SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND METHODS FOR CURVED WAVEGUIDES INTEGRATED WITH CURVED EYEGLASS LENSES
Systems, devices, and methods that implement waveguides in curved transparent combiners that are well-suited for use in wearable heads-up displays (WHUDs) are described. Waveguide structures with in-couplers and out-couplers are integrated with curved eyeglass lenses to provide transparent combiners that substantially match the shape, size, and geometry of conventional eyeglass lenses and can, in some implementations, embody prescription curvatures to serve as prescription eyeglass lenses. The waveguides and in-/out-couplers are planar or curved depending on the implementation. WHUDs that employ such curved transparent combiners are also described.
1 . A transparent combiner for use in a wearable heads-up display, the transparent combiner comprising:
a curved waveguide;
an in-coupler physically coupled to a first area of the curved waveguide; and
an out-coupler physically coupled to a second area of the curved waveguide.
2 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 wherein the in-coupler and the out-coupler are each selected from a group consisting of: a hologram, a holographic optical element, a volume diffraction grating, a surface relief diffraction grating, a transmission grating, and a reflection grating.
3 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 wherein the first area of the curved waveguide to which the in-coupler is physically coupled is an area on an outer surface of the curved waveguide.
4 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 wherein the second area of the curved waveguide to which the out-coupler is physically coupled is an area on an inner surface of the curved waveguide.
5 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 , further comprising a curved eyeglass lens, wherein the curved waveguide is at least partially embedded in an inner volume of the curved eyeglass lens.
6 . The transparent combiner of claim 5 wherein the curved waveguide is completely contained in the inner volume of the curved eyeglass lens.
7 . The transparent combiner of claim 5 wherein the curved eyeglass lens is a prescription eyeglass lens.
8 . The transparent combiner of claim 7 wherein the prescription eyeglass lens has a prescription curvature, and wherein a curvature of the curved waveguide matches the prescription curvature of the prescription eyeglass lens.
9 . The transparent combiner of claim 5 wherein the curved eyeglass lens includes a convex world-side surface and a concave eye-side surface.
10 . The transparent combiner of claim 9 , wherein the out-coupler is operable to out-couple display light from the curved waveguide, and wherein the out-coupler is positioned and oriented to apply a compensatory optical function to display light when the out-coupler out-couples display light from the curved waveguide, the compensatory optical function matched to an optical function of the convex world-side surface of the curved eyeglass lens.
11 . The transparent combiner of claim 5 wherein a length of the curved waveguide extends across a full width of the curved eyeglass lens.
12 . The transparent combiner of claim 11 wherein the second area of the curved waveguide to which the out-coupler is physically coupled is positioned at or proximate a center of the curved eyeglass lens.
13 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 wherein the first area of the curved waveguide is a first planar area of the curved waveguide and the second area of the curved waveguide is a second planar area of the curved waveguide, and wherein the in-coupler is a planar in-coupler physically coupled to the first planar area of the curved waveguide and the out-coupler is a planar out-coupler physically coupled to the second planar area of the curved waveguide.
14 . The transparent combiner of claim 1 wherein the first area of the curved waveguide is a first curved area of the curved waveguide and the second area of the curved waveguide is a second curved area of the curved waveguide, and wherein the in-coupler is a curved in-coupler physically coupled to the first curved area of the curved waveguide and the out-coupler is a curved out-coupler physically coupled to the second curved area of the curved waveguide.