Captioning glasses

• US 6,005,536 A
• Filed: 01/16/1996
• Issued: 12/21/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sightline Media Group
• Original Assignee: National Captioning Institute
• Inventors: Beadles, Robert L., Kirkland, C. Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Dennis-Doon
• Assistant Examiner(s): AWAD, AMR A
• Application Number:
  US08/586,240
• Time in Patent Office: 1,435 Days
• Field of Search: 345/7, 345/8, 345/9, 353/122, 359/630, 359/631, 359/13, 359/632, 348/115
• US Class Current: 345/7
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/283 used for beam splitting or combining

Abstract

A wearable display device displays a sequence of words into the field of view of a person wearing the device in order to communicate information to the person, such as captions for hearing-impaired persons or translations of speech spoken by another person. Various embodiments of the device include an eyeglass frame configured to be worn by the person, a housing mounted to the eyeglass frame, including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of words received by the circuit, a mirror mounted to reflect the displayed sequence of words downwardly through the housing, and a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words downwardly reflected by the mirror, and a partially reflective beamsplitter, mounted to the housing and extending downwardly over an eye of the person, for receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person. The display itself may be moved along a recess in the housing to focus the words onto the beamsplitter. A curved beamsplitter may be used instead of a lens to magnify the words and provide optical correction.

Claims

1. A device for textually displaying a sequence of at least two spoken words into a field of view of a person, each textually displayed word comprising a plurality of characters, the device comprising:

a housing, said housing including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the textual sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of spoken words received by the circuit and transmitting light in a direction laterally transverse to the line of sight of an eye of the wearer, and a mirror mounted to downwardly reflect the displayed sequence of words;

a partially reflective beamsplitter, said partially reflective beamsplitter mounted to the housing and extending downwardly in front of the eye of the person, said partially reflective beamsplitter receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person, wherein the display is movably slidable along a path laterally perpendicular to the wearer'"'"'s line of sight in order to adjust the words reflected on the beamsplitter; and

a head interfacing support to be worn by the person for supporting the device on the person'"'"'s head, said housing being attached to the support.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the head interfacing support includes an eyeglass frame.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the head interfacing support includes a headband adapted to be worn by and extend around the head of the person.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the display includes an LCD device.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the display includes an LED device.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sequence of words comprises captions which correspond to speech spoken by another person.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the captions are in a language other than that spoken by the other person.

8. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a wearable control unit, the wireless control unit being coupled to the housing via a cable, said wearable control unit wirelessly receiving the sequence of words from a nearby location and transmitting the sequence of words to the housing through the cable.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein said beamsplitter extends downwardly over only a single one of the two eyes of the wearer, the device not extending in front of the other eye of the wearer.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the words correspond to a narrated tour.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the reflectivity of the beamsplitter is higher in a region where the words are displayed than in other regions of the beamsplitter.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein the beamsplitter is pivotally mounted to the housing.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the beamsplitter includes a surface curved in accordance with an eyeglass prescription particular to the person.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein said housing further includes a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror.

15. The device according to claim 1, wherein the display includes one of an LCD device and an LED device, said housing further includes a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror, and wherein the housing includes a first portion disposed above the eye of the viewer associated with the beamsplitter and a second portion disposed above the other eye of the wearer, said mirror located in said first portion of the housing and said circuit being at least partially located in said second portion of the housing.

16. A device for textually displaying a sequence of at least two spoken words into a field of view of a person, each textually displayed word comprising a plurality of characters, the device comprising:

a housing, said housing including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the textual sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of spoken words received by the circuit and transmitting light in a direction laterally transverse to the line of sight of an eye of the wearer, and a mirror mounted to downwardly reflect the displayed sequence of words;

a partially reflective beamsplitter, said partially reflective beamsplitter mounted to the housing and extending downwardly in front of an eye of the person, for receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person;

wherein the display is movably slidable relative to the remainder of the housing along a path substantially laterally and perpendicular to the wearer'"'"'s line of sight in order to adjust the words reflected on the beamsplitter; and

a head interfacing support to be worn by the person for supporting the device on the person'"'"'s head, said housing being attached to the support.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the beamsplitter extends downwardly in front of only a single one of the two eyes of the wearer, the device does not extend in front of the other eye of the wearer.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein said housing further includes a bottom portion, and a lens disposed on the bottom portion of the housing in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the beamsplitter is pivotally mounted to the housing.

20. The device according to claim 16, wherein the reflectivity of the beamsplitter is higher in a region where the words are displayed than in other regions of the beamsplitter.

21. The device according to claim 16, wherein the head interfacing support includes an eyeglass frame.

22. A device for textually displaying a sequence of at least two spoken words into a field of view of a person, each textually displayed word comprising a plurality of characters, the device comprising:

a housing, said housing including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the textual sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of spoken words received by the circuit and transmitting light in a direction laterally transverse to the line of sight of an eye of the wearer, and a mirror mounted to downwardly reflect the displayed sequence of words;

a partially reflective beamsplitter, said partially reflective beamsplitter mounted to the housing and extending downwardly in front of the eye of the person, said partially reflective beamsplitter receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person, wherein the reflectivity of the beamsplitter is higher in a region where the words are displayed than in other regions of the beamsplitter; and

a head interfacing support to be worn by the person for supporting the device on the person'"'"'s head, said housing being attached to the support.

23. The device according to claim 22, wherein the head interfacing support includes an eyeglass frame.

24. The device according to claim 22, wherein the head interfacing support includes a headband adapted to be worn by and extend around the head of the person.

25. The device according to claim 22, wherein the display includes an LCD device.

26. The device according to claim 22, wherein the display includes an LED device.

27. The device according to claim 22, wherein the sequence of words comprises captions which correspond to speech spoken by another person.

28. The device according to claim 22, wherein the captions are in a language other than that spoken by the other person.

29. The device according to claim 22, further comprising a wearable control unit, the wireless control unit being coupled to the housing via a cable, said wearable control unit wirelessly receiving the sequence of words from a nearby location and transmitting the sequence of words to the housing through the cable.

30. The device according to claim 29, wherein said beamsplitter extends downwardly over only a single one of the two eyes of the wearer, the device not extending in front of the other eye of the wearer.

31. The device according to claim 30, wherein the words correspond to a narrated tour.

32. The device according to claim 22, wherein the beamsplitter is pivotally mounted to the housing.

33. The device according to claim 32, wherein the beamsplitter includes a surface curved in accordance with an eyeglass prescription particular to the person.

34. The device according to claim 33, wherein said housing further includes a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror.

35. The device according to claim 22, wherein the display includes one of an LCD device and an LED device, said housing further includes a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror, and wherein the housing includes a first portion disposed above the eye of the viewer associated with the beamsplitter and a second portion disposed above the other eye of the wearer, said mirror located in said first portion of the housing and said circuit being at least partially located in said second portion of the housing.

36. A device for textually displaying a sequence of at least two spoken words into a field of view of a person, each textually displayed word comprising a plurality of characters, the device comprising:

a housing, said housing including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the textual sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of spoken words received by the circuit and transmitting light in a direction laterally transverse to the line of sight of an eye of the wearer, and a mirror mounted to downwardly reflect the displayed sequence of words;

a partially reflective beamsplitter, said partially reflective beamsplitter mounted to the housing and extending downwardly in front of the eye of the person, said partially reflective beamsplitter receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person; and

a head interfacing support to be worn by the person for supporting the device on the person'"'"'s head, said housing being attached to the support;

wherein the display includes one of an LCD device and an LED device, said housing further includes a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words reflected by the mirror, and wherein the housing includes a first portion disposed above the eye of the viewer associated with the beamsplitter and a second portion disposed above the other eye of the wearer, said mirror located in said first portion of the housing and said circuit being at least partially located in said second portion of the housing.

37. The device according to claim 36, wherein the hcad interfacing support includes an eyeglass frame.

38. The device according to claim 37, wherein the beamsplitter is pivotally mounted to the housing.

39. The device according to claim 38, wherein the beamsplitter includes a surface curved in accordance with an eyeglass prescription particular to the person.

40. The device according to claim 36, wherein the head interfacing support includes a headband adapted to be worn by and extend around the head of the person.

41. The device according to claim 36, wherein the sequence of words comprises captions which correspond to speech spoken by another person.

42. The device according to claim 41, wherein the captions are in a language other than that spoken by the other person.

43. The device according to claim 41, wherein the words correspond to a narrated tour.

44. The device according to claim 36, further comprising a wearable control unit, the wireless control unit being coupled to the housing via a cable, said wearable control unit wirelessly receiving the sequence of words from a nearby location and transmitting the sequence of words to the housing through the cable.

45. The device according to claim 36, wherein the display is movably slidable along a path laterally perpendicular to the wearer'"'"'s line of sight in order to adjust the words reflected on the beamsplitter.

46. The device according to claim 45, wherein the reflectivity of the beamsplitter is higher in a region where the words are displayed than in other regions of the beamsplitter.

47. The device according to claim 45, wherein said beamsplitter extends downwardly over only a single one of the two eyes of the wearer, the device not extending in front of the other eye of the wearer.