Systems and methods for differentiating between dominant and weak eyes in 3D display technology

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9319662-B2
Application number	US-201313743144-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2013
Priority date	Jan 16, 2013
Publication date	Apr 19, 2016
Grant date	Apr 19, 2016

Abstract

A method of displaying visual information to different viewer-eyes includes receiving eye strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye. The method further includes causing a 3D-display system to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye and causing the 3D-display system to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye. A difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives where the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of displaying different visual information to different viewer-eyes, the method comprising:
generating, at an eye-monitoring system, eye-strength data indicative of a weak viewer eye with respect to a dominant viewer eye, wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises using gaze-tracking data from each of the dominant viewer-eye and the weak viewer-eye to determine the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye;
receiving the eye-strength data;
causing an autostereoscopic 3D display to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye; and
causing the 3D display to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye, wherein a difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives, wherein the varied display characteristic comprises a characteristic other than focal length and display direction, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evaluating a difference in relative eye-strength between the weak viewer-eye and the dominant viewer-eye;
determining whether the evaluated difference in relative eye-strength is larger than any of a plurality of predefined threshold differences in eye-strength; and
in response to determining that the evaluated difference is larger than a particular set of threshold differences of the plurality of threshold differences, making the variation in accordance with the particular set of threshold differences.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises dimmed vision, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in brightness of the second perspective.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises dimmed vision in one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye, wherein the variation in the display characteristic comprises an increase in the viewing difficulty of a majority of the first perspective and the second perspective, and wherein the majority does not include one or more display portions associated with each of the one or more locations on the weak viewer-eye.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises a deficient spatial resolution, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in spatial resolution of the first perspective.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises one or more display-characteristic variations that increase a viewing difficulty of the second perspective with respect to the first perspective.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises display-characteristic variations that decrease an image complexity of the first perspective with respect to an original image complexity of the first perspective.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises at least a partial color-blindness, and wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises one or more of a reduction in color saturation of the first perspective and a reduction in the spectral content of the first perspective.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing one or more viewer-profiles, wherein each viewer-profile comprises any of eye-strength data, viewer-preferences, and historical information associated with a respective viewer, and wherein receiving the eye-strength data comprises:
determining that a current viewer is associated with a particular viewer profile; and
loading the eye-strength data associated with the current viewer from the particular viewer profile.

10. A display control system, comprising:
an eye monitoring system;
a processor;
a computer-readable medium;
program instruction stored on the computer-readable medium and executable by the processor to cause the processor to:
(i) receive eye-strength data indicative of a deficiency of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a dominant viewer-eye;
(ii) cause an autostereoscopic 3D display to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye;
(iii) cause the 3D display to display a second perspective of the image to the dominant viewer-eye, wherein a difference between the first perspective and the second perspective is a variation of a display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives, wherein the varied display characteristic comprises a characteristic other than focal length and display direction, and wherein the variation is made in accordance with the indicated deficiency of the weak viewer-eye; and
(iv) cause the eye-monitoring system to:
receive an indication regarding a quality of a viewer's perceived 3D effect from the displayed perspectives of the image; and
determine, in accordance with the received indication, data associated with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, wherein the 3D display system comprises a gaming system, and wherein the received indication comprises a metric of the viewer's game play performance.

11. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the processor to transmit instructions to the eye-monitoring system, wherein the transmitted instructions cause the eye-monitoring system to (i) detect characteristics of the weak viewer-eye and (ii) generate the eye-strength data, based at least in part on the detected characteristics of the weak viewer-eye.

12. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the eye-strength data is received from an external storage medium.

13. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the 3D display comprises a lenticular display screen.

14. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the 3D display comprises a parallax-barrier 3D-display screen.

15. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the 3D display comprises a holographic display screen.

16. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the 3D display comprises a directed-beam 3D-display screen.

17. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the 3D display comprises a portable device.

18. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the processor to:
evaluate a difference in relative eye-strength between the weak viewer-eye and the dominant viewer-eye;
determine whether the evaluated difference in relative eye-strength is larger than any of a plurality of predefined threshold differences in eye-strength; and
in response to determining that the evaluated difference is larger than a particular set of threshold differences of the plurality of threshold differences, make the variation in accordance with the particular set of threshold differences.

19. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the variation of the display characteristic of one of the first and second perspectives comprises a reduction in an amount of time that the second perspective is displayed.

20. The display control system of claim 10 , wherein the deficiency of the weak viewer-eye comprises a deficient spatial resolution, and wherein the variation of the display charac

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Bathiche Steven
• Chan Alistair K
• Gates William
• Hyde Roderick A
• Ishikawa Muriel Y
• Jung Edward K Y
• Kare Jordin T
• Lanier Jaron
• Manferdelli John L
• Tegreene Clarence T
• Whitmer Charles
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• H04N13/302

  for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays · CPC title

• H04N13/398 Primary

  Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof · CPC title

• H04N13/383

  for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes · CPC title

• H04N13/144

  for flicker reduction · CPC title

• G02B27/0093

  with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking · CPC title