Three Apple patent applications have recently surfaced dealing with how best to implement a head mounted display- adapted for stereo viewing- is the future of the iPhone/Mac OS wearable computing or is it just blue-sky thinking? The listed inventor, John Tang, is part of the Apple Industrial Design Group and worked on the eMate as well as other projects.

The idea is just formalization of the process of creating the stereoscopic image for a HMD and some clever hardware means of implementing it. The most likely use of the technology is as a headset for the video iPods. Instead of watching your movie on the tiny screen of your iPod, you’ll watch the movie on two tiny screens. The effect will be dramatic though with some clever processing by Apple to show slightly different images to each eye and to add dynamic colours which reinforce the image in the periphery. Additionally, Apple talks about the stereoscopic possibilities of the technology. It’s debatable how much stereoscopic content is out there (thought the technology is rapidly being developed).

Another use is in the desktop computing user interface. Aspects of the patents deal with how best to buffer and show windows in 3D. Imagine seeing stacks piled high projecting out of your desktop towards you, or your open windows clearly stacked in 3D or Time Machine’s effects in 4D. Perhaps a 3D beachball cursor would make its presence more bearable. Will Apple make this product a reality?, here are some of the details of the patent applications–you decide:

Title:Enhanced image display in head-mounted displays
Inventors: John G Tang

Title:Peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays
Inventors: John G Tang, Anthony Fadell

Title: Stereo windowing system with translucent window support
Inventors: Michael Paquette

This invention relates to processing and displaying images in a head-mounted display. According to one embodiment, the invention provides methods and apparatus for providing a wider field of view and creating a more natural viewing situation for a user of a head mounted display, which results in improved comfort and usability for head mounted displays. By using larger displays inside the HMDs and recreating each image displayed on each display as each eye would typically see it, a wider field of view and increased viewing comfort is achieved. Various embodiments of the invention allow users to customize different viewing parameters of the head mounted displays to accommodate for individual user variation in the users’ eyes.



Advantageous implementations can include one or more of the following features. The processor can receive data representing the source image from an external source. The external source can be a portable source and can include a memory in which the source image is stored. The head mounted display can include a memory in which the data representing the source image is stored, the memory being operatively coupled to the processor. Each of the left and right displays can provide a horizontal field of view for the user that is greater than about 30 degrees. Each of the left and right displays can have an aspect ratio of 16/9. Data representing the source image, the right image data, and the left image data, can be movie data. Each of the left and right image data can include a centerline of the source image. The centerline of the source image can be displayed to the right of a centerline on the left display, and the centerline of the source image is displayed to the left of a centerline of the right display. One or more light sources can be located in close proximity to a perimeter of each of the right and left displays to dynamically show colors matching the colors that are displayed on the right and left displays, respectively, so as to enhance the viewing experience. A user interface can be provided that includes one or more controls for providing instructions from the user to the processor about what portion of the source image to include in the generation of the right image data and the left image data, respectively.

Embodiments of the invention can be implemented to include one or more of the following advantages. One advantage is that the translation of a right image to the right and a left image to the left provides a wider field of view and increased viewing comfort compared to conventional HMDs. Another advantage is that users can make individual adjustments of their HMDs to fit the distance between their eyes, and so on. As a result of having two images that are slightly translated in the horizontal plane with respect to each other, stereoscope-like effects may also be achieved, which further increases the viewing comfort of the user, and enhances the user’s experience.

A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device that a person wears on the head in order to have video information directly displayed in front of the eyes. HMDs are also known as near-to-eye displays. A HMD typically has either one or two small CRT, LCD or OLED displays with magnifying lenses and other associated optical elements. The display(s) and optics are typically embedded in a helmet, glasses, or a visor, which a user can wear. Lenses and other optical components are used to give the user the perception that the images are coming from a greater distance, which reduces eyestrain. In HMDs that use a single display, the image is typically projected through optics that split the image into two identical images, and redirects each image to the respective eye. With two displays, the HMD can show stereoscopic images. The stereoscopic images attempt to create depth to the images by simulating the angular difference between the images viewed by each eye when looking at an object, due to the different positions of the eyes. This angular difference is one of the key parameters the human brain uses in processing images to create depth perception or distance in human vision.