Projector alignment in a contact lens

• US 10,529,107 B1
• Filed: 09/11/2018
• Issued: 01/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tectus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Tectus Corporation
• Inventors: Miller, Gregory David
• Primary Examiner(s): Mushambo, Martin
• Application Number:
  US16/127,479
• Time in Patent Office: 483 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/10 Electronic devices other than hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/04 Contact lenses for the eyes disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/14 Transformations for image registration, e.g. adjusting or mapping for alignment of images

Abstract

An electronic contact lens includes multiple femtoprojectors within the contact lens. Different femtoprojectors project images onto different portions of the retina. The images can be aligned by an alignment circuit within the contact lens. The alignment circuit can adjust the physical position or orientation of one or more femtoprojectors. Additionally, the alignment circuit can configure a location within a femtoprojector array from which an image is projected. A user can provide an input to align the femtoprojectors. For instance, a user can provide an input to adjust a location from which a first femtoprojector projects a test image until the test image is aligned with a test image projected by a second femtoprojector. The alignment circuit can, based on the user'"'"'s input, determine alignment information for the femtoprojectors, and the contact lens can project subsequent images based on the alignment information.

Claims

1. A contact lens comprising:

a contact lens body;

a first femtoprojector embedded within the contact lens body and configured to project a first image onto a retina of a wearer of the contact lens;

a second femtoprojector embedded within the contact lens body and configured to project a second image onto the retina of the wearer of the contact lens; and

an alignment circuit configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector based on an input from the wearer of the contact lens.

2. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image are the same.

3. The contact lens of claim 2, wherein the input from the wearer of the contact lens comprises an input to align the first image and the second image.

4. The contact lens of claim 2, wherein the first image and the second image comprise one or more of:

a pixel, a symbol, and a calibration pattern.

5. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image comprise different images.

6. The contact lens of claim 5, wherein the input from the wearer comprises an input to align the first image to be adjacent to the second image.

7. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image comprise different portions of a same image.

8. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector by adjusting an orientation of the first femtoprojector and/or the second femtoprojector relative to the contact lens body.

9. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector by adjusting a portion of a first array of the first femtoprojector from which the first image is projected and/or a portion of a second array of the second femtoprojector from which the second image is projected.

10. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the input from the wearer is received via a device of the wearer.

11. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the input from the wearer comprises a voice command.

12. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the input from the wearer comprises a hand gesture.

13. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the input from the wearer comprises an eye gesture.

14. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector when the contact lens is operating in a calibration mode.

15. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector in response to a request for alignment from the wearer of the contact lens.

16. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector upon startup of the contact lens.

17. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the alignment circuit is configured to align the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector after the passage of a pre-determined period of time since a previous alignment.

18. A method for calibrating an electronic contact lens comprising:

projecting, by a first femtoprojector embedded within the electronic contact lens, a first image onto a retina of a wearer of the electronic contact lens;

projecting, by a second femtoprojector embedded within the electronic contact lens, a second image onto the retina of the wearer of the electronic contact lens;

receiving, from the wearer of the electronic contact lens, an input based on the first image and the second image; and

aligning, by the electronic contact lens, the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector based on the received input.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the aligning the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector comprises adjusting an orientation of the first femtoprojector and/or the second femtoprojector relative to the electronic contact lens.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the aligning the first femtoprojector and the second femtoprojector comprises adjusting a portion of a first array of the first femtoprojector from which the first image is projected and/or a portion of a second array of the second femtoprojector from which the second image is projected.