Information display system

• US 20070132663A1
• Filed: 12/11/2006
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Tatsuta, Seiji, Iba, Yoichi, Sugihara, Ryohei
• Application Number:
  US11/636,752
• Publication Number:
  US 20070132663A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence

Abstract

An information display system is a head-worn information display system, and includes at least a display panel. A display mode of information displayed on the display panel is switched automatically according to an active state of a user using the information display system. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an information display system which can display information appropriate for the active state of the user.

Claims

1. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device which can be worn on a head of a user; and

a display mode switching section, and wherein;

the display mode switching section switches a display mode of information displayed on the display device according to an active state of the user.

2. The information display system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is walking.

3. The information display system according to claim 2, wherein the state sensing section includes at least any one of an acceleration sensor, an inclination sensor, an angular velocity sensor, a vibration sensor, a heart-beat sensor, and a GPS sensor held by the user or worn by the user.

4. The information display system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is gazing at an electronic image displayed on the display device.

5. The information display system according to claim 4, wherein:

the state sensing section includes an infrared ray irradiating section which irradiates infrared rays on an eyeball of the user, and an infrared ray sensor which detects infrared rays reflected from the eyeball, and

based on an output of the infrared ray sensor, a judgment of whether or not the user is gazing at the electronic image is made.

6. The information display system according to claim 4, wherein:

the state sensing section includes a myoelectric potential sensor, and

based on a signal detected by the myoelectric potential sensor, a judgment of whether or not the user is gazing at the electronic image is made.

7. The information display system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is uttering.

8. The information display system according to claim 7, wherein:

the state sensing section includes a microphone worn by the user, which picks up a sound in a body, and

the uttering state of the user is detected by the microphone.

9. The information display system according to claim 1, wherein:

the display mode includes at least a brief display mode and a detail display mode, and

when the active state of the user is at least any one of walking, not gazing at the electronic image, and uttering, an operation is performed in the brief display mode.

10. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein a lower limit value of a size of display characters in the brief display mode is higher than a lower limit value of a size of display characters in the detail display mode.

11. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein when the display device displays same information content, a ratio of a number of icons with respect to a number of characters included in the electronic image on the display device in the brief display mode is greater than a ratio of a number of icons with respect to a number of characters included in the electronic image on the display device in the detail display mode.

12. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein:

a scroll display is prohibited in the brief display mode, and

the scroll display is allowed in the detail display mode.

13. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein:

a content displayed on the display device is entire records including a plurality of fields or a part of the records including the plurality of fields, and

as to which field is to be displayed for each of the display modes is determined in advance.

14. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein:

a content displayed on the display device is entire records including a plurality of fields or a part of the records including the plurality of fields, and metadata is assigned for each of the fields, and

the display mode is switched according to the active state, and as to which field in the record is to be displayed is determined with the metadata as a clue.

15. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein a maximum number of characters displayed in a single screen in the brief display mode is less as compared to a maximum number of characters displayed in the single screen in the detail display mode.

16. The information display system according to claim 9, wherein in the brief display mode, information is displayed by using only a part of a substantially central portion of the display screen in the detail display mode.

17. The information display system according to any of claim 1, wherein:

the display mode includes at least a non-display mode, and

when the active state of the user is one of walking, not gazing at the electronic image, and uttering, the display mode is switched automatically to the non-display mode.

18. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device which can be worn on a head;

a mechanism to adjust a display position of an electronic image in a field of view of a naked eye of a user who is using the information display system; and

a display mode switching section, and wherein;

the display mode is switched automatically depending on whether the display position is in a predetermined first area in the field of view of the naked eye, or in a second area which is different from the first area.

19. The information display system according to claim 18, wherein:

the mechanism to adjust the display position includes a mechanism to change a position and/or a direction of an exit window of a display optical system, and

the display position can be adjusted by changing at least any one of the position and the direction of the exit window of the display optical system.

20. The information display system according to claim 19, wherein:

the mechanism to adjust the display position includes a supporting section which is rotatably connected, and which supports the exit window, and

a central axis of rotation of the exit window and the supporting section is disposed such that the central axis is pierced through an area near a center of cycloduction of the naked eye of the user, and

the position and the direction of the exit window are changeable by rotating the supporting section.

21. The information display system according to claim 20, wherein:

a rotary encoder or a switch is provided around a central axis around which the supporting section rotates, and

by detecting a signal from the rotary encoder or the switch, the display mode is switched automatically.

22. The information display system according to claim 18, wherein:

the display mode includes at least a brief display mode and a detail display mode, and

when the display position is in the second area, the display mode is switched automatically to the brief display mode.

23. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein a lower limit value of a size of display characters in the brief display mode is higher than a lower limit value of a size of display characters in the detail display mode.

24. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein when the display device displays same information content, a ratio of a number of icons with respect to a number of characters included in an image displayed on a screen of the display device in the brief display mode is greater than a ratio of a number of icons with respect to a number of characters included in an image displayed on the screen of the display device in the detail display mode.

25. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein:

a scroll display is prohibited in the brief display mode, and

the scroll display is allowed in the detail display mode.

26. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein:

a content displayed on the display device is entire records including a plurality of fields or a part of the records including the plurality of fields, and

as to which field is to be displayed for each of the display modes is determined in advance.

27. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein:

a content displayed on the display device is entire records including a plurality of fields or a part of the records including the plurality of fields, and metadata is assigned for each fields, and

the display mode is switched according to an active state, and as to which field in the record is to be displayed is determined with the metadata as a clue.

28. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein a maximum number of characters displayed in a single screen in the brief display mode is less as compared to a maximum number of characters displayed in the single screen in the detail display mode.

29. The information display system according to claim 22, wherein in the brief display mode, information is displayed by using only a part of a substantially central portion of the display screen in the detail display mode.

30. The information display system according to claim 18, wherein:

the display mode includes at least a non-display mode, and

when the display position is in the second area, the display mode is switched automatically to the non-display mode.

31. An information display system comprising:

a head-mount unit which is driven by a battery, and which includes a first wireless communication module which is capable of at least receiving a signal; and

a second wireless communication module which is provided separately from the head-mount unit, and which can at least transmit a signal to the first wireless communication module, and wherein;

any one of the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module is started up from a stand-by state after elapsing of a predetermined stand-by time or at a predetermined start-up time, by a timer integrated therein, and

is returned to the stand-by state after completion of receiving a signal transmitted from the other wireless communication module.

32. The information display system according to claim 31, wherein:

the first wireless communication module includes a first timer integrated therein, and the second wireless communication module includes a second timer integrated therein, and

both the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module are started up substantially simultaneously to perform communication, from the stand-by state after elapsing of a same predetermined stand-by time or at a predetermined start-up time, by the first timer and the second timer.

33. The information display system according to claim 32, wherein:

the first wireless communication module can transmit at least the predetermined stand-by time and the predetermined start-up time of the first timer to the second wireless communication module, and

the second wireless communication module matches at least any one of a predetermined stand-by time and a predetermined start-up time of the second timer with at least any one of the predetermined stand-by time and the predetermined start-up time received from the first wireless communication module, or

the second wireless communication module can transmit at least any one of the predetermined stand-by time and the predetermined start-up time of the second timer to the first wireless communication module, and

the first wireless communication module matches at least any one of a predetermined stand-by time and a predetermined start-up time of the first timer with at least any one of the predetermined stand-by time and the predetermined start-up time received from the second wireless communication module.

34. The information display system according to claim 32, wherein:

the first wireless communication module can transmit a time of the first timer to the second wireless communication module, and the second wireless communication module matches a time of the second timer with the time received from the-first wireless communication module, or

the second wireless communication module can transmit a time of the second timer to the first wireless communication module, and the first wireless communication module matches a time of the first timer with the time received from the second wireless communication module.

36. The information display system according to claim 32, wherein at least any one of the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module continues to be in the start-up state only for a predetermined start-up time longer than the predetermined stand-by time which is set in the timer of the wireless communication module of a counterpart, until the first communication is performed with a transmitting counterpart.

38. The information display system according to claim 32, wherein at least any one of the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module repeats the stand-by state and the start-up state until the first communication with the transmitting counterpart is performed, and wherein, the start-up state is continued for a predetermined start-up time longer than the predetermined stand-by time set in the timer of the wireless communication module of a counterpart.

35. (canceled)

37. (canceled)

39. The information display system comprising:

a head-mount unit which is driven by a battery, and which includes a display device and a first wireless communication module which can at least receive a signal; and

a portable unit which includes a second wireless communication module which is provided separately from the head-mount unit which can at least transmit a signal to the first wireless communication module, and wherein;

the information display system has a non electric power saving mode and an electric power saving mode as operation modes, and

the non electric power saving mode and the electric power saving mode are switched automatically according to an active state of a user of the information display system.

40. The information display system according to claim 39, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is walking.

41. The information display system according to claim 40, wherein the state sensing section includes at least any one of an acceleration sensor, an inclination sensor, an angular velocity sensor, a vibration sensor, a heart-beat sensor, and a GPS sensor held by the user or worn by the user.

42. The information display system according to claim 39, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is gazing at an electronic image displayed on the display device.

43. The information display system according to claim 42, wherein:

the state sensing section includes an infrared ray irradiating section which irradiates infrared rays on an eyeball of the user, and an infrared ray sensor which detects infrared rays reflected from the eyeball, and

based on an output of the infrared ray sensor, a judgment of whether or not the user is gazing at the electronic image is made.

44. The information display system according to claim 42, wherein:

the state sensing section includes a myoelectric potential sensor, and

based on a signal detected by the myoelectric potential sensor, a judgment of whether or not the user is gazing at the electronic image is made.

45. The information display system according to claim 39, further comprising:

a state sensing section which detects the active state of the user, and wherein;

the active state detected by the state sensing section is a state of whether or not the user is uttering.

46. The information display system according to claim 45, wherein:

the state sensing section includes a microphone worn by the user, which picks up a sound in a body, and

the uttering state of the user is detected by the microphone.

47. The information display system according to claim 39, wherein:

in the electric power saving mode, the first wireless communication module is started up from a stand-by state after elapsing of a predetermined time or at a predetermined time by a timer integrated therein, and wherein;

the first wireless communication module is returned to the stand-by state after completion of receiving a signal transmitted from the second wireless communication module, and

in the non electric power saving mode, the first wireless communication module is in the start-up state all the time.

48. The information display system according to claim 39, wherein:

in the electric power saving mode and the non electric power saving mode, the first wireless communication module repeats the stand-by state and the start-up state until the first wireless communication module receives a transmission signal from the second wireless communication module, by the timer integrated in the first wireless communication module, and

a time of stand-by state in the electric power saving mode is set to be longer than a stand-by time in the non electric power saving mode.

49. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device which is worn on a head; and

a state sensing section which detects an active state of a user, and wherein;

the state sensing section detects whether or not the user is gazing at an electronic image displayed on the display device, and

when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the display device displays predetermined information repeatedly with a predetermined cycle, and

when the user is judged to be gazing at the display device, the display device stops the repeated display.

51. An information display system according to claim 49, wherein:

the display device displays the information with a predetermined cycle until the state sensing section has detected the user to have gazed at the display device only for predetermined number of times.

52. The information display system according to claim 51, wherein:

when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the information displayed on the display device becomes stationary, and

when the user is judged to be gazing at the display device, the information displayed on the display device is scrolled by moving upward or downward, or to left or to right on a display screen.

54. The information display system according to claim 49, further comprising:

a member for notifying a start of information display to the user, and wherein;

when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the user is notified about the start of the information display through the member.

55. The information display system according to claim 54, wherein the member for notifying the start of the information display to the user notifies the start of the information display to the user by at least any one of a sound, vibrations, light, and an electric pulse.

56. The information display system according to claim 49, wherein when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the user is notified about the start of the information display by at least any one of a flashing display of an image, a switching of a color of the image, and an alternate display of a positive image and a negative image on the display device.

50. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device which is worn on a head; and

a state sensing section which detects an active state of a user, and wherein;

the state sensing section detects whether or not the user is gazing at an electronic image displayed on the display device, and

when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the display device displays predetermined information repeatedly with a predetermined cycle, and

when the user is judged to be gazing at the display device, a cycle of displaying the information repeatedly is longer than the predetermined cycle when the user is not gazing at the electronic image.

53. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device to be worn on a head; and

a state sensing section which detects an active state of a user, and wherein;

the state sensing section detects whether or not the user is gazing at an electronic image displayed on the display device, and

when the user is judged not to be gazing at the display device, the display on the display device is put OFF, and

when the user is judged to be gazing at the display device, the display device displays information stored in a memory.

57. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device to be worn on a head; and

a communication module which transmits and receives information to and from other information transmitting devices, and wherein;

the communication module transmits and receives information to and from the other information transmitting device intermittently at a predetermined time interval, and

when the information is not transmitted or received, a timer of the communication module performs a clock operation for the predetermined time interval.

58. An information display system comprising at least:

a display device to be worn on a head;

an display optical system;

a rotation mechanism which adjusts by rotating a position and a direction of an exit window of the display optical system; and

a communication module which transmits and receives information to and from other information transmitting devices, and wherein;

the rotation mechanism selectively adjusts a position and direction of the exit window to one of a first position and direction and a second position and direction, and wherein;

the first position and direction is a position and direction of the exit window in which an electronic image displayed on the display device is disposed substantially at a center of a field of view of a naked eye of the user, and

the second position and direction is a position and direction of the exit window which is different from the first position and direction, and

when the exit window is at the second position and direction, the information display system transmits and receives information intermittently at a predetermined time interval via the communication module, to and from the other information transmitting device, and when the information is not transmitted and received, a timer performs a clock operation for the predetermined time interval, or information display of the display device is let to be OFF.

59. A head-mounted information display system comprising at least:

a display device, and wherein;

when a user is judged to have closed eyes, the information display of the display device is let to be OFF.

60. A head-mounted information display system comprising at least:

a display device, and wherein;

a size of a display screen of the display device is changed according to a brightness of a surrounding of a user.