HEAD-MOUNTED OPTICAL APPARATUS FOR STEREOSCOPIC DISPLAY
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A head-mounted display apparatus for viewing a composite virtual image, said composite virtual image comprising a left virtual image, formed from a left image, to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right virtual image, formed from a right image, to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the head-mounted display apparatus comprising:
- (a) an image generator for providing, as scene content data, said left image and said right image;
(b) a left image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said left image and for displaying a first left intermediate image on a left curved surface;
(c) a left ball lens spaced apart from said left curved surface, a center of curvature of said left ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said left curved surface, said left ball lens having a left ball lens pupil, said left ball lens forming a second left intermediate image of said first left intermediate image;
(d) a right image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said right image and for displaying a right intermediate image on a right curved surface;
(e) a right ball lens spaced apart from said right curved surface, the center of curvature of said right ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said right curved surface, said right ball lens having a right ball lens pupil, said right ball lens forming a second right intermediate image of said first right intermediate image;
(f) a beamsplitter disposed to do the following;
(1) direct said second left intermediate image formed by said left ball lens towards a left curved mirror, said left curved mirror having a center of curvature optically coincident with said center of curvature and said left ball lens, said left curved mirror disposed to form, through said beamsplitting means, a real image of said left ball lens pupil at said left viewing pupil and a left virtual image of said second left intermediate image;
(2) direct said second right intermediate image directed from said right curved surface through said right ball lens towards a right curved mirror, said right curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said right ball lens, said right curved mirror disposed to form, through said beamsplitting means, a real image of said right ball lens pupil at said right viewing pupil and a right virtual image of said second right intermediate image.
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Abstract
A head-mounted optical apparatus (10) providing pupil imaging with a very wide field of view. The head-mounted optical apparatus (10) employs a monocentric arrangement of optical components providing stereoscopic display of a virtual image, electronically generated and projected as left and right images from curved surfaces (68). For each right and left image, a ball lens assembly (30) is used to project a displayed intermediate image from the curved display surface (68) toward a beamsplitter (16), which directs an intermediate image toward the front focal surface of a curved mirror (24) that collimates the image to form a virtual image. The beamsplitter (16) transmits the virtual image for each eye to the observer.
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Citations
70 Claims
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1. A head-mounted display apparatus for viewing a composite virtual image, said composite virtual image comprising a left virtual image, formed from a left image, to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right virtual image, formed from a right image, to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the head-mounted display apparatus comprising:
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(a) an image generator for providing, as scene content data, said left image and said right image;
(b) a left image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said left image and for displaying a first left intermediate image on a left curved surface;
(c) a left ball lens spaced apart from said left curved surface, a center of curvature of said left ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said left curved surface, said left ball lens having a left ball lens pupil, said left ball lens forming a second left intermediate image of said first left intermediate image;
(d) a right image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said right image and for displaying a right intermediate image on a right curved surface;
(e) a right ball lens spaced apart from said right curved surface, the center of curvature of said right ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said right curved surface, said right ball lens having a right ball lens pupil, said right ball lens forming a second right intermediate image of said first right intermediate image;
(f) a beamsplitter disposed to do the following;
(1) direct said second left intermediate image formed by said left ball lens towards a left curved mirror, said left curved mirror having a center of curvature optically coincident with said center of curvature and said left ball lens, said left curved mirror disposed to form, through said beamsplitting means, a real image of said left ball lens pupil at said left viewing pupil and a left virtual image of said second left intermediate image;
(2) direct said second right intermediate image directed from said right curved surface through said right ball lens towards a right curved mirror, said right curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said right ball lens, said right curved mirror disposed to form, through said beamsplitting means, a real image of said right ball lens pupil at said right viewing pupil and a right virtual image of said second right intermediate image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70)
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45. In a head-mounted apparatus, a method for providing a composite virtual image, said composite virtual image comprising a left virtual image, formed from a left image, to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right virtual image, formed from a right image, to be viewed by an observer at a right viewing pupil, the method comprising:
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(a) generating, from an image source, said left image and said right image;
(b) displaying said left image on a left curved surface as a first left intermediate image and displaying said right image on a right curved surface as a first right intermediate image;
(c) projecting said first left intermediate image through a left ball lens, said left ball lens spaced apart from said left curved surface, said left ball lens having a center of curvature substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said left curved surface, said left ball lens having a left ball lens pupil, said left ball lens forming a second left intermediate image of said first left intermediate image;
(d) projecting said first right intermediate image through a right ball lens, said right ball lens spaced apart from said right curved surface, said right ball lens having a center of curvature substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said right curved surface, said right ball lens having a right ball lens pupil, said right ball lens forming a second right intermediate image of said first right intermediate image;
(e) directing said second left intermediate image formed by said left ball lens towards a left curved mirror, said left curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said left ball lens, said left curved mirror disposed to form a real image of said left ball lens pupil at said left viewing pupil and a left virtual image of said second left intermediate image;
(f) directing said second right intermediate image directed from said right curved surface through said right ball lens towards a right curved mirror, said right curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said right ball lens, said right curved mirror disposed to form a real image of said right ball lens pupil at said right viewing pupil and a right virtual image of said second right intermediate image.
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69. A head-mounted display apparatus for viewing a composite virtual image, said composite virtual image comprising a left virtual image, formed from a left image, to be viewed by an observer at a left viewing pupil and a right virtual image, formed from a right image, to be viewed by the observer at a right viewing pupil, the head-mounted display apparatus comprising:
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(a) an image generator for providing, as scene content data, said left image and said right image;
(b) a left image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said left image and for displaying a first left intermediate image on a left curved surface;
(c) a left ball lens spaced apart from said left curved surface, the center of curvature of said left ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said left curved surface, said left ball lens having a left ball lens pupil, said left ball lens forming a second left intermediate image of said first left intermediate image;
(d) a right image display for accepting from said image generator said scene content data for said right image and for displaying a right intermediate image on a right curved surface;
(e) a right ball lens spaced apart from said right curved surface, the center of curvature of said right ball lens substantially coincident with a center of curvature of said right curved surface, said right ball lens having a right ball lens pupil, said right ball lens forming a second right intermediate image of said first right intermediate image;
(f) a left beamsplitter which directs said second left intermediate image formed by said left ball lens towards a left curved mirror, said left curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said center of curvature of said left ball lens, said left curved mirror disposed to form a real image of said left ball lens pupil at said left viewing pupil and a left virtual image of said second left intermediate image;
(g) a right beamsplitter which directs said second right intermediate image directed from said right curved surface through said right ball lens towards a right curved mirror, said right curved mirror having its center of curvature optically coincident with said center of curvature of said right ball lens, said right curved mirror disposed to form a real image of said right ball lens pupil at said right viewing pupil and a right virtual image of said second right intermediate image.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
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Original AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
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InventorsAgostinelli, John A., Kessler, David, Cobb, Joshua M.
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Granted Patent
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Time in Patent OfficeDays
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Field of Search
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US Class Current359/633
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CPC Class CodesG02B 2027/0132 comprising binocular systemsG02B 27/0172 characterised by optical fe...
