Patents by Inventor Nicolas P. Bonnier

Nicolas P. Bonnier 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: 20240107177
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to devices and methods for performing spatially-varying brightness correction of a flash image. The spatially-varying brightness correction utilizes a set of images that includes one or more images captured under flash illumination and one or more images captured without flash illumination, which are used to decompose one of the flash images or an image generated therefrom into a flash contribution image and an ambient contribution image. The flash contribution image and the ambient contribution image are recombined to generate a corrected flash image, and information about the flash module and/or scene is used to adjust the relative contributions of these images during recombination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2022
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Inventors: Bosheng Zhang, Tobias Baldauf, llya Romanenko, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Noah D. Bedard, Alexandra S. Ludlow, Graham D. Finlayson, Jason P. de Villiers, Claus Moelgaard, Hau Ling Hung, Paul M. Hubel
  • Publication number: 20240029598
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display and a camera. Control circuitry in the device can gather information on a user's point of gaze using a gaze tracking system and other sensors, can gather information on the real-world image such as information on content, motion, and other image attributes by analyzing the real-world image, can gather user vision information such as user acuity, contrast sensitivity, field of view, and geometrical distortions, can gather user input such as user preferences and user mode selection commands, and can gather other input. Based on the point-of-gaze information and/or other gathered information, the control circuitry can display the real-world image and supplemental information on the display. The supplemental information can include augmentations such as icons, text labels, and other computer-generated text and graphics overlaid on the real world image and can include enhanced image content such as magnified portions of the real-world image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Ramin Samadani, Christina G. Gambacorta, Elijah H. Kleeman, Nicolas P. Bonnier
  • Publication number: 20230393405
    Abstract: Eyewear such as a head-mounted device may include display-optimized lenses. The lenses may be optimized for viewing an external display while also providing sun protection for the user's eyes. The external display may form part of a handheld electronic device that serves as a controller for the head-mounted device. The lenses in the head-mounted device may reduce ambient light brightness while maintaining the brightness of the external display so that the user can use the external display while wearing the head-mounted device. The user may, for example, provide touch input to the external display to adjust display content on the head-mounted display. The lenses may include a polarizer and a color filter having a transmission spectrum curve with peaks corresponding to the primary colors of the external display. The lenses may be removable clip-on lenses and the light filter may be an electrochromic filter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Inventors: Jonathan C Moisant-Thompson, Alexandre Chapiro, Bennett S Wilburn, Seth E Hunter, Ove Lyngnes, Nicolas P Bonnier, Cameron A Harder, Nawaf Al-Baghly
  • Patent number: 11810486
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display and a camera. Control circuitry in the device can gather information on a user's point of gaze using a gaze tracking system and other sensors, can gather information on the real-world image such as information on content, motion, and other image attributes by analyzing the real-world image, can gather user vision information such as user acuity, contrast sensitivity, field of view, and geometrical distortions, can gather user input such as user preferences and user mode selection commands, and can gather other input. Based on the point-of-gaze information and/or other gathered information, the control circuitry can display the real-world image and supplemental information on the display. The supplemental information can include augmentations such as icons, text labels, and other computer-generated text and graphics overlaid on the real world image and can include enhanced image content such as magnified portions of the real-world image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ramin Samadani, Christina G. Gambacorta, Elijah H. Kleeman, Nicolas P. Bonnier
  • Patent number: 11803060
    Abstract: Eyewear such as sunglasses may include display-optimized lenses. The lenses may be optimized for viewing an external display and/or for viewing a display in the head-mounted device while also providing sun protection for the user's eyes. The lenses may include a polarizer and a color filter that are designed for a given target display. Lenses that are optimized for a display that emits linearly polarized light may include a linear polarizer. Lenses that are optimized for a display that emits circularly polarized light may include a circular polarizer. The circular polarizer may include a quarter wave plate and a linear polarizer. The color filter may have a transmission spectrum curve with peaks corresponding to the primary colors of the target display so that the color and brightness of display light is preserved while the brightness of sunlight is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bennett S. Wilburn, Jonathan C. Moisant-Thompson, Alexandre Chapiro, Seth E. Hunter, Ove Lyngnes, Nicolas P. Bonnier
  • Patent number: 11735126
    Abstract: An electronic device such as a watch may include a display and a light sensor located behind the display. The light sensor may be used to measure the color of external objects. During color sampling operations, the display may emit light towards the external object in front of the display while the light sensor gathers color measurements. The display may emit light of different colors and the light sensor may detect an amount of reflected light for each color, which in turn may be used to determine the color of the external object. The control circuitry may use a watch-band-specific algorithm to determine the color of watch bands and may use a clothing-specific algorithm to determine the color of clothing. The control circuitry may display the color on the display so that the face of the watch matches the user's clothing or matches the user's watch band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jackson K. Roland, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Alexandre Chapiro, David A. Doyle, Guillaume Lestoquoy, Jonathan C. Moisant-Thompson
  • Patent number: 11442543
    Abstract: A head-mounted display may display images in eye boxes. Right and left gaze tracking sensors may gather left eye gaze information from a left eye box and right eye gaze information from a right eye box. During operation in a first mode in which the right and left gaze tracking sensors are not impaired, gaze information from the right and left gaze tracking sensors may be used in presenting foveated and distortion-corrected image content on the displays and/or in otherwise operating the left and right displays. During operation in a second mode in which one of the gaze tracking sensors is impaired, gaze information for the impaired sensor may be estimated from gaze information for the unimpaired sensor in combination with an object depth estimate based on depth buffer information, vestibulo-ocular-reflex gain information, and historical information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yashas Rai Kurlethimar, Giovanni Carbone, Milad Akhlaghi Bouzan, Nicolas P. Bonnier, William W. Sprague
  • Patent number: 11276369
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices are provided to reduce a likelihood of image burn-in on an electronic display. Such an electronic device may include image processing circuitry and an electronic display. The image processing circuitry may receive image data and analyze the image data for risk of image burn-in and, based at least in part on the analysis of the image data, reduce a risk of image burn-in at least in part by reducing a local maximum pixel luminance value in at least one of a plurality of regions of the image data over time or by reducing a dynamic range headroom of the image data. The electronic display may display the image data with a reduced risk of image burn-in on the pixels of the electronic display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Tobias Jung, Marc Albrecht, Paul S. Drzaic, Tae-Wook Koh, Teun R. Baar, Yifan Zhang, Ramin Samadani, Nicolas P. Bonnier
  • Patent number: 11233951
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject technology relate to display circuitry for displaying both standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content with an HDR display. The subject technology provides a headroom-based transfer function that maintains the contrast of the SDR content whether the display is operated in the SDR or HDR mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teun R. Baar, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Adria Fores Herranz, Mahesh B. Chappalli
  • Patent number: 11211030
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a display that displays virtual reality content. Control circuitry may estimate a brightness adaptation state of a user that is wearing the electronic device. The control circuitry may select a tone mapping curve and brightness level for the virtual reality content based on the user's adaptation state. To estimate the user's adaptation state, the control circuitry may gather ambient light information from an ambient light sensor, may gather physiological attributes of the user such as blink rate, pupil size, and eye openness from a camera, and may gather gaze position information from gaze detection circuitry. The control circuitry may optimize the brightness of the display based on the user's current adaptation state, or the control circuitry may shift the brightness of the display away from the user's adaptation level to help guide the adaptation state to the desired level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nicolas P. Bonnier, Teun R. Baar, Christina G. Gambacorta, Jiaying Wu
  • Patent number: 11030728
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display. A content generator such as a camera may capture images in high dynamic range mode or standard dynamic range mode. The images may have associated image metadata such as face detection information, camera settings, color and luminance histograms, and image classification information. Control circuitry in the electronic device may determine tone mapping parameters for the captured images based on the image metadata. The tone mapping parameters for a given image may be stored with the image in the metadata file. When it is desired to display the image, the control circuitry may apply a tone mapping process to the image according to the stored tone mapping parameters. The algorithm that is used to determine tone mapping parameters based on image metadata may be based on user preference data gathered from a population of users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ramin Samadani, Gregory B. Abbas, Teun R. Baar, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Victor M. de Araujo Oliveira, Zuo Xia
  • Publication number: 20210134245
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a display that displays virtual reality content. Control circuitry may estimate a brightness adaptation state of a user that is wearing the electronic device. The control circuitry may select a tone mapping curve and brightness level for the virtual reality content based on the user's adaptation state. To estimate the user's adaptation state, the control circuitry may gather ambient light information from an ambient light sensor, may gather physiological attributes of the user such as blink rate, pupil size, and eye openness from a camera, and may gather gaze position information from gaze detection circuitry. The control circuitry may optimize the brightness of the display based on the user's current adaptation state, or the control circuitry may shift the brightness of the display away from the user's adaptation level to help guide the adaptation state to the desired level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Publication date: May 6, 2021
    Inventors: Nicolas P. Bonnier, Teun R. Baar, Christina G. Gambacorta, Jiaying Wu
  • Patent number: 10997948
    Abstract: A head-mounted device may include a display that generates content and an optical system through which the content is viewable. The head-mounted device may include a lighting system that illuminates a periphery of the optical system. When the user places the device on his or her head in a brightly lit environment, control circuitry may operate the lighting system to provide bright illumination to the user's peripheral vision. The lighting system may gradually decrease in brightness until the user transitions from a bright-adapted state to a dark-adapted state. When the user is partially or fully dark-adapted, the lighting system may be turned off and the display may be turned on. In some arrangements, an ambient light sensor may measure ambient light conditions outside of the electronic device and the control circuitry may control the lighting system based on the ambient lighting conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Cheng Chen, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Graham B. Myhre, Jiaying Wu
  • Publication number: 20210099634
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject technology relate to display circuitry for displaying both standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content with an HDR display. The subject technology provides a headroom-based transfer function that maintains the contrast of the SDR content whether the display is operated in the SDR or HDR mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventors: Teun R. Baar, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Adria Fores Herranz, Mahesh B. Chappalli
  • Patent number: 10963998
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display. Standard and high dynamic range content may be produced by content generators operating on control circuitry. Standard dynamic range content and high dynamic range content may be simultaneously displayed. Tone mapping parameters may be produced by a tone mapping engine for use in displaying the standard and high dynamic range content. The tone mapping parameters may be selected based on factors such as ambient light level, user brightness setting, content statistics, display characteristics, point of gaze information, power consumption information, and per-window information. Tone mapping parameters may be selected to accommodate simultaneous display of standard and high dynamic range content. Tone mapping parameters may be temporarily modified in response to a user's point of gaze switching between standard dynamic range content and high dynamic range content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teun R. Baar, Jiaying Wu, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Ramin Samadani
  • Patent number: 10917583
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject technology relate to display circuitry for displaying both standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content with an HDR display. The subject technology provides a headroom-based transfer function that maintains the contrast of the SDR content whether the display is operated in the SDR or HDR mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teun R. Baar, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Adria Fores Herranz, Mahesh B. Chappalli
  • Patent number: 10890968
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a foveated display, an eye-tracking system and a head movement detection system. The eye-tracking system may gather information on a user's point of regard on the display while the head movement detection system may capture information regarding the rotation of the observer's head. Based on the point-of-regard information, head rotation information, image data, the type of eye/head movement that is underway, and/or tiredness information, control circuitry in the electronic device may produce image data for a display, with areas of different resolutions and(or) visual quality. A full-resolution and(or) quality portion of the image may overlap the point of regard. One or more lower resolution portions of the image may surround the full-resolution portion. The control circuitry may include a gaze prediction system for predicting the movement of the user's gaze during a saccade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yashas Rai Kurlethimar, Andrew B. Watson, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Mehmet N. Agaoglu, Alexander G. Berardino, Elijah H. Kleeman
  • Patent number: 10847118
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display. A content generator may generate frames of image data to be displayed on the display. Control circuitry in the electronic device may be used in implementing a tone mapping engine. The tone mapping engine may display content from the content generator on the display in accordance with a content-luminance-to-display luminance mapping. The content-luminance-to-display-luminance mapping is characterized by tone mapping parameters such as a black level, a reference white level, and a specular white level. The tone mapping engine may adjust the tone mapping parameters based on ambient light levels, user brightness settings, content statistics, and display characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teun R. Baar, Marc Albrecht, Tobias Jung, Jiaying Wu, Nicolas P. Bonnier, Nathaniel C. Begeman, Ian C. Hendry
  • Publication number: 20200341547
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display and a camera. Control circuitry in the device can gather information on a user's point of gaze using a gaze tracking system and other sensors, can gather information on the real-world image such as information on content, motion, and other image attributes by analyzing the real-world image, can gather user vision information such as user acuity, contrast sensitivity, field of view, and geometrical distortions, can gather user input such as user preferences and user mode selection commands, and can gather other input. Based on the point-of-gaze information and/or other gathered information, the control circuitry can display the real-world image and supplemental information on the display. The supplemental information can include augmentations such as icons, text labels, and other computer-generated text and graphics overlaid on the real world image and can include enhanced image content such as magnified portions of the real-world image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Inventors: Ramin Samadani, Christina G. Gambacorta, Elijah H. Kleeman, Nicolas P. Bonnier
  • Patent number: 10747312
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display and a camera. Control circuitry in the device can gather information on a user's point of gaze using a gaze tracking system and other sensors, can gather information on the real-world image such as information on content, motion, and other image attributes by analyzing the real-world image, can gather user vision information such as user acuity, contrast sensitivity, field of view, and geometrical distortions, can gather user input such as user preferences and user mode selection commands, and can gather other input. Based on the point-of-gaze information and/or other gathered information, the control circuitry can display the real-world image and supplemental information on the display. The supplemental information can include augmentations such as icons, text labels, and other computer-generated text and graphics overlaid on the real world image and can include enhanced image content such as magnified portions of the real-world image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ramin Samadani, Christina G. Gambacorta, Elijah H. Kleeman, Nicolas P. Bonnier