Head mount display

• US 8,253,685 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2009
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Katayama, Shingo
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Quan-Zhen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Li, Lin
• Application Number:
  US12/654,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20100156787A1
• Time in Patent Office: 986 Days
• Field of Search: 345/8, 345/81, 345/156, 359/630
• US Class Current: 345/157
• 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 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/014 Hand-worn input/output arrangements, e.g. data gloves
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0426 tracking fingers with respect to a virtual keyboard projected or printed on the surface virtual keyboards on touch screens G06F3/04886

Abstract

A HMD images at least a portion of a field of view of a user, and detects a user'"'"'s hand based on a result of an analysis of an imaged image. The HMD performs a control of defining and displaying a position of an operation part of a virtual operation panel based on a position of the detected user'"'"'s hand. A position associated with the hand observed by the user is set as a display position of the virtual operation panel which tracks the position of the user'"'"'s hand. The HMD detects an operation conducted by a user'"'"'s finger, determines whether or not the virtual operation panel is operated based on the operation conducted by the detected finger, and performs a control corresponding to an operation position of the virtual operation panel when it is determined that the virtual operation panel is operated.

Claims

1. A head mount display comprising:

a display unit which is configured to transmit an ambient light therethrough, and configured to project an image light corresponding to image data onto an eye of a user in order to allow the user to observe an image corresponding to the image light;

an imaging unit which is configured to image at least a portion of a field of view of the user;

an image analyzing unit which is configured to analyze an image imaged by the imaging unit;

a hand detection unit which is configured to detect a hand of the user based on a result of an analysis performed by the image analyzing unit;

a position definition unit which is configured to define a display position to display a selected virtual operation panel which is selected by the user from a plurality of virtual operation panels such that the selected virtual operation panel moves on the screen coextensively with movement of the hand of the user which is observed by the user through the display unit;

a display control unit which is configured to control the display unit such that the display unit displays the selected virtual operation panel at the display position;

an operation detection unit which is configured to detect an operation conducted by a finger of the user;

an operation determination unit which is configured to determine whether or not the selected virtual operation panel is operated based on the operation conducted by the finger detected by the operation detection unit; and

an operation control unit which is configured to perform a control corresponding to an operation position on the selected virtual operation panel when the operation determination unit determines that the selected virtual operation panel is operated,

wherein the position definition unit defines a first specified portion of the hand of the user as a reference position based on a position of the hand of the user detected by the hand detection unit, and the position definition unit defines the display position for the selected virtual operation panel and assumes a predetermined positional relationship between the reference position and the display position, arranges the display position in a display area displayed by the display unit and the position definition unit fixes a secondary display position of each non-selected virtual operation panel while not allowing each non-selected virtual operation panel to move on the screen coextensively with the movement of the position of the hand of the user.

2. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the hand detection unit is further configured to detect a size of the hand of the user,

wherein the head mount display further comprises a size selection unit which is configured to select a size of the selected virtual operation panel based on the size of the hand of the user detected by the hand detection unit, and

wherein the position definition unit is configured to define the display position of the selected virtual operation panel based on the size of the selected virtual operation panel selected by the size selection unit.

3. The head mount display according to claim 2, wherein the head mount display further comprises a size memory unit in which size information where the size of the hand of the user and the size of the selected virtual operation panel corresponding to the size of the hand of the user are associated with each other is stored, and

the size selection unit is configured to select the size of the selected virtual operation panel based on the size of the hand of the user detected by the hand detection unit and the size information stored in the size memory unit.

4. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the head mount display includes a display definition unit which is configured to make a decision for setting a display of the selected virtual operation panel valid or invalid in response to a predetermined operation detected by the operation detection unit, and

the display control unit controls the display unit such that the display unit displays the selected virtual operation panel which is set valid by the display definition unit, and such that the display unit prevents the display unit from displaying the selected virtual operation panel which is set invalid by the display definition unit.

5. The head mount display according to claim 4, wherein the head mount display further comprises a focal point setting unit which is configured to set a focal length of the imaging unit to a specified focal length when the selected virtual operation panel is set valid by the display definition unit.

6. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the position definition unit further fixes the position of the selected virtual operation panel without allowing the selected virtual operation panel to move on the screen coextensively with movement of the position of the hand of the user in response to a predetermined operation detected by the operation detection unit.

7. The head mount display according to claim 6, wherein the position definition unit, in a state that the secondary display position of each non-selected virtual operation panel is fixed, sets a predetermined virtual operation panel whose display position is fixed as the selected virtual operation panel which moves on the screen coextensively with movement of the position of the hand of the user when the position of the hand of the user detected by the hand detection unit falls within a predetermined distance from the position of the predetermined virtual operation panel.

8. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the head mount display includes a position setting unit which is configured to set a selection-use virtual operation panel at a predetermined display position, and the selection-use virtual operation panel is to select the selected virtual operation panel for moving on the screen coextensively with movement of the hand of the user from the plurality of virtual operation panels, and

the display control unit controls the display unit to display the selection-use virtual operation panel.

9. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the operation detection unit is an acceleration sensor which is mounted on a finger of the user and detects an operation conducted by the finger of the user.

10. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the operation detection unit detects an operation conducted by the finger of the user based on a result of an analysis performed by the image analyzing unit.

11. The head mount display according to claim 1, wherein the first specified portion of the hand of the user is on a wrist of the user.