Virtual image generator

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a scanning mirror to receive at least two light beams and to reflect the received light beams, each of the at least two light beams having different wavelengths from each other;

at least one dynamic optical lens to focus the reflected light beams at a virtual focal surface to project a virtual image comprising at least one pixel, the at least one pixel projected based on the at least two light beams, the virtual focal surface being non-perpendicular to a chief ray of the reflected light beams, wherein the at least one dynamic optical lens includes a variable position lens and a variable focal length lens;

a distance measurement component to determine a distance to an object viewed by the viewer; and

a controller operably coupled to send a control signal to adjust the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the projected virtual image to be perceived by the viewer at a location based on the distance determined by the distance measurement component, the controller to send a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the variable position lens to change position with respect to the scanning mirror and the controller to send a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the variable focal length lens to change focal lengths.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the scanning mirror rotatable around a first axis and a second axis different from the first axis.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the virtual focal surface is planar, spherical, aspherical, or polynomial.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the virtual image is projected at an apparent distance which corresponds to the distance to the object viewed by the viewer determined by the distance measurement component.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an eye-tracking component, the distance measurement component operably coupled to the eye-tracking component.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the eye-tracking component detects an eye position of a viewer to determine the object viewed by the viewer.

7. A system for projecting an image comprising:

a light source to emit at least two light beams, the at least two light beams having different wavelengths from each other;

a scanning mirror to receive the at least two light beams and to reflect the received light beams;

at least one dynamic optical lens to focus the reflected light beams at a virtual focal surface to project a virtual image comprising at least one pixel, the at least one pixel projected based on the at least two light beams, the virtual focal surface being non-perpendicular to a chief ray of the reflected light beams, wherein the at least one dynamic optical lens includes a variable position lens and a variable focal length lens;

a distance measurement component to determine a distance to an object viewed by the viewer; and

a controller operably coupled to send a control signal to adjust the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the projected virtual image to be perceived by the viewer at a location based on the distance determined by the distance measurement component, the controller to send a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the variable position lens to change position with respect to the scanning mirror and the controller to send a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the variable focal length lens to change focal lengths.

8. The system of claim 7 , the scanning mirror to reflect the light beams onto the projection surface, the projection surface to reflect a portion of the light beams, the at least one dynamic optical lens to focus the light beams on the virtual focal surface so the reflected portion of the light beams is collimated or divergent so a projected image is to be perceived as the projected virtual image.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the projection surface is a spectacle lens, a helmet visor, or a windshield.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the projection surface is semi-transparent.

11. The system of claim 7 , the scanning mirror rotatable around a first axis and a second axis different from the first axis.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the scanning mirror oscillates more slowly about the first axis than about the second axis, the control to orient the first axis along an axes in which the projected image has the largest variation in distance between the scanning mirror and the virtual focal surface.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the virtual image is projected at an apparent distance which corresponds to the distance to the object viewed by the viewer determined by the distance measurement component.

14. The system of claim 7 , further comprising an eye-tracking component, the distance measurement component operably coupled to the eye-tracking component.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the eye-tracking component detects an eye position of a viewer to determine the object viewed by the viewer.

16. A method to project a virtual image, the method comprising:

receiving at least two light beams having different wavelengths;

reflecting the at least two light beams;

transmitting the reflected light beams through at least one dynamic optical lens to focus the reflected light beams at a virtual focal surface to project a virtual image comprising at least one pixel, the at least one pixel projected based on the at least two light beams, the virtual focal surface being non-perpendicular to a chief ray of the reflected light beams;

determining, by a distance measuring component, a distance to an object viewed by the viewer; and

adjusting, by a controller, the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the projected virtual image to be perceived by the viewer at a location based on the distance determined by the distance measurement component, wherein adjusting, by the controller, the at least one dynamic optical lens includes sending a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the at least one dynamic optical lens to change position to vary a depth of the virtual focal surface and sending a control signal to the at least one dynamic optical lens to cause the at least one dynamic optical lens to change focal lengths to vary a depth of the virtual focal surface.

17. The method of claim 16 , comprising rotating a mirror about a first axis and a second axis different than the first axis to reflect the light beams onto the projection surface.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the virtual image is projected at an apparent distance which corresponds to the distance to the object viewed by the viewer determined by the distance measurement component.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the distance measurement component is operably coupled to an eye-tracking component.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the eye-tracking component detects an eye position of a viewer to determine the object viewed by the viewer.