Patents Assigned to Meta Platform Technologies, LLC
  • Patent number: 11962748
    Abstract: 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: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Nitay Romano, Nadav Grossinger, Yair Alpern, Emil Alon
  • Patent number: 11962928
    Abstract: In one example, an apparatus includes an array of pixel cells and a peripheral circuit. Each pixel cell of the array of pixel cells includes: a memory to store pixel-level programming data and measurement data, and light measurement circuits configured to, based on the pixel-level programming data from the control memory, perform a light measurement operation to generate the measurement data, and to store the measurement data at the data memory. The peripheral circuit is configured to: receive a pixel array programming map including pixel-level programming data targeted at each pixel cell; extract the pixel-level programming data from the pixel array programming map; and transmit the pixel-level programming data to each pixel cell of the array of pixel cells for storage at the memory of the each pixel cell and to individually control the light measurement operation and a generation of the measurement data at the each pixel cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Hans Reyserhove, Andrew Samuel Berkovich, Xinqiao Liu
  • Patent number: 11960638
    Abstract: In one example, a mobile device comprises: a physical link; a plurality of image sensors, each image sensor being configured to transmit image data via the physical link; and a controller coupled to the physical link, whereby the physical link, the plurality of image sensors, and the controller form a multi-drop network. The controller is configured to: transmit a control signal to configure image sensing operations at the plurality of image sensors; receive, via the physical link, image data from at least a subset of the plurality of image sensors; combine the image data from the at least a subset of the plurality of image sensors to obtain an extended field of view (FOV); determine information of a surrounding environment of the mobile device captured within the extended FOV; and provide the information to an application to generate content based on the information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Samuel Berkovich, Xinqiao Liu, Hans Reyserhove
  • Patent number: 11961494
    Abstract: Methods and systems for reducing electromagnetic interference in analog circuit of a control device for an augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) system are described. An analog circuit associated with the control device may include at least one amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter coupled to an amplifier by one or more electrical conductors. Electromagnetic interference induced in the one or more electrical conductors by an external AC magnetic field may be reduced using at least one component of the control device configured to reduce the electromagnetic interference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ning Guo, Akshay Yembarwar, Jonathan Reid, Daniel Wetmore
  • Patent number: 11953679
    Abstract: An eye is illuminated with infrared illumination light. Illuminating the eye includes illuminating a near-eye ellipsoidal lensing structure. A tracking image of Purkinje reflections of the infrared illumination light is captured by a camera. An eye position of the eye is determined in response to the tracking image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Robin Sharma, Andrew John Ouderkirk
  • Patent number: 11956560
    Abstract: In some examples, a sensor apparatus comprises: a pixel cell configured to generate a voltages, the pixel cell including a photodiode configured to generate charge in response to incoming light, and a charge storage device to convert the charge to a voltage; an integrated circuit configured to: determine a first captured voltage converted by the charge storage device during a first time period; compare the first captured voltage to a threshold voltage value; and in response to determining that the first captured voltage meets or exceeds the threshold voltage value: determine first time data corresponding to the first time period; and prevent the charge storage device from further generating a charge; and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to generate a digital pixel value based on the first captured voltage, and a memory to store the digital pixel value and the first time data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Tsung-Hsun Tsai, Song Chen, Xinqiao Liu
  • Patent number: 11956588
    Abstract: An electronic device may include one or more terminals configured to provide a voltage signal to an actuator. The electronic device may detect a current associated with the voltage signal provided by the terminal to the actuator. The electronic device may determine an impedance across associated with the actuator based on the voltage signal and the electrical current. The electronic device may compare the impedance to a threshold impedance to determine whether there is sufficient skin contact with the actuator. The electronic device may provide audio via cartilage conduction if there is sufficient contact based on comparing the impedance to the threshold impedance, or may output a notification to the user to adjust placement of the electronic device to improve contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Drew Stone Briggs, Morteza Khaleghimeybodi, Chuming Zhao, John Raymond Brodie
  • Patent number: 11953702
    Abstract: A graded-index optical element may include a nanovoided material including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The nanovoided material may be transparent between the first surface and the second surface. Additionally, the nanovoided material may have a predefined change in effective refractive index in at least one axis due to a change in at least one of nanovoid size or nanovoid distribution along the at least one axis. Various other elements, devices, systems, materials, and methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew John Ouderkirk, Kenneth Alexander Diest, Renate Eva Klementine Landig
  • Patent number: 11956413
    Abstract: In one example, an apparatus comprises: a first photodiode to generate a first charge; a second photodiode to generate a second charge; a quantizer; a first memory bank and a second memory bank; and a controller configured to: control the quantizer to perform a first quantization operation and a second quantization operation of the first charge to generate, respectively, a first digital output and a second digital output, the first and second quantization operations being associated with different intensity ranges; store one of the first digital output or the second digital output in the first memory bank; control the quantizer to perform a third quantization operation of the second charge to generate a third digital output, the third quantization operation being associated with a different intensity range from at least one of the first or second quantization operations; and store the third digital output in the second memory bank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Song Chen, Xinqiao Liu, Lyle David Bainbridge, Andrew Samuel Berkovich
  • Patent number: 11953966
    Abstract: Methods and corresponding systems and apparatuses for saving power through selectively disabling clock signals in a systolic array are described. In some embodiments, a clock gate controller is operable to output a gated clock signal from which local clock signals of processing elements in the systolic array are derived. The gated clock signal corresponds to a root clock signal that is distributed through a clock distribution network or clock tree. The clock gate controller is located along one branch of the clock distribution network. The branch can be associated with processing elements that form a column within the systolic array. Disabling the gated clock signal disables the local clock signals along the entire branch, preventing any components that are clocked by those local clock signals from consuming power. Additional clock gate controllers can similarly be provided for other branches, including a branch associated with another column.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Fan Wu, Edith Dallard
  • Patent number: 11953796
    Abstract: A device is provided. The device includes a first Pancharatnam-Berry phase (“PBP”) lens, and a second PBP lens stacked with the first PBP lens. Each of the first PBP lens and the second PBP lens includes a liquid crystal (“LC”) layer. Each side of the LC layer is provided with a continuous electrode and a plurality of patterned electrodes. The patterned electrodes in the first PBP lens are arranged non-parallel to the patterned electrodes in the second PBP lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Lu Lu, Xiayu Feng, Hsien-Hui Cheng
  • Patent number: 11954805
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes by one or more computing devices, accessing an image including a hand of a user of a head-mounted display at a first time. The method includes generating, from at least the image, a virtual object representation of the hand, defined in a virtual environment that includes at least one other virtual object. The method includes rendering a first image of the virtual environment comprising a first portion of the hand of the user at a first frame rate, and determining a second viewpoint of the user at a second time. The method includes rendering a second image of the virtual environment comprising a second portion of the hand of the user at a second frame rate. The method includes providing, to a set of light emitters of the head-mounted display, instructions to display the second image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Steve John Clohset, Warren Andrew Hunt
  • Patent number: 11954025
    Abstract: Disclosed herein includes a system, a method, and a device for reading and writing sparse data in a neural network accelerator. A mask identifying byte positions within a data word having non-zero values in memory can be accessed. Each bit of the mask can have a first value or a second value, the first value indicating that a byte of the data word corresponds to a non-zero byte value, the second value indicating that the byte of the data word corresponds to a zero byte value. The data word can be modified to have non-zero byte values stored at an end of a first side of the data word in the memory, and any zero byte values stored in a remainder of the data word. The modified data word can be written to the memory via at least a first slice of a plurality of slices that is configured to access the first side of the data word in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ganesh Venkatesh, Liangzhen Lai, Pierce I-Jen Chuang, Meng Li
  • Patent number: 11953688
    Abstract: Various embodiments set forth high-resolution liquid crystal displays and components thereof. In some embodiments, light emitted by a high-resolution green color liquid crystal display is combined, via a combiner, with light emitted by at least one lower-resolution red and blue color liquid crystal display. The red and blue color display(s) may include a single display or two displays positioned on opposing sides of the combiner. The combiner may be a dichroic or polarization-based combiner. Combined light from the green color display and the red and blue color display(s) is passed through collimating optics, such as a pancake lens or a Fresnel lens, toward a viewer's eye.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jacques Gollier, Ying Geng, Dong Chen
  • Publication number: 20240111854
    Abstract: An administered authentication system can authenticate an artificial reality device using an authorization record between a user account and an artificial reality device. In some implementations, the authorization record is created in response to activation of a user account-specific key sent to a user-supplied contact, where an artificial reality device identifier was provided with the user-supplied contact. In other implementations, the authorization record is created in response to activation of a user account-specific key provided to the artificial reality device as a code, where activation of the key includes adding an artificial reality device identifier to a key activation message. In yet other implementations, the authorization record is created in response to an application associated with a user account activating an artificial reality device-specific key, with an artificial reality device identifier, that is provided via the artificial reality device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Marc KREJCI, David SCOVILLE, Chelsea KLUKAS, Matthew O'neil TERRELL, Tristam Kyle MACDONALD, Justin PENG, Florian LUDWIG
  • Publication number: 20240114223
    Abstract: A camera assembly with two distinct magnifications is described. The camera assembly includes a lens assembly with two modules to perceive light. The first module includes two halves of different lens assemblies disposed together to provide two different optical paths and fields of view to obtain the two different optical magnifications. The second module includes a lens assembly common to the two halves of the first module. A biprism provides light separation for the two halves of the first module. Thus, light received and subjected to two different magnifications in the first module at a distal end of the camera assembly is further processed through the second module before being provided to a sensor. The biprism at the camera's distal end keeps the two different lens assemblies of the first module at the same viewing direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Dongmin YANG
  • Publication number: 20240114226
    Abstract: In one example, an apparatus for integrating sensing and display system includes a first semiconductor layer that includes an image sensor; a second semiconductor layer that includes a display; a third semiconductor layer that includes compute circuits configured to support an image sensing operation by the image sensor and a display operation by the display; and a semiconductor package that encloses the first, second, and third semiconductor layers, the semiconductor package further including a first opening to expose the image sensor and a second opening to expose the display. The first, second, and third semiconductor layers form a first stack structure along a first axis. The third semiconductor layer is sandwiched between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer in the first stack structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Samuel Berkovich, Warren Andrew Hunt, Daniel Morgan, Shlomo Alkalay, Jack Thomas Lavier
  • Publication number: 20240112418
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems for capturing, recording, and playing back steps for building objects and structures in an artificial reality (XR) world. A teacher or creator can initiate a capture context within a build mode of an XR application, during which steps (and potentially other metadata) of a building process are recorded and stored. A XR world building engine can generate an interactive replay of the recorded building process that allows another user to view the building process within an XR environment at the user's preferred pace and/or from different perspectives. In some implementations, the XR world building engine can generate a replay of the teacher's or creator's avatar performing the building process, such that the user can view the building process from a third person perspective and perform the same steps to learn how to build objects and structures in an XR world.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2022
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Sarah BARRICK, Rachel CROSS, Patricia DOOLEY, Jean CHIN, Katerina VASILIOU, Tiffany MADRUGA
  • Patent number: 11949213
    Abstract: A depth camera assembly (DCA) determines depth information for a local area. The DCA includes a camera assembly and at least one illuminator. The DCA may select a subset of the VCSELs to provide illumination at any given time. The illuminator may comprise near-field VCSELs configured to generate a structured light (SL) pattern for depth sensing in the near-field and far-field VCSELs configured to generate a SL pattern for depth sensing in the far-field. The near-field VCSELs may comprise a linear emission region which is shorter than a linear emission region of the far-field VCSELs. The DCA may generate and phase shift a quasi-sinusoidal SL pattern. The DCA may phase shift the quasi-sinusoidal SL pattern by alternating which traces on the illuminator are active.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Nadav Grossinger, Michael Hall, Robert Hasbun, Jonatan Ginzburg, Zihe Gao
  • Patent number: 11947111
    Abstract: The present technology relates to artificial reality systems. Such systems provide projections a user can create to specify object interactions. For example, when a user wishes to interact with an object outside her immediate reach, she can use a projection to select, move, or otherwise interact with the distant object. The present technology also includes object selection techniques for identifying and disambiguating between objects, allowing a user to select objects both near and distant from the user. Yet further aspects of the present technology include techniques for interpreting various bimanual (two-handed) gestures for interacting with objects. The present technology further includes a model for differentiating between global and local modes for, e.g., providing different input modalities or interpretations of user gestures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jonathan Ravasz, Etienne Pinchon, Adam Tibor Varga, Jasper Stevens, Robert Ellis, Jonah Jones, Evgenii Krivoruchko