PRISMATIC MULTIPLE WAVEGUIDE FOR NEAR-EYE DISPLAY
First Claim
1. A near-eye display for displaying virtual images comprisingan image generator for generating angular transforms of the virtual images intended for display as angularly related beamlets representing different spatially related points in the images,a plurality of waveguides convey the angularly related beamlets toward an eyebox and the waveguides overlap along a common length,an input coupling for injecting the angularly related beamlets into the waveguides for propagation along the waveguides,a output coupling for ejecting the angularly related beamlets from the waveguides toward the eyebox,the input coupling being optically spaced from the image generator for injecting different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets into different waveguides so that the waveguides convey different regions of the intended virtual images, andthe output coupling being oriented for ejecting the different angular ranges of the beamlets from the different waveguides on converging paths toward the eyebox into positions of increasing spatial overlap.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A near-eye display includes a compound waveguide for presenting viewers with virtual images visible within an eyebox at a limited relief distance from the compound waveguide. The compound waveguide is assembled from a plurality of waveguides that are at least partially optically isolated for conveying different portions of the virtual image. An input couple injects the different portions of the virtual image into predetermined combinations of the waveguides, and an output coupling ejects the different portions of the virtual image from the waveguides toward the eyebox in a form that at least partially constructs a pupil within the eyebox.
364 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A near-eye display for displaying virtual images comprising
an image generator for generating angular transforms of the virtual images intended for display as angularly related beamlets representing different spatially related points in the images, a plurality of waveguides convey the angularly related beamlets toward an eyebox and the waveguides overlap along a common length, an input coupling for injecting the angularly related beamlets into the waveguides for propagation along the waveguides, a output coupling for ejecting the angularly related beamlets from the waveguides toward the eyebox, the input coupling being optically spaced from the image generator for injecting different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets into different waveguides so that the waveguides convey different regions of the intended virtual images, and the output coupling being oriented for ejecting the different angular ranges of the beamlets from the different waveguides on converging paths toward the eyebox into positions of increasing spatial overlap.
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15. A compound waveguide system for a near-eye virtual image display comprising
a plurality of at least three parallel waveguides each having an entrance end and an exit end, an optical medium between adjacent pairings of the parallel waveguides for at least partially optically isolating the waveguides from one another, a prismatic input coupling for injecting light into the parallel waveguides including at least partially reflective surfaces at the entrance ends of the parallel waveguides that are oriented through a common entrance angle and located in a common plane, and a prismatic output coupling for ejecting light from the plane parallel waveguides, including at least partially reflective surfaces at the exit ends of the parallel waveguides that are oriented through a common exit angle and located in a common plane.
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21. A method of making a compound waveguide system for a near-eye virtual image display comprising steps of
assembling a plurality of waveguides into a stack in a form that at least partially optically isolates the waveguides from one another, each of the waveguides having an entrance end, an exit end, and plane parallel front and back surfaces that extend between the entrance end and the exit end, fashioning prismatic surfaces at the entrance ends of the waveguides so that each of the entrance ends is oriented in a common direction, and fashioning prismatic surfaces at the exit ends of the waveguides so that each of the exit ends is oriented in a common direction.
Specification