JP2006098820A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: In a head-mounted display device (HMD), all components necessary for virtual image display (projection optical system composed of a lens, a mirror, etc.) are mounted on the head, but the user is large and heavy. Burden.
Of the optical systems necessary for virtual image display, a projection optical unit that emits a light beam including image information and an eyepiece optical unit that forms an image of the light beam on an eyeball retina are separately configured. The user only wears the final optical system. Since the mounting portion is extremely small and lightweight, and the mounting portion can have a simple mechanical structure that does not require any power supply device or the like, low cost, high durability, and no need for cables can be achieved.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device for visually providing a user with information such as images, videos, characters, and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as “image”), and in particular, a light flux including image information. The present invention relates to an eyeball projection type display device that guides light to a user's eyeball by an optical system and displays it as a virtual image.

  Conventionally, an eyeball projection display device that projects a display image on a user's eyeball and observes it as a virtual image has been proposed and is known as a head mounted display device (HMD) or a head-up display (HUD). It has been. As shown in FIG. 1, a display image (in this case, an arrow image) displayed using a display element such as a CRT or LCD is used to project a viewer's eyeball using a projection optical system including a lens, a mirror, and the like. It projects inside and shows a virtual image as if it were displayed in space. The HMD is a small and light-weight version specializing in mounting the projection optical system of the HUD on the head. Unlike the HUD that requires a large optical system to display a large image, the HMD It is a great advantage that a large screen image can be viewed with a small display element provided in the above.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-184797 JP-A-8-130694 JP 2002-277815 A

  However, even in the HMD, it is known that the position of the eyeball and the final element of the projection apparatus and the size of the element of the projection apparatus are related, and in order to obtain a large projection image with a small projection apparatus, the final optical The element needs to be placed close to the eyeball. For this reason, in the HMD, the projection device and the image generation device as a whole have been focused on reducing the size and weight, and various mechanisms have been developed to attach these to the head as easily as possible. Even if the element is used, the overall weight of the device will be several tens of grams, so wearing it on the head in the form of glasses, goggles, etc. will cause a sense of incongruity and weight, and also connect the cable of the image generation device As a result, the burden on the head and neck was still large. The present invention provides a drastic solution to these problems.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display device according to the present invention includes an image generation unit that generates a light beam including information such as an image to be displayed, and a projection optical unit that emits a light beam emitted from the image generation unit. And an eyepiece optical means for condensing the light flux from the projection optical means to form an exit pupil, and forming an image such as the image on the retina in the user's eyeball arranged in the vicinity of the exit pupil. In the eyeball projection display device, the projection optical means and the eyepiece optical means are configured to be separated from each other, and only the eyepiece optical means is disposed in the vicinity of the user's eyeball.

  That is, in the past, as shown in FIG. 2, a light beam containing image information is emitted from a miniaturized version of all components (projection optical system) necessary for virtual image display as shown in FIG. The projection optical means and the eyepiece optical means for forming the light flux on the eyeball retina are divided, and only this eyepiece optical means is arranged in front of the user's eyeball or attached to the user's head. Therefore, the mounting portion is extremely small and light. In addition, since the mounting portion can have a simple mechanical structure that does not require any power supply device, it is possible to achieve low cost, high durability, and no need for cables.

  Further, if the eyepiece optical means is composed of a hologram element, it can be affixed or formed on a spectacle lens or a contact lens, and the eyeglass or contact lens itself can be used as an eyepiece optical means.

  An example of a display device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. Video signals from computers, image devices, etc. are sent to a 1.3-inch LCD of a display device to become a projected image. As the backlight, a known one in which a plurality of high-brightness LEDs are combined with a filter is used, and monochromatic image light having a wavelength band of 30 nm centered on 520 nm is generated. Here, an LCD + high-brightness LED is used as a display device. However, a CRT, a plasma display, an LCD + lamp, or the like may be used if the wavelength bandwidth of generated light is limited and the luminance is sufficient.

Light emitted from the display device is converted into divergent light by a projection optical system provided close to the display device. The projection optical system is generally composed of a plurality of lenses. In this embodiment, since the aberration is reduced by using an aspheric lens, the lens is composed of three lenses. The outgoing light from the projection optical system reduces the degree of limitation of the position of the mounting optical system mounted on the head by suppressing the divergence angle to about 10 degrees.
In addition, when the light beam from the projection optical system is converted into parallel light and convergent light, there is a safety problem that light is likely to be imaged on the eyeball of the person who is not wearing the optical system at a specific position. Since the exit pupil is small, it is difficult to determine the image formed on the eyeball, and the advantages of the present invention are not impaired. Therefore, an optical system using parallel light and convergent light may be used.

  The light beam that has traveled out of the projection optical system and propagated through the space is placed immediately in front of the eyeball, or is collected by the mounting optical system that is attached to the user's head and installed in front of the eyeball to form an exit pupil. A virtual image larger than the projected image is formed and shown to the user as if the image was projected in space. The wearing optical system is formed by a volume hologram on the surface of a spectacle lens that is not included here, and it works as an optical system only for light in the 30 nm wavelength band centered on 520 nm. Yes. For this reason, light from the background other than the light from the projection optical system reaches the eyeball as it is, but the light from the projection optical system forms an image on the eyeball, so that the projected image appears to float in space. In the embodiment, the spectacles themselves are provided with a uniform coating that reduces the background light and increases the contrast of the projected image. However, a coating having a filter function that further transmits the wavelength band of the projected light may be used.

  Although the above embodiment is a monochromatic image only in a single wavelength region, as shown in FIG. 4, a hologram having three wavelengths of light as a light source is used to refract only light of each wavelength. Coloring may be performed by forming.

  For eyeglass users such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism, a hologram is added to the surface of the spectacle lens that takes into account the optical characteristics that cancel the spectacle lens characteristics. The display can be seen without any accompanying.

  In the figure, the projection optical system and the mounting optical system are arranged so as to be aligned on the optical axis, but the projection light emitted in different directions is guided by known means so as to enter the mounting optical system. If so, the range of use can be made wider.

  The mounting optical system may be either monocular or binocular. The monocular type is expected to be cheaper, smaller and lighter, but may be disadvantageous in terms of ease of viewing and viewer fatigue.

Also, not only spectacles, but also goggles, headphones that follow the top and left and right heads, hairbands that fit the front and left and right heads, and ring types that fit all around the head It is good as a tool.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the user identification means is used to authenticate the user in the vicinity of the wearing optical system, and different images are displayed for each user by the image switching means, display restriction is applied, or display is performed. You may make it impossible. The user identification means can be realized, for example, by attaching a radio identification tag such as RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) to the user or by embedding it in an eyepiece optical means owned by each user. In addition, known personal authentication means such as fingerprints, voiceprints, and retinal blood vessels can be employed.

  Since the projection optical system can be configured to be small regardless of the size of the projected virtual image, as shown in FIG. 6, the projection optical system is composed of a portable device (cell phone, electronic notebook, portable personal computer, multi-function wristwatch, small portable radio, small portable radio, etc. It can also be configured by being incorporated in a portable television or the like. In this case, the image viewed by the user is sufficiently large, and the image on the large screen can be viewed while being a small portable device. Moreover, according to the present invention, advantages such as easy posture freedom can be obtained.

  The display device according to the present invention can be used in an optical display system used in military, medical, or personal display applications, such as game images, movie viewing, television images, output images of wearable computers and personal computers, Provision of information to drivers of vehicles such as aircraft and trains, provision of work information to workers in factories, provision of information to viewers at museums and aquariums, exhibition halls and showrooms using virtual reality, or financial matters It is preferably used as a wearable display device suitable for browsing confidential information when handling personal information and the like. Especially for confidential information, unlike conventional ones that are displayed on the screen of a personal computer and can be viewed by anyone, according to the present invention, no information is given to those who wear eyepiece optical systems and are not permitted to view information. Since it is not possible to see, the remarkably excellent secrecy can be obtained.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional HMD. It is explanatory drawing which shows the display apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the display apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding colorization of the display apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the example of a structure which added the image switching mechanism by a wearer identification to the display apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a use state when the display device according to the present invention is incorporated in a portable device.

Claims (6)

Image generating means for generating a light beam including information such as an image to be displayed;
Projection optical means for emitting a light beam emitted from the image generating means;
An eyeball projection having eyepiece optical means for condensing a light beam from the projection optical means to form an exit pupil and forming an image such as the image on a retina in a user eyeball arranged in the vicinity of the exit pupil Type display device,
An eyeball projection display device, wherein the projection optical means and the eyepiece optical means are separated from each other, and only the eyepiece optical means is disposed in the vicinity of the user's eyeball. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the eyepiece optical means is configured to be attachable to a user's head. 3. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the eyepiece optical means is composed of a hologram. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the eyepiece optical means is formed on a surface of the spectacle lens or the contact lens. 5. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the projection optical means is incorporated in another portable device. 6. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising user identification means and image switching means for displaying an image corresponding to the user information identified by the user identification means. .

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