Head-mounted type image display system

• US 5,917,460 A
• Filed: 07/05/1995
• Issued: 06/29/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Kodama, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Chanh
• Assistant Examiner(s): WU, XU MING
• Application Number:
  US08/498,392
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 345/7, 345/8, 345/9, 345/121, 345/123, 345/126, 345/127, 359/630, 359/631, 359/632, 359/633, 359/634, 359/629
• US Class Current: 345/8
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• 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 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0176 characterised by mechanical features
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements

Abstract

A head-mounted type image display system includes right and left image display devices, first and second projection optical systems projecting right and left images displayed on the first and second image display devices onto right and and left eyes of a user as virtual images, a movement detection device for detecting a direction and an amount of up and down or right and left or back and forth movement of the user'"'"'s head to derive a displacement signal, and a driving device responding to the displacement signal to move the first and second image display devices in a direction opposite to the detected direction of the movement of the user'"'"'s head by an amount which is 0.8 times to 1.2 times of the detected amount of the movement of the user'"'"'s head such that virtual images can be perceived by the user to be remained substantially stationary within the space.

Claims

1. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted type image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a back and forth movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount of back and forth movement of a user'"'"'s head; and

a virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in an opposite direction to the direction of said movement of the user'"'"'s head;

wherein said first and second projection optical systems are fixed to said head-mounted type image display apparatus such that positions of exit pupils of the projection optical systems are not changed, said virtual image moving means comprises an image display device moving means for moving the first and second image display devices toward the projection optical systems when the user'"'"'s head is moved forwardly and for moving the first and second image display devices away from the projection optical systems when the user'"'"'s head is moved backwardly, and an image enlarging and reducing means for enlarging the first and second images displayed on the first and second image display devices, respectively, when the user'"'"'s head is moved forwardly and reducing the images displayed on the first and second image display devices, respectively, when the user'"'"'s head is moved backwardly, when a distance between a display plane of said first and second image display devices and a principal point of the projection optical systems on the side of the image display devices in a standard condition is L, a distance between the virtual images and the principal point of the projection optical systems on the side of the user is L'"'"', a focal length of the projection optical systems is f and an amount of the forward movement of the user'"'"'s head is Δ

x, said first and second image display devices are moved by an amount Δ

X which satisfies the following condition;

L-f(L'"'"'-0.8Δ

x)/(f+L'"'"'-0.8Δ

x)<

Δ

X<

L-f(L'"'"'-1.2Δ

x)/(f+L'"'"'-1.2Δ

x) and the images displayed on the first and second image display devices are enlarged or reduced by a value within a range from 0.8(L'"'"'(L-Δ

X)/L(L'"'"'-Δ

x)) to 1.2(L'"'"'(L-Δ

X)/(L(L'"'"'-Δ

x)) so as to compensate for a variation in a projecting magnification due to the movement of the displayed images.

2. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 1, wherein said virtual image moving means comprises driving means for laterally shifting eccentrically at least one of said first and second image display devices such that an angle between a first segment connecting a center of the first virtual image formed by the first projection optical system and a center of an exit pupil of the first projection optical system and a second segment connecting a center of the second virtual image formed by the second projection optical system and a center of an exit pupil of the second projection optical system is increased in response to the forward movement of the user'"'"'s head and is decreased in response to the backward movement of the user'"'"'s head.

3. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 1, wherein said driving means moves at least one of the first and second image display devices eccentrically such that the first and second virtual images are seen by the user with an optical angle which substantially corresponds to a position at which the first and second virtual images are formed.

4. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 3, wherein said driving means is constructed such that loci of center points of the first and second image display devices substantially coincide with segments connecting middle points of segments connecting the principal points of the projection optical systems on the side of the first and second image display devices and focal points of the projection optical systems.

5. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted type image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a back and forth movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount of back and forth movement of a user'"'"'s head; and

a virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in an opposite direction to the direction of said movement of the user'"'"'s head;

wherein said first and second image display devices are fixed relative to the head-mounted type image display apparatus, said projection optical systems are fixed relative to the head-mounted type image display apparatus such that positions of exit pupils of the projection optical systems are not changed, said virtual image moving means includes an optical system for moving conjugate images of the images displayed on said image display devices toward the projection optical systems when the user'"'"'s head is moved forwardly and for moving the conjugate images of the images displayed on said image display devices away from the projection optical systems when the user'"'"'s head is moved backwardly and an image enlarging and reducing means for enlarging the images displayed on the first and second image display devices when the user'"'"'s head is moved forwardly and reducing the images displayed on the first and second image display devices when the user'"'"'s head is moved backwardly, when a distance between a conjugate image plane of said first and second image display devices and a principal point of the projection optical systems on the side of the image display devices in a standard condition is L, a distance between the virtual images and the principal point of the projection optical systems on the side of the user is L'"'"', a focal length of the projection optical systems is f and an amount of the forward movement of the user'"'"'s head is Δ

x, said conjugate image plane of said first and second image display devices are moved by an amount Δ

X which satisfies the following condition;

L-f(L'"'"'-0.8Δ

x)/(f+L'"'"'-0.8Δ

x)<

Δ

X<

L-f(L'"'"'-1.2Δ

x)/(f+L'"'"'-1.2Δ

x) and the images displayed on the first and second image display devices are enlarged or reduced by a value within a range from 0.8(L'"'"'(L-Δ

X)/L(L'"'"'-Δ

x)) to 1.2(L'"'"'(L-Δ

X)/(L(L'"'"'-Δ

x)) so as to compensate for a variation in a projecting magnification due to the movement of the displayed images.

6. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 5, wherein, said virtual image moving means comprises optical means for laterally shifting at least one of said conjugate images such that an angle between a first segment connecting a center of the first virtual image formed by the first projection optical system and a center of an exit pupil of the first projection optical system and a second segment connecting a center of the second virtual image formed by the second projection optical system and a center of an exit pupil of the second projection optical system is increased in response to the forward movement of the user'"'"'s head and is decreased in response to the backward movement of the user'"'"'s head.

7. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 6, wherein said optical means of the virtual image moving means comprises a reflection surface which is inclined with respect to an optical axis of the projection optical system and is subjected to a parallel movement so as to perform a conversion of an optical angle in response to the forward and backward movement of the virtual images.

8. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 7, wherein said reflection surface is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the projection optical system by an angle θ

which satisfies a condition of tan θ

=I/(2f), where I is a distance between exit pupil centers of the projection optical systems and f is a focal length of the projection optical systems.

9. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 5, wherein said optical system of the virtual image moving means includes a pair of reflection mirrors which are arranged perpendicular to each other and are moved together.

10. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus including a head-mounted type image display device and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted type image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount Δ

y of up and down or right and left movement of a user'"'"'s head;

a virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the user'"'"'s head by an amount within a range from 0.8 Δ

y to 1.2 Δ

y;

an original signal generating means for generating an original image signal;

an image signal converting means connected to said movement detecting means and said original image signal generating means for converting said original image signal in accordance with said displacement signal to derive a converted image signal which can be displayed by said image display devices;

whereby said virtual image moving means is constructed to move the image display devices on image display planes of the image display devices such that a condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y'"'"')<

1.2 is satisfied, wherein β

is an absolute value of a lateral magnification of the projection optical systems and Δ

Y'"'"' is an absolute value of an amount of the movement of the first and second image display devices on the image planes thereof, wherein when the user'"'"'s head is moved within a predetermined range, the image display devices are not moved, but when the user'"'"'s head is moved beyond said predetermined range, the image display devices are moved in such a manner that the above mentioned condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y'"'"')<

1.2 is satisfied.

11. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 10, wherein said original image is a signal including a frame signal of a field of view, and said image signal converting means is constructed such that an image of the frame is enlarged or reduced in accordance with the movement of the user'"'"'s head.

12. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus including a head-mounted type image display device and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted type image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount Δ

y of up and down or right and left movement of a user'"'"'s head;

a virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the user'"'"'s head by an amount within a range from 0.8 Δ

y to 1.2 Δ

y;

an original signal generating means for generating an original image signal;

an image signal converting means connected to said movement detecting means and said original image signal generating means for converting said original image signal in accordance with said displacement signal to derive a converted image signal which can be displayed by said image display devices;

whereby said virtual image moving means is constructed such that upon supplying said converted image signal from said image signal converting means to the image display devices, a condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y)<

1.2 is satisfied, wherein β

is an absolute value of a lateral magnification of the projection optical systems and Δ

Y is an absolute value of an amount of the movement of the first and second images on he first and second image display devices, respectively, wherein when the user'"'"'s head is moved within a predetermined range, the virtual images are not moved, but when the user'"'"'s head is moved beyond said predetermined range, the images are moved on the image display devices in such a manner that the above mentioned condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y)<

1.2 is satisfied.

13. A head-mounted type image display system according to claim 12, wherein said original image signal is a signal including a frame signal of a field of view, and said image signal converting means is constructed such that an image of the frame is enlarged or reduced in accordance with the movement of the user'"'"'s head.

14. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus including a head-mounted type image display device and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted type image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount Δ

y of up and down or right and left movement of a user'"'"'s head;

a virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the user'"'"'s head by an amount within a range from 0.8 Δ

y to 1.2 Δ

y;

an original signal generating means for generating an original image signal;

an image signal converting means connected to said movement detecting means and said original image signal generating means for converting said original image signal in accordance with said displacement signal to derive a converted image signal which can be displayed by said image display devices;

whereby said first and second image display devices are fixed to a housing of the head-mounted type image display device, and said virtual image moving means comprises optical means for moving conjugate images formed on conjugate planes of the image display planes of the first and second image display devices, respectively, on said conjugate images, said optical means being constructed to move said conjugate images on said respective conjugate planes such that a condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y'"'"')<

1.2 is satisfied, wherein β

is an absolute value of a lateral magnification of the projection optical systems and Δ

Y'"'"' is an absolute value of an amount of the movement of said conjugate images on said respective conjugate planes, wherein when the user'"'"'s head is moved within a predetermined range, the image display devices are not moved, but when the user'"'"'s head is moved beyond said predetermined range, the image display devices are moved in such a manner that the above mentioned condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y'"'"')<

1.2 is satisfied.

15. A head-mounted type image display system comprising:

a head-mounted type image display apparatus and a mounting means for mounting said head-mounted image display apparatus on a head of a user, said head-mounted type image display apparatus having first and second image display devices displaying first and second images, respectively, and first and second projection optical systems projecting said first and second images displayed on said first and second image display devices onto right and left retinas of a user as virtual images, respectively;

a movement detecting means for producing a displacement signal representing a direction and an amount Δ

y of one of an up and down movement or a right and left movement of a user'"'"'s head;

virtual image moving means for responding to said displacement signal to move the virtual images in an opposite direction to the direction of the movement of the user'"'"'s head;

an original image signal generating means for generating an original image signal;

an image signal converting means connected to said movement detecting means and said original image signal generating means for converting said original image signal in accordance with said displacement signal to derive a converted image signal which can be displayed by said image display devices;

wherein said first and second image display devices are fixed relative to the head-mounted type image display apparatus, said virtual image moving means comprises an optical means for moving conjugate images formed on conjugate planes of image display planes of the first and second image display devices, said optical means moving said conjugate images on said respective conjugate planes such that a condition of 0.8<

Δ

y/(β

·

Δ

Y'"'"')<

1.2 is satisfied, wherein β

is an absolute value of a lateral magnification of the projection optical systems and Δ

Y'"'"' is an absolute value of an amount of the movement of said conjugate images on said respective conjugate planes, and said optical means for moving the conjugate images comprises relay lenses arranged between the image display devices and the conjugate planes movably in a direction perpendicular to optical axis.