Nokia Corporation

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Nokia Technologies Oy

Nanocomp Oy Ltd

Magic Leap, Inc.

Tapani Levola

Pasi Saarikko

Steven John Robbins

Yarn Chee Poon

Tuomas Vallius

Jyrki Kimmel

Seppo Pienimaa

Erica Lee Towle

Lena Adele Wolfe

Pasi Antero Kostamo

Xinye Lou

Scott Woltman

Ian Anh Nguyen

R Andrew Wall

Jarkko Viinikanoja

Lauri Sainiemi

David Douglas Bohn

Scott Charles McEldowney

Yijing Fu

Antti Salo

Xia Wang

Eliezer Glik

Pauli Laitinen

Gangok Lee

Kong Qiao Wang

Martin Schrader

Marco Ilmari Mattila

Pasi Laakkonen

Toni Johan Järvenpää

Pasi Tapani Laakkonen

Pasi Risto Olavi Saarikko

Toni Järvenpää

A wearable image display system includes a headpiece, a first and a second light engine, and a first and a second optical component. The first and second light engines generate a first and a second set of beams respectively, each beam substantially collimated so that the first and second set form a first and a second virtual image respectively. Each optical component is located to project an image onto a first and a second eye of a wearer respectively. The first and second sets of beams are directed to incoupling structures of the first and second optical components respectively. Exit structures of the first and second optical components guide the first and second sets of beams onto the first and second eyes respectively. The optical components are located between the light engines and the eyes. Both of the light engines are mounted to a central portion of the headpiece.

Image display system

An apparatus for use in replicating an image associated with an input-pupil to an output-pupil includes a planar optical waveguide including a bulk-substrate, and also including an input-coupler, an intermediate-component and an output-coupler. The input-coupler couples light corresponding to the image into the bulk-substrate and towards the intermediate-component. The intermediate-component performs horizontal or vertical pupil expansion and directs the light corresponding to the image towards the output-coupler. The output-coupler performs the other one of horizontal or vertical pupil expansion and couples light corresponding to the image, which travels from the input-coupler to the output-coupler, out of the waveguide. The apparatus further includes an adjacent planar optical component to provide a more uniform intensity distribution compared to if the adjacent planar optical component were absent.

Waveguide coatings or substrates to improve intensity distributions having adjacent planar optical component separate from an input, output, or intermediate coupler

Wearable image display system

A display system comprises an optical waveguide, an actuator and a light engine. The light engine generates multiple input beams which form a virtual image. An incoupling grating of the optical waveguide couples each beam into an intermediate grating of the waveguide, in which that beam is guided onto multiple splitting regions. The intermediate grating splits that beam at the splitting regions to provide multiple substantially parallel versions of that beam. Those multiple versions are coupled into an exit grating of the waveguide, in which the multiple versions are guided onto multiple exit regions. The exit grating diffracts the multiple versions of that beam outwardly. The multiple input beams thus cause multiple exit beams to exit the waveguide which form a version of the virtual image. The actuator is coupled to the waveguide and is arranged to generate acoustic waves, which are incident on, and propagate through, the optical waveguide.

Display system

In an optical system that includes a waveguide with multiple diffractive optical elements (DOEs) incorporating diffraction gratings, light exiting a trailing edge of an upstream DOE enters a leading edge of a downstream DOE. One or more of the DOEs may include a leading and/or a trailing edge that have a graded profile. At a graded trailing edge of an upstream DOE, grating height smoothly decreases from full height to shallow height as a function of the proximity to the trailing edge. At a graded leading edge of the downstream DOE grating height smoothly increases from shallow height to full height as a function of distance away from the leading edge. By reducing a sharp boundary at the interface between the upstream and downstream DOEs, the graded profiles of the DOE edges enable optical resolution to be maintained decreasing sensitivity to misalignment between the DOEs that may occur during manufacturing.

Diffractive optical elements with graded edges

An apparatus for use in replicating an image associated with an input-pupil to an output-pupil includes a planar optical waveguide including a bulk-substrate, and also including an input-coupler, an intermediate-component and an output-coupler. The input-coupler couples light corresponding to the image into the bulk-substrate and towards the intermediate-component. The intermediate-component performs horizontal or vertical pupil expansion and directs the light corresponding to the image towards the output-coupler. The output-coupler performs the other one of horizontal or vertical pupil expansion and couples light corresponding to the image, which travels from the input-coupler to the output-coupler, out of the waveguide. In certain embodiments, one or more of the input-coupler, the intermediate-component or the output-coupler comprises a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) based surface relief grating (SRG) or a double-side diffractive optical element (DOE), each of which can be used to improve an intensity distribution of light output by the output-coupler.

Waveguide gratings to improve intensity distributions

In a near-eye or heads-up display system including a display engine and an optical waveguide, a quarter-wave retarder (QWR) is positioned between a polarizing beam splitter (PBS) of the display engine and an input diffraction grating of the waveguide. Additionally, a linear polarizer can be positioned between the PBS and the QWR. Light corresponding to an image generated by a reflective microdisplay of the display engine is diffracted into the waveguide by the input diffraction grating, so it can travel by way of total internal reflection to an output coupler and viewed by a human eye. The QWR alone, or in combination with the linear polarizer, prevents a ghost image that may otherwise occur if a portion of the light corresponding to the image, that is diffracted into the waveguide by the input diffraction grating, is diffractively out-coupled by the input diffraction grating and thereafter reflects off the reflective microdisplay.

Reducing ghost images

A first optical arrangement is configured to couple into an apparatus a first component of a light beam having a wavelength within a first spectral range; a second optical arrangement configured to couple a second component of the light beam having a wavelength within a different second spectral range; a third optical arrangement configured to expand the first component in a first dimension to create an expanded first component; a fourth optical arrangement configured to expand, in a second dimension, the expanded first component to create a further expanded first component, and to output the further expanded first component; a fifth optical arrangement configured to expand the second component in the second dimension to create an expanded second component; and a sixth optical arrangement configured to expand, in the first dimension, the expanded second component to create a further expanded second component, and to output the further expanded second component.

Optical apparatus and method for expanding an exit pupil

A display system comprises an optical waveguide and a light engine. The light engine generates multiple input beams which form a virtual image. An incoupling grating of the waveguide couples each beam into an intermediate grating of the waveguide, in which that beam is guided onto multiple splitting regions. The intermediate grating, formed by modulations on a first surface of the waveguide, splits that beam at the splitting regions to provide multiple substantially parallel versions of that beam. Those multiple versions are coupled into an exit grating of the waveguide, in which the multiple versions are guided onto multiple exit regions. The exit grating diffracts the multiple versions of that beam outwardly. The multiple input beams thus cause multiple exit beams to exit the waveguide which form a version of the virtual image. A polarization state of each beam interacting with the modulations is controlled by a retarder film.

A transparent waveguide for use in eye tracking includes an input-coupler and an output-coupler. The input-coupler comprises a plurality of curved grating lines having a radially varying pitch. When positioned in front of an eye illuminated with infrared light, infrared light beams reflected from the eye and incident on the input-coupler enter the waveguide at the input-coupler, propagate through the waveguide by way of total internal reflections, and exit the waveguide proximate the output-coupler. The radially varying pitch of the curved grating lines of the input-coupler provides angular encoding of infrared light incident on the input-coupler, and more specifically, causes different beams of infrared light incident on respective different horizontal and vertical positions of the input-coupler to propagate through the waveguide at respective different angles of reflection and exit the waveguide at respective different angles of incidence relative to a surface of the waveguide through which infrared light beams exit.

Eye tracking apparatus, method and system

A display system comprises an optical waveguide and a light engine. The light engine generates multiple input beams which form a virtual image. An incoupling grating of the waveguide couples each beam into an intermediate grating of the waveguide, in which that beam is guided onto multiple splitting regions. The intermediate grating splits that beam at the splitting regions to provide multiple substantially parallel versions of that beam. Those multiple versions are coupled into an exit grating of the waveguide, in which the multiple versions are guided onto multiple exit regions. The exit grating diffracts the multiple versions of that beam outwardly. The multiple input beams thus cause multiple exit beams to exit the waveguide which form a version of the virtual image. One or more surfaces of the intermediate grating comprise surface variations such that a visible banding effect is eliminated from the version of the virtual image.

Microfabrication processes and apparatuses for fabricating microstructures on a substrate are disclosed. The substrate has a current diffraction grating pattern formed by current surface modulations over at least a portion of the substrate's surface that exhibit a substantially uniform grating linewidth over the surface portion. An immersion depth of the substrate in a fluid for patterning the substrate is gradually changed so that different points on the surface portion are immersed for different immersion times. The fluid changes the linewidth of the surface modulations at each immersed point on the surface portion by an amount determined by the immersion time of that point, thereby changing the current diffraction grating pattern to a new diffraction grating pattern formed by new surface modulations over the surface portion that exhibit a spatially varying grating linewidth that varies over the surface portion.

Microfabrication

An apparatus including a three-dimensional display, for displaying volumetric images, including a three-dimensional non linear photoluminescent medium defining a display volume and including nanostructures distributed throughout the display volume; and a scanner configured to scan an output volume, where a first photon flux and a second photon flux meet, in three dimensions within the display volume.

Three-dimensional display for displaying volumetric images

A system and method are disclosed for providing uniform color distribution of light emitted from a light source to an eye box in a near eye display (NED). An example of the system and method uses an optical element including two or more waveguides optimized to different colors of the visible light spectrum. The optical element further includes one or more polarization state generators for controlling the polarization of light incident on the waveguides to facilitate coupling of light into a matched waveguide, and to impede coupling of light into unmatched waveguides.

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Tampere, Finland

Tapani Levola