Eye mounted displays and systems using eye mounted displays

• US 9,812,096 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2014
• Issued: 11/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tectus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Spy Eye, LLC
• Inventors: Deering, Michael Frank, Huang, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Bukowski, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US14/494,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20150049004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,141 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0123 comprising devices increasing the field of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0134 of stereoscopic type
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0147 comprising a device modifying the resolution of the displayed image
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0178 Eyeglass type eyeglass details G02C
• 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 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/10 Electronic devices other than hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/04 Contact lenses for the eyes disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/60 Analysis of geometric attributes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0435 Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/02 by tracing or scanning a light beam on a screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 : Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/391 : Resolution modifying circuits, e.g. variable screen formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/344 : with head-mounted left-right displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/383 : for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/70 : characterised by syntax aspects related to video coding, e.g. related to compression standards
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0117 : involving conversion of the spatial resolution of the incoming video signal for graphics images G09G2340/0407
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0127 : by changing the field or frame frequency of the incoming video signal, e.g. frame rate converter
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/31 : Projection devices for colour picture display , e.g. using electronic spatial light modulators [ESLM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3188 : Scale or resolution adjustment scaling in general G06T3/40; resolution modifying circuits for displays in general G09G5/391
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3191 : Testing thereof testing of displays in general G09G3/006

Abstract

A display device is mounted on and/or inside the eye. The eye mounted display contains multiple sub-displays, each of which projects light to different retinal positions within a portion of the retina corresponding to the sub-display. The projected light propagates through the pupil but does not fill the entire pupil. In this way, multiple sub-displays can project their light onto the relevant portion of the retina. Moving from the pupil to the cornea, the projection of the pupil onto the cornea will be referred to as the corneal aperture. The projected light propagates through less than the full corneal aperture. The sub-displays use spatial multiplexing at the corneal surface. Various electronic devices interface to the eye mounted display.

Claims

1. An eye mounted display system for use by a user, comprising:

an eye mounted display that projects light onto the user'"'"'s retina to form a visual sensation of an image that spans a field of view of the user'"'"'s eye, the eye mounted display comprising;

a contact lens mountable on the user'"'"'s eye; and

a plurality of sub-displays in the contact lens, the eye mounted display moving with the user'"'"'s eye as the user'"'"'s eye rotates in its socket, each of the sub-displays comprising;

a plurality of display pixels displaying a different portion of the image for each sub-display, and

display optics projecting light from the display pixels to a portion of the retina corresponding to the portion of the image displayed by that sub-display, wherein the portion of the retina is fixed as the user'"'"'s eye rotates in its socket and thereby forming a visual sensation of the portion of the image displayed by that sub-display, each such projection of light propagating through a partial corneal aperture for that sub-display, different sub-displays projecting light to different portions of the retina, and the sub-displays in aggregate projecting light to portions of the retina that in aggregate span the field of view;

an eye tracker that tracks an orientation of the eye; and

a scaler coupled to the eye mounted display and to the eye tracker, the scaler receiving video input and converting the video input, based in part on the orientation of the eye received from the eye tracker, to a format suitable for projection by the eye mounted display.

2. The eye mounted display system of claim 1 further comprising:

a headpiece worn by the user, on which is mounted a first portion of a head tracker, a first portion of the eye tracker, and a data link component communicatively coupling the scaler to the eye mounted display, the data link component receiving the converted video input from the scaler and wirelessly transmitting the converted video input to the eye mounted display;

a second portion of the head tracker positioned in a frame of reference, the first and second portions of the head tracker cooperating to track the user'"'"'s head, the scaler converting the video input based in part on tracking of the user'"'"'s head; and

the eye mounted display containing a second portion of the eye tracker, the first and second portions of the eye tracker cooperating to track the orientation of the eye.

3. An eye mounted display for projecting light onto a user'"'"'s retina to form a visual sensation of an image that spans a field of view of the user'"'"'s eye, the eye mounted display comprising:

a contact lens mountable on the user'"'"'s eye; and

a plurality of sub-displays in the contact lens, the eye mounted display moving with the user'"'"'s eye as the user'"'"'s eye rotates in its socket, each of the sub-displays comprising;

a plurality of display pixels displaying a different portion of the image for each sub-display, and

display optics projecting light from the display pixels to a portion of the retina corresponding to the portion of the image displayed by that sub-display, wherein the portion of the retina is fixed as the user'"'"'s eye rotates in its socket and thereby forming a visual sensation of the portion of the image displayed by that sub-display, each such projection of light propagating through a partial corneal aperture for that sub-display, different sub-displays projecting light to different portions of the retina, and the sub-displays in aggregate projecting light to portions of the retina that in aggregate span the field of view.

4. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein each such projection of light from one of the sub-displays to the corresponding partial corneal aperture defines a light path, and the light paths are arranged in two layers.

5. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein each partial corneal aperture is a quarter corneal aperture or smaller.

6. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the display pixels comprise individually addressable LEDs.

7. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein sub-displays that project light to portions of the retina closer to the fovea project light through partial corneal apertures that are larger than the partial corneal apertures through which sub-displays project light to portions of the retina farther away from the fovea.

8. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the partial corneal apertures for the sub-displays are non-overlapping.

9. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the display pixels are distributed approximately in a ratio of 4:

4;

1 with respect to red, green and blue display pixels.

10. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein each such projection of light from one of the sub-displays to the corresponding partial corneal aperture defines a light path, and the light paths exhibit four quadrant symmetry.

11. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the sub-displays comprise phosphor display pixels.

12. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the contact lens is a sclera contact lens, the eye mounted display further comprising:

a display capsule having an anterior shell and a posterior shell and an interior, the display capsule mounted in the sclera contact lens so that the anterior shell of the display capsule is flush to an anterior surface of the sclera contact lens, the plurality of sub-displays comprising a plurality of femto projectors located in the interior of the display capsule, the femto projectors projecting light through partial corneal apertures that are substantially non-overlapping.

13. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the contact lens has a thickness of at least 1 mm.

14. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the plurality of sub-displays comprises at least 40 sub-displays.

15. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the plurality of sub-displays includes 40 to 80 sub-displays.

16. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the contact lens produces opthalmological correction.

17. The eye mounted display of claim 3 further comprising a display capsule containing system component elements that do not emit light for transmission to the user'"'"'s eye.

18. The eye mounted display of claim 3 further comprising a battery to provide power to the eye mounted display.

19. The eye mounted display of claim 3 further comprising a component element to receive radiated power from external to the eye mounted display.

20. The eye mounted display of claim 3 further comprising a component to leach power from a mechanical motion of blinks of the user'"'"'s eye.

21. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the eye mounted display is partially transparent.

22. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the light from the display pixels is projected onto the retina with resolutions as required by the retinal locations onto which the pixels are projected.

23. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the light from the display pixels is projected onto the retina with pixel resolutions that are highest for pixels projected to a foveal region of the retina and lower for other regions of the retina.

24. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the light from the display pixels is projected onto the retina with pixel resolutions that decrease for pixels that are farther away from a foveal region of the retina.

25. The eye mounted display of claim 3 wherein the sub-displays in aggregate project not more than 400,000 pixels onto the retina while still matching a native resolution of the user'"'"'s eye.