Patent Description:
With the advancement of display technologies and people's pursuit of high technologies, near-eye display technologies including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), etc., have been widely used in various fields of work and life. The near-eye display device is typically worn on the user's eyes in the form of glasses. That is, the display screen is placed close to the user's eyes, allowing the user to roam in the virtual world or the virtual-real world.

At present, the light beam of the near-eye display device needs to undergo multiple times of reflection or refraction before being projected to the eyes, resulting in a bulky display device. In addition, after multiple times of reflection or refraction, the comprehensive angle error of the light beam is relatively large, resulting in poor user experience.

Application with publication number of <CIT> disclosed a direct retinal projector may include a gaze tracking system that tracks position of a subject's pupil and automatically adjusts projection of a scanned light field so that the light field enters the pupil. A control loop adjusts a scanning mirror to substantially center an IR beam on a position sensing detector (PSD). In so doing, the scanning mirror is correctly positioned so that the scanned light field from the projector enters the subject's pupil. In addition, a direct retinal projector may include an adjustable focusing element that adjusts focus of a combined light beam generated by a projector as the light beam is scanned to an ellipsoid mirror that reflects the light beam to the subject's pupil. The focusing of the scanned beam may be adjusted as the beam is scanned across the azimuth angle of the curved ellipsoid mirror.

Application with publication number of <CIT> disclosed various arrangements of optical and electronic components to form a high-resolution helmet mounted display (HMD) or other compact display device utilizing one or more reflective mode display devices for the generation of imagery, including those utilizing micro mirror technology.

Application with publication number of <CIT> disclosed an interactive electronic game system (<NUM>) composed of at least one control unit (<NUM>) for receiving, monitoring, compiling and transmitting game data and information and several personal display units (<NUM>) for controlling game play and displaying game data and information. The personal display units (<NUM>) and the control unit (<NUM>) being in constant omni-directional communication. The personal display units (<NUM>) of the system having an aperture (<NUM>) formed therein, and capable of receiving and displaying game data and information in a direct view image and/or a virtual image.

Application with publication number of <CIT> disclosed a retinal light scanning engine to write light corresponding to an image on the retina of a viewer. A light source of the retinal light scanning engine forms a single point of light on the retina at any single, discrete moment in time. In one example, to form a complete image, the retinal light scanning engine uses a pattern to scan or write on the retina to provide light to millions of such points over one time segment corresponding to the image. The retinal light scanning engine changes the intensity and color of the points drawn by the pattern by simultaneously controlling the power of different light sources and movement of an optical scanner to display the desired content on the retina according to the pattern. In addition, the pattern may be optimized for writing an image on the retina. Moreover, multiple patterns may be used to additional increase or improve the field-of-view of the display. In one embodiment, these methods, systems, components, and technics are incorporated in an augmented reality or virtual reality display system.

The present disclosure provides a near-eye display device, which solves the technical problem that the existing near-eye display device has an excessively large volume and a large beam projection angle error which results in poor user experience.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a near-eye display device, including:.

Further, the light source module and the optical module may be arranged separately; and the projection elements may project the RGB laser beams emitted by the laser image sources to the user's eye by means of light reflection.

Further, the light source module and the optical module may be arranged integrally; and the projection elements may project the RGB laser beams emitted by the laser image sources to the user's eye by direct emitting.

Further, the projection elements and the laser image sources may have a one-to-many correspondence.

Further, the compound eye control chip may include a base and a control circuit; and the control circuit may be prepared on the base.

Further, the preset arrangement pattern may include an equilateral triangle, a square and a rectangle.

Further, the preset angle may be <NUM>-<NUM>°.

In the near-eye display device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the laser image sources of the light source module emit the RGB laser beams. The compound eye control chip controls the deflection angles of the projection elements, so as to project the RGB laser beams emitted by the laser image sources to the eye of the user through the projection elements. The laser beams do not need to undergo multiple times of reflection or refraction before reaching the human eye, which greatly reduces the volume of the near-eye display device and reduces the beam projection angle error, thereby effectively improving the user experience.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure are clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely for a descriptive purpose, and should not be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance, or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified, meanings of terms "install", "connected with", and "connected to" should be understood in a board sense. For example, the connection may be a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; may be a direct connection or an indirect connection by using an intermediate medium; or may be intercommunication between two components. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure based on specific situations.

Referring to <FIG>, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a near-eye display device. As shown in <FIG>, the near-eye display device includes:
a light source module <NUM> and an optical module <NUM>.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the light source module <NUM> includes multiple laser image sources <NUM>. The laser image sources <NUM> are vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) image sources or collimated light image sources. The optical module <NUM> has a compound eye optical structure.

The light source module <NUM> is configured to: perform digital-to-analog (D-A) conversion on an image signal and load the image signal into the laser image sources <NUM>, such that the laser image sources <NUM> emit red, green, and blue (RGB) laser beams.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the light source module <NUM> processes the image signal into a serial signal, and loads the serial signal into the laser image sources <NUM> after the D-A conversion to form multiple groups of RGB laser beams. The multiple groups of RGB laser beams each correspond to one projection element <NUM>, or the multiple groups of RGB laser beams jointly correspond to one projection element <NUM>. Each group of RGB laser beams is used as a light source and cooperates with the deflection of each projection element <NUM>, so as to image information corresponding to the image signal on the user's eye.

The optical module <NUM> includes a compound eye control chip <NUM> and a projection element array. The projection element <NUM> adopts a two-dimensional (2D) scanning mechanism.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the compound eye control chip <NUM> and the projection element array are provided on the optical module <NUM>. The projection element array includes multiple projection elements <NUM>. The multiple projection elements <NUM> are arranged on the compound eye control chip <NUM> according to a preset arrangement pattern. Each projection element <NUM> in the projection element array is connected to the compound eye control chip <NUM>. The compound eye control chip <NUM> controls the deflection angles of the projection elements <NUM> separately according to an actual need, so as to reflect (or directly emit and project) the RGB laser beam emitted by the corresponding laser image source <NUM> to a human eye <NUM> (user's eye) through the projection element <NUM>.

The optical module <NUM> is configured to: separately control the projection elements <NUM> to rotate within a preset angle through the compound eye control chip <NUM>, so as to project the RGB laser beams emitted by the corresponding laser image sources <NUM> to the user's eye through each projection element <NUM>.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the serial laser image signal is synchronized with the deflection angle of the projection element <NUM> controlled by the compound eye control chip <NUM>. For example, when the projection element <NUM> is rotated <NUM>° to the right from a reference plane (a plane perpendicular to a line of a <NUM>° viewing angle), the laser image projected on the projection element <NUM> is one at the left with a <NUM>° viewing angle. The projection element <NUM> rotates at a high speed, and the compound eye optical structure composed of the multiple regularly arranged projection elements <NUM> in front of the human eye reflects the light of the full viewing angle to the human eye <NUM>. In this way, the human eye can see the complete picture.

It should be noted that the geometric dimensions of the laser image source <NUM> are in the order of micrometers or even smaller than one micrometer, which will not cause any impact on the line of sight of the user. The image signal is loaded into a laser to form a laser beam, such that the laser becomes the laser image source. The laser beams are projected onto the retina of the human eye through the projection elements <NUM> to form the complete image.

In the near-eye display device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the laser image sources <NUM> of the light source module <NUM> emit the RGB laser beams. The compound eye control chip controls the deflection angles of the projection elements <NUM>, so as to project the RGB laser beams emitted by the laser image sources <NUM> to the eyes of the user through the projection elements <NUM>. The laser beams do not need to undergo multiple times of reflection or refraction before reaching the human eye, which greatly reduces the volume of the near-eye display device and reduces the beam projection angle error, thereby effectively improving the user experience.

In an embodiment, the light source module <NUM> and the optical module <NUM> are arranged separately. Each projection element <NUM> reflects the RGB laser beam emitted by the laser image source <NUM> to the user's eye by means of light reflection.

In this embodiment, the projection element <NUM> is coated with a light reflection film. The laser image source <NUM> is provided beside the projection element <NUM>. The geometrical dimensions of the laser image source <NUM> and the projection element <NUM> are in the order of micrometers, so the overall thickness is within one millimeter.

In an embodiment, the light source module <NUM> and the optical module <NUM> are arranged integrally. Each projection element <NUM> projects the RGB laser beam emitted by the laser image source <NUM> to the user's eye by direct emitting.

In this embodiment, the laser image source <NUM> is directly provided on the projection element <NUM>. The projection element <NUM> is changed from a reflective mode to a direct emitting mode, so as to directly project the laser beam of the laser image source <NUM> onto the human eye.

It should be noted that, the light source module <NUM> and the optical module <NUM> may be arranged separately or integrally. The two arrangements have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of manufacturing process. The separate arrangement simplifies the control circuit of the projection element, while the integral arrangement simplifies the structure of the optical path. However, it should be noted that the imaging effects of the separated and integral arrangements are almost the same.

In an embodiment, the projection elements <NUM> and the laser image sources <NUM> have a one-to-many correspondence.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the RGB laser beams are formed by the laser image sources <NUM>, the multiple groups of RGB laser beams each may correspond to one projection element <NUM>, or the multiple groups of RGB laser beams may jointly correspond to one projection element <NUM>. It is understandable that, compared with the design that the projection elements <NUM> individually correspond to one laser image source <NUM>, when the projection elements <NUM> and the laser image sources <NUM> are configured in a one-to-many correspondence, the luminous flux of the RGB laser beams is relatively larger, which can increase the imaging brightness.

In an embodiment, the compound eye control chip <NUM> includes a base and a control circuit. The control circuit is prepared on the base.

In this embodiment, the base of the compound eye control chip <NUM> is made of a transparent material combined with a semiconductor material. The compound eye control chip <NUM> is fabricated by preparing a control circuit through photolithography or a process with a processing precision equivalent to that of photolithography. The compound eye control chip <NUM> is connected to each projection element <NUM>, and is configured to control the projection element <NUM> to rotate at a high speed, such that the human eye <NUM> can obtain a larger field of view (FOV).

In an embodiment, the preset arrangement pattern includes an equilateral triangle, a square and a rectangle.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the projection element array may include multiple projection elements <NUM>. The arrangement patterns of the projection elements <NUM> may be different, and include regular arrangements such as an equilateral triangle, a square and a rectangle.

In an embodiment, the preset angle is <NUM>-<NUM>°.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the laser image source <NUM> may be directly provided on the projection element <NUM> or beside the projection element <NUM>. To expand the FOV, it is only necessary to increase the number, deflection angle and distribution area of the projection elements <NUM>, such that the projection elements <NUM> rotate at an angle of <NUM>-<NUM>° with the incident beam. In this way, the human eye can see images with a FOV that is infinitely close to <NUM>°.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present disclosure have the following beneficial effects:.

Claim 1:
A near-eye display device, comprising
a light source module (<NUM>) and an optical module (<NUM>), wherein
the light source module (<NUM>) comprises multiple laser image sources (<NUM>), which are vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) image sources or collimated light image sources;
the light source module (<NUM>) is configured to: perform digital-to-analog (D-A) conversion on an image signal and load the image signal into the laser image sources (<NUM>), such that the laser image sources (<NUM>) emit red, green, and blue (RGB) laser beams; characterised in that;
the optical module (<NUM>) comprises a compound eye control chip (<NUM>) and a projection element array;
the projection element array comprises multiple projection elements (<NUM>), which are arranged on the compound eye control chip (<NUM>) according to a preset arrangement pattern and adopt two-dimensional (2D) scanning mechanisms;
wherein the projection element array is integrated in a line of sight of a user; and
the optical module (<NUM>) is configured to: control the projection elements (<NUM>) to rotate within a preset angle through the compound eye control chip (<NUM>), so as to project the RGB laser beams emitted by the laser image sources (<NUM>) to the user's eye (<NUM>) through the projection elements (<NUM>).