Visual display apparatus
First Claim
1. Head-coupled, area-of-interest, visual display apparatus providing pseudo-collimated viewing for more than one viewer, comprising a part-spherical retro-reflective screen of area greater than a viewer'"'"'s field of view and, for each viewer, a helmet, sensing means for sensing the orientation of the respective viewer'"'"'s head and helmet, visual image generating means for generating an image representing a simulated view in the direction of the respective viewer'"'"'s instantaneous line of view according to a common simulated vehicle position and heading and under control of the respective sensing means, a laser light source for producing a laser beam, a laser beam modulator for modulating said laser beam, optical means for providing identical left eye and right eye views, separate line scanners for each said view for scanning the modulated laser beam over the input ends of respective fibre optic light guides, the said fibre optic light guides having their output ends at spaced-apart positions on the respective viewer'"'"'s helmet, and frame scanning means mounted on the said helmet for receiving light from the light guide outputs and projecting the light as a scanned image upon the said screen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides head-coupled area-of-interest visual display apparatus particularly for ground-based craft-flight simulators. The apparatus provides binocular, pseudo-collimated vision of a display, projected onto a part-spherical retro-reflective screen, for two pilots, covering an area of interest centered upon each pilot'"'"'s line of view. A separate image generator is used for each pilot and may both be of the computer generated image, laser-scanned model or closed-circuit television type. For the pseudo-collimated viewing, the same image is projected for left and right eyes for each pilot from points on a respective pilot helmet, horizontally in line but vertically displaced above the pilot'"'"'s eye position. Line scan apparatus is mounted in the pilots'"'"' cockpit; line image transmission is by fibre optic light guide ribbons; and frame scan apparatus is mounted on the two pilots'"'"' helmets. Sensors detect head/helmet movements of each pilot to permit voluntary individual scanning of a wide angle of simulated view from the craft.
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Citations
6 Claims
- 1. Head-coupled, area-of-interest, visual display apparatus providing pseudo-collimated viewing for more than one viewer, comprising a part-spherical retro-reflective screen of area greater than a viewer'"'"'s field of view and, for each viewer, a helmet, sensing means for sensing the orientation of the respective viewer'"'"'s head and helmet, visual image generating means for generating an image representing a simulated view in the direction of the respective viewer'"'"'s instantaneous line of view according to a common simulated vehicle position and heading and under control of the respective sensing means, a laser light source for producing a laser beam, a laser beam modulator for modulating said laser beam, optical means for providing identical left eye and right eye views, separate line scanners for each said view for scanning the modulated laser beam over the input ends of respective fibre optic light guides, the said fibre optic light guides having their output ends at spaced-apart positions on the respective viewer'"'"'s helmet, and frame scanning means mounted on the said helmet for receiving light from the light guide outputs and projecting the light as a scanned image upon the said screen.
Specification