SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20170176746A1
• Filed: 12/17/2015
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skully Inc.
• Original Assignee: Skully Inc.
• Inventors: Weller, Marcus Daniel, Guan, Liang, Tam, Andrew Wei
• Granted Patent: US 10,324,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/0426 Rear view devices or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/06 Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0123 comprising devices increasing the field of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• 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 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing

Abstract

Example systems and methods are described that help increase the situational awareness of a user of a helmet, such as a motorcycle helmet. One or more cameras are physically coupled to the helmet, where each camera includes a lens and an associated image sensor. Each camera is configured to generate a video feed, which is presented to a user on a display. The video feed represents a field-of-view around the helmet, and may be projected onto a surface, such as the visor of the helmet, thereby enabling enhanced situational awareness for the user of the helmet.

Claims

1. A helmet comprising:

an image sensor configured to generate a video signal;

a lens system optically coupled to the image sensor, wherein the lens system is configured to project a 360-degree field-of-view onto the image sensor;

a processor configured to process the video signal generated by the image sensor, wherein the video signal includes the 360-degree field-of-view, and wherein the processor is further configured to correct for any distortion present in the video signal and generate a corrected video signal; and

a projection system that projects the corrected video signal onto a display to offer a 360-degree field-of-view or a portion of the 360-degree field-of-view for viewing by a user of the helmet.

2. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the display is a transparent display.

3. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the display is a visor of the helmet.

4. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the image sensor and the lens system are physically coupled to the helmet.

5. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the 360-degree field-of-view is a 360-degree field-of-view around the helmet.

6. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the portion of the 360-degree field-of-view is selected by the user.

7. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the portion of the 360-degree field-of-view is selected by the processor.

8. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the portion of the 360-degree field-of-view is fixed.

9. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the portion of the 360-degree field-of-view is variable depending on the orientation of the head of the user.

10. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the 360-degree field-of-view is generated by a single lens or by a system of multiple lenses.

11. A helmet comprising:

a first image sensor configured to generate a first video signal located along a first optical axis;

a second image sensor configured to generate a second video signal located along a second optical axis that is substantially parallel to the first optical axis, wherein the second image sensor includes an image sensing surface and is disposed such that the image sensing surface is oriented in a direction that is opposite to the orientation of an image sensing surface of the first image sensor;

a first lens assembly optically coupled to the first image sensor, wherein the first lens assembly projects a 180-degree field-of-view onto the first image sensor;

a second lens assembly optically coupled to the second image sensor, wherein the second lens assembly projects a 180-degree field-of-view onto the second image sensor;

one or more processors configured to independently process the video signal generated by the first image sensor and the video signal generated by the second image sensor, wherein the first video signal includes the 180-degree field-of-view projected by the first lens assembly on the first image sensor, wherein the second video signal includes the 180-degree field-of-view projected by the second lens assembly on the second image sensor, wherein the one or more processors independently correct for any distortion present in the first video signal to generate a first corrected video signal, and wherein the one or more processors independently correct for any distortion present in the second video signal to generate a second corrected video signal; and

a projection system that projects the first corrected video signal and the second corrected video signal onto a display for viewing by a user, wherein the first corrected video signal offers a 180-degree field-of-view, and the second corrected video signal offers a 180-degree field-of-view to the user.

12. The helmet of claim 11, wherein the combination of the first corrected video signal and the second corrected video signal presents a 360-degree field-of-view to the user.

13. The helmet of claim 11, wherein the user can select either the first corrected video signal or the second corrected video signal for viewing.

14. The helmet of claim 11, wherein the transparent display is a visor of a helmet.

15. The helmet of claim 14, wherein the first image sensor and the second image sensor are physically coupled to the helmet.

16. The helmet of claim 15, wherein the first lens assembly and the second lens assembly are physically coupled to the helmet.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, one or more video streams collectively containing visual information associated with a 360-degree field-of-view;

independently correcting, by the one or more processors, distortion present in the one or more video streams to generate one or more corrected video streams; and

projecting, onto a display attached to a helmet, the one or more corrected video streams, for viewing by a user of the helmet.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the display is a visor of the helmet.