Heads up display

1. An apparatus comprising:

a light guide including a proximal end, a distal end, a front surface and a back surface spaced apart from the front surface, an ambient input region on the front surface near the distal end, and an input/output region on the back surface near the distal end;

a display unit positioned near the proximal end;

an eye-measurement camera positioned at or near the proximal end to image eye-measurement radiation;

a proximal optical element positioned in the light guide near the proximal end and a distal optical element positioned in the light guide near the distal end,

wherein the proximal optical element is optically coupled to the display unit, the eye-measurement camera and the distal optical element such that it directs display light to the distal optical element and directs eye-measurement radiation received from the distal optical element to the eye-measurement camera,

wherein the distal optical element is optically coupled to the proximal optical element, the ambient input region and the input/output region such that it directs display light to the input/output region and directs eye-measurement radiation from the input/output region to the proximal optical element, and

wherein the proximal optical element and the distal optical elements are polarizing beamsplitters.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the display unit comprises:

a display light source positioned on the front surface; and

a display positioned on the back surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a focusing element positioned at the distal end of the light guide; and

a quarter-wave plate positioned between the focusing element and the distal end of the light guide.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a half-wave plate positioned between the proximal optical element and the distal optical element.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the eye-measurement camera is mounted to the proximal end of the light guide.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising an optical element that optically couples the eye-measurement camera to the proximal end of the light guide.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation positioned at or near the distal end.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation include:

a first eye-measurement radiation source positioned and oriented to illuminate a user's eye with eye-measurement radiation; and

a second eye-measurement radiation source positioned and oriented to create a glint in the user's eye.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is of a non-visible wavelength.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is infrared.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a filter positioned over at least a part of the ambient input region.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising one or more additional optical elements positioned in the light guide between the proximal optical element and the distal optical element.

13. A process comprising:

generating eye-measurement information via a heads-up display comprising:

a light guide including a proximal end, a distal end, a front surface, a back surface spaced apart from the front surface, an ambient input region on the front surface near the distal end, and an input/output region on the back surface near the distal end;

a display unit positioned near the proximal end;

an eye-measurement camera positioned at or near the proximal end to image eye-measurement radiation;

a proximal optical element positioned in the light guide near the proximal end and a distal optical element positioned in the light guide near the distal end,

wherein the proximal optical element is optically coupled to the display, the eye-measurement camera and the distal optical element such that it directs display radiation to the distal optical element and directs eye-measurement radiation received from the distal optical element to the eye-measurement camera,

wherein the distal optical element is optically coupled to the proximal optical element, the ambient input region and the input/output region such that it directs display light to the input/output region and directs eye-measurement radiation from the input/output region to the proximal optical element, and

wherein the proximal optical element and the distal optical elements are polarizing beam splitters; and

simultaneously directing display light from a display into the light guide, directing ambient light from the ambient input region to the input/output region, and directing eye-measurement radiation from the input/output region to the eye-measurement camera.

14. The process of claim 13 , further comprising imaging at least a portion of a user's eye with the eye-measurement camera.

15. The process of claim 13 wherein the heads-up display further comprises:

a focusing element positioned at the distal end of the light guide; and

a quarter-wave plate positioned between the focusing element and the distal end of the light guide.

16. The process of claim 13 wherein the heads-up display further comprises a half-wave plate between the proximal optical element and the distal optical element.

17. The process of claim 13 , further comprising illuminating the user's eye using one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation positioned at or near the distal end.

18. The process of claim 17 wherein illuminating the user's eye using one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation includes:

illuminating the user's eye using a first eye-measurement radiation source positioned and oriented to flood a user's eye with eye-measurement radiation; and

illuminating the user's eye using a second eye-measurement radiation source positioned and oriented to create a glint in the user's eye.

19. The process of claim 13 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is of a non-visible wavelength.

20. The process of claim 19 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is infrared.

21. The process of claim 13 , further comprising filtering the eye-measurement radiation from the ambient light received through the ambient input region.

22. A system comprising:

one or more heads-up displays, each display comprising:

a light guide including a proximal end, a distal end, a front surface, a back surface spaced apart from the front surface, an ambient input region on the front surface near the distal end, and an input/output region on the back surface near the distal end;

a display unit positioned near the proximal end;

an eye-measurement camera positioned at or near the proximal end to image eye-measurement radiation;

a proximal optical element positioned in the light guide near the proximal end and a distal optical element positioned in the light guide near the distal end,

wherein the proximal optical element is optically coupled to the display, the eye-measurement camera and the distal optical element such that it directs display light to the distal optical element and directs eye-measurement radiation received from the distal optical element to the eye-measurement camera,

wherein the distal optical element is optically coupled to the proximal optical element, the ambient input region and the input/output region such that it directs display light to the input/output region and directs eye-measurement radiation from the input/output region to the proximal optical element, and

wherein the proximal optical element and the distal optical elements are polarizing beam splitters; and

a computer coupled to the eye-measurement camera and the display.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the display unit comprises:

a display light source positioned on the front surface; and

a display positioned on the back surface.

24. The system of claim 22 , further comprising:

a focusing element positioned at the distal end of the light guide; and

a quarter-wave plate positioned between the focusing element and the distal end of the light guide.

25. The system of claim 22 , further comprising a half-wave plate between the proximal optical element and the distal optical element.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the eye-measurement camera is mounted to the proximal end of the light guide.

27. The system of claim 26 , further comprising an optical element that optically couples the eye-measurement camera to the proximal end of the light guide.

28. The system of claim 22 , further comprising one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation positioned near the distal end.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the one or more sources of eye-measurement radiation includes:

a first eye-measurement radiation source oriented to flood a user's eye with eye-measurement radiation; and

a second eye-measurement radiation source oriented to create a glint in the user's eye.

30. The system of claim 22 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is of a non-visible wavelength.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the eye-measurement radiation is infrared.

32. The system of claim 22 , further comprising a filter positioned over at least part of the ambient input region.

33. The system of claim 22 , further comprising one or more additional optical elements positioned in the light guide between the proximal optical element and the distal optical element.

34. The system of claim 22 , further comprising a network communicatively coupled to the computer.

35. The system of claim 34 , further comprising one or more servers coupled to the network.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the one or more servers can analyze images receive from the eye-measurement camera and can transmit information about the eye position to the computer.

37. The system of claim 22 wherein the one or more heads-up displays are mounted in a pair of eyeglass frames.