Dynamic control over structured illumination intensity
First Claim
1. A depth camera assembly comprising:
- a structured light illuminator configured to illuminate a scene with a variable intensity structured light (SL) pattern, the SL pattern including a plurality of portions and at least one of the portions has a different intensity value than another portion of the plurality of portions, the structured light illuminator comprising;
a source assembly that generates light,a structured light element that generates a SL pattern using the light,a liquid crystal array including a plurality of addressable liquid crystal cells, each liquid crystal cell configured to, respectively,receive a portion of the SL pattern, andmodify a polarization state of the portion of the SL pattern in accordance with adjustment instructions,a polarizer configured to attenuate portions of the SL pattern based on the polarization of the portions of the SL pattern to generate the variable intensity SL pattern;
a camera configured to capture an image of the scene illuminated with the variable intensity SL pattern; and
a controller coupled to the camera and the structured light illuminator, the controller configured to;
for each of a plurality of portions of the image, determining a saturation factor,increase an attenuation factor in response to a saturation factor of a portion of the image being greater than a first threshold value,decrease the attenuation factor in response to the saturation factor of the portion of the image being smaller than a second threshold value, andcontrol the liquid crystal array based on the attenuation factor.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A depth camera assembly (DCA) determines depth information for a scene in a field of view of the DCA. The DCA includes a structured light (SL) illuminator, a camera, and a controller. The SL illuminator includes a source assembly, a SL element, a liquid crystal (LC) array, and a polarizer. The source assembly generates light, and the SL element generates a SL pattern using the generated light source. The LC array includes a plurality of addressable cells configured to polarize the SL pattern in accordance with adjustment instructions. The polarizer attenuates portions of the SL pattern based on the polarization of the portions of the SL pattern. The camera captures an image of the SL pattern, and the controller identifies portions of the image that are saturated and generates adjustment instructions based in part on the identified portions of the image, and provides the adjustment instructions to the LC array.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A depth camera assembly comprising:
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a structured light illuminator configured to illuminate a scene with a variable intensity structured light (SL) pattern, the SL pattern including a plurality of portions and at least one of the portions has a different intensity value than another portion of the plurality of portions, the structured light illuminator comprising; a source assembly that generates light, a structured light element that generates a SL pattern using the light, a liquid crystal array including a plurality of addressable liquid crystal cells, each liquid crystal cell configured to, respectively, receive a portion of the SL pattern, and modify a polarization state of the portion of the SL pattern in accordance with adjustment instructions, a polarizer configured to attenuate portions of the SL pattern based on the polarization of the portions of the SL pattern to generate the variable intensity SL pattern; a camera configured to capture an image of the scene illuminated with the variable intensity SL pattern; and a controller coupled to the camera and the structured light illuminator, the controller configured to; for each of a plurality of portions of the image, determining a saturation factor, increase an attenuation factor in response to a saturation factor of a portion of the image being greater than a first threshold value, decrease the attenuation factor in response to the saturation factor of the portion of the image being smaller than a second threshold value, and control the liquid crystal array based on the attenuation factor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A head-mounted display (HMD) comprising:
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an electronic display configured to emit image light; and a depth camera assembly, the depth camera assembly comprising; a structured light illuminator configured to illuminate a scene with a variable intensity structured light (SL) pattern, the SL pattern including a plurality of portions and at least one of the portions has a different intensity value than another portion of the plurality of portions, the structured light illuminator comprising; a source assembly that generates light, a structured light element that generates a SL pattern using the light, a liquid crystal array including a plurality of addressable liquid crystal cells, each liquid crystal cell configured to, respectively, receive a portion of the SL pattern, and modify a polarization state of the portion of the SL pattern in accordance with adjustment instructions, a polarizer configured to attenuate portions of the SL pattern based on the polarization of the portions of the SL pattern to generate the variable intensity SL pattern; a camera configured to capture an image of the scene illuminated with the variable intensity SL pattern; and a controller coupled to the camera and the structured light illuminator, the controller configured to; for each of a plurality of portions of the image, determining a saturation factor, increase an attenuation factor in response to a saturation factor of a portion of the image being greater than a first threshold value, decrease the attenuation factor in response to the saturation factor of the portion of the image being smaller than a second threshold value, and control the liquid crystal array based on the attenuation factor; and an optics block configured to direct the image light to an exit pupil of the HMD corresponding to a location of an eye of a user of the HMD. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
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illuminating a scene with a variable intensity structured light (SL) pattern that is part of a head-mounted display; capturing an image of the scene illuminated with the variable intensity SL pattern; identifying portions of the captured image that are saturated; increasing an attenuation factor of a first portion of the image in response to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in of the first portion of the image being greater than a first threshold value; decreasing the attenuation factor of a second portion of the image in response to the SNR of the second portion of the image being smaller than a second threshold value; and attenuating portions of the variable intensity structured light pattern based on the attenuation factor. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification