Private eye-to-eye communications with wearable heads up display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11080417-B2
Application number	US-201916450152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2019
Priority date	Jun 26, 2018
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods are disclosed for enabling private communication between head-mounted displays. A first user dons a first head-mounted display. The first head-mounted display authenticates that the first user is authorized to view information displayed by the first head-mounted display. In response to positive authentication, the first head-mounted display displays the information to the first user. The first user inputs a selection command via an input interface, such as, for example, gazing at particular information, to select some of the displayed information. The first head-mounted display generates a message based on the user selection, which may be encrypted by the first head-mounted display prior to transmission. The first head-mounted display transmits the message to a second head-mounted display, such that the second head-mounted display displays the message to an eye of a second user wearing the second head-mounted display.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system that enables communication between head-mounted display devices, the system comprising:
a first head-mounted display device including:
a first display device to display information to at least one eye of a first user when the first head-mounted display device is worn on a head of the first user, wherein the information is discernable to the at least one eye of the first user at a distance and orientation specified for the first user;
an input interface to receive a command from the first user;
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the first display device and the input interface;
at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
prior to the first display device displaying the information to the at least one eye of the first user, authenticate that the first user is authorized to view the information;
in response to the authentication indicating that the first user is authorized to view the information, cause the first display device to display the information to the at least one eye of the first user at the specified distance and orientation for the first user;
receive at least one command from the first user via the input interface of the first head-mounted display device to select at least a portion of the information; and
in response to receiving the at least one command from the first user, generate a message with the selected portion of the information; and

a wireless transmitter communicatively coupled to the at least one processor to wirelessly transmit the message to a second head-mounted display device of a second user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless transmitter is communicatively coupled to the at least one processor to wirelessly transmit the message to the second head-mounted display device of the second user via an intermediary computing device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
authenticate the first user after the message is generated; and cause the wireless transmitter to transmit the message to the second head-mounted display device in response to the first user being authorized to transmit the message.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
cause the first display device to display a virtual keyboard to the at least one eye of the first user;
receive at least one virtual key selection command from the first user via the input interface of the first head-mounted display device;
generate a passcode to include each virtual key on the virtual keyboard when the first user inputs the at least one virtual key selection command; and
perform the authentication based on a comparison of the generated passcode and a reference code for the first user.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first head-mounted display device further includes an eye-tracker to detect movement of the at least one eye of the first user, and wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
detect a plurality of movements of the at least one eye of the first user via the eye-tracker of the first head-mounted display device; and
perform the authentication based on a comparison of the detected plurality of movements and a reference movement pattern for the first user.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
cause the first display device to project infrared light onto the at least one eye of the first user in a scanned pattern;
detect eye-scan data based on reflections of the infrared light off the at least one eye of the first user during the scanned pattern;
generate test biometric identification data based on the detected eye-scan data; and
perform the authentication based on a similarity comparison between the test biometric identification data and reference biometric identification data for the first user.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein to generate the test biometric identification data the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to generate a test iris image based on the detected eye-scan data, and wherein the performance of the authentication includes a comparison between the test iris image to a reference iris image of the first user.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first head-mounted display device further includes a proximity sensor to sense a distance between the first head-mounted display device and the head of the first user, and wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to initiate the authentication in response to the distance between the first head-mounted display device and the head of the first user being below a threshold distance.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the input interface includes:
a wireless portable interface device with a form factor to be carried by the first user that is physically separate from the first head-mounted display device, wherein the wireless portable interface device includes at least one actuator that, when activated by the first user, causes the wireless portable interface device to wirelessly transmit a signal; and
wherein the input interface of the first head-mounted display device further includes a wireless receiver to wirelessly receive signals from the wireless portable interface device as the at least one command from the first user.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions stored by the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: encrypt the message prior to transmitting the message from the first head-mounted display to the second head-mounted display device.

11. A method of generating and transmitting private messages between a first user wearing a first head-mounted display device and a second user wearing a second head-mounted display device, comprising:
prior to displaying message information to the first user, authenticating, by the first head-mounted display, that the first user is authorized to view the message information;
in response to the authentication indicating that the user is authorized to view the message information, displaying, by the first head-mounted display device, the message information to at least one eye of the first user at a discernable distance and orientation for the first user;
receiving, by a receiver of the first head-mounted display, at least one input signal from the first user indicative of a user selection action by the first user to select at least a portion of the message information;
generating, by the first head-mounted display, a message based on the selected po

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Lake Stephen
• Bailey Matthew
• Grant Aaron
• Alexander Stefan

Classifications

• G06V10/145

  Illumination specially adapted for pattern recognition, e.g. using gratings · CPC title

• G06F21/6218 Primary

  to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database · CPC title

• G06F3/013 Primary

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W12/33

  using wearable devices, e.g. using a smartwatch or smart-glasses · CPC title

• H04W12/63

  Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent · CPC title