Light field display, adjusted pixel rendering method therefor, and vision correction system and method using same

• US 10,642,355 B1
• Filed: 09/12/2019
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Evolution Optiks Limited
• Original Assignee: Evolution Optiks Limited
• Inventors: Gotsch, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Jack
• Application Number:
  US16/569,137
• Publication Number:
  US 20200125168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 236 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0025 for optical correction, e.g. distorsion, aberration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1609 to support filters or lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/147 Details of sensors, e.g. sensor lenses fingerprint or palmprint sensors G06V40/13; vascular sensors G06V40/145; eye sensors G06V40/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0261 in the context of movement of objects on the screen or movement of the observer relative to the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/028 by changing the viewing angle properties, e.g. widening the viewing angle, adapting the viewing angle to the view direction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/068 for control of viewing angle adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/08 Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/001 Arbitration of resources in a display system, e.g. control of access to frame buffer by video controller and/or main processor
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

Described are various embodiments of a light field display, adjusted pixel rendering method and computer-readable medium therefor, and vision correction system and method using same. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method is provided to automatically adjust user perception of an input image to be rendered on a digital display via a set of pixels thereof, wherein the digital display has an array of light field shaping elements.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, automatically implemented by one or more digital processors, to automatically adjust user perception of an input image to be rendered on a digital display via a set of pixels thereof, wherein the digital display comprises an array of light field shaping elements (LFSEs), the method comprising:

digitally mapping the input image on an adjusted image plane designated to provide a user with a designated image perception adjustment;

for each given pixel in the set of pixels, digitally;

projecting an adjusted image ray trace through a closest LFSE center position between said given pixel and an adjusted image location on said adjusted image plane;

associating an adjusted image colour designated for said given adjusted image location with said given pixel based on said mapping; and

rendering for each said given pixel said adjusted image colour associated therewith, thereby rendering a perceptively adjusted version of the input image.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said adjusted image location is at least partially defined by an input pupil location.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said adjusted image plane is a virtual image plane virtually positioned relative to the digital display at a designated distance from said input pupil location, and wherein said adjusted image ray trace comprises a virtual image vector between said given pixel and said center position to intersect said virtual image plane.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said adjusted image plane is designated as a user retinal plane, and wherein said adjusted image ray trace is projected to intersect with said user retinal plane by redirecting said adjusted image ray trace at said pupil location in accordance with an input user eye focus aberration parameter.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said closest LFSE center position is identified as a function of a LFSE intersection point defined by a vector linking said given pixel and an input pupil location.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein said LFSEs define an at least partially nestled array, and wherein the method further comprises identifying said closest LFSE center position by computationally:

defining said LFSEs as a nestled tile array of nestled tiles corresponding with said LFSEs;

overlaying said nestled tile array with a rectangular tile array aligned so to thereby delineate, for each rectangular tile, a set of distinct linearly-segregated tile regions having linear boundaries defined by adjacent underlying nestled tiles;

identifying a given rectangular tile of said rectangular tile array containing said LFSE intersection point; and

applying a set of designated conditional statements to said LFSE intersection point as identified within said given rectangular tile and derived from said linear boundaries to output a corresponding set of Boolean or binary values representative as to which of said tile regions contains said LFSE intersection point to thereby identify which given nestled tile contains said intersection point accordingly.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein said applying comprises mapping said set of Boolean or binary values into a corresponding set of vectorial coordinates to compute a center of a said given nestled tile containing said LFSE intersection point.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein said nestled tiles are hexagonal tiles.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein said hexagonal tiles are defined as regular hexagons or elongated hexagons.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein each said rectangular tile is sized and arranged so to predominantly overlap one of said hexagonal tiles and otherwise define two opposed triangular tile regions along a shared rectangular tile edge.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein said LFSEs are configured in a rectangular LFSE element array, and wherein the method further comprises identifying said closest LFSE center position by computationally:

defining said LFSEs as a normalized rectangular tile array of rectangular tiles corresponding with said LFSEs;

identifying a designated corner of given rectangular tile of said rectangular tile array containing said LFSE intersection point using normalized rectangular tile array coordinates; and

applying a set of normalized vectorial coordinates to compute a center of said given rectangular tile containing said LFSE intersection point based on said identified designated corner.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said projecting and associating are implemented in parallel for each said given pixel of at least a subset of said pixels.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising digital instructions to be implemented by one or more digital processors to automatically adjust user perception of an input image to be rendered on a digital display via a set of pixels thereof, wherein the digital display comprises an array of light field shaping elements (LFSEs), by:

digitally mapping the input image on an adjusted image plane designated to provide a user with a designated image perception adjustment;

for each given pixel in the set of pixels, digitally;

projecting an adjusted image ray trace through a closest LFSE center position between said given pixel and an adjusted image location on said adjusted image plane;

associating an adjusted image colour designated for said given adjusted image location with said given pixel based on said mapping; and

rendering for each said given pixel said adjusted image colour associated therewith, thereby rendering a perceptively adjusted version of the input image.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said adjusted image location is at least partially defined by an input pupil location.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, said LFSEs define an at least partially nestled array, and wherein the method further comprises identifying said closest LFSE center position by computationally:

defining said LFSEs as a nestled tile array of nestled tiles corresponding with said LFSEs;

overlaying said nestled tile array with a rectangular tile array aligned so to thereby delineate, for each rectangular tile, a set of distinct linearly-segregated tile regions having linear boundaries defined by adjacent underlying nestled tiles;

identifying a given rectangular tile of said rectangular tile array containing said LFSE intersection point; and

applying a set of designated conditional statements to said LFSE intersection point as identified within said given rectangular tile and derived from said linear boundaries to output a corresponding set of Boolean or binary values representative as to which of said tile regions contains said LFSE intersection point to thereby identify which given nestled tile contains said LFSE intersection point accordingly.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said LFSEs are configured in a rectangular LFSE element array, and wherein the method further comprises identifying said closest LFSE center position by computationally:

defining said LFSEs as a normalized rectangular tile array of rectangular tiles corresponding with said LFSEs;

identifying a designated corner of given rectangular tile of said rectangular tile array containing said LFSE intersection point using normalized rectangular tile array coordinates; and

applying a set of normalized vectorial coordinates to compute a center of said given rectangular tile containing said LFSE intersection point based on said identified designated corner.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said closest LFSE center position is identified as a function of a LFSE intersection point defined by a vector linking said given pixel and an input pupil location.

18. A digital display device operable to automatically adjust user perception of an input image to be rendered thereon, the device comprising:

a digital display medium comprising an array of pixels and operable to render a pixelated image accordingly;

an array of light field shaping elements (LFSEs) to shape a light field emanating from said pixels and thereby at least partially govern a projection thereof from said display medium toward a user; and

a hardware processor operable on pixel data for the input image to output adjusted image pixel data to be rendered via said LFSEs to adjust user perception of the input image as rendered therethrough by;

digitally mapping the input image on an adjusted image plane designated to provide the user with a designated image perception adjustment;

for each given pixel in a set of pixels, digitally;

projecting an adjusted image ray trace through a closest LFSE center position between said given pixel and an adjusted image location on said adjusted image plane; and

associating an adjusted image colour designated for said given adjusted image location with said given pixel based on said mapping; and

rendering for each said given pixel said adjusted image colour associated therewith, thereby rendering a perceptively adjusted version of the input image.

19. The digital display device of claim 18, wherein said adjusted image location is at least partially defined by an input pupil location.

20. The digital display device of claim 19, further comprising a pupil tracker or pupil tracking interface operable to dynamically track and automatically accommodate for changes in said input pupil location.

21. The digital display device of claim 18, wherein said closest LFSE center position is identified as a function of a LFSE intersection point defined by a vector linking said given pixel and an input pupil location.

22. The digital display device of claim 18, wherein said array of LFSEs comprises a lenslet array.