Projection screen based on reconfigurable holographic optics for implementation in head-mounted displays
First Claim
1. A head-mounted display system comprising:
- a frame designed to be placed on a head of a viewer;
image-generating means attached to said frame for projecting right and left images of a scene in a predetermined direction;
light-manipulating means attached to said frame and optically aligned with respect to said image-generating means for selectively diffusing said right and left images toward right and left eyes of said viewer, said light-manipulating means including first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements, each of said first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements having a diffusing characteristic that is responsive to an applied electrical field, said first reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said right image toward said right eye of said viewer when in a diffractive state, said second reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said left image to said left eye of said viewer when in said diffractive state; and
viewing means attached to said frame and operatively coupled to said light-manipulating means for visually presenting said right and left images of said scene to said eyes of said viewer.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A head-mounted display system and a method of displaying scenes within the system include two or more reconfigurable holographic optical elements (HOEs) in a holographic diffuser of the system. The reconfigurable HOEs may be configured to perform simple optical functions that are commonly associated with traditional optical devices, such as lenses, prisms and mirrors. However, the reconfigurable HOEs may also be configured to perform sophisticated optical manipulations, such as optimally diffusing light with respect to intensity toward a predefined direction. Each reconfigurable HOE includes a hologram that is sandwiched between two electrode layers. The hologram is a holographic photopolymeric film that has been combined with liquid crystal. The hologram has an optical property that changes in response to an applied electrical field. Stacks of these reconfigurable HOE are utilized to selectively diffuse monochromatic images projected from an image generator to either the right or the left eyepiece optics of the system to present a displayed virtual scene in either a stereoscopic form or a binocular mono form. By utilizing more than one reconfigurable HOE stack for each projected image, the size of effective exit pupils at the eyepiece optics may be increased.
69 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A head-mounted display system comprising:
-
a frame designed to be placed on a head of a viewer; image-generating means attached to said frame for projecting right and left images of a scene in a predetermined direction; light-manipulating means attached to said frame and optically aligned with respect to said image-generating means for selectively diffusing said right and left images toward right and left eyes of said viewer, said light-manipulating means including first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements, each of said first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements having a diffusing characteristic that is responsive to an applied electrical field, said first reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said right image toward said right eye of said viewer when in a diffractive state, said second reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said left image to said left eye of said viewer when in said diffractive state; and viewing means attached to said frame and operatively coupled to said light-manipulating means for visually presenting said right and left images of said scene to said eyes of said viewer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of displaying scenes within a head-mounted display system comprising steps of:
-
projecting right and left images of a scene from a single image source of said head-mounted display system; selectively diffusing said right and left images to right and left eyepiece optics of said head-mounted display system, including transmitting said right and left images through first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements of said head-mounted display system, each of said first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements having a diffusing characteristic that is controllable by an applied electrical field, said first reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said right image to said right eyepiece optics when in a diffractive state such that a first exit pupil is defined at said right eyepiece optics, said second reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said left image to said left eyepiece optics when in said diffractive state such that a second exit pupil is defined at said right eyepiece optics; and forming a virtual scene from said right and left images of said scene that can be observed through said right and left eyepiece optics. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A head-mounted display system comprising:
-
a frame designed to be placed on a head of a viewer; an image generator affixed to said frame, said image generator being configured to project right and left images of a scene; a holographic diffuser affixed to said frame and optically aligned with respect to said image generator to receive said right and left images, said holographic diffuser including first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements, each of said first and second reconfigurable holographic optical elements having a diffusing characteristic that is responsive to an applied electrical field, said first reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said right image toward a right eye of said viewer when in a diffractive state, said second reconfigurable holographic optical element being configured to diffuse said left image to said left eye of said viewer when in said diffractive state; and right and left eyepiece optics affixed to said frame and operatively coupled to said holographic diffuser, said right and left eyepiece optics being optically configured to form a virtual scene from said right and left images of said scene that can be observed by said viewer through said right and left eyepiece optics. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification