Prismatic multiple waveguide for near-eye display
First Claim
1. A near-eye display for displaying virtual images comprisingan image generator for generating angular transforms of the virtual images intended for display as angularly related beamlets representing different spatially related points in the images,a plurality of different waveguides that convey the angularly related beamlets toward an eyebox,an input coupling for injecting the angularly related beamlets into the waveguides for propagation along the waveguides,an output coupling for ejecting the angularly related beamlets from the waveguides toward the eyebox,each of the plurality of different waveguides having a front surface and a back surface, a thickness between the front and back surfaces, and a length that extends between the input coupling and the output coupling,the input coupling being optically spaced from the image generator for injecting different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets into the different waveguides so that each of the different waveguides conveys a different region of the intended virtual images,each of the different waveguides being spatially offset from one another in a direction normal to the front and back surfaces of the different waveguides for separately propagating a different one of the different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets along the length of each of the different waveguides between the input and output couplings, andthe output coupling being oriented for ejecting the different angular ranges of the beamlets from the different waveguides on converging paths toward the eyebox into positions of increasing spatial overlap.
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Abstract
A near-eye display includes a compound waveguide for presenting viewers with virtual images visible within an eyebox at a limited relief distance from the compound waveguide. The compound waveguide is assembled from a plurality of waveguides that are at least partially optically isolated for conveying different portions of the virtual image. An input couple injects the different portions of the virtual image into predetermined combinations of the waveguides, and an output coupling ejects the different portions of the virtual image from the waveguides toward the eyebox in a form that at least partially constructs a pupil within the eyebox.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A near-eye display for displaying virtual images comprising
an image generator for generating angular transforms of the virtual images intended for display as angularly related beamlets representing different spatially related points in the images, a plurality of different waveguides that convey the angularly related beamlets toward an eyebox, an input coupling for injecting the angularly related beamlets into the waveguides for propagation along the waveguides, an output coupling for ejecting the angularly related beamlets from the waveguides toward the eyebox, each of the plurality of different waveguides having a front surface and a back surface, a thickness between the front and back surfaces, and a length that extends between the input coupling and the output coupling, the input coupling being optically spaced from the image generator for injecting different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets into the different waveguides so that each of the different waveguides conveys a different region of the intended virtual images, each of the different waveguides being spatially offset from one another in a direction normal to the front and back surfaces of the different waveguides for separately propagating a different one of the different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets along the length of each of the different waveguides between the input and output couplings, and the output coupling being oriented for ejecting the different angular ranges of the beamlets from the different waveguides on converging paths toward the eyebox into positions of increasing spatial overlap.
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15. A compound waveguide system for a near-eye virtual image display comprising
a plurality of at least three parallel waveguides arranged in a stack, each having a front surface and a back surface, a thickness between the front and back surfaces, an entrance end and an exit end joining the front and back surfaces, and a length extending between the entrance and exit ends, an optical medium between adjacent pairings of the parallel waveguides within the stack for at least partially optically isolating the waveguides from one another for separately propagating different angular ranges of angularly related beamlets along the lengths of the parallel waveguides, a prismatic input coupling arranged for injecting the different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets into different ones of the parallel waveguides and including at least partially reflective surfaces at the entrance ends of the parallel waveguides that are oriented through a common entrance angle and located in a common plane that is inclined to the front and back surfaces of the waveguides, and a prismatic output coupling arranged for ejecting the different angular ranges of the angularly related beamlets from the different plane parallel waveguides, including at least partially reflective surfaces at the exit ends of the parallel waveguides that are oriented through a common exit angle and located in a common plane that is inclined to the front and back surfaces waveguides.
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21. A method of making a compound waveguide system for a near-eye virtual image display comprising steps of
assembling a plurality of waveguides into a stack in a form that at least partially optically isolates the waveguides from one another by locating an optical medium between adjacent pairing of the waveguides, each of the waveguides having an entrance end, an exit end, and plane parallel front and back surfaces that extend between the entrance end and the exit end for propagating angularly related beamlets by reflections from the plane parallel front and back surfaces from the entrance end to the exit end of each of the waveguides, fashioning prismatic surfaces at the entrance ends of the waveguides so that each of the entrance ends is oriented in a common direction that is inclined to the plane parallel front and back surfaces of the waveguides, and fashioning prismatic surfaces at the exit ends of the waveguides so that each of the exit ends is oriented in a common direction that is inclined to the plane parallel front and back surfaces of the waveguides.
Specification