an HMD to provide vision correction for a user based on user input provided by the user wearing the HMD, according to an embodiment disclosed herein. Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an example process for simulating a light field display in an HMD using an electrically controllable lens, according to an embodiment disclosed herein. FIG. 6 illustrates example components of a system in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein. Detailed Description About 50% of HMD users have vision impairments such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, or other eye conditions. These users may wear their HMDs without wearing their prescription lenses (e.g., glasses, contact lenses, etc.), but in doing so they will not be able to clearly see the images displayed via the HMDs. The severity of the user's vision blur depends on the severity of the user's vision impairment. Most HMDs do not have enough space to accommodate prescription eyeglasses, which makes it uncomfortable for a visually impaired user to wear their prescription eyeglasses even if they are likely to be under the HMD. Another option for a visually impaired user is to wear prescription contact lenses under the HMD. However, many users do not own, dislike, or cannot wear contact lenses for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, perspiration may cause problems with contact lenses. For example, if a user wearing a contact lens walks around frequently while wearing the HMD, such as during a physical VR experience, the user may begin to sweat and their contact lens may absorb moisture generated inside the HMD, making their contact lens uncomfortable to wear. A visually impaired user may order custom prescription lens adapters for their HMD, but these lens adapters are custom made only for individual users, which makes the lens adapters useless for other users (e.g., friends or family) with different eye prescriptions. Furthermore, techniques, devices, and systems for providing diopter adjustment capability for an HMD using an electrically controllable lens are described herein. The HMDs described herein may take a variety of forms, including helmets, face masks, goggles, masks, glasses, or any other head-mounted and/or eye-mounted device suitable for wearing on a user's head. The HMD may include one or more display panels that display images (e.g., frames) for viewing by a user wearing the HMD. In some examples, the images are rendered by an application that may be executed on the HMD and/or on a separate computing device (e.g., a personal computer, video game console, etc.) communicatively (wired or wireless) coupled to the HMD. Additionally, in some examples, a user may operate one or more handheld controllers in conjunction with the HMD to further participate in VR, AR, and/or MR environments. The HMD may further include an optical subsystem that u