Systems and methods to confirm that an autostereoscopic display is accurately aimed

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9584797-B2
Application number	US-201213665563-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2012
Priority date	Oct 31, 2012
Publication date	Feb 28, 2017
Grant date	Feb 28, 2017

Abstract

A autostereoscopic display system includes an autostereoscopic display configured to project images representing a left-eye view and a right-eye view of an image, an emitter configured to emit a tracer beam having a directional relationship to that of the projected images, a sensor configured to detect reflections of the tracer beam, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to control an emission of the tracer beam, receive feedback data from the sensor, use the feedback data to determine an impact site on the viewer corresponding to the tracer beam and adjust a direction of the tracer beam based on the impact site.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autostereoscopic display system, comprising:
an adjustable autostereoscopic display configured to project images representing a left-eye view and a right-eye view of an image;
an emitter configured to emit a non-visible tracer beam having a directional relationship to that of the projected images;
a sensor configured to detect reflections of the tracer beam; and
a processing circuit configured to:
control an emission of the tracer beam according to a timing pattern based on a viewer tolerance level, wherein the viewer tolerance level is based on an amount of blurriness of the projected images tolerable by a viewer, and wherein the tracer beam is emitted only when the left-eye and right-eye views are not projected;
receive feedback data from the sensor;
use the feedback data to:
determine an impact site on the viewer corresponding to the tracer beam; and
adjust a direction of the tracer beam based on the impact site so that the tracer beam intercepts a desired impact site of the viewer, wherein the desired impact site of the viewer is a portion of the viewer's head.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment of the direction of the tracer beam results in a corresponding change of direction of the projected images based on the directional relationship.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view of images are projected sequentially.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view of images are projected simultaneously.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the impact site includes at least one of a viewer's nose, a viewer's forehead, a viewer's eye, and a midpoint between a viewer's eyes.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracer beam comprises light generated separately from the projected images.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the impact site is determined using a spectral signature of the tracer beam.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is controlled according to the timing pattern.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitter is further configured to emit the tracer beam when at least one of the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view are not projected.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracer beam is of an intensity greater than a maximum intensity of the images representing the left-eye view and right-eye view.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracer beam comprises light from the projected images.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the impact site is determined using at least one of spectral differences of light from the projected images, polarization differences of light from the projected images, and an intensity profile.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine at least one of a left eye location and a right eye location of the viewer;
determine an aiming point corresponding to at least one of the left eye location and right eye location; and
adjust the autostereoscopic display using the aiming point.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine an offset using the aiming point and a direction of at least one of the projected images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to calibrate the autostereoscopic display, wherein calibration comprises adjusting the offset using the impact site.

16. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of emitters, each configured to emit a tracer beam comprising light.

17. A method of aiming stereoscopic images, comprising:
configuring an adjustable autostereoscopic display to project images representing a left-eye view and a right-eye view of an image;
controlling an emission of a non-visible tracer beam having a directional relationship to that of the projected images, wherein the emission of the tracer beam is controlled according to a timing pattern based on a viewer tolerance level, wherein the viewer tolerance level is based on an amount of blurriness of the projected images tolerable by a viewer, and wherein the tracer beam is emitted only when the left-eve and right-eve views are not projected;
receiving feedback data from a sensor configured to detect reflections of the tracer beam; and
using the feedback data to:
determine an impact site on the viewer corresponding to the tracer beam; and
adjust a direction of the tracer beam based on the impact site so that the tracer beam intercepts a desired impact site of the viewer, wherein the desired impact site of the viewer is a portion of the viewer's head.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the adjustment of the direction of the tracer beam results in a corresponding change of direction of the projected images based on the directional relationship.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view of images are projected sequentially.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view of images are projected simultaneously.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the impact site includes at least one of a viewer's nose, a viewer's forehead, a viewer's eye, and a midpoint between a viewer's eyes.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein the tracer beam comprises light generated separately from the projected images.

23. The method of claim 17 , wherein the impact site is determined using a spectral signature of the tracer beam.

24. The method of claim 17 , wherein controlling the emission of the tracer beam is such that the emission occurs when at least one of the images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view are not projected.

25. The method of claim 17 , wherein the tracer beam is of an intensity greater than a maximum intensity of the images representing the left-eye view and right-eye view.

26. The method of claim 17 , wherein the tracer beam comprises light from the projected images.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the impact site is determined using at least one of spectral differences of light from the projected images, polarization differences of light from the projected images, and an intensity profile.

28. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
determining at least one of a left eye location and a right eye location of the viewer;
determining an aiming point corresponding to at least one of the left eye location and right eye location; and
adjusting the autostereoscopic display using the aiming point.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine an offset using the aiming point and a direction of at least one of the projected images representing the left-eye view and the right-eye view.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to calibrate the autostereoscopic display, wherein calibration comprises adjusting the offset using the impact site.

31. The method of claim 17 , further comprising controlling emissions of a plurality of tracer beams, wherein each tracer beam comprises light.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instru

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Hyde Roderick A
• Kare Jordin T

Classifications

• H04N13/302 Primary

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

• H04N13/366

  using viewer tracking · CPC title

• H04N13/383

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

• H04N13/327

  Calibration thereof · CPC title

• H04N13/0468

  Electricity · mapped topic