Extending display lifetime and saving power in open-periphery head mounted displays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026099050-A1
Application number	US-202418910366-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 9, 2024
Priority date	Oct 9, 2024
Publication date	Apr 9, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

A head-mounted display system includes a near-eye display configured to present images to a user's eye, one or more side shields that are configured to fill gaps between the user's face and peripheries of the near-eye display and are dimmable using an electrical control signal, and a controller configured to control dimming of the near-eye display and/or the one or more side shields based at least in part on the luminance and/or spectrum of ambient light, without causing a noticeable change of perceived brightness and/or color temperature by the user's eye.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A head-mounted display system comprising:
a near-eye display configured to present images to a user's eye; one or more side shields configured to fill gaps between the user's face and peripheries of the near-eye display, wherein the one or more side shields are at least partially transparent to visible light and are dimmable using an electrical control signal; and a controller configured to control dimming of the near-eye display and the one or more side shields.

2 . The head-mounted display system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
gradually dim the near-eye display without causing a noticeable change of perceived brightness by the user's eye; and gradually dim the one or more side shields while gradually dimming the near-eye display.

3 . The head-mounted display system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to gradually dim the near-eye display based on a temporal luminance change curve that specifies a luminance level of the near-eye display as a function of time.

4 . The head-mounted display system of claim 3 , wherein the temporal luminance change curve specifies a process of decreasing or increasing the luminance level of the near-eye display as a function of time.

5 . The head-mounted display system of claim 3 , wherein the temporal luminance change curve specifies a plurality of luminance levels of the near-eye display and a corresponding duration of each luminance level of the plurality of luminance levels for the user's eye to adapt to the luminance level.

6 . The head-mounted display system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to dim the near-eye display and the one or more side shields at a same rate in each dimming step of a plurality of dimming steps.

7 . The head-mounted display system of claim 2 , further comprising an eye tracking subsystem configured to detect eye blinks, wherein the controller is configured to dim the near-eye display and the one or more side shields at a higher rate during the eye blinks than during other time.

8 . The head-mounted display system of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one ambient light sensor configured to measure a luminance and/or a spectrum of ambient light of the head-mounted display system, wherein the controller is configured to control the dimming of the one or more side shields based at least in part on the luminance and/or the spectrum of the ambient light of the head-mounted display system.

9 . The head-mounted display system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to gradually dim the one or more side shields based on the luminance of the ambient light and a temporal transmissivity change curve that specifies a transmissivity of the one or more side shields as a function of time.

10 . The head-mounted display system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to reduce transmissivity of the one or more side shields in response to an increase of the luminance of the ambient light of the head-mounted display system.

11 . The head-mounted display system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine a spectrum of light within the head-mounted display system;
determine a difference between the spectrum of the ambient light and the spectrum of the light within the head-mounted display system; and
dim the one or more side shields based on the difference such that a color temperature of the ambient light dimmed by the one or more side shields matches a color temperature of the light within the head-mounted display system.

12 . The head-mounted display system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the spectrum of the light within the head-mounted display system based on one or more values of the near-eye display.

13 . The head-mounted display system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more values of the near-eye display include pixel color values, pixel control voltage values, pixel drive current values, light source control voltage values, light source drive current values, or a combination thereof.

14 . The head-mounted display system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more side shields comprises an active dimming element formed in or on a substrate.

15 . The head-mounted display system of claim 14 , wherein the active dimming element includes an electrochromic material or a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film.

16 . The head-mounted display system of claim 1 , wherein the near-eye display includes a virtual reality display, an optical see-through augmented reality display, or a video see-through augmented reality display.

17 . A processor-implemented method comprising:
obtaining a luminance and/or a spectrum of ambient light of a head-mounted display (HMD) system using one or more ambient light sensors; gradually dimming a near-eye display of the HMD system without causing a noticeable change of perceived brightness by a user's eye; and based at least in part on the luminance and/or the spectrum of the ambient light of the HMD system, changing a transmissivity of one or more side shields that are dimmable and are configured to fill gaps between the user's face and peripheries of the near-eye display.

18 . The processor-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein gradually dimming the near-eye display of the HMD system comprises gradually dimming the near-eye display based on a temporal luminance change curve that specifies a luminance level of the near-eye display as a function of time for the user's eye to adapt to the luminance level.

19 . The processor-implemented method of claim 17 , wherein changing the transmissivity of the one or more side shields comprises:
gradually changing the transmissivity of the one or more side shields based on the luminance of the ambient light and a temporal transmissivity change curve that specifies the transmissivity of the one or more side shields as a function of time; gradually dimming the near-eye display and the one or more side shields at a same rate in each dimming step of a plurality of dimming steps; reducing the transmissivity of the one or more side shields in response to an increase of the luminance of the ambient light of the head-mounted display system; changing a spectral transmissivity of the one or more side shields such that a color temperature of the ambient light dimmed by the one or more side shields matches a color temperature of display light of the near-eye display; or a combination thereof.

20 . The processor-implemented method of claim 17 , further comprising:
obtaining eye blink information; and dimming the near-eye display and the one or more side shields at a higher rate during eye blinks than during other time.

Assignees

• Meta Platforms Tech Llc

Inventors

• Erkelens Ian
• Bachy Romain
• Kim Minjung

Classifications

• G09G3/19

  using electrochromic devices · CPC title

• G02B2027/0178

  Eyeglass type (eyeglass details G02C) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0118

  comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility · CPC title

• G09G2360/144

  the light being ambient light · CPC title

• G09G3/18

  using liquid crystals · CPC title