Electronic device with a display for low light conditions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12142243-B2
Application number	US-202318189422-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 24, 2023
Priority date	Sep 24, 2020
Publication date	Nov 12, 2024
Grant date	Nov 12, 2024

Abstract

Operating an outward-facing display device for low light conditions may include receiving information indicative of ambient lighting conditions for the display device's environment; in accordance with a determination that the ambient lighting conditions do not satisfy a brightness criterion, determining a set of pixels in the outward-facing display device corresponding to an area of interest in the environment; and driving the set of pixels at a particular brightness to improve lighting in the area of interest.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a head-mounted device, information indicative of ambient lighting conditions in a physical environment, wherein the head-mounted device comprises an outward-facing display device directed toward the physical environment, and an inward-facing display device directed toward a user; and
in accordance with a determination that the ambient lighting conditions in the physical environment fail satisfy a brightness criterion:
determining an area of interest in the physical environment,
determining a set of pixels in the outward-facing display device configured to illuminate the area of interest in the physical environment, and
driving the set of pixels at a particular brightness to improve lighting in the area of interest.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information indicative of ambient lighting conditions comprises a brightness of the ambient lighting conditions and a light color of the ambient lighting conditions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness comprises driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness and the light color.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
receiving the information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions comprises receiving information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions for a plurality of regions of the physical environment;
the determination that the ambient lighting conditions do not satisfy the brightness criterion comprises a determination that the ambient lighting conditions for at least one region of the plurality of regions of the physical environment do not satisfy the brightness criterion; and
the area of interest corresponds to the at least one region of the plurality of regions of the physical environment.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the area of interest based on an indicator from a gaze-tracking user interface.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the information indicative of ambient lighting conditions comprises capturing, by an outward-facing camera, an image of the physical environment.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the outward-facing camera is arranged facing in a same direction as the outward-facing display device.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
emitting, by the outward-facing display device, a color sequence;
capturing, by the outward-facing camera and for each color of the color sequence, an image of the physical environment to obtain a set of images of the physical environment; and
determining, based on the set of images, an environmental color of interest, wherein driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness comprises driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness and at a particular color based on the environmental color of interest, wherein the outward-facing camera comprises a black-and-white camera, and wherein determining the environmental color of interest comprises identifying a particular image, from the set of images, comprising a strongest signal and a corresponding color of the color sequence.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the area of interest corresponds to an input region of the physical environment, wherein the input region comprises a gesture-based user interface.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, on the inward-facing display device, a media item associated with the brightness criterion.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, based on a signal from an orientation sensor, a change in position of the outward-facing display device, wherein determining the set of pixels is further in accordance with the determined change in position.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving information indicative of updated ambient lighting conditions for the outward-facing display device;
in accordance with a determination that a combination of the particular brightness and the updated ambient lighting conditions does not satisfy the brightness criterion, adjusting at least one of the particular brightness and the set of pixels; and
driving the set of pixels or the adjusted set of pixels at the particular brightness or the adjusted particular brightness.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions comprises a light color of the ambient lighting conditions;
the information indicative of the updated ambient lighting conditions comprises an updated light color of the updated ambient lighting conditions;
driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness comprises driving the set of pixels at the particular brightness and the light color;
adjusting at least one of the particular brightness and the set of pixels comprises adjusting at least one of the particular brightness, the set of pixels, and the updated light color; and
driving the set of pixels or the adjusted set of pixels at the particular brightness or the adjusted particular brightness comprises driving the set of pixels or the adjusted set of pixels at the particular brightness or the adjusted particular brightness and at the light color or the updated light color.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer code, executable by one or more processors to:
receive, by a head-mounted device, information indicative of ambient lighting conditions in a physical environment, wherein the head-mounted device comprises an outward-facing display device directed toward the physical environment, and an inward-facing display device directed toward a user; and
in accordance with a determination that the ambient lighting conditions in the physical environment fail satisfy a brightness criterion:
determine an area of interest in the physical environment,
determine a set of pixels in the outward-facing display device configured to illuminate the area of interest in the physical environment, and
drive the set of pixels at a particular brightness to improve lighting in the area of interest.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the information indicative of ambient lighting conditions comprises a brightness of the ambient lighting conditions and a light color of the ambient lighting conditions, and wherein the computer code to drive the set of pixels at the particular brightness comprises computer code to drive the set of pixels at the particular brightness and the light color.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein:
the computer code to receive the information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions comprises computer code to receive information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions for a plurality of regions of the environment;
the determination that the ambient lighting conditions do not satisfy the brightness criterion comprises a determination that the ambient lighting conditions for at least one region of the plurality of regions of the environment do not satisfy the brightness criterion; and
the area of interest corresponds to the at least one region of the plurality of regions of the environment.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium claim 16 , wherein the computer code to receive the information indicative of ambient lighting conditions comprises computer code to capture, by an outward-facing camera, an image of the environment, wherein the outward-facing camera is arranged facing in a same direction as the outward-facing display device.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of c

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Shah Ritu
• Dunn Ryan J
• Sengelaub Tom

Classifications

• G09G2360/144

  the light being ambient light · CPC title

• G09G2320/0626

  for control of overall brightness · CPC title

• G09G3/3413

  Details of control of colour illumination sources · CPC title

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G06F3/013

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