CORRECTOR PLATES FOR HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY SYSTEM

• US 20200132988A1
• Filed: 10/10/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: SMITHWICK, Quinn Yorklun Jen
• Granted Patent: US 11,624,905 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/011 comprising device for correcting geometrical aberrations, distortion
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0025 for optical correction, e.g. distorsion, aberration
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features

Abstract

The embodiments herein use a corrector plate or a light field display in an AR/VR display device to compensate for sub-optimal collimation at the edge of the FOV. In one embodiment, the corrector plate is disposed between the collimator and the viewer so that the light at the edge of the FOV can be corrected so that the aberrations mentioned above do not occur. In another embodiment, rather than using a corrector plate, the AR/VR display device can include a light field display that can use color intensity to pre-distort emitted light to compensate for sub-optimal collimation at the edge of the FOV. In this manner, the AR/VR display device can mitigate aberrations or distortions as the user moves her eyes relative to the display device.

Claims

1. A display system, comprising:

a display configured to emit virtual content;

a collimator element configured to collimate light emitted by the display; and

a corrector plate disposed between the collimator element and an eyepiece, wherein the corrector plate compensates for sub-optimal collimation of off-axis light at an edge of a field of view (FOV) corresponding to the display system.

2. The display system of claim 1, wherein the collimator element comprises a curved collimating mirror arranged to reflect the light emitted by the display towards the eyepiece.

3. The display system of claim 1, wherein the corrector plate comprises a Schmidt corrector plate comprising a first portion where a thickness is substantially constant and aligns with a center of the FOV and a second portion where a thickness various and aligns with the edge of the FOV.

4. The display system of claim 1, wherein the corrector plate comprises a Meniscus corrector plate where a first portion is disposed between the display and the collimator element and a second portion is disposed between the collimator and the eyepiece, wherein the light emitted by the display passes through the meniscus corrector plate twice.

5. The display system of claim 1, wherein the collimator element comprises a polarization selective mirror and a beam splitter disposed between the display and the eyepiece.

6. The display system of claim 5, wherein the collimator element further comprises a plurality of films that, in combination with the polarization selective mirror and the beam splitter, folds a path of the light emitted by the display.

7. The display system of claim 1, wherein the virtual content is virtual reality (VR) content where environmental light is blocked from being seen by a user through the eyepiece.

8. The display system of claim 1, wherein the virtual content is augmented reality (AR) content, the display system further comprising:

a pre-distortion corrector plate through which environmental light passes before reaching the collimator element and being combined with the AR content.

9. A method comprising:

emitting virtual content using a display;

collimating light emitted by the display corresponding to the virtual content;

compensating for sub-optimal collimation of off-axis light in the collimated light at an edge of a field of view; and

outputting the virtual content after compensating for the sub-optimal collimation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein collimating the light comprises reflecting the light emitted by the display off of a curved collimating mirror, and wherein compensating for sub-optimal collimation of off-axis light in the collimated light is performed without an eye tracking system and without using any pre-distortion correction maps.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein compensating for the sub-optimal collimation of the off-axis light comprises passing the off-axis light through at least one of a Schmidt corrector plate and a Meniscus corrector plate.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual content is VR content where environmental light is blocked from being outputted to a user.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual content is AR content, wherein the method comprises:

pre-distorting environmental light; and

combining the pre-distorted environmental light with the collimated light so that the AR content is inserted into a view of a real-world environment.

14. A display system, comprising:

a display configured to emit virtual content, wherein an intensity of light emitted by each emitter in the display is controllable in multiple directions, wherein the display is configured to, by controlling the intensity of a plurality of the emitters, pre-distort light corresponding to the virtual content to compensate for sub-optimal collimation of off-axis light at an edge of a FOV;

a collimator element configured to collimate the pre-distorted light emitted by the display.

15. The display system of claim 14, wherein the display is configured to pre-distort the light based on determining a desired color of the pre-distorted light received at different angles at an eyepiece.

16. The display system of claim 15, wherein the desired color is selected based on a predefined knowledge of a path the pre-distorted light travels to reach the eyepiece.

17. The display system of claim 15, wherein the collimator element comprises a curved collimating mirror arranged to reflect the light emitted by the display towards the eyepiece.

18. The display system of claim 14, wherein the display is configured to compensate for sub-optimal collimation by the collimator element by controlling a color of the light corresponding to the virtual content so that the virtual content is display in a desired location in an eyepiece to avoid aberrations and distortions.

19. The display system of claim 14, wherein the virtual content is VR content where environmental light is blocked from being seen by a user through an eyepiece.

20. The display system of claim 14, wherein the virtual content is AR content, wherein the collimator element is configured to combine the AR content with environmental light.