Headsets having improved camera arrangements and depth sensors, and methods of use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12323713-B2
Application number	US-202318476237-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2023
Priority date	Dec 23, 2022
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

The various implementations described herein include methods and devices for artificial-reality systems. In one aspect, a head-wearable device includes a depth-tracking component configured to obtain depth information associated with one or more objects in a physical environment of the head-wearable device. The head-wearable device also includes a set of peripheral camera components, and a set of forward-facing camera components, where each forward-facing camera component of the set of forward-facing camera components includes a monochrome camera and a color camera.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A head-wearable device comprising:
a depth-tracking component configured to obtain depth information associated with one or more objects in a physical environment of the head-wearable device;
a set of peripheral camera components; and
a set of forward-facing camera components, wherein each forward-facing camera component of the set of forward-facing camera components comprises a monochrome camera and a color camera.

2. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the monochrome camera has a higher refresh rate than the color camera.

3. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the color camera has a higher resolution than the monochrome camera.

4. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the monochrome camera and the color camera are co-located such that a field of view of the monochrome camera substantially overlaps with a field of view of the color camera.

5. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein each forward-facing camera component of the set of forward-facing camera components further comprises a cover window, and wherein the monochrome camera and the color camera are co-located behind the cover window.

6. The head-wearable device of claim 5 , wherein the cover window is composed of glass.

7. The head-wearable device of claim 5 , wherein the cover window is configured to be (i) transparent in a range of visible wavelengths, (ii) transparent in a range of infrared wavelengths, and (iii) transparent across respective fields of view of the monochrome camera and the color camera.

8. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein:
the head-wearable device is an artificial reality device, and
the color camera is configured for a color passthrough mode of the artificial reality device.

9. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the monochrome camera is configured for depth sensing and/or object tracking.

10. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the set of peripheral camera components are configured for hand and/or controller tracking.

11. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the set of peripheral camera components comprise one or more fixed-focus monochrome cameras.

12. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the depth-tracking component comprises a structured light generator.

13. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cover window positioned in front of the depth-tracking component; and
a microphone co-located with the depth-tracking component behind the cover window.

14. The head-wearable device of claim 13 , wherein the cover window includes an aperture adjacent to the microphone.

15. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , further comprising a processing unit configured to colorize one or more images from the monochrome camera using color information from the color camera.

16. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the color camera is an RGB camera.

17. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the monochrome camera has a larger field of view than the color camera.

18. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the set of forward-facing camera components comprises a first forward-facing camera component arranged on a first side of the depth-tracking component and a second forward-facing camera component arranged on a second side of the depth-tracking component.

19. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the set of peripheral camera components comprises a first peripheral camera component arranged on a first side of a peripheral of the head-wearable device and a second peripheral camera component arranged on a second side of the peripheral of the head-wearable device.

20. The head-wearable device of claim 1 , wherein:
the head-wearable device is configured to operate with a handheld controller that includes illumination sources used for position-tracking purposes, the illumination sources being disposed under a top cover of the handheld controller; and
the head-wearable device is configured to track a position of the handheld controller using image data of the illumination sources from the monochrome camera and/or the set of peripheral camera components.

Assignees

• Meta Platforms Tech Llc

Inventors

• Bristol Peter Wesley
• Sullivan Joseph Patrick
• Dallmeyer Scott Andrew
• Pickett David Michael
• Jacobs Joel Bernard
• Newbury Peter Allan Chase
• Morris Quintin

Classifications

• H04N23/84

  for processing colour signals · CPC title

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G06T2207/10028

  Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds · CPC title

• H04N23/13 Primary

  with multiple sensors · CPC title

• H04R2499/15

  Transducers incorporated in visual displaying devices, e.g. televisions, computer displays, laptops · CPC title