FOCUS ADJUSTMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS

• US 20180188557A1
• Filed: 12/29/2016
• Published: 07/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Granted Patent: US 10,448,824 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/0033 characterised by user input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/024 for determining the visual field, e.g. perimeter types
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/103 for determining refraction, e.g. refractometers, skiascopes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/011 comprising device for correcting geometrical aberrations, distortion
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0181 Adaptation to the pilot/driver
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/004 based on a displacement or a deformation of a fluid
• 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 3/14 of variable focal length

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and system for a virtual reality device including a display monitor, an adjustable lens, and a focus sensor. The focus sensor may be used to measure a distance between an eye and the display monitor or whether the eye is able to focus images from the display monitor. The user may provide a diopter correction. The VR device may then adjust an optical power of the adjustable lens, based on at least one of the distance or whether the eye is able to focus images from the display monitor. The focus sensor may emit coded electromagnetic radiation and determine a time-of-flight of the coded electromagnetic radiation to determine the distance or whether the eye is able to focus images from the display monitor. The adjustable lens may comprise a flexible lens; the flexible lens may be adjusted with actuators, such as piezoelectric actuators.

Claims

1. An apparatus to display images, comprising:

a display monitor;

an adjustable lens arrangement;

a sensor arrangement disposed before an eye of a user of the apparatus, wherein the sensor arrangement is to determine at least one of a distance between the display monitor and the eye of the user of the apparatus or whether the eye of the user of the apparatus is able to focus images from the display monitor;

a focus arrangement to adjust an optical power of the adjustable lens arrangement such that an image projected by the display monitor is in focus in the eye or on a retina of the user of the apparatus.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein to determine whether the eye of the user of the apparatus is able to focus images from the display monitor, the sensor arrangement is to obtain a diopter correction from a human input or is to determine a diopter correction based on a measurement with a structured electromagnetic radiation sensor.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor comprises a set of electromagnetic radiation transmitters and a set of electromagnetic radiation receivers, wherein the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor is to transmit coded signals from the set of electromagnetic radiation transmitters onto the eye or retina of the user of the apparatus, sense reflections of the coded signals with the set of electromagnetic radiation receivers, determine a time-of-flight for each of the coded signals, and at least one of measure a distance between the transmitter and the eye or retina of the user or determine whether the reflections are in focus based on a difference between the time-of-flight for each of the coded signals, and wherein the focus arrangement is to adjust the optical power of the adjustable lens arrangement based on the distance or whether the reflections are in focus.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sensor arrangement is one of the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor embedded in the display monitor or wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a moveable mirror, wherein the sensor arrangement is to insert the moveable mirror into a path between the eye of the user and the display monitor, and wherein the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor is to transmit the coded signals onto the moveable mirror and onto the eye or a retina of the user of the apparatus.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the focus arrangement comprises a piezoelectric actuator around a flexible lens, wherein the focus arrangement is to activate the piezoelectric actuator to expand or contract an outer perimeter of the flexible lens to adjust the optical power of the adjustable lens.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the piezoelectric actuator comprises a set of piezoelectric actuators radially arranged around the flexible lens.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a virtual reality display apparatus.

8. A computer implemented method of displaying images, comprising:

transmitting an electromagnetic radiation onto or into the eye, sensing a reflection of the electromagnetic radiation with a receiver and determining at least one of a distance between a display monitor and the eye or whether the eye is able to focus an image from the display monitor, adjusting an optical power of an adjustable lens between the display monitor and the eye based on at least one of the distance or the determination regarding whether the eye is able to focus an image from the display monitor, and displaying an image on the display monitor.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising determining whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor based on at least one of a human input or a measurement with a structured electromagnetic radiation sensor.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising transmitting coded signals from a set of transmitters in the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor, detecting reflections of the coded signals with a set of receivers in the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor, determining the time-of-flight for each coded signal, determining whether the electromagnetic radiation is in focus in the eye based on at least one difference among the time-of-flight for each coded signal, and adjusting the optical power of the adjustable lens based on whether the electromagnetic radiation is in focus.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising clustering the reflections of the coded signals into a set of reception time clusters, selecting a reception time cluster corresponding to the eye, and determining whether the electromagnetic radiation is in focus in the eye with respect to the reception time cluster corresponding to the eye.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein adjusting the optical power of the adjustable lens comprises energizing a piezoelectric actuator around a flexible lens.

13. The method according to claim 8, further comprising inserting a moveable mirror into a path between the eye and the display monitor, transmitting the electromagnetic radiation onto the moveable mirror and into the eye, sensing the reflection of the electromagnetic radiation with the receiver, determining at least one of the distance between the display monitor and the eye or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor, adjusting the optical power of the adjustable lens based on at least one of the distance or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor, removing the moveable mirror from the path, and displaying the image on the display monitor.

14. An apparatus to display images, comprising:

means to display an image from a display monitor into an eye of a user of the apparatus;

sensor means disposed between before the eye of the user of the apparatus to measure at least one of a distance between the display monitor and the eye or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor;

means to adjust an optical power of an adjustable lens based on at least one of the distance or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor, such that the image is in focus in the eye of the user.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the sensor means further comprise means transmit an electromagnetic radiation from a transmitter onto or into the eye, means to sense a reflection of the electromagnetic radiation with a receiver, and means to measure the distance between the transmitter and the eye or means to measure whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor based on a time-of-flight of the reflection.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising means to insert a moveable mirror into a path between the eye and the display monitor and wherein the transmitter comprises three IR transmitters in a first triangular shape and wherein the receiver comprises three IR receivers in a second triangular shape, wherein the first and second triangular shapes are geometrically similar shapes, wherein first and second triangular shapes are proximate at an equivalent vertex in each triangular shape, and wherein the first and second triangular shapes are arranged in a mirror-image pattern.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising means to cluster more than one reflection into a set of clusters and means to select a cluster in the set of cluster reflections corresponding to the eye.

18. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the sensor means further comprise a structured electromagnetic radiation sensor means and wherein the apparatus further comprises means to transmit coded signals with a set of infrared transmitters, means to detect the coded signals at a set of infrared receivers, and means to determine time-of-flight of the coded signals and means to measure the distance or means to determine whether the reflection is in focus based on a difference among the time-of-flight of the coded signals.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor means is one of embedded in the display monitor or comprises means to insert a moveable mirror into a path between the eye and the display monitor, wherein the transmitter comprises three IR transmitters in a first triangular shape, wherein the receiver comprises three IR receivers in a second triangular shape, wherein the first and second triangular shapes are geometrically similar shapes, wherein the first and second triangular shapes are proximate at an equivalent vertex in each triangular shape, and wherein the first and second triangular shapes are arranged in a mirror-image pattern.

20. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein means to determine whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor comprises means to sense a diopter of the eye with a structured electromagnetic radiation sensor.

21. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the adjustable lens comprises a piezoelectric actuator around a flexible lens, and further comprising means to activate the piezoelectric actuator to expand or contract an outer perimeter of the flexible lens to adjust the optical power of the adjustable lens.

22. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the apparatus is a virtual reality display apparatus.

23. The apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising means to output the image on the display monitor.

24. One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that cause a computer device, in response to execution of the instructions by a processor of the computer device, to:

display images from a monitor into an eye of a user of the computer device;

determine at least one of a distance between the display monitor and the eye of the user or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor with a sensor disposed in front of the eye of the user;

adjust an optical power of an adjustable lens based on at least one of the distance or whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor such that the image is in focus in the eye.

25. The computer-readable media according to claim 24, wherein the sensor comprises a structured electromagnetic radiation sensor and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to transmit coded signals with a set of infrared transmitters in the structured electromagnetic radiation sensor, detect the coded signals at a set of infrared receivers, determine a set of time-of-flight values of the coded signals, and determine the distance or determine whether the eye is able to focus the image from the display monitor based on a difference between the set of time-of-flight values, and wherein the adjustable lens comprises a piezoelectric actuator around a flexible lens, and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to activate the piezoelectric actuator to expand or contract an outer perimeter of the flexible lens to adjust the optical power of the adjustable lens.