Head worn wireless computer having high-resolution display suitable for use as a mobile internet device

• US 9,886,231 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2009
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kopin Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kopin Corporation
• Inventors: Jacobsen, Jeffrey J., Fan, John C. C., Choi, Hong-Kyun, Parkinson, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): FLORES, ROBERTO W
• Application Number:
  US12/934,429
• Publication Number:
  US 20110084900A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,238 Days
• Field of Search: 345156, 345 7, 710 1, 340415, 340 31- 39, 713300-400, 709203, 709217-219, 709230-237, 375240-24029
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/16 Use of wireless transmission of display information

Abstract

A handheld wireless display device, having at least SVGA-type resolution, includes a wireless interface, such as Bluetooth™, WiFi™, Wimax™, cellular or satellite, to allow the device to utilize a number of different hosts, such as a cell phone, personal computer, media player. The display may be monocular or binocular. Input mechanisms, such as switches, scroll wheels, touch pads, allow selection and navigation of menus, playing media files, setting volume and screen brightness contrast, activating host remote controls or performing other commands. The device may include MIM diodes, Hall effect sensors, or other position transducers and/or accelerometers to detect lateral movements along and rotational gestures around the X, Y and Z axes as gesture inputs and movement queues. These commands may change pages, scroll up, down or across an enlarged screen image, such as for web browsing. An embedded software driver permits replicating a high-resolution screen display from a host PC.

Claims

1. A head-worn wireless computer comprising:

a head-worn display;

a head-worn wireless interface configured (i) to receive content representing a graphical user interface of an application from at least one host computing device, the content changing over time, and (ii) to support repeatedly sending polls to the at least one host computing device at intervals for updated content at times the at least one host computing device is in a state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, each of the polls to the at least one host computing device comprising a wake up command and a request for content, the wake up command configured to cause the host device to enter a full power state, the request for content configured to cause the host device to provide updated content and to return to the state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, the at least one host computing device configured run the application and to reformat the content representing the graphical user interface of the application from a video signal to a markup language format, the content reformatted in the markup language format representing a compressed form of the graphical user interface of the application from the at least one host computing device;

a head-worn video interface configured to (i) convert the reformatted content from the markup language format to the represented graphical user interface and (ii) display the converted graphical user interface at the display;

at least one user input mechanism configured to control the at least one host computing device transmitting the content received at the wireless interface, the control based on a voice input command and the control responsive to information derived from the represented graphical user interface; and

a head-worn processor, operatively coupled to, and configured to coordinate operations of, the display, wireless interface, video interface and at least one user input mechanism.

2. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 further comprising an optical element configured to magnify an image produced by the display to a user.

3. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 further comprising a second display in a binocular configuration.

4. The head worn wireless computer of claim 3 further comprising an inter-pupillary distance (IPD) adjustment device.

5. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the user input mechanism comprises at least one of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes, Hall effect sensors, accelerometers or other position transducers to detect at least one of lateral movements along and rotational gestures around the X, Y and Z axes, and the user input mechanism is further configured to control content based on at least one of a gesture input and a movement queue, wherein the at least one of the MIM diodes, Hall effect sensors, accelerometers, or other position transducers serve as the gesture input or the movement queue to control the content.

6. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the user input mechanism is further configured to control the content based on at least one of a switch input, scroll wheel input and touchpad input, and the user input mechanism is at least one of a switch, scroll wheel, and touch pad.

7. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the user input mechanism is further configured to control the content by at least one of selecting and navigating menus, playing media files, adjusting audio volume, screen brightness or contrast, activating remote controls for the at least one host computing device, changing pages, up, down or horizontally or diagonally across an enlarged page, and performing other commands on the head worn wireless computer or the at least one host computing device.

8. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the wireless interface is further configured to establish a first wireless communication path with a first host computing device of the at least one host computing device and a second wireless communication path with a second host computing device of the at least one host computing device.

9. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the wireless interface includes a Bluetooth™

physical layer with a Bluetooth™

proxy to implement a packet switching gateway.

10. The head worn wireless computer of claim 1 wherein the wireless interface is further configured to support Microsoft Windows SideShow, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), or Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocols.

11. A method for displaying content at a head-worn wireless computer, the method comprising:

receiving the content representing a graphical user interface of an application, the content representing the graphical user interface of the application reformatted from a video signal to a compressed markup language format by at least one host computing device, the content changing over time, and repeatedly sending polls to the at least one host computing device at intervals for updated content at times the at least one host computing device is in a state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, each of the polls to the at least one host computing device comprising a wake up command and a request for content, the wake up command configured to cause the host device to enter a full power state, the request for content configured to cause the host device to provide updated content and to return to the state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, the at least one host computing device configured to run the application, from the at least one host computing device over a wireless interface, the content reformatted in the markup language format representing a compressed form of the graphical user interface of the application from the at least one host computing device;

controlling, via at least one user input mechanism, the at least one host computing device transmitting the content to the wireless interface the controlling based on a voice input command received at the at least one user input mechanism and the controlling responsive to information derived from the represented graphical user interface;

converting, at a head-worn video interface, the reformatted content from the markup language format to the represented graphical user interface;

displaying the converted graphical user interface via a head-worn video interface at a head-worn display; and

coordinating, using a head-worn processor, operations of at least the display, wireless interface, video interface and at least one user input mechanism.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the video signal is displayed such that an image produced by the display is magnified to a user via an optical element.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising displaying a second video signal at a second display in a binocular configuration with the first display.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein an inter-pupillary distance (IPD) between the first and second display can be adjusted.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the user input mechanism comprises at least one of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes, Hall effect sensors, accelerometers or other position transducers, the method further comprising detecting at least one of lateral movements along and rotational gestures around the X, Y and Z axes, serving as gesture inputs or movement queues to control the content.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the user input mechanism is at least one of a switch, scroll wheel, or touch pad.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein controlling the content includes selecting and navigating menus, playing media files, adjusting audio volume, adjusting screen brightness or contrast, activating remote controls for the host computing device, changing pages, scrolling up, down or across an enlarged page, or performing other commands on the head worn wireless computer or the at least one host computing device.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

establishing a first wireless communication path over the wireless interface with a first host computing device of the at least one host computing device; and

establishing a second wireless communication path over the wireless interface with a second host computing device of the at least one host computing device.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the wireless interface is a Bluetooth™

physical layer with a Bluetooth™

proxy, the method further comprising implementing a packet switching gateway.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising controlling the content over the wireless interface using Microsoft Windows SideShow, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), or Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocols.

21. A system for displaying content including a video signal received in a wireless manner, the system comprising:

a head-worn wireless computer including;

a head-worn display,

a head-worn wireless interface configured (i) to receive content representing a graphical user interface of an application from at least one host computing device, the content changing over time and (ii) to support repeatedly sending polls to the at least one host computing device at intervals for updated content at times the at least one host computing device is in a state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, each of the polls to the at least one host computing device comprising a wake up command and a request for content, the wake up command configured to cause the host device to enter a full power state, the request for content configured to cause the host device to provide updated content and to return to the state of power of reduced-power, off, sleep or hibernate, the at least one host computing device configured to reformat the content representing the graphical user interface of the application from a video signal to a compressed markup language format, the at least one host computing device configured to run the application, the reformatted content in the compressed markup language format representing the graphical user interface of the application from the at least one host computing device,

a head-worn video interface configured to (i) convert the reformatted content from the markup language format to the represented graphical user interface and (ii) display the graphical user interface at the display,

at least one user input mechanism configured to control the at least one host computing device transmitting the content received at the wireless interface, the control based on a voice input command and the control responsive to information derived from the represented graphical user interface; and

a head-worn processor, operatively coupled to, and configured to coordinate operations of, the display, wireless interface, video interface and at least one user input mechanism;

wherein the at least one host computing device includes a second wireless interface configured to establish a wireless connection between the at least one host computing device and the head worn wireless computer, the at least one host computing device further configured to provide content to the head worn wireless computer;

wherein the at least one user input mechanism is configured to control the at least one host computing device transmitting the content received at the wireless interface, the control based on a voice command.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the head worn wireless computer further includes an optical element configured to magnify an image produced by the display to a user.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the head worn wireless computer further includes a second display in a binocular configuration.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the head worn wireless computer further includes an inter-pupillary distance (IPD) adjustment device.

25. The system of claim 21 wherein the first wireless interface of the head worn wireless computer is configured to establish a first wireless communication path with a first host computing device of the at least one host computing device and a second wireless communication path with a second host computing device of the at least one host computing device.

26. The system of claim 21 wherein the first and second wireless interfaces are a Bluetooth™

physical layer with a Bluetooth™

proxy to implement a packet switching gateway.