Efficient operation of wearable displays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9734779-B2
Application number	US-201514620551-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2015
Priority date	Feb 12, 2015
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for displaying information in various display regions within wearable display devices in a manner that enhances user experience and extends battery life. The wearable display devices may include a flexible display region and may be capable of operating in a wrinkled state. In some aspects, the wearable display devices may be capable of displaying images at different image qualities in the separate display regions. For example, in some implementations, wearable display devices include a first display region that has a higher pixel density than the second display region. In some aspects the wearable display devices may be configured to determine and/or select a display region in which specific image content is displayed. For example, text may be displayed region best suited to display text while video is displayed in region best suited to display video.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wearable display device, comprising:
a display, the display including a first contiguous region of the display configured to display images at a first image quality and a second contiguous region of the display configured to display images at a second image quality; and
a processor capable of:
selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed based at least in part on the content of the image data; and
displaying the image data in the selected contiguous region of the display.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a flexible display capable of operation over a range of curved states.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein displaying the content in the selected contiguous region of the wearable display device includes moving the display of content from one of the first or second regions to the other of first or second regions.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first contiguous region of the display and second contiguous region of the display can be dynamically resized.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is also capable of assigning an image quality for a contiguous region of the display.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a priority of the image data.

7. The wearable display device of claim 6 , wherein the image data priority is based at least in part on one or more user preferences associated with one or more user profiles.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the processor is further capable of selecting the one or more user profiles based on biometric information indicative of a current user of the wearable device.

9. The device of claim 2 , wherein the image data is provided by a software application, and wherein selecting the contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on the software application providing the image data.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the software application has a priority level associated therewith, and wherein selecting the contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on the priority level.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on information relating to the usage history of the software application.

12. The device of claim 1 , wherein selecting the contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a content type associated with the image data.

13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on an image format associated with the image data.

14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first image quality is a first color gamut and the second image quality is a second color gamut that is broader than the first color gamut.

15. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first contiguous display region has a first pixel density and the second contiguous display region has a second pixel density different than the first pixel density, and wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a resolution of the image data.

16. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first contiguous display region is configured to display image data at a first refresh rate and the second contiguous display region is configured to display image data at a second refresh rate different than the first refresh rate, and wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a rate at which the image data will be refreshed.

17. A method of operating a wearable display device, the wearable display device having a display area having at least two contiguous sub-regions configured to display at least two different image qualities, the method comprising:
receiving a command to display image data;
selecting an appropriate contiguous sub-region of the display area for displaying the content based at least in part on the content of the image data; and
displaying the image data in the selected contiguous sub-region of the display area.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein receiving the command to display content includes receiving a command from a software application, and wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on the software application.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the software application has a priority level associated therewith, and the selection of the appropriate contiguous sub-region of the display area is based at least in part on the priority level.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on information relating to the usage history of the software application.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on a desired image resolution.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on a range of colors to be displayed.

23. The method of claim 17 , wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on a frame rate at which the image data is to be displayed.

24. The method of claim 17 , wherein selecting the appropriate contiguous sub-region is based at least in part on a size and shape of an area in which the image data is to be displayed.

25. The method of claim 17 , wherein displaying the content in the selected contiguous sub-region of the wearable display device includes moving the display of content from one of the at least two sub-regions to another of the at least two sub-regions.

26. A wearable display device, comprising:
a display, the display including a first contiguous region of the display configured to display images at a first image quality and a second contiguous region of the display configured to display images at a second image quality;
and
a processor capable of:
selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed based at least in part on a property of the wearable display device; and
displaying the image data in the selected contiguous region of the display.

27. The device of claim 26 , wherein the first contiguous display region has a first pixel density and the second contiguous display region has a second pixel density different than the first pixel density, and wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a resolution of the image data.

28. The device of claim 26 , wherein the first contiguous display region is configured to display image data at a first refresh rate and the second contiguous display region is configured to display image data at a second refresh rate different than the first refresh rate, and wherein selecting a contiguous region of the display in which image data will be displayed is based at least in part on a rate at which the image data will be refreshed.

29. The device of claim 26 , wherein the first contiguous display region

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Forutanpour Babak
• Frantz William Thomas
• Baker Daniel Scott

Classifications

• G06F1/1652

  the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable · CPC title

• G06F2203/04102

  Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper · CPC title

• G06F1/163 Primary

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• G06F1/1641

  the display being formed by a plurality of foldable display components (G06F1/1647 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G09G2310/04

  Partial updating of the display screen · CPC title