Dual-Function Optic for Eye Display and Camera
US20250093649A1
Abstract
For see-through AR displays, the current state of art uses geometric correction to lower the display location error, however this is far from an ideal solution and requires knowing range or pose of the devices. A dual-function optic for eye display & camera is disclosed, wherein a sensor camera imaging optics pipeline with a virtual projection point at an eye's retina reduces parallax errors to zero.
Description (excerpt)
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a divisional patent application of copending application Ser. No. 18/116,563 filed Mar. 2, 2023, entitled “Dual-Function Optic for Near-to-Eye Display and Camera.” The aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, sold, imported, and/or licensed by or for the Government of the United States of America. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to optics, and more particularly, to a dual-function optic for near-to-eye display and camera. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION See-through displays are vital for Augmented Reality, where virtual objects and content can be displayed on top of the real world. One can also display complementary imagery onto the real world from another camera source. However, native see-through AR displays will show this imagery out of alignment, due to parallax and occlusions because the line-of-sight of the camera is not coincident with that of the observer's eye. This problem gets worse for both larger distances between the AR device and complementary camera and smaller viewing distances. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION For see-through AR displays, the current state of art uses geometric correction to lower the display location error, however this is far from an ideal solution and requires knowing range or pose of the devices. It will also fail for complex environments, such as viewing clutter scenes or leaves on a tree, especially when up close or when there are many occlusions. An exemplary embodiment of a dual-function optic for near-to-eye display & camera fixes these issues by adding a sensor camera imaging optics pipeline with a virtual projection point at the eye's retina, thereby reducing parallax errors to zero. In one aspect, a dual-function optic of a bulk substrate material for near-to-eye display and camera is disclosed. An exemplary dual-function optic of a bulk substrate material comprises an entrance surface of a bulk substrate material having a convex curvature coated with a hot mirror coating disposed as an upper surface to receive display light rays, wherein said hot mirror coating transmits a visible spectrum of said display light rays as a transmitted light beam, but reflects an infrared spectrum; a 50% beamsplitter surface formed in the bulk substrate material at an angle of 45° to reflect roughly 50% of all wavelengths of light, including both visible and infrared, whereas light that is not reflected is transmitted as a further transmitted light; a bottom curved surface of the bulk substrate material coated with a cold mirror coating disposed at an opposite end of the entrance surface to receive said further transmitted light of said transmitted light beam, wherein the cold mirror coating transmits an infrared spectrum but reflects the visible spectrum such that the bottom curved surface behaves as a concave mirror to reflect the visible spectrum of said further transmitted light with positive optical power, resulting in a reflected light, wherein the resulting reflected light incident back on the 50% beamsplitter surface is deflected at a 90° angle, resulting in a deflected light; and an exit portal surface of the bulk substrate material coated with the hot mirror coating to receive and transmit the deflected light as a visible light, wherein said exit portal surface is disposed for human eye viewing of the visible light. Further, an exterior side surface of the bulk substrate material is disposed at an opposite end of the exit portal surface of the bulk substrate material and coated with a broad-spectrum anti-reflection coating that transmits both visible and infrared spectra of a real world image incident on the exterior side surface such that the real world image that is transmitted is also viewable through the exit portal surface for human eye viewing, and such that of the real world image reflected by the 50% beamsplitter surface, an infrared spectrum of the real world image is reflected by the upper surface, partially transmitted back through the 50% beamsplitter surface, and transmitted through the bottom curved surface to be focused onto an infrared camera pixel array. In another aspect, a dual-function optical system is similarly disclosed for near-to-eye display and camera. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Additional advantages and features will become apparent as the subject invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: <div id="p-0011" num="0010" class="descript
Filing details
- Inventors
- Bradley L. Preece
- Assignee
- The Government Of The United States, As Represented By The Secretary Of The …
- Filed
- Dec 6, 2024
- Granted
- Application pending
Bibliographic data and excerpted text sourced from Google Patents (public record) as part of IP TechMatch's current-filings monitor. This filing is not part of the 2019 historical archive. For the authoritative full text, drawings, and legal status, see the source links above or consult USPTO records directly.