IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,481,175
Granted Patent B2
US 12,481,175 · App. 18/530,471 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Head-mounted display device with vision correction

Inventors: Victoria C. Chan (Sunnyvale, CA); Christina G. Gambacorta (Santa Cruz, CA); Graham B. Myhre (Campbell, CA); Hyungryul Choi (San Jose, CA); Nan Zhu (San Jose, CA); Phil M. Hobson (Menlo Park, CA); William W. Sprague (San Francisco, CA); Edward A. Valko (Morgan Hill, CA); Qiong Huang (San Mateo, CA); Branko Petljanski (Neubiberg, DE); Paul V. Johnson (San Francisco, CA); Brandon E. Clarke (San Jose, CA); Elijah H. Kleeman (San Jose, CA)
G02C7/083A61B3/0008A61B3/032A61B3/036G02B6/4204G02B7/023G02B7/09G02F1/13306G06F1/163G02F1/13439
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,481,175
App. No.
18/530,471
Granted
Nov 25, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A head-mounted display may include a display system and an optical system in a housing. The display system may have displays that produce images. Positioners may be used to move the displays relative to the eye positions of a user's eyes. An adjustable optical system may include tunable lenses such as tunable cylindrical liquid crystal lenses. The displays may be viewed through the lenses when the user's eyes are at the eye positions. A sensor may be incorporated into the head-mounted display to measure refractive errors in the user's eyes. The sensor may include waveguides and volume holograms, and a camera for gathering light that has reflected from the retinas of the user's eyes. Viewing comfort may be enhanced by adjusting display positions relative to the eye positions and/or by adjusting lens settings based on the content being presented on the display and/or measured refractive errors.

Claims (38)

1 . A head-mounted device comprising:

a housing having a lens mounting structure;

a display in the housing, wherein the display includes a pixel array configured to provide a display image;

a fixed lens that is mounted in the lens mounting structure of the housing and that overlaps the pixel array, wherein the lens mounting structure of the housing has an opening in which a removable lens is received, wherein a lens mounting ring of the removable lens is received within the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing and the fixed lens is disposed between the pixel array and the removable lens when the removable lens is received in the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing, and wherein the display image is viewable through the fixed lens and the removable lens when the removable lens is received in the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing; and

first and second magnetic alignment structures on opposing sides of the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing and configured to align and hold the lens mounting ring of the removable lens in rotational alignment with respect to the lens mounting structure of the housing, wherein the first and second magnetic alignment structures are configured to be magnetically attracted to third and fourth magnetic alignment structures on the lens mounting ring of the removable lens.

2 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the removable lens is received at a location that overlaps the fixed lens and overlaps the pixel array.

3 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the removable lens comprises a lens element surrounded by the lens mounting ring and wherein the lens mounting ring of the removable lens overlaps the lens mounting structure of the housing when the removable lens is received in the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing.

4 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 3 , wherein the lens element overlaps the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing when the removable lens is received in the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing.

5 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 3 , wherein the first and second magnetic alignment structures are disposed on the lens mounting structure of the housing.

6 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 5 , wherein the lens mounting ring of the removable lens, without the first and second magnetic alignment structures being magnetically attracted to the third and fourth magnetic alignment structures, is rotatable within the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing.

7 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the removable lens comprises a removable vision correction lens.

8 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the removable lens comprises a spherical lens.

9 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the removable lens comprises a cylindrical lens.

10 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 1 , wherein the display is a left display, wherein the fixed lens is a left fixed lens, wherein the removable lens is a left removable lens, the head-mounted device further comprising:

a right display; and

a right fixed lens, wherein the housing is configured to receive a right removable lens and wherein the right display is viewable through the right fixed lens and the right removable lens when received by the housing.

11 . A head-mounted device comprising:

a housing;

a sensor configured to determine eye refractive errors;

control circuitry in the housing;

a display coupled to the housing and having a pixel array, wherein the sensor includes a camera and a waveguide configured to provide light received from an eye position to the camera and wherein the waveguide and the display overlap the eye position along a same direction in front of the eye position;

a first lens that is coupled to the housing, that overlaps the pixel array, and that includes a first electrode formed from a first layer of transparent conductive material, a second electrode formed from strips of transparent conductive material running parallel to a first axis, and first liquid crystal material between the first and second electrodes; and

a second lens that is coupled to the housing, that overlaps the pixel array and the first lens, and that includes a third electrode formed from an additional layer of transparent conductive material, a fourth electrode formed from additional strips of transparent conductive material running parallel to a second axis orthogonal to the first axis, and second liquid crystal material between the third and fourth electrodes, wherein the first and second lenses are electrically tunable based on control signals from the control circuitry to exhibit different focal lengths to correct for the determined eye refractive errors.

12 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 11 further comprising:

a substrate having first and second opposing sides, wherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the first liquid crystal material are formed on the first side of the substrate and wherein the third electrode, the fourth electrode, and the second liquid crystal material are formed on the second side of the substrate.

13 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 11 further comprising:

a third lens in alignment with the first and second lenses.

14 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 13 , wherein the third lens comprises a fixed spherical lens.

15 . The head-mounted device of claim 11 , wherein the first and second lenses overlap the eye position along the same direction in front of the eye position.

16 . The head-mounted device of claim 11 , wherein the sensor includes a light source that provides light to the eye position using the waveguide and wherein the light provided to the camera is a reflected version of the light provided by the light source.

17 . A head-mounted device comprising:

a housing having a lens mounting structure;

a display coupled to the housing, wherein the display includes a pixel array;

a fixed lens that is mounted in the lens mounting structure of the housing and that overlaps the pixel array; and

an additional lens that is removably coupled to the housing and that overlaps the fixed lens and the pixel array, wherein the additional lens has a convex surface facing the fixed lens, wherein the additional lens has a lens mounting ring and first and second alignment structures on the lens mounting ring at opposing sides of the lens mounting ring, wherein the lens mounting structure of the housing has an opening configured to receive the lens mounting ring of the additional lens, and wherein the first and second alignment structures are configured to respectively align with third and fourth alignment structures on the lens mounting structure of the housing and are removably coupled to the third and fourth alignment structures, respectively, to hold the additional lens within the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing.

18 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 17 , wherein the third and fourth alignment structures are disposed on opposing sides of the opening of the lens mounting structure of the housing.

19 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 17 , wherein the lens mounting ring of the additional lens surrounds a lens element of the additional lens.

20 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 17 , wherein the first alignment structure comprises a magnetic alignment structure, wherein the third alignment structure comprises an additional magnetic alignment structure, and wherein the magnetic alignment structure is configured to magnetically attract the additional magnetic alignment structure.

Continuity (3)
Continuation 16612336
Provisional Application 62507671 · May 17, 2017
Related Publication 20240103301A1 · Mar 28, 2024
References Cited (55)
US 8384999B1 · Crosby et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8488246B2 · Border et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 9292973B2 · Bar-Zeev et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9492074B1 · Lee et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9684172B2 · Border et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9880441B1 · Osterhout · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 10983352B2 · Chan · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11815685B2 · Chan · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11874530B2 · Chan · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20070097277A1 · Hong et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20120105486A1 · Lankford et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120127062A1 · Bar-Zeev et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130182224A1 · Schweigerling et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140266990A1 · Makino et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140375542A1 · Robbins et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150185475A1 · Saarikko et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150234206A1 · Lee et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160109712A1 · Harrison et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160259183A1 · Rayner · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160270656A1 · Samec et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160286210A1 · Border · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170000335A1 · Samec et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170045741A1 · Raffle et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170336599A1 · Kim · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180045960A1 · Palacios · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180263488A1 · Pamplona et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180321426A1 · Weinstock et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20200033560A1 · Weber · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20240077738A1 · Seadat Beheshti · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240184120A1 · Chan · 2024 [cited by examiner]
CN 103365028A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
CN 106125309A · 2016 [cited by examiner]
CN 106249412A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
CN 106444028A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
JP H02149916U · 1990 [cited by applicant]
JP H08286144A · 1996 [cited by applicant]
JP H08292394A · 1996 [cited by applicant]
JP 2003505718A · 2003 [cited by applicant]
JP 2005122026A · 2005 [cited by applicant]
JP 2010204397A · 2010 [cited by applicant]
JP 2011507011A · 2011 [cited by applicant]
JP 2014071230A · 2014 [cited by applicant]
JP 2015521926A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
JP 2016148839A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
JP 2017037235A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
KR 20130127472A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 101511010B1 · 2015 [cited by examiner]
KR 20150093169A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
KR 20160048800A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 20160102481A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO 2009041055A1 · 2009 [cited by applicant]
WO 2015012280A1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
WO 2017071458A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
Machine translation of KR 101511010 B1 retrieved electronically from PE2E Search Aug. 23, 2024 (Year: 2024). [cited by examiner]
Machine translation of CN-106125309-A retrieved electronically from Espacenet Jan. 8, 2025 (Year: 2025). [cited by examiner]