Display system having an audio output device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11805347-B2
Application number	US-202016951103-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2020
Priority date	Jun 14, 2018
Publication date	Oct 31, 2023
Grant date	Oct 31, 2023

Abstract

A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to a user and provides a visual pass-through of a real environment to the user. The detachable speaker unit is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit for providing aural content to the user. At least one of the visual content or the aural content is changed according to a position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display system comprising:
a head-mounted display unit that outputs visual content to a user;
an audio output device that outputs aural content to the user; and
a controller that controls the head-mounted display unit to output the visual content and the audio output device to output the aural content;
wherein the visual content output by the head-mounted display unit includes a visual indicator in spatial proximity to the audio output device.

2. The display system according to claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator indicates a sound output capability of the audio output device to the user;
wherein a position of the audio output device is determined by the controller according to sensors of one or more of the head-mounted display unit or the audio output device; and
wherein the audio output device is a detachable speaker unit that is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit.

3. The display system according to claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator indicates a sound output capability of the audio output device to the user.

4. The display system according to claim 3 , wherein the visual indicator includes one or more of surrounds or overlays the audio output device in a field of view of the head-mounted display unit.

5. The display system according to claim 3 , wherein the visual indicator includes a depicting of one or more of sound waves or an audio headset.

6. The display system according to claim 3 , wherein the visual indicator is animated.

7. The display system according to claim 6 , wherein the visual indicator is animated by changing appearance according to sound of the aural content output by the audio output device.

8. The display system according to claim 7 , wherein the visual indicator increases in size according to the sound.

9. The display system according to claim 7 , wherein the visual indicator visually pulsates according to a beat of the sound.

10. The display system according to claim 1 , wherein a position of the audio output device is determined by the controller according to one or more sensors of one or more of the head-mounted display unit or the audio output device.

11. The display system according to claim 1 , wherein when the audio output device is in a field of view of the head-mounted display unit, the field of view is a portion of a real environment that is viewable by the user by one of a video pass-through or an optical pass-through.

12. The display system according to claim 1 , wherein the audio output device is a detachable speaker unit that is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit.

13. A display system comprising:
a head-mounted display unit that outputs visual content to a user;
an audio output device that outputs aural content to the user and is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit; and
a controller that controls the head-mounted display unit to output the visual content and the audio output device to output the aural content;
wherein the controller controls the head-mounted display unit to output visual content to indicate a position of the audio output device relative to the head-mounted display unit.

14. The display system according to claim 13 , further comprising an audio headset that includes the audio output device and another audio output device that is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit;
wherein the visual content includes graphical representations of the audio output device;
wherein the visual content includes instructions to move the audio output device to the head-mounted display unit, the instructions including one or more of iconography, text, or an animation; and
wherein the controller determines the position of the audio output device relative to the head-mounted display unit according to sensors of one or more of the head-mounted display unit or the audio output device.

15. The display system according to claim 13 , wherein the visual content includes graphical representations of the audio output device and a coupling location of the audio output device.

16. The display system according to claim 15 , wherein the graphical representations of the audio output device and the coupling location are depicted in spatial relationship to each other according to the position of the audio output device relative to the head-mounted display unit.

17. The display system according to claim 13 , wherein the visual content includes instructions to move the audio output device to the head-mounted display unit, the instructions including one or more of iconography, text, or an animation.

18. The display system according to claim 13 , further comprising an audio headset that includes the audio output device and another output device that is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit.

19. The display system according to claim 18 , wherein the controller determines the position of the other audio output device relative to the head-mounted display unit according to sensors of one or more of the head-mounted display unit or the audio output device.

20. A method for providing visual content with a display system having a head-mounted display unit that outputs the visual content to a user, an audio output device that outputs aural content to the user, and a controller that controls the head-mounted display unit to output the visual content and the audio output device to output the aural content, the method comprising:
determining, with the controller and one or more sensors of one or more of the head-mounted display unit or the audio output device, a position of the audio output device relative to the head-mounted display unit; and
displaying, with the head-mounted display unit according to the position, a visual indicator in spatial proximity to the audio output device.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Evans Neal D
• Vandyke James W
• Hulva Andrew M
• Silfvast Robert D
• Eubank Christopher T

Classifications

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• H04R1/1008 Primary

  Earpieces of the supra-aural or circum-aural type · CPC title

• G02B27/017

  Head mounted · CPC title

• H03G5/025

  Equalizers; Volume or gain control in limited frequency bands · CPC title

• H04R5/02

  Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers · CPC title