Disney Enterprises, Inc.

University of Washington

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Quinn Y J Smithwick

Eric J Seibel

V Michael Bove, Jr

Daniel E Smalley

Jon Hayes Snoddy

Douglas A Fidaleo

Mark Fauver

Michael John Ilardi

Robert J Bristow

Dawson McLeod Dill

Elisabeth C Papadopoulos

Colleen L Bristow-Campbell

Chad Michael Smith

Charles David Melville

Richard Stephen Johnston

Per G Reinhall

Thomas Adrian Furness, Iii

Chris Brown

John A Myers

A system creating an autostereoscopic augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or other visual display experience involving 3D images, presented to a viewer without glasses or other head-gear. The system includes a projection screen, which includes a reflective surface formed using retroreflective material. The system includes a projection assembly and a beamsplitter, which is disposed between an outlet of the projection assembly and the projection screen. The system includes a physical scenic space facing a lower side of the beamsplitter and a viewing space facing an upper side of the beamsplitter. A controller operates the projector assembly to project left and right eye images toward the projection screen. The left and right eye images are then directed to left and right eye positions so a viewer with eyes positioned at the left and right eye positions perceives a virtual object concurrently with light from the physical scenic space.

Visual effect system including perspective-correct autostereoscopic retroreflective projection

The present disclosure relates to calibration, customization, and improved user experiences for smart or bionic lenses that are worn by a user. The calibration techniques include detecting and correcting distortion of a display of the bionic lenses, as well as distortion due to characteristics of the lens or eyes of the user. The customization techniques include utilizing the bionic lenses to detect eye characteristics that can be used to improve insertion of the bionic lenses, track health over time, and provide user alerts. The user experiences include interactive environments and animation techniques that are improved via the bionic lenses.

Calibration, customization, and improved user experience for bionic lenses

An anisotropic spatial acousto-optic modulator for a holographic display system includes a substrate, an anisotropic waveguide that guides light into a single polarization, and a transducer that generates surface acoustic waves that propagate linearly with the guided, polarized light, converting at least some of the polarized light into a leaky mode of orthogonally polarized light. The acoustic waves may be encoded with holographic information. The modulator may include coupling devices for coupling light into the waveguide, which may have multiple channels. A holographic video display system includes at least one anisotropic spatial acousto-optic modulator. The pattern of the surface acoustic waves, encoded with holographic information, acts as a diffraction pattern that causes the modulator output to form a wavefront that becomes at least part of a holographic image. The system may have multiple channels in multiple waveguides, wherein each waveguide writes one or more lines of the holographic image.

Anisotropic leaky-mode modulator for holographic video displays

A holographic video display employs at least one light source adapted to produce at least one wavelength of monochromatic light, a video signal generator, at least one guided-wave acousto-optic modulator for diffracting light received from the light source according to signals received from the video signal generator, a vertical scanning subsystem, and an optical path between the acousto-optic modulator and the vertical scanning subsystem. The optical path may preferably include a Bravais lens system, at least one Fourier transform lens system, and at least one moving horizontal mirror.

Holographic video display system

A holographic video display comprises a monochromatic light source, a video signal generator, guided-wave acousto-optic modulators for diffracting light according to signals received from the video signal generator, a vertical scanning subsystem, and an optical path between the acousto-optic modulator and the vertical scanning subsystem. The optical path preferably comprises a Bravais lens system, first and second Fourier transform lens systems, and at least one holographic optical element or stationary mirror of continuous helical shape. In a method for generating a holographic image, monochromatic light is provided to at least one guided-wave acousto-optic modulator, the received light is diffracted according to a video signal, the guided-wave modulator aperture is scanned to produce a holo-line, the motion of the diffraction pattern is undone to render the holo-line stationary, the guided-wave modulator aperture is demagnified to create a wide field of view, and the holo-lines are tiled vertically to create the image.

Scanning fiber devices are disclosed. In one aspect, a scanning fiber device may include an actuator tube. The scanning fiber device may also include a cantilevered free end portion of an optical fiber. The cantilevered free end portion of the optical fiber may have an attached end that is coupled with the actuator tube. The cantilevered free end portion of the optical fiber may also have a free end to be moved by the actuator tube. At least a portion of a length of the cantilevered free end portion of the optical fiber may be disposed within the actuator tube. Methods of using scanning fiber devices are also disclosed.

Compact scanning fiber device

Small, rugged scanners micro-fabricated from commercial optical fibers to form waveguides or other structures. The scanning waveguide has a distal portion on which is formed a non-linear taper with a diameter that decreases toward a distal end. Optionally, a hinge portion having a reduced diameter can be formed in the distal portion, improving the scanning properties of the waveguide. A micro-lens can be integrally formed at the distal tip of the waveguide with either a droplet of an optical adhesive, or by using an energy beam to melt the material of the waveguide to form a droplet. The droplet is shaped with an externally applied force. When mechanically driven in vibratory resonance, the tip of the optical waveguides moves in linear or two-dimensional scan patterns of relatively high amplitude and frequency, and large field of view. The scanner can be used either for image acquisition or image display.

Micro-fabricated optical waveguide for use in scanning fiber displays and scanned fiber image acquisition

Controls for an optical scanner, such as a single fiber scanning endoscope (SFSE) that includes a resonating optical fiber and a single photodetector to produce large field of view, high-resolution images. A nonlinear control scheme with feedback linearization is employed in one type of control to accurately produce a desired scan. Open loop and closed loops controllers are applied to the nonlinear optical scanner of the SFSE. A closed loop control (no model) uses either phase locked loop and PID controllers, or a dual-phase lock-in amplifier and two PIDs for each axis controlled. Other forms of the control that employ a model use a frequency space tracking control, an error space tracking control, feedback linearizing controls, an adaptive control, and a sliding mode control.

Control of an optical fiber scanner

A minimally invasive, medical, image acquisition system outputs a light beam or pulse which illuminates a precise spot size. A plurality of photon detector detect returning photons from the object, including the spot. Pixel resolution is determined by the area of the illumination spot (and thus the lens configuration), rather than an area sensed by the detector. Depth enhancement is determined by correlating images detected by the respective detectors, or alternatively by a range finding method based on phase difference, time of flight, frequency or interferometry.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Quinn Y J Smithwick