Virtual reality system with camera shock-mounted to head-mounted display

1. A virtual-reality system, comprising:

a head-mounted display, wherein a surface of the head-mounted display includes an aperture;

a camera protruding from the surface of the head-mounted display, wherein the camera includes a first portion that protrudes away from the surface of the head-mounted display through the aperture; and

a compressible shock mount mounting the camera to the head-mounted display, the compressible shock mount to retract the camera towards the head-mounted display when compressed, wherein the camera includes a second portion that is coupled to the compressible shock mount and housed within the head-mounted display.

2. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount is housed inside the head-mounted display.

3. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the camera includes a lens for the camera.

4. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount pivotally mounts the camera to the head-mounted display.

5. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount translationally mounts the camera to the head-mounted display.

6. The virtual-reality system of claim 5 , wherein the camera is translationally mounted to the head-mounted display to allow the camera to translate in multiple directions, in response to an impact.

7. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount pivotally and translationally mounts the camera to the head-mounted display.

8. The virtual-reality system of claim 7 , wherein:

the compressible shock mount pivotally mounts the camera so that first and second rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the camera are tightly constrained as compared with a third rotational DOF; and

the compressible shock mount translationally mounts the camera so that first and second translational DOFs of the camera are tightly constrained as compared with a third translational DOF but are loosely constrained as compared with the first and second rotational DOFs.

9. The virtual-reality system of claim 8 , wherein:

the compressible shock mount pivotally mounts the camera so that the camera is configured to be more precisely repositioned to an original position thereof in angular directions of at least one of the first and second rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs) than in an angular direction of the third rotational DOF; and

the compressible shock mount translationally mounts the camera so that the camera is configured to be more precisely repositioned to the original position thereof in lateral directions of at least one of the first and second translational DOFs than in a lateral direction of the third translational DOF.

10. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount comprises a spring.

11. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the compressible shock mount comprises an elastic polymer.

12. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein:

the surface is a front surface of the head-mounted display; and

the camera is a forward-looking camera.

13. The virtual-reality system of claim 12 , wherein the forward-looking camera is mounted on the front surface via the compressible shock mount.

14. The virtual-reality system of claim 12 , wherein the forward-looking camera is configured to detect a motion of at least one hand-held controller.

15. The virtual-reality system of claim 14 , wherein the forward-looking camera is adapted to track light emitted by a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the at least one hand-held controller.

16. The virtual-reality system of claim 14 , wherein the forward-looking camera is adapted to detect infrared light emitted by a plurality of infrared LEDs on the at least one hand-held controller.

17. The virtual-reality system of claim 14 , wherein the forward-looking camera comprises:

an illumination source to provide light to a plurality of passive reflectors on the at least one hand-held controller; and

a sensor to detect light reflected back to the forward-looking camera by the passive reflectors.

18. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , further comprising flat flexible circuitry electrically coupling the camera to the head-mounted display, wherein the flat flexible circuitry passes from the camera, through the compressible shock mount, to the head-mounted display.

19. The virtual-reality system of claim 1 , wherein the camera is an infrared camera.