18372222. METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPLEMENTING VARIED OPTICAL GRATING GEOMETRIES IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAY simplified abstract (GOOGLE LLC)

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPLEMENTING VARIED OPTICAL GRATING GEOMETRIES IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAY

Organization Name

GOOGLE LLC

Inventor(s)

Wei Jin of Saratoga CA (US)

Joseph Daniel Lowney of Tucson AZ (US)

Lu Tian of Palo Alto CA (US)

Qinglan Huang of Mountain View CA (US)

Thomas Mercier of Weston FL (US)

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPLEMENTING VARIED OPTICAL GRATING GEOMETRIES IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAY - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18372222 titled 'METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPLEMENTING VARIED OPTICAL GRATING GEOMETRIES IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAY

Simplified Explanation

An augmented-reality (AR) eyewear display patent application abstract describes the use of an optical waveguide with multi-layered optical gratings to improve display quality while reducing power consumption.

• The optical waveguide includes varying depths, slope angles, lengths, and/or widths of the optical gratings to optimize optical characteristics for high resolution, contrast, display uniformity, input coupling efficiency, and output coupling efficiency.
• By utilizing different configurations of two-dimensional or three-dimensional gratings in the waveguide, lower-power AR eyewear displays can achieve the same display quality as higher-power conventional AR eyewear displays.

Potential Applications

The technology described in the patent application could be applied in various fields such as:

• Augmented reality devices
• Virtual reality devices
• Heads-up displays
• Smart glasses

Problems Solved

The innovation addresses the following issues:

• Improving display quality in AR eyewear
• Reducing power consumption in AR eyewear displays
• Enhancing user experience with AR technology

Benefits

The benefits of this technology include:

• High-resolution and high-contrast display
• Improved display uniformity
• Efficient input and output coupling
• Lower power consumption

Potential Commercial Applications

The technology could have commercial applications in industries such as:

• Consumer electronics
• Healthcare
• Aerospace
• Automotive

Possible Prior Art

One possible prior art could be the use of traditional optical waveguides in AR eyewear displays without the multi-layered optical gratings for improved display quality and power efficiency.

Unanswered Questions

How does the technology impact the overall design and form factor of AR eyewear displays?

The article does not delve into how the use of multi-layered optical gratings affects the physical design and aesthetics of AR eyewear displays.

Are there any limitations or drawbacks to implementing this technology in AR eyewear displays?

The article does not discuss any potential limitations or drawbacks that may arise from incorporating multi-layered optical gratings in AR eyewear displays.

Original Abstract Submitted

An augmented-reality (AR) eyewear display utilizes an optical waveguide having multi-layered optical gratings in a repeating arrangement. The optical gratings include varying depths, slope angles, lengths, and/or widths in order to tune the gratings to provide an improved AR eyewear display. By using the different configurations of two-dimensional or three-dimensional gratings disclosed herein in a waveguide of an AR eyewear display, optical characteristics of the waveguide are optimized to provide, e.g., high resolution and/or contrast, high display uniformity, high input coupling efficiency, and/or high output coupling efficiency. Accordingly, in some embodiments, aspects of the present disclosure enable lower-power AR eyewear displays to produce the same quality of display of a higher-power conventional AR eyewear display waveguide.