SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN DOMINANT AND WEAK EYES IN 3D DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY

• US 20140200079A1
• Filed: 01/16/2013
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Bathiche, Steven, Chan, Alistair K., Gates, William, Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K.Y., Kare, Jordin T., Lanier, Jaron, Manferdelli, John L., Tegreene, Clarence T., Travis, Adrian, Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,319,662 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/32
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/25 Output arrangements for video game devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/40 Processing input control signals of video game devices, e.g. signals generated by the player or derived from the environment
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/005 Input arrangements through a video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/144 for flicker reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/302 for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/324 Colour aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/366 using viewer tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/383 for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

A method of displaying visual information to different viewer-eyes includes receiving eye strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye. The method further includes causing a 3D-display system to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye and causing the 3D-display system to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye. A difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives where the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye

Claims

1. A method of displaying different visual information to different viewer-eyes, the method comprising:

receiving eye-strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye;

causing an autostereoscopic 3D display to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye; and

causing the 3D display to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye, wherein a difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives, wherein the varied display characteristic comprises a characteristic other than focal length and display direction, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, at an eye-monitoring system, the eye-strength data, wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises using gaze-tracking data from each of the dominant viewer-eye and the weak viewer-eye to determine the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, at an eye-monitoring system, the eye-strength data, wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises:

tracking the focus of each of the dominant viewer-eye and the weak viewer-eye; and

based at least in part on the tracked focus, determining the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication regarding a quality of a viewer'"'"'s perceived 3D effect of the image; and

determining, in accordance with the received indication, data associated with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, wherein the 3D display system comprises a gaming system, and wherein the received indication comprises a metric of the viewer'"'"'s game play performance.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving additional eye-strength data indicative of a current deficiency of the weak viewer-eye; and

causing the 3D display to vary the display characteristic of at least one of the first and second perspectives in accordance with the received additional eye-strength data, wherein the display characteristics are varied in accordance with a time-dependent trend identified using the additional eye-strength data.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating a difference in relative eye-strength between the weak viewer-eye and the dominant viewer-eye;

determining whether the evaluated difference in relative eye-strength is larger than any of a plurality of predefined threshold differences in eye-strength; and

in response to determining that the evaluated difference is larger than a particular set of threshold differences of the plurality of threshold differences, making the variation in accordance with the particular set of threshold differences.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises dimmed vision, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in brightness of the second perspective.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises dimmed vision in one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye, wherein the variation in the display characteristic comprises an increase in the viewing difficulty of a majority of the first perspective and the second perspective, and wherein the majority does not include one or more display portions associated with each of the one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises a deficient spatial resolution, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in spatial resolution of the first perspective.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises one or more display-characteristic variations that increase a viewing difficulty of the second perspective with respect to the first perspective.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises display-characteristic variations that decrease an image complexity of the first perspective with respect to an original image complexity of the first perspective.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises at least a partial color-blindness, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises one or more of a reduction in color saturation of the first perspective and a reduction in the spectral content of the first perspective.

35. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a maximum duration corresponding to an amount of time that a variation can be used without weakening the weak viewer-eye;

tracking a current duration corresponding to an amount of time that the first perspective, including the variation, has been displayed in a current display-session; and

upon determining that the current duration has surpassed the maximum duration, displaying the first perspective without the variation.

36. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing one or more viewer-profiles, wherein each viewer-profile comprises any of eye-strength data, viewer-preferences, and historical information associated with a respective viewer, and wherein receiving the eye-strength data comprises:

determining that a current viewer is associated with a particular viewer profile; and

loading the eye-strength data associated with the current viewer from the particular viewer profile.

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39. A display control system, comprising:

a processor;

a computer-readable medium;

program instruction stored on the computer-readable medium and executable by the processor to cause the processor to;

(i) receive eye-strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye;

(ii) cause an autostereoscopic 3D display to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye; and

(iii) cause the 3D display to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye, wherein a difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives, wherein the varied display characteristic comprises a characteristic other than focal length and display direction, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

41. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the processor to transmit instructions to an external eye-monitoring system, wherein the transmitted instructions cause the eye-monitoring system to (i) detect characteristics of the weak viewer-eye and (ii) generate the eye-strength data, based at least in part on the detected characteristics of the weak viewer-eye.

42. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the eye-strength data is received from an external storage medium.

49. The display control system of claim 39, further comprising an eye-monitoring system, wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the eye-monitoring system to:

receive an indication regarding a quality of a viewer'"'"'s perceived 3D effect from the displayed perspectives of the image; and

determine, in accordance with the received indication, data associated with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, wherein the 3D display system comprises a gaming system, and wherein the received indication comprises a metric of the viewer'"'"'s game play performance.

54. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the 3D display comprises a lenticular display screen.

55. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the 3D display comprises a parallax-barrier 3D-display screen.

56. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the 3D display comprises a holographic display screen.

57. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the 3D display comprises a directed-beam 3D-display screen.

59. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the 3D display comprises a portable device.

67. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in an amount of time that the second perspective is displayed.

68. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises a deficient spatial resolution, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in spatial resolution of the first perspective.

71. The display control system of claim 39, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises at least a partial color-blindness, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises one or more of a reduction in color saturation of the first perspective and a reduction in the spectral content of the first perspective.

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151. An eye-monitoring system for controlling an autostereoscopic 3D display displaying a plurality of perspectives, the eye-monitoring system comprising:

an eye sensor configured to detect characteristics of a plurality of viewer-eyes;

a display-system control interface communicatively connecting the eye-monitoring system to the 3D display; and

control circuitry configured to;

(i) generate eye-strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye; and

(ii) output, to an autostereoscopic 3D display, command signals that cause the 3D display to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye and a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye, wherein the command signals instruct the 3D display to make a variation of a display characteristic to one of the first and second perspectives, wherein the varied display characteristic comprises a characteristic other than focal length and display direction, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

152. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the eye sensor is configured to detect a gaze direction for each of the weak viewer-eye and the dominant viewer-eye, and wherein the relative eye-strength data is generated by processing gaze-direction data indicative of the detected gaze direction for each viewer-eye.

153. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein generating the relative eye-strength data comprises:

the eye sensor tracking the focus of each of the dominant viewer-eye and the weak viewer-eye; and

based at least in part on the tracked focus, determining the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

155. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises:

causing the 3D display to display images as part of an eye-strength test; and

during the eye-strength test, receiving user-input indicative of the relative eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye.

159. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the processor to:

generate additional eye-strength data indicative of a current deficiency of the weak viewer-eye; and

output command signals instructing the 3D display system to vary the display characteristic of at least one of the first and second perspectives in accordance with the generated additional eye-strength data.

164. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the eye-monitoring system is mounted integrally within the 3D display, and wherein the 3D display is a portable system.

170. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the command signals instruct the 3D display to reduce in brightness the second perspective.

171. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises dimmed vision in one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye, wherein the command signals instruct the 3D display to increase in the viewing difficulty a portion of the first perspective and the second perspective, and wherein the increased portion does not include one or more display portions associated with each of the one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye.

179. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, further comprising data storage, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to store one or more viewer-profiles in the data storage, wherein each viewer-profile comprises any of:

eye-strength data, viewer-preferences, and historical information associated with a respective viewer, and and wherein detecting the characteristics of the plurality of viewer-eyes comprises;

determining that a current viewer is associated with a particular viewer profile; and

loading the eye-strength data associated with the current viewer from the particular viewer profile.

180. The eye-monitoring system of claim 151, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

generate additional eye-strength data indicative of a deficiency of each a set of other weak viewer-eyes with respect to a set of other dominant viewer-eyes; and

output second command signals to the 3D display, wherein the second command signals instruct the 3D display to make a variation of a display characteristic to one of the first and second perspectives, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of each of the set of other weak viewer-eyes.

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