Patents Assigned to Facebook Technologies, LLC
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Patent number: 11067809Abstract: The disclosed display system may include (1) a display element that is transparent and includes a first surface facing a viewing region and a second surface opposite the first surface, the second surface facing an external environment, (2) a light-blocking shutter that faces and overlaps at least a portion of the second surface of the display element, (3) a display-driving subsystem that displays images visible to a user at the viewing region via display light emitted from the first surface of the display element during active display intervals, and (4) a shutter-driving subsystem that alternately switches the state of the light-blocking shutter between a blocking state during the active display intervals and a pass-through state during inactive display intervals when the display light is not emitted from the display element. Various other systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: July 29, 2019Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Jasmine Soria Sears, Gareth Valentine
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Patent number: 11069104Abstract: A display assembly generates environmentally matched virtual content for an electronic display. The display assembly includes a display controller and a display. The display controller is configured to estimate environmental matching information for a target area within a local area based in part on light information received from a light sensor. The target area is a region for placement of a virtual object. The light information describes light values. The display controller generates display instructions for the target area based in part on a human vision model, the estimated environmental matching information, and rendering information associated with the virtual object. The display is configured to present the virtual object as part of artificial reality content in accordance with the display instructions. The color and brightness of the virtual object is environmentally matched to the portion of the local area surrounding the target area.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2020Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Jiangtao Kuang, Edward Buckley, Honghong Peng, Sapna Shroff, Romain Bachy
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Patent number: 11070789Abstract: A switchable fringe pattern illuminator includes an optical path switch configured to receive light and dynamically control an amount of light that is provided to a first waveguide and an amount of light that is provided to a second waveguide. A first projector configured to generate a first fringe pattern using light from the first waveguide. The first fringe pattern illuminates a first portion of a target area. A second projector configured to generate a second fringe pattern using light from the second waveguide. The second fringe pattern illuminates a second portion of a target area. The illuminator may be part of a depth camera assembly (DCA). The DCA is configured to capture images of a portion of the target area. The DCA is further configured to determine depth information for an object in the target area based in part on the captured images.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2019Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Zihe Gao, Michael Hall, Qing Chao, Zhaoming Zhu, Tin Komljenovic
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Patent number: 11067848Abstract: An electroactive device may include (i) a first conductor, (ii) a first optically transparent material electrically coupled to the first conductor, the first optically transparent material including a plurality of nanovoids and having a first refractive index, (iii) a second optically transparent material electrically coupled to the first optically transparent material, the second optically transparent material having a second refractive index that is lower than the first refractive index, and (iv) a second conductor electrically coupled to the second optically transparent material. Various other methods, systems, apparatuses, and materials are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: November 21, 2018Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Andrew John Ouderkirk, Katherine Marie Smyth, Ken Diest
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Patent number: 11068057Abstract: A virtual reality system enables a user to interact with virtual objects. The system includes a fiducial ring, an imaging device and a console. The fiducial ring includes a ring body that includes a plurality of fiducial markers that each correspond to a different location on the ring body. An imaging device is configured to capture one or more images of the fiducial ring. The console receives the images that include an image of one or more fiducial markers. Based on the received images of the fiducial markers, the console determines a location on the fiducial ring that corresponds to the imaged fiducial marker. The console determines a position of the fiducial ring based on the determined location of the fiducial marker on the fiducial ring. The console provides content to a head mounted display (HMD) based on the determined position of the fiducial ring.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2020Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Sean Jason Keller, David R. Perek, Tristan Thomas Trutna, Garett Andrew Ochs, Nicholas Roy Corson, Raymond King
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Patent number: 11069148Abstract: Method and apparatus for rendering a visual representation based on a musculoskeletal representation. The method comprises updating the musculoskeletal representation based, at least in part, on a plurality of neuromuscular signals recorded from a user, wherein the musculoskeletal representation is updated based at least in part on: position information describing a spatial relationship between two or more connected segments of the musculoskeletal representation, and force information describing a force exerted by at least one segment of the musculoskeletal representation, and rendering, via a user interface, the visual representation based on the updated musculoskeletal representation, wherein the visual representation includes a visual indication of the position information and a visual indication of the force information.Type: GrantFiled: January 25, 2019Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Tudor Giurgica-Tiron, Adam Berenzweig, Attila Maczak, Michael Astolfi, Mason Remaley
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Patent number: 11061234Abstract: A depth camera assembly for depth sensing of a local area includes an illumination source, an imaging device, and a controller. The illumination source illuminates a local area with light emitted in accordance with emission instructions generated by the controller. The illumination source includes an array of optical sources and an optical assembly. Operation of each optical source in the array is controllable based in part on the emission instructions. The optical assembly is configured to project the light into the local area. The imaging device captures one or more images of at least a portion of the light reflected from one or more objects in the local area. The controller determines depth information for the one or more objects based in part on the captured one or more images.Type: GrantFiled: February 1, 2018Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Zhaoming Zhu, Nicholas Daniel Trail
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Patent number: 11063407Abstract: An addressable vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) array may generate structured light in dot patterns. The VCSEL array includes a plurality of traces that control different groups of VCSELs, such that each group of VCSELs may be individually controlled. The VCSEL groups are arranged such that they emit a dot pattern, and by modulating which groups of VCSELs are active a density of the dot pattern may be adjusted. The VCSEL array may be part of a depth projector that projects the dot pattern into a local area. A projection assembly may replicate the dot pattern in multiple tiles.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 2019Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventor: Jonatan Ginzburg
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Patent number: 11062502Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes accessing a number of pictures of an object, constructing a modeling volume for three-dimensional modeling of the object by processing the number of pictures using a machine-learning framework, where the modeling volume is associated with a number of color and opacity information that are associated with a number of regions in the modeling volume, and rendering an image of the object from a view-point using the modeling volume, where each pixel of the image is rendered by projecting a virtual ray from the view-point and through the modeling volume, determining one or more of the number of regions in the modeling volume intersected by the virtual ray, and determining a color and an opacity of the pixel based on an accumulation of the color and opacity information associated with the one or more of the number of regions intersected by the virtual ray.Type: GrantFiled: April 9, 2019Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Jason Saragih, Stephen Anthony Lombardi, Tomas Simon Kreuz, Gabriel Bailowitz Schwartz
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Patent number: 11061239Abstract: A head-mounted display device for providing augmented reality contents to a wearer includes a light projector and a pancake combiner. The light projector is configured to project a light having a first polarization for rendering images based at least on the augmented reality contents. The pancake combiner is configured to combine the light from the light projector and light from an outside of the head-mounted display device for providing an overlap of the rendered image and a real image that corresponds to the light from the outside of the head-mounted display device. The pancake combiner is also configured to direct the light from the light projector toward a pupil of an eye the wearer.Type: GrantFiled: August 9, 2019Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Douglas Robert Lanman, Jacques Gollier
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Patent number: 11060621Abstract: A fluidic-device valve may include a valve guide having a guide wall surrounding a central axis. The guide wall may include a first guide section, a second guide section, and an interior surface that defines a valve cavity extending longitudinally along the central axis from the first guide section to the second guide section. The valve may also include a valve member having a ferromagnetic material disposed within the valve cavity, and the valve member may extend longitudinally along the central axis. The valve member may also have a first plug section and a second plug section and may define a fluid conduit between the first plug section and the second plug section. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: August 27, 2018Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Riccardo DeSalvo, Xavier Clark Talbot-Thiebaux, Matthew Schwab, Ian Andreas Marquez, Jack Lindsay
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Patent number: 11062499Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for determining the color for a sampling location may include using a computing system to determine a sampling location within a texture that comprises a plurality of texels. Each texel may encode a distance field indicating a distance between the texel and an edge depicted in the texture and an indicator indicating whether the texel is on a first predetermined side of the edge or a second predetermined side of the edge. The system may select, based on the sampling location, a set of texels in the plurality of texels to use to determine a color for the sampling location. The system may determine that the set of texels have indicators that are the same. The system may then determine, using the indicator of any texel in the set of texels, the color for the sampling location.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2019Date of Patent: July 13, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventor: Larry Seiler
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Patent number: 11056037Abstract: A display operates a plurality of light emitters using pulse width modulations (PWM). Pixel data for a pixel location may be separated into a first subset of bits and a second subset of bits. The display device turns on first light emitters for first PWM turn-on times in accordance with the first subset of bits within a PWM cycle. The display device turns on second light emitters for PWM on time second PWM turn-on times in accordance with the second subset of bits within the PWM cycle. The current level that drives the first emitters may remain constant during the first turn-on times but may be higher than the current level that drives the second emitters. The first emitters may generate light in accordance with the most significant bits of pixel data while the second emitters may generate light in accordance with the least significant bits of the pixel data.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2019Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Edward Buckley, Larry Seiler, William Thomas Blank
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Patent number: 11054056Abstract: A fluidic valve may include an inlet, a control port, an additional control port, an outlet, a fluid channel configured to convey fluid from the inlet to the outlet, and a piston that includes (1) a restricting gate transmission element configured to block, when the piston is in a first position, the fluid channel and unblock, when the piston is in a second position, the fluid channel, (2) a controlling gate transmission element configured to interface with a control pressure from the control port that forces the piston towards the first position when applied to the controlling gate transmission element, and (3) an additional controlling gate transmission element configured to interface with an additional control pressure from the additional control port that forces the piston towards the second position when applied to the additional controlling gate transmission element. Various other related devices, systems, and methods are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 2019Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Casey Glick, Erik Samuel Roby, Andrew Stanley
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Patent number: 11055929Abstract: A display provides display light to an eyebox area. A reflective layer receives the display light from the display and redirects the display light to the eyebox area. The reflective layer receives scene light from an external environment of the device and redirects the scene light to a camera for capturing scene images. The camera is positioned a first distance from the reflective layer that is approximately the same as a second distance between the reflective layer and the eyebox area.Type: GrantFiled: November 5, 2020Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Brian Wheelwright, Jacques Gollier, Yusufu Njoni Bamaxam Sulai, Fenglin Peng, Babak Amirsolaimani
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Patent number: 11055056Abstract: The disclosed system may include (1) a wearable display device including (a) a display subsystem that presents an image, and (b) a first wireless interface that receives image data, where the display subsystem bases the image on the image data, and (2) a processing device that is physically separate from the display device and includes (a) a display data processing subsystem that generates the image data, (b) a second wireless interface that transmits the image data directly to the first wireless interface, and (3) a position detection subsystem including a sensor that captures depth data in a local environment of the display device, where the position detection subsystem determines a location or an orientation of a portion of a user within the local environment, and the display data processing subsystem generates the image data based on the location or orientation. Various other systems and methods are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: January 21, 2019Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventor: Nicholas Daniel Trail
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Patent number: 11054718Abstract: The disclosed electronic shutter may include (1) an optical structure including a medium through which light from an environment passes to a lens of a camera for capturing an image of the environment; and (2) a controlling circuit that (a) detects a first condition of a signal, where the first condition indicates an activation of the camera, (b) controls, in response, to the first condition, the optical structure such that the medium attains a transparent optical state, (c) detects a second condition of the signal, where the second condition indicates a deactivation of the camera, and (d) controls, in response to the second condition, the optical structure such that the medium attains a non-transparent optical state in a manner that prevents visual detection of the lens from the environment. Various other methods and systems are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 2019Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Saara Khan, Tony David, Sam Sarmast, Fletcher Nelson, Staci Elaan, Brian Kennedy
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Patent number: 11057610Abstract: Apparatus for generating a dynamic structured light pattern for optical tracking in three-dimensional space, comprises an array of lasers, such as a VCSEL laser array, to project light in a pattern into a three-dimensional space; and an optical element or elements arranged in cells. The cells are aligned with subsets of the laser array, and each cell individually applies a modulation, in particular an intensity modulation, to light from the laser or lasers of the subset, to provide a distinguishable and separately controllable part of the dynamic structured light pattern. A method of generating a structured light pattern is disclosed, in which light is provided from an array of lasers, and light is individually projected from subsets of the array of lasers to provide differentiated parts of the structured light pattern.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2020Date of Patent: July 6, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Nitay Romano, Nadav Grossinger, Yair Alpern, Emil Alon
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Patent number: D925528Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2020Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Peter Wesley Bristol, Joseph Patrick Sullivan, Mauricio Romano, David Michael Pickett, Peter Allan Chase Newbury, Quintin Morris, Shane Michael Ellis, Glen Jason Tompkins, Enric Vial Roig, Joel Bernard Jacobs
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Patent number: D925529Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2020Date of Patent: July 20, 2021Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLCInventors: Quintin Morris, Brett Delainey Christie, Mauricio Romano, Peter Wesley Bristol, Scott Andrew Dallmeyer, Chunli Chen, Shane Michael Ellis, Enric Vial Roig