Eyeglass device and method for driving a variable transmission ophthalmic lens

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12468181-B2
Application number	US-202118000842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2021
Priority date	Jun 26, 2020
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

An eyeglass device including a variable transmission ophthalmic lens, a method for driving the transmission of such lens, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for implementing such method. The eyeglass device comprises a light sensor configured for measuring an amount of light in the environment of a wearer and a controlling circuit configured for receiving at least light data from said light sensor and for driving the transmission of said ophthalmic lens on the basis of said light data. The controlling circuit is configured for driving the transmission of said ophthalmic lens on the basis further of movement data, said movement data being derived from an estimation of a movement of the wearer's head.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An eyeglass device intended to be worn by a wearer, the eyeglass device comprising:
a variable transmission ophthalmic lens; a light sensor configured to measure an amount of light in an environment of the wearer; and a controlling circuit configured to receive at least light data from said light sensor and to drive the transmission of said ophthalmic lens on the basis of said light data, wherein the controlling circuit is further configured to drive the transmission of said ophthalmic lens on the basis further of movement data, said movement data being derived from an estimation of a movement of the wearer's head, wherein, the transmission of said ophthalmic lens is equal to an initial transmission value, the controlling circuit is configured to: determine, based on the movement data, whether sensed movement of the wearer's head matches a predefined movement, then in case of determining an absence of a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a first control function defining a first transmission value to be reached by the lens on the basis of said light data according to a first set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a default mode, and in case of determining a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a second control function defining a second transmission value to be reached by the lens according to a second set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a specific mode, the second set of rules is different from the first set of rules, and said first and second transmission values to be reached both is different from the initial transmission value.

2 . The eyeglass device of claim 1 , wherein the controlling circuit is further configured to obtain the movement data by estimating the movement of the wearer's head based on the received light data.

3 . The eyeglass device of claim 2 , wherein, the transmission of said ophthalmic lens is equal to an initial transmission value,
the controlling circuit is configured to:
determine, based on the movement data, whether the sensed movement of the wearer's head matches a predefined movement, then
in case of determining an absence of a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a first control function defining a first transmission value to be reached by the lens on the basis of said light data according to a first set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a default mode, and
in case of determining a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a second control function defining a second transmission value to be reached by the lens according to a second set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a specific mode,
the second set of rules is different from the first set of rules, and said first and second transmission values to be reached both is different from the initial transmission value.

4 . The eyeglass device of claim 1 , wherein:
the device further comprises a movement sensor configured to sense a movement of the wearer's head, and the controlling circuit is further configured to obtain the movement data by receiving, from the movement sensor, said movement data, indicating the movement of the wearer's head sensed by the movement sensor.

5 . The eyeglass device of claim 4 , wherein:
the device further comprises an additional movement sensor, and the controlling circuit is further configured to receive additional movement data from said additional movement sensor and to detect a characteristic movement of the head of the wearer based on both the movement data and the additional movement data.

6 . The eyeglass device of claim 5 , wherein, the transmission of said ophthalmic lens is equal to an initial transmission value,
the controlling circuit is configured to:
determine, based on the movement data, whether the sensed movement of the wearer's head matches a predefined movement, then
in case of determining an absence of a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a first control function defining a first transmission value to be reached by the lens on the basis of said light data according to a first set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a default mode, and
in case of determining a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a second control function defining a second transmission value to be reached by the lens according to a second set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a specific mode,
the second set of rules is different from the first set of rules, and said first and second transmission values to be reached both is different from the initial transmission value.

7 . The eyeglass device of claim 4 , wherein, the transmission of said ophthalmic lens is equal to an initial transmission value,
the controlling circuit is configured to:
determine, based on the movement data, whether the sensed movement of the wearer's head matches a predefined movement, then
in case of determining an absence of a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a first control function defining a first transmission value to be reached by the lens on the basis of said light data according to a first set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a default mode, and
in case of determining a match, drive the transmission of the lens according to a second control function defining a second transmission value to be reached by the lens according to a second set of rules, the controlling circuit being thereby operated in a specific mode,
the second set of rules is different from the first set of rules, and said first and second transmission values to be reached both is different from the initial transmission value.

8 . The eyeglass device of claim 1 , wherein, upon detection of a change of the amount of light measured by the light sensor,
said first control function varies between an initial transmission value and a target transmission value, the target transmission value to be reached being determined as a function of the amount of light measured according to a first rule of the first set of rules, and said second control function varies between an initial transmission value and a target transmission value, the target transmission value to be reached being determined as a function of a measured illuminance according to a first rule of the second set of rules, wherein the first rule of the first set of rules is different from the first rule of the second set of rules so that the target transmission value of the first control function is different from the target transmission value of the second control function.

9 . The eyeglass device of claim 8 , wherein, upon detection of a change of the amount of light measured by the light sensor:
said first control function varies between the initial transmission value and the target transmission value according to a first transition function, said first transition function defining a first transition duration for reaching the target transmission value, and said second control function varies between the initial transmission value and the target transmission value according to a second transition function, said second transition function defining a second transition duration, the first transition duration being different from the second transition duration.

10 . The eyeglass device of claim 8 , wherein the second control function is a constant function so that driving the transmission of the lens according to the second control function corresponds to keeping the transmission of the lens unchanged from the initial transmission

Assignees

• Essilor Int

Inventors

• Fermigier Bruno
• Gilbert Cédric
• Gourraud Alexandre
• Peloux Marius
• Roptin Vincent

Classifications

• G02C11/10 Primary

  Electronic devices other than hearing aids · CPC title

• G02C7/101 Primary

  having an electro-optical light valve (electro-optical elements per se G02F) · CPC title