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EP-4439153-B1 - MIXED REALITY HEAD WORN DISPLAY

EP4439153B1EP 4439153 B1EP4439153 B1EP 4439153B1EP-4439153-B1

Inventors

  • TIANA, CARLO L.
  • STRATTON, ERIC P.
  • KEITH, CHRISTOPHER A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20190725

Claims (10)

  1. A head worn display (200), HWD, comprising: a head attachment region (210); an internal display (220) viewable by a user of the HWD; one or more image detectors (310) arranged to detect an image (1100) of an external region (150) external to the internal display; and a controller (230) configured to control the internal display to display the detected image and to overlay virtual information over the displayed detected image, characterized in that the controller (230) is configured to receive a warning signal in the case that a display region of the external region has failed, and, responsive thereto, to control the internal display (220) to overlay the virtual information over regions of the internal display corresponding to the display region of the external region which has failed, the virtual information defining a replacement display region corresponding to the failed display region.
  2. The HWD of claim 1, wherein the internal display is an augmented reality display having a transparent region arranged to provide a view of another external region.
  3. The HWD of claim 2, wherein the another external region includes a display region of a cockpit enclosing the HWD, and overlaps the external region.
  4. The HWD of claim 3, wherein the external region includes a region external to the cockpit.
  5. The HWD of claim 1, wherein the internal display is a virtual reality display.
  6. The HWD of claim 5, wherein the external region includes a region external to a cockpit enclosing the HWD.
  7. The HWD of claim 1, wherein the overlay information includes critical information, the HWD further comprising an eye tracker (370) arranged to track a position and orientation of an eye of a user wearing the HWD; and wherein the controller is configured to confirm that the user is viewing the critical information based on the tracked eye position of the user.
  8. The HWD of claim 1, wherein the overlay information includes any pertinent or critical information.
  9. The HWD of claim 1, further comprising: an eye tracker (370) arranged to track an eye position of a user wearing the HWD; wherein the controller is configured to increase a resolution of a region of the internal display viewed by the user and to decrease a resolution of another region of the internal display not viewed by the user based on the tracked eye position of the user.
  10. The HWD of claim 1, wherein the one or more image detectors include cameras.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The inventive concepts disclosed herein generally relate to head worn displays. BACKGROUND Head worn displays (HWDs) may be worn by a user and provide a user with visual information. For virtual reality displays, all of the image on the display viewed by a user may be rendered. Augmented reality displays, on the other hand, combine light by optical means to present a user with virtual information superimposed on the real world. Augmented reality HWDs typically compromise between cost, field of view (FOV) and size. Most traditional HWD application for augmented reality include increasing the size of conventional optics to the point they are overly large and cumbersome to the user in order to achieve a wide FOV. HWDs are disclosed in US 2016/187654 A1, US 2010/238161 A1 and US 9 995 936 B1. SUMMARY In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to a head worn display (HWD) as defined by claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Implementations of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be better understood when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the included drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, and in which some features may be exaggerated and some features may be omitted or may be represented schematically in the interest of clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings may represent and refer to the same or similar element, feature, or function. In the drawings: FIG 1 is a schematic illustrating a head worn display according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 2A illustrates a side view of an arrangement of an internal display according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 2B illustrates a front view of an arrangement of an internal display according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an external region according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the internal display illustrating an overlay region and a non-overlay region according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the internal display where the overlay region corresponds to a checklist according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the internal display where the overlay region corresponds to a display region of an external region where a display region has failed according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the internal display where the overlay region corresponds to emergency information according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the internal display where the overlay region corresponds to direction information for a first overlay region and to peripheral information for a second overlay region according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG 9 is a schematic illustrating a head worn display having image detectors according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 10A illustrates a side view of an arrangement of the internal display of FIG. 9 according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 10B illustrates a front view of an arrangement of the internal display of FIG. 9 according to inventive concepts disclosed herein.FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an image detected by at least one image detector of an external region according to inventive concepts disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein regarding HWDs with variable transparency areas provide for functions such as enhancement, replacement, augmentation and occlusion in a display. The HWDs provide functionality for providing check lists at appropriate times, replacing the view of failed displays, providing visual information for emergency situations, and providing peripheral cue augmentation, for example. HWDs may also be arranged in a mixed reality configuration where an internal display viewed by a user includes images of a region external to the internal display which is detected by image detectors. In the mixed reality configuration, the internal display displays the detected image along with overlay information. Such an arrangement may obtain a wide FOV, such as nearly 120 degrees, for example. Further, real world imagery is relayed to the user via the image detectors. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a HWD 100 according to inventive concepts disclosed herein. The HWD 100 includes a head attachment region 110, an internal display 120, and a controller 130. The HWD 100 may further include an eye tracker 170 and head tracker 175. The head attachment region 110 may be worn by a user, and may be a helmet, for example. Alternatively, the head attachment region 110 may include googles, for example. The internal display 120 is attached to the head attachment region 110. The HWD 100, including the head attachment region 110, internal display 120, and controller 1