Patents Assigned to Oculus VR, LLC
  • Patent number: 10049501
    Abstract: A head mounted display (HMD) comprises a display panel with a first portion including an active area, and a second portion electrically coupled to the first portion of the display panel. The display panel is configured to receive content and compensation content from a VR console for driving the first portion and the second portion of the display panel, respectively. The compensation content is based on modification of the content to be displayed on the first portion of the display panel to mitigate crosstalk in the first portion of the display panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Evan M. Richards, Nirav Rajendra Patel
  • Patent number: 10043430
    Abstract: An apparatus for aligning an eyecup to an electronic display panel of a head-mounted display is presented in this disclosure. The eyecup is coupled to the electronic display panel forming an eyecup assembly. An imaging device captures one or more images of image light projected by the electronic display panel through the eyecup. A calibration controller, interfaced with the electronic display panel and the imaging device, determines physical locations of pixels of the electronic display panel on a sensor of the imaging device based on the captured one or more images. The calibration controller also determines a preferred alignment for presenting images by the electronic display panel based on the determined physical locations of the pixels and a projected location of the eyecup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Samuel Redmond D'Amico, Simon Hallam, Kieran Tobias Levin
  • Patent number: 10042165
    Abstract: A display device includes a two-dimensional array of tiles. Each tile includes a two-dimensional array of pixels, and a lens assembly, of a two-dimensional array of lens assemblies, configured to direct at least a portion of the respective pattern of light from the two-dimensional array of pixels to a pupil of an eye of a user. Each pixel is configured to output light so that the two-dimensional array of pixels outputs a respective pattern of light. The lens assembly includes multiple distinct optical elements, such as one or more lenses and/or one or more diffraction gratings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: OCULUS VR, LLC
    Inventors: Mary Lou Jepsen, Edouard Schmidtlin
  • Patent number: 10045449
    Abstract: A facial-interface system for a head-mounted display may include (1) a facial interface having a positioning abutment surface and (2) a facial-interface adjustment apparatus. The facial-interface adjustment apparatus may include a positioning member that is rotatable about a pivot, the positioning member comprising an extending surface and a contracting surface. The facial-interface adjustment apparatus may also include an actuation member that that is movable to rotate the positioning member about the pivot between (1) an extended holding position in which the extending surface of the positioning member faces and abuts the positioning abutment surface of the facial interface, and (2) a contracted holding position in which the contracting surface of the positioning member faces and abuts the positioning abutment surface of the facial interface. Various other systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventor: Phillip Yee
  • Patent number: 10036892
    Abstract: A method of making an optical assembly includes obtaining a first optical element having a first optical surface and a second optical surface that is opposite to the first optical surface, and a second optical element having a third optical surface and a fourth optical surface that is opposite to the third optical surface. The second optical element is distinct and separate from the first optical element. The method also includes obtaining an enclosure configured to enclose the first optical element and the second optical element. The method further includes providing one or more fillers in the enclosure so that the one or more fillers are in contact with the second optical surface and the third optical surface, thereby making the optical assembly. Also disclosed are an optical assembly made by the method and an optical imaging device including the optical assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: OCULUS VR, LLC
    Inventors: Youngshik Yoon, Richard Han Soo Cho
  • Patent number: 10038966
    Abstract: A virtual reality (VR) system simulates sounds that a user of the VR system perceives to have originated from sources at desired virtual locations of the VR system. The simulated sounds are generated based on personalized head-related transfer functions (HRTF) of the user that are constructed by applying machine-learned models to a set of anatomical features identified for the user. The set of anatomical features may be identified from images of the user captured by a camera. In one instance, the HRTF is represented as a reduced set of parameters that allow the machine-learned models to capture the variability in HRTF across individual users while being trained in a computationally-efficient manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventor: Ravish Mehra
  • Patent number: 10032347
    Abstract: A sensor records information about skin stretch perceived by a user based on an interaction with a real object. The sensor includes a mechanical housing configured to be worn on a finger of a user, and a mechanism coupled to the mechanical housing. The mechanism includes a first bearing that rotates in a first direction in response to an interaction with a surface. The mechanism also includes a second bearing coupled to the first bearing, such that rotation of the first bearing causes the second bearing to rotate in a direction opposite to the first direction. The second bearing is in contact with a portion of the finger, and includes a feedback surface that simulates a force associated with the interaction with the surface. The sensor includes a controller configured to monitor rotation of the second bearing and record skin stretch information responsive to the interaction with the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Sean Jason Keller, David R. Perek, Tristan Thomas Trutna, Garett Andrew Ochs, Nicholas Roy Corson, Raymond King
  • Patent number: 10025060
    Abstract: A virtual reality headset displays a three-dimensional (3D) virtual scene and includes a varifocal element to dynamically adjust a focal length of an optics block included in the virtual reality headset based on a location in the virtual scene where the user is looking. The headset tracks a user's eyes to approximate gaze lines and determines a plane of focus for a frame of the virtual scene as the intersection of the gaze lines. The varifocal element adjusts the focal length of the optics block so the optics block is focused at the plane of focus, which keeps the user's eyes in a zone of comfort as vergence and accommodation change. Based on the plane of focus, the virtual reality headset may provide depth cues, such as depth of field blur, to planes in the virtual scene deeper in the user's field of view than the plane of focus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Douglas Robert Lanman, Ryan Michael Ebert, Alexander Jobe Fix, William Aaron Nicholls, Michael Sean Mounier, Robert Dale Cavin
  • Patent number: 10025386
    Abstract: An input interface for a virtual reality (VR) system includes one or more actuators stressing or straining a portion of a user's skin, simulating interactions with presented virtual objects. For example, an actuator comprises a tendon contacting portions of a user's body and coupled to a motor that moves the tendon to move portions of the user's body contacting the tendon. Alternatively, an actuator includes a pad having a surface contacting a surface of the user's body. A driving mechanism moves the pad in one or more directions parallel to the surface of the user's body with varying levels of normal force. In another example, one or more pins contact portions of the user's body and a surface of a bladder. The pins move as the bladder is inflated or deflated, which moves the contacted portions of the user's body. Alternatively, another type of actuator may move the pins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Sean Jason Keller, Tristan Thomas Trutna, Garett Andrew Ochs, Selso Luanava, Nicholas Roy Corson
  • Patent number: 10025387
    Abstract: An input interface configured to be worn on a portion of a user's body includes tendons coupled to various sections of the garment. A tendon includes one or more activation mechanisms that, when activated, prevent or restrict a particular range of motion. The tendon may include a tendon web that controls multiple portions of the user's body with an activation mechanism. The tendon may connect to the garment through a textile mesh that distributes force over a wider area of the user's skin. An activation mechanism may apply force to the textile mesh to modify the stiffness of the textile mesh or to modify the pressure applied by the textile mesh. The tendon may be a wire or have a form with variable width. The activation mechanism may be a solenoid using a permanent magnet, which may have multiple alternating magnetic poles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Sean Jason Keller, Tristan Thomas Trutna, Garett Andrew Ochs, Selso Luanava, Nicholas Roy Corson
  • Patent number: 10025101
    Abstract: A lens includes an optically transparent substrate having a first lens surface and a second lens surface opposite to the first lens surface. The first lens surface includes a plurality of Fresnel structures. A respective Fresnel structure of the plurality of Fresnel structures includes a slope facet and a draft facet. The draft facet is characterized by a draft angle. The draft angle of the respective Fresnel structure is based on a distance of the respective Fresnel structure from a center of the lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: OCULUS VR, LLC
    Inventors: Brian Wheelwright, Jacques Gollier, Melissa Geng
  • Patent number: 10025384
    Abstract: A head-mounted display (HMD) includes an eye tracking system that determines user's eye tracking information based on combining structured light information and time-of-flight information. The eye tracking system includes an illumination source, an imaging device and a controller. The illumination source modulates a structured light by a carrier signal and illuminates a user's eye with the modulated structured light. The imaging device includes a detector that captures the modulated structured light. The detector comprises a plurality of pixel groups, each pixel group receiving a control signal determining when a pixel group captures light, the control signal causing pixel groups to capture light at different times relative to other pixel groups. The controller determines phases of the carrier signal based on intensities of light received by different pixel groups and generates depth information related to surfaces of the user's eye, which is used to model and track the user's eye.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventor: Nicholas Daniel Trail
  • Patent number: 10020422
    Abstract: A light emitting diode (LED) with a first electrical contact at the top of the LED and a second electrical contact at the bottom of the LED. Layers of materials are formed on a substrate. The layers of materials include a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a light emitting layer between the first and second semiconductor layers for producing light responsive to passing current through the light emitting layer. The formed layers of material are shaped into at least one semiconductor structure. A first electrical contact is formed on a top of the semiconductor structure, and a second electrical contact is formed at a bottom of the semiconductor structure. The second electrical contact is at least partially transparent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventor: Celine Claire Oyer
  • Patent number: 10019918
    Abstract: A method for detecting a screen tear in a display device for a given frame of video is described. The method includes retrieving an identification code associated with each pixel row of the frame of video and determining whether the retrieved identification code is same across pixel rows of the frame of video. If the identification code is found to be same across the pixel rows of the frame of video, no screen tear is found. On the other hand, a screen tear is detected if the identification code is found not to be same across the pixel rows. An indication of the detected screen tear is provided to the host machine to re-render the frame of video without such screen tear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Nirav Rajendra Patel, Lyle David Bainbridge
  • Patent number: 10020212
    Abstract: An LED die containing a gallium semiconductor layer is placed on a target substrate using a pick-up tool (PUT) attached to the LED die using metallic gallium. As a result of a laser lift-of (LLO) process to separate the gallium semiconductor layer from a substrate layer on which the gallium semiconductor layer is formed, a layer of gallium metal is formed on a surface of the LED die. The gallium layer is melted to form liquid gallium. A head of the PUT is contacted with the liquid gallium, whereupon the LED die is cooled such that the liquid gallium solidifies, attaching the LED die to the PUT. The PUT picks up and places the LED die at a desired location on a target substrate. The LED die can be heated to melt the gallium layer, allowing the PUT to be detached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Allan Pourchet, Pooya Saketi
  • Patent number: 10019844
    Abstract: An electronic display is driven to compensate for non-uniformity in a display property across display regions of the electronic display. Non-uniformity measures are determined for a set of electronic displays. A transformation is determined for converting the non-uniformity measures to transformed non-uniformity representations having fewer dimensions than a total number of the display regions in an electronic display. Using the transformation, a transformed non-uniformity representation for the electronic display is generated and stored, and an inverse transform is determined and stored. A system containing the electronic display generates correction values for the display regions by applying the inverse transformation to the transformed non-uniformity representation. Input display data for the electronic display is modified according to the generated correction values for the display regions. The electronic display is driven according the modified display data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Shizhe Shen, Evan Mark Richards
  • Patent number: 10018838
    Abstract: An electronic display is driven to compensate for aging of pixels in the electronic display. An aging factor is determined based on initial display data for a display portion of the electronic display during one or more monitored frames. The aging factor is indicative of aging of pixels in the display portion of the electronic display due to use corresponding to the initial display data. An aging counter for the display portion is increased based on the determined aging factor. A compensation value is determined for the display portion based on the aging counter for the display portion. Input display data for the display portion is modified during a subsequent frame according the determined compensation value. The display portion is driven with the modified input display data during the subsequent frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Evan Mark Richards, Nirav Rajendra Patel, Andrew T. Forsyth
  • Patent number: 10019964
    Abstract: A head mounted display (HMD) includes a magnetic sensor to produce a sensor signal responsive to detecting a magnet within a first threshold distance. The HMD also includes a circuit operatively coupled to the magnetic sensor. The circuit determines that the HMD is to be placed in a storage mode responsive to receiving the sensor signal from the magnetic sensor. The circuit powers down components of the HMD responsive to determining that the HMD is to be placed in the storage mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventor: Nirav Rajendra Patel
  • Patent number: 10013055
    Abstract: An eye tracking system, images the surface (e.g., sclera) of each eye of a user to capture an optical flow field resulting from a texture of the imaged surface. The eye tracking system includes illumination source (e.g., laser) and a detector (e.g., camera). The source illuminates a portion of the eye that is imaged the camera. As the eye moves, different areas of the eye are imaged, allowing generation of a map of a portion of the eye. An image of a portion of the eye is includes a diffraction pattern (i.e., the optical flow) corresponding to the portion of the eye. Through a calibration process, the optical flow is mapped to a location where the eye is looking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: David R. Perek, Warren Andrew Hunt, Marshall Thomas DePue, Robert Dale Cavin
  • Patent number: D825498
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Oculus VR, LLC
    Inventors: Boyd Drew Allin, Jeffrey Taylor Stellman