Patents by Inventor Alexander Jobe Fix

Alexander Jobe Fix has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11853473
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method for detecting glints includes a pair of light sources positioned on a head-mounted frame and driven to illuminate a corneal surface of an eye with differential light signals. An image sensor is positioned on the head-mounted frame to receive reflections of the differential light signals from the corneal surface. An orientation of a cornea (e.g., corneal sphere) of the eye may be determined at least partially based on the reflections of the differential light signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Clare Joyce Robinson, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Timo Stoffregen
  • Patent number: 11715331
    Abstract: A disclosed computer-implemented method may include directing a display device included in a head-mounted display worn by a user to illuminate, via a projection of a line at an illumination time, a portion of a cornea of the user. The method may further include detecting, via an image sensor at a detection time, a portion of the projection of the line reflected by the portion of the cornea of the user and identifying a distortion of the projection of the line reflected by the portion of the cornea of the user. The method may also include determining a shape of the cornea of the user based on the illumination time, the detection time, and the distortion of the projection of the line reflected by the portion of the cornea. Various other methods, systems, apparatuses, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Mohamed Hegazy, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk
  • Patent number: 11662812
    Abstract: The disclosed eye-tracking systems may include a visible light display having visible light pixels, at least one infrared pixel positioned within bounds of the visible light display, and an infrared sensor positioned and configured to detect infrared light originating from the at least one infrared pixel and reflected from an eye of the user. Related head-mounted display systems and methods for eye tracking are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Andrew Wyman MacDonald, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooel, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Kirk Erik Burgess, Mohamed Hegazy, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk, Robert Dale Cavin
  • Publication number: 20230077228
    Abstract: A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2022
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Inventors: Ganghun KIM, Andrew MAIMONE, Alexander Jobe FIX, Robert Dale CAVIN, Hee Yoon LEE, Matthieu Charles Raoul LEIBOVICI, Brian WHEELWRIGHT, Douglas Robert Lanman
  • Publication number: 20230057514
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method for detecting glints includes a pair of light sources positioned on a head-mounted frame and driven to illuminate a corneal surface of an eye with differential light signals. An image sensor is positioned on the head-mounted frame to receive reflections of the differential light signals from the corneal surface. An orientation of a cornea (e.g., corneal sphere) of the eye may be determined at least partially based on the reflections of the differential light signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Clare Joyce Robinson, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Timo Stoffregen
  • Publication number: 20230055268
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method for detecting glints includes a pair of light sources positioned on a head-mounted frame and driven to illuminate a corneal surface of an eye with binary-encoded differential light signals. An image sensor is positioned on the head-mounted frame to receive reflections of the differential light signals from the corneal surface. An orientation of a cornea (e.g., corneal sphere) of the eye may be determined at least partially based on the reflections of the binary-encoded differential light signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Clare Joyce Robinson, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Timo Stoffregen
  • Patent number: 11458040
    Abstract: Techniques are described for generating and using an illumination pattern for corneal topography. The illumination pattern is projected onto an eye of a user wearing a head-mounted assembly. The illumination pattern is based on a reference pattern and corresponds to selective illumination of dots arranged along a two-dimensional grid. An image sensor captures a reflected image produced by reflection of the illumination pattern off the eye. A reflected pattern is identified based on glints in the reflected image and mapped to the reference pattern to generate an aligned reflected pattern. An eye model including a topography of a cornea is calculated by comparing the aligned reflected pattern to the reference pattern to determine a deviation in a shape of the cornea based on a difference between the aligned reflected pattern and the reference pattern. The eye model can be applied in various ways, including for eye tracking or biometric authentication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Alexander Jobe Fix
  • Publication number: 20220277421
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a pair of stereo images having a resolution lower than a target resolution, generating an initial first feature map for a first image of the pair based on first channels associated with the first image and generating an initial second feature map for a second image of the pair based on second channels associated with the second image, generating a first feature map based on combining the first channels with the initial first feature map, generating a second feature map based on combining the second channels with the initial second feature map, up-sampling the first feature map and the second feature map to the target resolution, warping the up-sampled second feature map, and generating a reconstructed image corresponding to the first image having the target resolution based on the up-sampled first feature map and the up-sampled and warped second feature map.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Inventors: Lei Xiao, Salah Eddine Nouri, Douglas Robert Lanman, Anton S Kaplanyan, Alexander Jobe Fix, Matthew Steven Chapman
  • Patent number: 11407731
    Abstract: A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ganghun Kim, Andrew Maimone, Alexander Jobe Fix, Robert Dale Cavin, Hee Yoon Lee, Matthieu Charles Raoul Leibovici, Brian Wheelwright, Douglas Robert Lanman
  • Patent number: 11409240
    Abstract: A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ganghun Kim, Andrew Maimone, Alexander Jobe Fix, Robert Dale Cavin, Hee Yoon Lee, Matthieu Charles Raoul Leibovici, Brian Wheelwright, Douglas Robert Lanman
  • Patent number: 11367165
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first frame associated with a first time and one or more second frames of a video having a resolution lower than a target resolution, wherein each second frame is associated with a second time prior to the first time, generating a first feature map for the first frame and one or more second feature maps for the one or more second frames, up-sampling the first feature map and the one or more second feature maps to the target resolution, warping each of the up-sampled second feature maps according to a motion estimation between the associated second time and the first time, and generating a reconstructed frame having the target resolution corresponding to the first frame by using a machine-learning model to process the up-sampled first feature map and the one or more up-sampled and warped second feature maps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC.
    Inventors: Lei Xiao, Salah Eddine Nouri, Douglas Robert Lanman, Anton S Kaplanyan, Alexander Jobe Fix, Matthew Steven Chapman
  • Patent number: 11281160
    Abstract: A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and a plurality of optical fibers configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ganghun Kim, Andrew Maimone, Alexander Jobe Fix, Robert Dale Cavin, Hee Yoon Lee, Matthieu Charles Raoul Leibovici, Brian Wheelwright, Douglas Robert Lanman
  • Patent number: 11256213
    Abstract: A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium, a second set of optical elements configured to transmit the second portion of the light for providing a second wide-field beam, and a plurality of parabolic reflectors optically coupled with the second set of optical elements and configured to receive the second wide-field beam and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ganghun Kim, Andrew Maimone, Alexander Jobe Fix, Robert Dale Cavin, Hee Yoon Lee, Matthieu Charles Raoul Leibovici, Brian Wheelwright, Douglas Robert Lanman
  • Patent number: 11238340
    Abstract: A system predicts future positions or vergence depth of the user's eyes and generates gaze contingent content, such as for a head-mounted display (HMD), based on the predicted positions or vergence depth. The system includes an eye tracking controller that creates eye tracking information defining positions of a first eye and a second eye of a user over time. The eye tracking information is input to a neural network model that outputs the predicted positions or vergence depth. The predicted positions or vergence depth is then used to render the gaze contingent content, or to change other configurations of the HMD. Latency between the detection of user eye movement and the output of corresponding content is reduced to provide a more immersive real-time user experience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Grant Anderson, Alexander Jobe Fix, Robert Dale Cavin
  • Publication number: 20210397255
    Abstract: The disclosed eye-tracking systems may include a visible light display having visible light pixels, at least one infrared pixel positioned within bounds of the visible light display, and an infrared sensor positioned and configured to detect infrared light originating from the at least one infrared pixel and reflected from an eye of the user. Related head-mounted display systems and methods for eye tracking are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Publication date: December 23, 2021
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Andrew Wyman MacDonald, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Kirk Erik Burgess, Mohamed Hegazy, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk, Robert Dale Cavin
  • Publication number: 20210366082
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first frame associated with a first time and one or more second frames of a video having a resolution lower than a target resolution, wherein each second frame is associated with a second time prior to the first time, generating a first feature map for the first frame and one or more second feature maps for the one or more second frames, up-sampling the first feature map and the one or more second feature maps to the target resolution, warping each of the up-sampled second feature maps according to a motion estimation between the associated second time and the first time, and generating a reconstructed frame having the target resolution corresponding to the first frame by using a machine-learning model to process the up-sampled first feature map and the one or more up-sampled and warped second feature maps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Inventors: Lei Xiao, Salah Eddine Nouri, Douglas Robert Lanman, Anton S. Kaplanyan, Alexander Jobe Fix, Matthew Steven Chapman
  • Patent number: 11176367
    Abstract: A disclosed computer-implemented method may include directing an illumination source, positioned at a predetermined position relative to an event camera positioned to receive light from the illumination source reflected by a portion of a cornea of a user during an illumination sequence, to illuminate the portion of the cornea of the user in accordance with the illumination sequence. The method may also include detecting, via the event camera, a set of events, each event in the set of events comprising a change in an intensity of light from the illumination source received by a pixel included in the event camera over a sampling period of the event camera. The method may further include determining a shape of the portion of the cornea of the user based on the predetermined position, the illumination sequence, and the set of events. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Andrew Wyman MacDonald, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Mohamed Hegazy, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk
  • Patent number: 11120258
    Abstract: A disclosed apparatus may include a line source configured to produce a line of light and a scanning device configured to scan the line of light across a scanning field in a scanning direction. The scanning field may include a receiving portion configured to receive an eye. The apparatus may also include a reflector positioned within the scanning field. During a primary period of a scan, the line of light may scan the receiving portion in a primary direction. During a secondary period of the scan, the reflector may reflect the line of light such that a reflection of the line of light scans the receiving portion in a secondary direction. The apparatus may also include a photodetector positioned to receive (1) an initial reflection during the primary period, and (2) a subsequent reflection during the secondary period. Various other methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Andrew Wyman MacDonald, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Kirk Erik Burgess, Mohamed Hegazy, Thomas Scott Murdison, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk, Evan Gander
  • Patent number: 11112865
    Abstract: The disclosed eye-tracking systems may include a visible light display having visible light pixels, at least one infrared pixel positioned within bounds of the visible light display, and an infrared sensor positioned and configured to detect infrared light originating from the at least one infrared pixel and reflected from an eye of the user. Related head-mounted display systems and methods for eye tracking are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Jobe Fix, Andrew Wyman MacDonald, Dmitri Model, Mohammadhossein Daraeihajitooei, Javier San Agustin Lopez, Kirk Erik Burgess, Mohamed Hegazy, Scott Robert Ramsby, Sebastian Sztuk, Robert Cavin
  • Patent number: 11113794
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a computing system may receive current eye-tracking data associated with a user of a head-mounted display. The system may dynamically adjust a focal length of the head-mounted display based on the current eye-tracking data. The system may generate an in-focus image of a scene and a corresponding depth map of the scene. The system may generate a circle-of-confusion map for the scene based on the depth map. The circle-of-confusion map encodes a desired focal surface in the scene. The system may generate, using a machine-learning model, an output image with a synthesized defocus-blur effect by processing the in-focus image, the corresponding depth map, and the circle-of-confusion map of the scene. The system may display the output image with the synthesized defocus-blur effect to the user via the head-mounted display having the adjusted focal length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Douglas Robert Lanman, Matthew Steven Chapman, Alexander Jobe Fix, Anton S. Kaplanyan, Lei Xiao