Electronic device with a display for low light conditions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12536979-B2
Application number	US-202418907280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 4, 2024
Priority date	Sep 24, 2020
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

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 a plurality of outward-facing illuminators directed toward the physical environment and a user-tracking sensor; 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 in accordance with sensor data from the user-tracking sensor,
identifying a first outward-facing illuminator of the plurality of outward-facing illuminators corresponding to the area of interest, and
activating the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate the area of interest.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a target light color corresponding to the area of interest in the physical environment; and activating the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate in accordance with the target light color.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user-tracking sensor comprises a gaze tracking sensor, and wherein the area of interest is determined based on a direction of the gaze.

4 . 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.

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

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the outward-facing camera is arranged facing in a same direction as one or more of the plurality of outward-facing illuminators.

7 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable 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 a plurality of outward-facing illuminators directed toward the physical environment and a user-tracking sensor; 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 in accordance with sensor data from the user-tracking sensor,
identify a first outward-facing illuminator of the plurality of outward-facing illuminators corresponding to the area of interest, and
activate the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate the area of interest.

8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer readable code to:
determine a target light color corresponding to the area of interest in the physical environment; and activate the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate in accordance with the target light color.

9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the user-tracking sensor comprises a gaze tracking sensor, and wherein the area of interest is determined based on a direction of the gaze.

10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the area of interest corresponds to an input region of the physical environment, wherein the input region comprises a gesture-based user interface.

11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the computer readable code to receive the information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions comprises computer readable code to cause an outward-facing camera to capture an image of the physical environment.

12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the outward-facing camera is arranged facing in a same direction as one or more of the plurality of outward-facing illuminators.

13 . A system comprising:
one or more processors; and one or more computer readable media comprising computer readable code executable by the 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 plurality of outward-facing illuminators directed toward the physical environment and a user-tracking sensor; 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 in accordance with sensor data from the user-tracking sensor,
identify a first outward-facing illuminator of the plurality of outward-facing illuminators corresponding to the area of interest, and
activate the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate the area of interest.

14 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising computer readable code to:
determine a target light color corresponding to the area of interest in the physical environment; and activate the first outward-facing illuminator to illuminate in accordance with the target light color.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the user-tracking sensor comprises a gaze tracking sensor, and wherein the area of interest is determined based on a direction of the gaze.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the area of interest corresponds to an input region of the physical environment, wherein the input region comprises a gesture-based user interface.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the computer readable code to receive the information indicative of the ambient lighting conditions comprises computer readable code to cause an outward-facing camera to capture an image of the physical environment.

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

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G09G3/3413

  Details of control of colour illumination sources · CPC title

• G06V10/25

  Determination of region of interest [ROI] or a volume of interest [VOI] · CPC title