Infrared Coatings for Gaze Tracking Systems
    1.
    发明公开

    公开(公告)号:US20240184118A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-06-06

    申请号:US18444284

    申请日:2024-02-16

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may include near-eye displays and gaze tracking components to track a user's gaze. The head-mounted device may include an optical system, including a waveguide and optional lenses to guide images produced by display modules to an eye box. The gaze tracking components may include infrared emitters that emit infrared light toward the user's eyes and infrared sensors that detect infrared light that has been reflected from the user's eyes. To reduce interference with the gaze tracking components from environmental infrared light, the optical system may include an infrared-reflective coating and an infrared-absorptive coating. The infrared-reflective and infrared-absorptive coatings may be formed on the optional lenses or on other transparent structures in the optical system. Together, the infrared-reflective and infrared-absorptive coatings may reduce an amount of environmental infrared light that reaches the gaze tracking components and reduce a thermal load on internal components within the head-mounted device.

    Electronic Devices With Sensors
    2.
    发明公开

    公开(公告)号:US20240027772A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-01-25

    申请号:US18334999

    申请日:2023-06-14

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    CPC classification number: G02B27/0172 G02B27/0176 H03K17/962 G02B2027/0154

    Abstract: Electronic devices such as head-mounted electronic devices may include displays for presenting images to users. To accommodate variations in the interpupillary distances associated with different users, a head-mounted device may have actuators that move left-eye and right-eye optical modules with respect to each other. To hide internal structures from view, the rear of a head-mounted device may be provided with a cover. Capacitance sensor circuitry and/or switch-based sensor circuitry may use electrodes to measure nose contact arising from movement of the optical modules towards each other against the sides of a user's nose. The actuators may be halted or may otherwise be moved in response to sensor measurements, thereby avoiding undesired nose pressure as the optical modules are moved towards each other to accommodate a user's interpupillary distance.

    Shared data and collaboration for head-mounted devices

    公开(公告)号:US12288005B2

    公开(公告)日:2025-04-29

    申请号:US18660040

    申请日:2024-05-09

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A system can include head-mounted devices that collaborate to process views from cameras of the respective head-mounted devices and identify objects from different perspectives and/or objects that are within the view of only one of the head-mounted devices. Sharing sensory input between multiple head-mounted devices can complement and enhance individual units by interpreting and reconstructing objects, surfaces, and/or an external environment with perceptive data from multiple angles and positions, which also reduces occlusions and inaccuracies. As more detailed information is available at a specific moment in time, the speed and accuracy of object recognition, hand and body tracking, surface mapping, and/or digital reconstruction can be improved. Such collaboration can provide more effective and efficient mapping of space, surfaces, objects, gestures and users.

    Head-Mounted Display Systems With Gaze Tracker Alignment Monitoring

    公开(公告)号:US20240219735A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-07-04

    申请号:US18604849

    申请日:2024-03-14

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have displays that provide images. Waveguides may be used in conveying the images to eye boxes. The waveguides may overlap lenses in a glasses frame or other head-mounted support structure. The waveguides and lenses may be transparent. This allows real-world objects to be viewed from the eye boxes. Infrared-light reflectors may overlap the lenses. Gaze tracking system light sources may supply infrared light that reflects from the infrared-light reflectors to the eye boxes to illuminate a user's eyes. Gaze tracking system cameras capture gaze tracking images of the eyes from the eye boxes to track the user's gaze. Fiducials associated with the infrared-light reflectors may be monitored using the gaze tracking system cameras. This allows components such as the gaze tracking system cameras to be calibrated.

    Head-mounted devices with forward facing cameras

    公开(公告)号:US11950022B1

    公开(公告)日:2024-04-02

    申请号:US17187289

    申请日:2021-02-26

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have a head-mounted support structure with a left side portion, a right side portion, and a transparent front portion forming a lens. The lens may extend across the front of a user's face between the left and right side portions. The lens may have a mirror coating or other optical coating that helps obscure objects on the inner side of the lens when viewed from an exterior region surrounding the head-mounted device. Left and right forward-facing cameras with overlapping fields of view may be used to capture visible-light images through the lens. The cameras may also be used for gaze tracking. Left and right light sources may provide eye illumination that reflects from the lens into left and right eye boxes. Images from the eye boxes may reflect from the lens towards the left and right forward-facing cameras.

    Wear Detection
    6.
    发明公开
    Wear Detection 审中-公开

    公开(公告)号:US20240036360A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-02-01

    申请号:US18219230

    申请日:2023-07-07

    Applicant: APPLE INC.

    CPC classification number: G02C11/10 G01D5/24 G02B27/017 G02B2027/0178

    Abstract: A head-mounted device includes a frame and a sensor coupled to the frame. The sensor includes a first conductive plate coupled to the frame and a first contact pad coupled to the frame and electrically coupled to the first conductive plate. The first contact pad includes an electrically conductive material embedded in a non-electrically conductive material, and the first contact pad is resiliently flexible and is configured for facial engagement. The sensor is configured to generate a signal that indicates a change in a capacitance of the sensor, and a controller is configured to change a power state of the head-mounted device based on the signal.

    Head-Mounted Devices With Dual Gaze Tracking Systems

    公开(公告)号:US20240219715A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-07-04

    申请号:US18603462

    申请日:2024-03-13

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have a head-mounted support structure. Gaze tracking systems may be supported by the support structure so that the gaze of a user may be monitored. Lenses may be supported by the support structure. Display systems may provide computer-generated images to the user while the user is viewing real-world objects through the lenses. The gaze tracking systems may include image-sensor-based systems such as glint-based systems. A glint-based gaze tracking system may include light-emitting devices that emit light beams that create eye glints on the surface of a user's eyes and may include an image sensor that measures the eye glints to gather information on the user's gaze. A low-power gaze tracking system may be included in the head-mounted device. The low-power gaze tracking system may use light detectors to measure the magnitudes of respective light reflections of the light beams.

    Device Alignment Systems
    8.
    发明公开

    公开(公告)号:US20240192508A1

    公开(公告)日:2024-06-13

    申请号:US18444945

    申请日:2024-02-19

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have display projectors that provide images. Waveguides may be used in conveying the images to eye boxes. Optical couplers such as prisms may be used to couple the images from the projectors into the waveguides. The waveguides may guide the images to output couplers that couple the images toward eye boxes for viewing by a user. During operation of the head-mounted device, sensor circuitry may be used to measure for potential misalignment between optical components such as projectors, couplers, and waveguides. Control circuitry may provide control commands to zero hold power piezoelectric actuators or other positioners based on the sensor measurements, thereby tilting and otherwise repositioning the optical components relative to each other to correct for optical component misalignment.

    Shared data and collaboration for head-mounted devices

    公开(公告)号:US12001751B2

    公开(公告)日:2024-06-04

    申请号:US18214448

    申请日:2023-06-26

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    CPC classification number: G06F3/147 G06F3/012 G06F3/017 G06V20/20 H04N23/90

    Abstract: A system can include head-mounted devices that collaborate to process views from cameras of the respective head-mounted devices and identify objects from different perspectives and/or objects that are within the view of only one of the head-mounted devices. Sharing sensory input between multiple head-mounted devices can complement and enhance individual units by interpreting and reconstructing objects, surfaces, and/or an external environment with perceptive data from multiple angles and positions, which also reduces occlusions and inaccuracies. As more detailed information is available at a specific moment in time, the speed and accuracy of object recognition, hand and body tracking, surface mapping, and/or digital reconstruction can be improved. Such collaboration can provide more effective and efficient mapping of space, surfaces, objects, gestures and users.

    Head-mounted devices with dual gaze tracking systems

    公开(公告)号:US11966048B1

    公开(公告)日:2024-04-23

    申请号:US17343528

    申请日:2021-06-09

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have a head-mounted support structure. Gaze tracking systems may be supported by the support structure so that the gaze of a user may be monitored. Lenses may be supported by the support structure. Display systems may provide computer-generated images to the user while the user is viewing real-world objects through the lenses. The gaze tracking systems may include image-sensor-based systems such as glint-based systems. A glint-based gaze tracking system may include light-emitting devices that emit light beams that create eye glints on the surface of a user's eyes and may include an image sensor that measures the eye glints to gather information on the user's gaze. A low-power gaze tracking system may be included in the head-mounted device. The low-power gaze tracking system may use light detectors to measure the magnitudes of respective light reflections of the light beams.

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