Apple Inc.

Paul J Gelsinger-Austin

Richard John Topliss

Richard H Tsai

Thomas M Gregory

Hyungryul J Choi

Se Baek Oh

Guolin Peng

Eric J Hansotte

Alexander Shpunt

Graham Butler Myhre

Scott M DeLapp

Francesco Aieta

Bradley Charles Steele

Nan Zhu

An electronic device may include a display system for presenting images close to a user's eyes. The display system may include a display unit that directs light and an optical system that redirects the light from the display unit towards a user's eyes. The optical system may include an input coupler and an output coupler formed on a waveguide. The input coupler may redirect light from the display unit so that it propagates in the waveguide towards the output coupler. The output coupler may redirect the light from the input coupler so that it exits the waveguide towards the user's eyes. A light-redirecting element may be used to redirect edge light that would otherwise be outside of the user's field of view towards the user's eyes.

Optical systems for displays

An electronic device may have a display that emits image light, a waveguide, and an input coupler that couples the image light into the waveguide. Beam splitter structures may be embedded within the waveguide. The beam splitter structures may partially reflect the image light multiple times and may serve to generate replicated beams of light that are coupled out of the waveguide by an output coupler. The beam splitter structures may replicate the beams across two dimensions to provide an eye box with uniform-intensity light from the display across its area. The beam splitter structures may include stacked partially reflective beam splitter layers, sandwiched transparent substrate layers having different indices of refraction, a thick volume hologram interposed between substrate layers, or combinations of these or other structures. The reflectivity of the beam splitter structures may vary discretely or continuously across the lateral area of the waveguide.

Waveguided display systems

An augmented reality headset may include a reflective holographic combiner to direct light from a light engine into a user's eye while also transmitting light from the environment. The combiner and engine may be arranged to project light fields with different fields of view and resolution to match the visual acuity of the eye. The combiner may be recorded with a series of point to point holograms; one projection point interacts with multiple holograms to project light onto multiple eye box points. The engine may include a laser diode array, a distribution waveguide, scanning mirrors, and layered waveguides that perform pupil expansion and that emit wide beams of light through foveal projection points and narrower beams of light through peripheral projection points. The light engine may include focusing elements to focus the beams such that, once reflected by the holographic combiner, the light is substantially collimated.

Display device including foveal and peripheral projectors

A mixed reality direct retinal projector system that may include a headset that uses a reflective holographic combiner to direct light from a light engine into an eye box corresponding to a user's eye. The light engine may include light sources coupled to projectors that independently project light to the holographic combiner from different projection points. The light sources may be in a unit separate from the headset that may be carried on a user's hip, or otherwise carried or worn separately from the headset. Each projector may include a collimating and focusing element, an active focusing element, and a two-axis scanning mirror to project light from a respective light source to the holographic combiner. The holographic combiner may be recorded with a series of point to point holograms; each projector interacts with multiple holograms to project light onto multiple locations in the eye box.

Mixed reality system

An electronic device may have a reflective display with a pixel array that generates images. The reflective display may be illuminated by an illumination system. Light from the illumination system may be reflected by the pixel array as image light. The image light may be provided to a viewer using a waveguide with diffractive input and output couplers. The illumination system may have a waveguide. The illumination system may also have a light source such as one or more light-emitting diodes. Light from the light source may be coupled into the waveguide of the illumination system by a diffractive coupler such as volume hologram that serves as an input coupler. Light from the light source may be routed to the display to illuminate the display using the waveguide in the illumination system and a diffractive coupler such as a volume hologram that serves as an output coupler.

Display illumination systems

Display device with a holographic combiner

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Paul J Gelsinger-Austin