Patents by Inventor Kevin Curtis

Kevin Curtis 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).

  • Publication number: 20180252863
    Abstract: Illuminating coherent or partially coherent light may be directed over an optical fiber and may be despeckled by vibrating the optical fiber or by increasing the number of modes and modal dispersion. An exemplary embodiment is directed to an optical fiber attached to a vibrating device operable to vibrate the optical fiber above a threshold frequency. Another exemplary embodiment is directed to an optical fiber configured to have a refractive index profile operable to increase the number of modes and modal dispersion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2015
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventor: Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20180052320
    Abstract: An artifact mitigation system includes a projector assembly, a set of imaging optics optically coupled to the projector assembly, and an eyepiece optically coupled to the set of imaging optics. The eyepiece includes an incoupling interface. The artifact mitigation system also includes an artifact prevention element disposed between the set of imaging optics and the eyepiece. The artifact prevention element includes a linear polarizer, a first quarter waveplate disposed adjacent the linear polarizer, and a color select component disposed adjacent the first quarter waveplate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2017
    Publication date: February 22, 2018
    Applicant: Magic Leap, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, Hui-Chuan Cheng, Paul M. Greco, William Hudson Welch, Eric C. Browy, Miller Schuck, Bradley Jay Sissom
  • Patent number: 9897819
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes systems and methods for solving speckle problems by exciting the screen with a more complex vibration spectrum. A range of frequencies provides, in effect, a collection of overlapping patterns of high and low displacement, so that all regions of the screen have enough motion to reduce visible speckle. As previously discussed acceptable speckle may be approximately 15% contrast or less, preferably approximately 5% contrast or less at approximately 15 feet from the screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas J. McKnight, Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20170248750
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a display system is provided. The display system comprises a plurality of light pipes and a plurality of light sources configured to emit light into the light pipes. The display system also comprises a spatial light modulator configured to modulate light received from the light pipes to form images. The display system may also comprise one or more waveguides configured to receive modulated light from the spatial light modulator and to relay that light to a viewer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2017
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, Heidi Leising Hall, Pierre St. Hilaire, David Tinch
  • Publication number: 20170251201
    Abstract: In some embodiments, optical systems with a reflector and a lens proximate a light output opening of the reflector provide light output with high spatial uniformity and high efficiency. The reflectors are shaped to provide substantially angularly uniform light output and the lens is configured to transform this angularly uniform light output into spatially uniform light output. The light output may be directed into a light modulator, which modulates the light to project an image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2017
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: Bradley Jay Sissom, Heidi Leising Hall, Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20170244013
    Abstract: In some embodiments, an interconnect electrical connects a light emitter to wiring on a substrate. The interconnect may be deposited by 3D printing and lays flat on the light emitter and substrate. In some embodiments, the interconnect has a generally rectangular or oval cross-sectional profile and extends above the light emitter to a height of about 50 ?m or less, or about 35 ?m or less. This small height allows close spacing between an overlying optical structure and the light emitter, thereby providing high efficiency in the injection of light from the light emitter into the optical structure, such as a light pipe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2017
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Inventor: Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20170219839
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes systems and methods for solving speckle problems by exciting the screen with a more complex vibration spectrum. A range of frequencies provides, in effect, a collection of overlapping patterns of high and low displacement, so that all regions of the screen have enough motion to reduce visible speckle. As previously discussed acceptable speckle may be approximately 15% contrast or less, preferably approximately 5% contrast or less at approximately 15 feet from the screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Publication date: August 3, 2017
    Inventors: Douglas J. McKnight, Kevin Curtis
  • Patent number: 9709883
    Abstract: A stiffening strip at selected edges of a screen may enable the use and mounting of a high-elastic modulus substrate screen material. Such screen materials may be engineered to provide polarization-preserving characteristics, and be applied to or part of the high-elastic modulus substrate. Furthermore, the stiffening strip may enable the use of screen vibration techniques to reduce speckle in display applications that use projection screens, particularly those display applications using illumination sources prone to speckle such as laser-based projection. The screen vibration may be provided by a vibrating device attached to the stiffening strip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Gary D. Sharp, Kevin Curtis, David A. Coleman
  • Patent number: 9696617
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides discussion of screen vibration to reduce speckle in display applications and/or projection screens. Electrical transducers or reactors may be used with a screen to reduce or remove speckle in projection screens and/or display applications. Electrical transducers may not be directly mounted to a screen, thus eliminating many mechanical failure modes associated with a vibrating transducer as well as resulting in a much quieter operation. By design, the reactors or transducers may actually contact the screen, and can take up less than one square inch of screen surface each, than previous designs, which may be outside of the active viewing area and within 12 inches of the screen border, preferably less than approximately 1 inch from screen edge. The reactors are magnets, though any ferrous material can be made to work with certain operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Mark DiLullo, Kevin Curtis, Douglas J. McKnight
  • Patent number: 9529207
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes systems and methods for solving speckle problems by exciting the screen with a more complex vibration spectrum. A range of frequencies provides, in effect, a collection of overlapping patterns of high and low displacement, so that all regions of the screen have enough motion to reduce visible speckle. As previously discussed acceptable speckle may be approximately 15% contrast or less, preferably approximately 5% contrast or less at approximately 15 feet from the screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas J. McKnight, Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20160187667
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and related methods for reducing speckle on display screen. More specifically, screen vibration is used to reduce speckle, and in accordance with the disclosed principles, the vibration may be achieved by using wave-based actuation (e.g., acoustic or electromagnetic waves) to vibrate the screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a speckle reducing system may comprise at least one actuating element located proximate to, but not in physical contact with, a display screen. In addition, the at least one actuating element may be configured to generate waves directed towards the display screen. When the waves impact the display screen, the waves impart vibration to the display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2015
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, David A. Coleman, Gary D. Sharp
  • Patent number: 9348553
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for substantially eliminating the appearance of seams between tiled panels of a display. Non-imaging magnification may be used to substantially eliminate the appearance of seams. Additionally, the appearance of seams between the tiled panels of a display may be substantially eliminated by employing propagation based elimination. The methods disclosed can be used to generate substantially seamless 2D and 3D displays. Additionally, a method and apparatus for achieving substantially uniform panel brightness and color correction may be addressed. The substantially seamless tiled displays may employ specific data formats for use in displaying images on the individual displays which may be tiled together to form a larger, substantially seamless tiled display and may employ other techniques not utilized in known video wall applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, Wilhelm Taylor
  • Publication number: 20160139496
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides discussion of screen vibration to reduce speckle in display applications and/or projection screens. Electrical transducers or reactors may be used with a screen to reduce or remove speckle in projection screens and/or display applications. Electrical transducers may not be directly mounted to a screen, thus eliminating many mechanical failure modes associated with a vibrating transducer as well as resulting in a much quieter operation. By design, the reactors or transducers may actually contact the screen, and can take up less than one square inch of screen surface each, than previous designs, which may be outside of the active viewing area and within 12 inches of the screen border, preferably less than approximately 1 inch from screen edge. The reactors are magnets, though any ferrous material can be made to work with certain operating conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2015
    Publication date: May 19, 2016
    Inventors: Mark DiLullo, Kevin Curtis, Douglas J. McKnight
  • Patent number: 9310618
    Abstract: Generally, near seamless electronics displays may be employed in cinema and exhibition applications. Laser scanned displays may be enabled such that the display may display three dimensional (ā€œ3Dā€) content. A first method to enable a laser scanned display for 3D content may employ polarization, with or without polarization conversion and another method may employ multiple colors. Additionally, the envelope function that may be employed across the display may be achieved by changing laser power as a beam is scanned on the screen or by changing the dwell time of the laser beam on the pixels. One method of minimizing the effects of seams in the screen may be to reduce the screen resolution near the seams by screen design and/or laser beam dwell time or illumination energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, Gary D. Sharp, Miller H. Schuck
  • Publication number: 20160018725
    Abstract: A stiffening strip at selected edges of a screen may enable the use and mounting of a high-elastic modulus substrate screen material. Such screen materials may be engineered to provide polarization-preserving characteristics, and be applied to or part of the high-elastic modulus substrate. Furthermore, the stiffening strip may enable the use of screen vibration techniques to reduce speckle in display applications that use projection screens, particularly those display applications using illumination sources prone to speckle such as laser-based projection. The screen vibration may be provided by a vibrating device attached to the stiffening strip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2015
    Publication date: January 21, 2016
    Inventors: Gary D. Sharp, Kevin Curtis, David A. Coleman
  • Publication number: 20160011432
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are techniques for the reduction speckle of a projection display system using novel lenslet integrators and related methods. In one embodiment, a lenslet integrator system for reducing speckle on a display screen may comprise a first lenslet array configured to receive incoming light for use in displaying an image on a display screen. Specifically, the first lenslet array has motion sufficient to reduce speckle by averaging multiple speckle patterns across its array. Such an exemplary system may also include a second lenslet array configured to receive light that is roughly focused from the moving first lenslet array, due to the motion of the first array. In addition, such systems may also include an output lens configured to receive light focused from the second lenslet array for output from the system for illumination of the display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2015
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Inventor: Kevin Curtis
  • Patent number: 9229156
    Abstract: An architecture comprising laser sub-modules may be used to reach the optical output powers desired for projection display for 2D and 3D viewing. Monitoring and control of the laser sub-modules within the architecture may be performed to achieve desired performance metrics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin Curtis
  • Patent number: 9158063
    Abstract: Illuminating coherent or partially coherent light may be directed over an optical fiber and may be despeckled by vibrating the optical fiber or by increasing the number of modes and modal dispersion. An exemplary embodiment is directed to an optical fiber attached to a vibrating device operable to vibrate the optical fiber above a threshold frequency. Another exemplary embodiment is directed to an optical fiber configured to have a refractive index profile operable to increase the number of modes and modal dispersion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin Curtis
  • Publication number: 20150261241
    Abstract: Outages and/or switching operations associated with an electrical energy distribution system (e.g., a power grid system) are managed. In an implementation, a system provides for receiving outage request information related to a request to interrupt a power supply provided to a device in an electrical energy distribution system, determining switching information related to a set of steps to de-energize a portion of the electrical energy distribution system associated with the device based on the outage request information, and performing a switching operation to de-energize the portion of the electrical energy distribution system based on the switching information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2015
    Publication date: September 17, 2015
    Inventors: Tory McKeag, John Awald, Kevin Curtis, Reynaldo Bernal
  • Patent number: 9086578
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and related methods for reducing speckle on display screen. More specifically, screen vibration is used to reduce speckle, and in accordance with the disclosed principles, the vibration may be achieved by using wave-based actuation (e.g., acoustic or electromagnetic waves) to vibrate the screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a speckle reducing system may comprise at least one actuating element located proximate to, but not in physical contact with, a display screen. In addition, the at least one actuating element may be configured to generate waves directed towards the display screen. When the waves impact the display screen, the waves impart vibration to the display screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: RealD Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Curtis, David A. Coleman, Gary D. Sharp