Eye mounted displays and systems, with data transmission

• US 9,899,005 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2016
• Issued: 02/20/2018
• 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:
  US15/265,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20170010468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 524 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. A system comprising:

a transmitter; and

a receiver, the transmitter transmitting to the receiver a pseudo pixel data stream suitable for use by an eye mounted display in projecting images onto a retina of an eye, the pseudo pixel data stream comprising the images, the images comprising pixels of different resolutions within each image, wherein the pixels projected to a center of an eye have a higher resolution than the pixels projected to a periphery of the eye;

wherein the eye mounted display is mountable on an eye of a human user for forming 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; 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.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein higher resolution pixels are projected to smaller size areas on the retina of the eye.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the resolution of the pixels is based on a size of retinal receptor fields in the eye.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream includes pseudo cone pixels, and the resolution of the pseudo cone pixels varies based on a size of locked together sets of cones in the eye.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the pseudo cone pixels include different color pseudo cone pixels, whereby the eye mounted display projects a color image onto the retina.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the pseudo cone pixels projected by the eye mounted display to a center of a fovea of the eye have a highest resolution of all the pseudo cone pixels.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the pseudo cone pixels account for at least 10% of a total number of pixels in the pseudo pixel data stream.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream includes pseudo rod pixels.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream includes only pseudo rod pixels, whereby the eye mounted display projects a grayscale image onto the eye.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein pixels to be projected by different sub-displays are interleaved within the pseudo pixel data stream.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein a sub-system containing the transmitter receives data from the contact lens.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the data is calibration data for the eye mounted display.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the data reports a status of the eye mounted display.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream is part of a stereo data stream.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream comprises a video stream.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the video stream includes frames of video, and each frame includes approximately 400,000 to 500,000 pixels.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the video stream includes frames of video, and the video stream has a frame rate of at least 50 frames per second.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream is a compressed data stream.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream is an encrypted data stream.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream is transmitted wirelessly to the receiver.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the pseudo pixel data stream is transmitted wirelessly to the receiver using a water penetrating, mid-infrared frequency.