Stereoscopic Binocular System, Device and Method
First Claim
1. An optical system for transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user, comprising:
- (a) an optical relay device, having a light-transmissive substrate, an input grating, a left output grating and a right output grating, said optical relay device being designed and constructed such that light is diffracted by said input grating, propagates within said light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection, and diffracted out of said light-transmissive substrate by at least one of said left and right output gratings; and
(b) an image generating system, optically coupled to said input grating and configured for providing collimated light constituting a left-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a first spectral map, and a right-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a second spectral map, wherein said left-eye image is parallactically related to said right-eye image, and said first spectral map is spectrally complementary to said second spectral map;
wherein said first spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said left-eye image are diffracted by said input grating, propagate in said light transmissive substrate via total internal reflection and impinge on said left output grating but not on said right output grating, and said second spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said right-eye image are diffracted by said input grating, propagate in said light transmissive substrate via total internal reflection and impinge on said right output grating but not on said left output grating.
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Abstract
An optical system for transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user is disclosed. The system comprises an optical relay device, having a light-transmissive substrate, an input grating, a left output grating and a right output grating. The optical relay device is designed and constructed such that light is diffracted by the input grating, propagates within the light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection, and diffracted out of the light-transmissive substrate by at least one of the left and right output gratings. The system further comprises an image generating system, optically coupled to the input grating and configured for providing collimated light constituting a left-eye image and a right-eye image wherein the left-eye image is parallactically related to the right-eye image. In various exemplary embodiments of the invention the left-eye image and the right-eye image are spectrally modulated according to different spectral maps, selected to provide different optical information to different eyes.
103 Citations
28 Claims
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1. An optical system for transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user, comprising:
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(a) an optical relay device, having a light-transmissive substrate, an input grating, a left output grating and a right output grating, said optical relay device being designed and constructed such that light is diffracted by said input grating, propagates within said light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection, and diffracted out of said light-transmissive substrate by at least one of said left and right output gratings; and (b) an image generating system, optically coupled to said input grating and configured for providing collimated light constituting a left-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a first spectral map, and a right-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a second spectral map, wherein said left-eye image is parallactically related to said right-eye image, and said first spectral map is spectrally complementary to said second spectral map; wherein said first spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said left-eye image are diffracted by said input grating, propagate in said light transmissive substrate via total internal reflection and impinge on said left output grating but not on said right output grating, and said second spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said right-eye image are diffracted by said input grating, propagate in said light transmissive substrate via total internal reflection and impinge on said right output grating but not on said left output grating. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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2. A method of transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user, comprising:
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(a) providing collimated light constituting a left-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a first spectral map, and a right-eye image, spectrally modulated according to a second spectral map, wherein said left-eye image is parallactically related to said right-eye image, and said first spectral map is spectrally complementary to said second spectral map; (b) using an input grating for diffracting said collimated light in a manner such that said light propagates within a light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection; (c) using a left output grating for diffracting light rays of said left-eye image out of said light-transmissive substrate; and (d) using a right output grating for diffracting light rays of said right-eye image out of said light-transmissive substrate; wherein said first spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said left-eye image impinge on said left output grating but not on said right output grating, and said second spectral map is selected such that at least a few light rays of said right-eye image impinge on said right output grating but not on said left output grating. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A binocular device for transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user, the binocular device being optically coupleable to an image generating system configured for providing collimated light constituting, in a temporally alternating manner, a left-eye image and a right-eye image having a parallactic relation thereamongst, the binocular device comprising:
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an optical relay device, having a light-transmissive substrate, an input grating, a left output grating and a right output grating, said optical relay device having a front and a back, and being designed and constructed such that light is diffracted by said input grating, propagates within said light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection, and diffracted out of said light-transmissive substrate by at least one of said left and right output gratings; and an image separating device positioned in front of said optical relay device and configured for substantially preventing light constituting said left-eye image from arriving at the right eye, and light constituting said right-eye image from arriving at the left eye, thereby to separate said left-eye image from said right-eye image. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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18. An optical system for transmitting a stereoscopic image to a right eye and a left eye of a user, comprising:
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an image generating system configured for providing collimated light constituting, in a temporally alternating manner, a left-eye image and a right-eye image having a parallactic relation thereamongst; an optical relay device, having a light-transmissive substrate, an input grating, a left output grating and a right output grating, said optical relay device having a front and a back, and being designed and constructed such that light is diffracted by said input grating, propagates within said light-transmissive substrate via total internal reflection, and diffracted out of said light-transmissive substrate by at least one of said left and right output gratings; and an image separating device positioned in front of said optical relay device and configured for substantially preventing light constituting said left-eye image from arriving at the right eye, and light constituting said right-eye image from arriving at the left eye, thereby to separate said left-eye image from said right-eye image. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification