AREMAC INCORPORATING A FOCUS LIBERATOR SO THAT DISPLAYED INFORMATION IS IN FOCUS REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE LENS OF AN EYE OF A USER IS FOCUSED

AREMAC INCORPORANT UN LIBERATEUR FOCAL DE SORTE QUE L'INFORMATION AFFICHEE EST AU FOYER PEU IMPORTE LE POINT FOCAL DU CRISTALLIN D'UN UTILISATEUR

English Abstract

An aremac having a focus liberator is disclosed. The aremac may be built into wearable information display devices, handheld information display devices, or used as a viewfinder for a wearable or handheld camera. The focus liberator ensures that the information that is displayed to an eye of the user is in sharp focus, regardless of the focus of the lens in the user's eye. If the muscles in the lens of the user's eye relax fully, as when the user would be focusing on an object at infinite distance, the information displayed to the user's eye will be in sharp focus. If the muscles in the lens of the user's eye tense up as when the user would be focusing on an object centimeters away, the information displayed will still remain in sharp focus, and likewise for any other focal distance of the lens of an eye of the user. The aremac with focus liberator is useful for augmented reality, mediated reality, eye-tap cameras, and the like. where displayed information is overlaid onto real world objects, or used to modify the visual appearance of portions of real world objects.

French Abstract

Un aremac ayant un libérateur focal est divulgué. L'aremac peut être construit dans les dispositifs d'affichage d'informations mettables, dans les dispositifs d'affichage d'informations portatifs, ou utilisé comme viseur pour un appareil photographique mettable ou portatif. Le libérateur focal s'assure que les informations qui s'affichent devant l'il de l'utilisateur sont parfaitement au foyer, quel que soit le foyer de la lentille dans l'il de l'utilisateur. Si les muscles de la lentille de l'il de l'utilisateur se détendent pleinement, comme lorsque l'utilisateur se concentre sur un objet à une distance infinie, les informations affichées devant l'il seront parfaitement au foyer. Si les muscles de la lentille de l'il de l'utilisateur se contractent, comme lorsque l'utilisateur se concentre sur un objet à quelques centimètres, les informations affichées resteront toujours parfaitement au foyer, et de même pour toute autre distance focale de la lentille de l'il de l'utilisateur. L'aremac avec libérateur focal est utile pour la réalité amplifiée, la réalité mixte, des appareils photographiques oculaires, ou autres, où les informations affichées sont superposées à des objets du monde réel, ou utilisées pour modifier l'apparence visuelle de parties d'objets du monde réel.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM AS MY INVENTION IS:
1. An aremac, said aremac comprising:
~ a display element borne by said aremac;
~ a focus liberator borne by said aremac,
said aremac providing a viewport viewable by an eye, such that said eye re-
ceives an image displayed by said aremac, where said image is from said
display
element, and where said image appears in focus regardless of a continuous vari-
ability of a focus attribute of a lens of said eye.
2. The aremac of Claim 1, where said focus liberator is a pointsource focus
liber-
ator.
3. The aremac of Claim 2, where said focus liberator includes a red laser
diode.
4. The aremac of Claim 2, where said focus liberator further includes a
spatial
filter, said spatial filter comprising a lens focusing laser light from said
red laser
diode through a small hole.
5. The aremac of Claim 1, where said focus liberator is a switchable focus
liberator,
such that continuous focus liberation can be turned on or off.
6. The aremac of Claim 5, said focus liberator including a red laser diode
that can
be switched on and off in order to liberate focus when said red laser diode is
turned on.
7. The aremac of Claim 1, where said focus liberator is an adjustable focus
liber-
ator, such that the degree of focus liberation can be varied.
8. The aremac of Claim 7, where said focus liberator includes an adjustable
stop.
37

9. The aremac of Claim 8 where said focus liberator further includes a light
source,
and controller for said light source, said controller causing said light
source to
produce a quantity of light that is responsive to the degree of openness of
said
adjustable stop.
10. The aremac of Claim 1, where said focus liberator is an autofocus
liberator.
11. The aremac of Claim 10, where said focus liberator includes at least one
auxil-
iary light source in the same plane as said display element, said auxiliary
light,
source being modulated by an eye focus sense apparatus, said apparatus for con-
trolling the focus of optics, said optics focusing said display element for
viewing
by said eye.
12. The aremac of Claim 11, where said focus liberator further includes a lock
in
amplifier connected to said auxiliary light source, and also connected to a
device
controlling the focusing of said optics.
13. The aremac of Claim 10, where said focus liberator includes an eye focus
sensor.
14. The aremac of Claim 13, where said eye focus sensor distinguishing among
two states,
a first state in which said eye of the user is focused closely, and a second
state
in which said eye of the user is focused distantly.
15. The aremac of Claim 13, further including a switchable holographic
element, a
switchable state of said swithchable holographic element being responsive to
said
eye focus sensor.
16. The aremac of Claim 1, said focus liberator including an aperture stop.
17. The aremac of Claim 16 said aperture stop being located in the optical
path
between said display element and said eye, said aperture stop chosen so that
said display element will appear in sharp focus when said eye is focused to 50
centimeters as well as when said eye is focused to infinity.
38 ~

18. The aremac of Claim 16 said aperture stop being located in the optional
path
between said display element and said eye, said focus liberator further
including
at least two lenses or at least two lens groups in the optional path between
said display element and said eye, said aperture stop having an opening with
diameter at least small enough such as to form a stop with f number of at
least
5,6, said display element being sufficiently bright as to be reasonably
visible
notwithstanding the reduction in brightness caused by the small opening of
said stop.
19. The aremac of Claim 16, said aperture stop being a distal aperture stop.
20. The aremac of Claim 19, for imbedding in eyeglasses, said aperture stop
con-
cealed by eyeglass frames.
21. The aremac of Claim 20, having a diverter running horizontally across and
imbedded within an eyeglass lens of said eyeglasses.
22. The aremac of Claim 21, where said eyeglass lens is a first eyeglass lens,
and
further including a second eyeglass lens, said second eyeglass lens having a
dummy diverter imbedded in the lens material of said second eyeglass lens,
said dummy diverter providing said second eyeglass lens with the same physical
appearance as said first eyeglass lens.
23. An apparatus including the aremac of Claim 16, and a camera, said aremac
responsive to an output of said camera.
24. The apparatus of Claim 23, further including a diverter, said diverter
diverting
at least a portion of rays of light that would otherwise enter the lens of
said eye
of a user of said apparatus, each ray of light entering said from said aremac
being responsive to and collinear with a corresponding ray of light diverted
into
said camera by said diverter.
39

25. The aremac of Claim 1, further including a diverter.
26. The aremac of Claim 25, said diverter being a movable diverter, at least
one
degree of freedom of motion of said movable diverter being responsive to at
least
one parameter of said eye, in relation to said aremac.
27. The aremac of Claim 26 said diverter rotating in order to reflect a
pencil of
light rays from said aremac into said eye.
28. An apparatus including the aremac of Claim 1, said apparatus further
including
a camera.
29. The apparatus of Claim 28, said aremac responsive to an output of said
camera.
30. The apparatus of Claim 28, further including a diverter, said diverter
diverting
at least a portion of at least some rays of light that would otherwise enter
the
lens of said eye into said camera.
31. The apparatus of Claim 30, said aremac responsive to said camera, said
aremac
producing aremac light rays that enter said eye, each of said aremac light
rays
collinear with and responsive to each corresponding said at least a portion of
at least some rays of light.
32. Viewfinder means for a portable camera, said viewfinder means comprising:
~ a housing;
~ a display means borne by said housing;
~ focus liberation means borne by said housing,
said housing having a viewport viewable by an eye, said eye receiving an im-
age displayed from said display means, and where said image appears in focus
regardless of a continuous variability of a focus attribute of a lens of said
eye.
33. A viewfinder for an eye to look directly into, said viewfinder
comprising:
40

~ a housing;
~ a display element borne by said housing;
~ a feature selected from at least one of;
- a source of light that is approximately a point source of light for non-
diffusely illuminating said display element;
- an aperture stop for providing nondiffuse light to said display element;
- objective optics for viewing said display element, said objective optics
including an aperture stop, said aperture stop sufficiently small as to
provide a view of said display element, said view being approximately
in focus when the lens of the eye is focused at 50 centimeters, and said
view of said display element also being approximately in focus when
the lens of the eye is focused at infinity; and
- an eye focus sensor, and optics for viewing said display element, said
optics responsive to said eye focus sensor.
said housing having a viewport viewable by an eye, said eye receiving an im-
age displayed from said display means, and where said image appears in focus
regardless of a continuous variability of a focus attribute of a lens of said
eye.
34. A personal imaging system, said personal imaging system comprising:
~ a housing;
~ a display subsystem borne by said housing;
~ a focus liberation system borne by said housing,
said housing having a viewpoint viewable by an eye, said eye receiving an
image
displayed by said display subsystem, and where said image appears in focus
regardless of a continuous variability of a focus attribute of a lens of said
eye.
41

35. The personal imaging system of Claim 31, including a receiver subsystem
for
receiving packets, said packets packetized such that one packet corresponds to
one picture for display on said display medium.
36. The personal imaging system of Claim 35 said receiver subsystem receiving
pockets without acknowledgement to a source transmitting said packets.
37. The personal imaging system of Claim 34, further including a camera, and a
transmitter subsystem, said transmitter subsystem sending packets, said
packets
packetized such that one packet corresponds to one picture.
38. The personal imaging system of Claim 37 said transmitter subsystem sending
packets without acknowledgement from one or more receivers.
31. An aremac, said aremac comprising:
~ a display element borne by said aremac;
~ a focus liberator borne by said aremac,
said aremac providing a viewport viewable by an eye. such that said eye re-
ceives an image displayed by said aremac, where said image is from said
display
element, and where said image appears in focus regardless of a variability of
a
focus attribute of a lens of said eye, where said focus liberator includes an
eye
focus sensor, said eye focus sensor determining which of a plurality of
discrete
focus ranges said eye is focused to.
40. An aremac, said aremac comprising:
~ a display element borne by said aremac;
~ a focus liberator borne by said aremac.
said aremac providing a viewpoint viewable by an eye such that said eye
receives
an image displayed by said aremac. where said image is from said display ele-
ment, and where said image appears in focus regardless of a variability of a
focus
42

attribute of a lens of said eye, said aremac including a switchable
holographic
lens.
43

Description

CA 02280425 1999-08-16
Patent Application
of
W. Steve G. Mann
for
AREMAC INCORPORATING A FOCUS LIBERATOR SO THAT
DISPLAYED INFORMATION IS IN FOCUS REGARDLESS OF
WHERE THE LENS OF AN EYE OF A USER IS FOCUSED
of which the following is a specification:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains generally to a camera viewfinder or information
display
that provides the user with a view of a computer screen, text, graphics,
picture data,
or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In photography (and in movie and video production), it is often desirable for
a
videographer or photographer to look through a camera with one eye, and to
keep
the other eye open while looking directly at the scene with the other eye.
Amateur photographers often close the eye that is not looking through the
viewfinder,
whereas more experienced photographers will often keep both eyes open. The
camera,
eye (the one looking through the viewfinders sets up the composition by aiming
the
camera, and composing the picture. The noncamera. eye provides a. general
aware-
ness of the scene beyond the extent that is covered by the camera or shown in
the
viewfinder.
iVlany viewfinders have a focus adjustment, which is intended for those who
would
normally wear prescription eyeglasses but remove their glasses while shooting.
The
focus adjustment is therefore adjusted to compensate for differences among
users.
Ordinarily, once a user sets the focus for his or her particular eyesight
condition, that

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
user will llot orflillaril oll~lllt;e tile fc>f lls lllllc'ss lenclillh leis
or ller c:alllera, to another
person who has a cliffcrc'llt l~rc'ori~~tiou.
Some vicwfinclers sluvh as L11u11~' of thaw' llrc>viclecl lly :35111
crLllera.s clo lc Lt llavc
a foclts ad,justnlellt. aufl tllc'refore rlLCwe wllc, v~calr st,rcul~;
corrective ey'cwealr llc:efl to
purchaso special lenses to 1 ' illstallccl i111,c~ tlLC' c mucrv viewfiluler
opcllilh.
CunlcraL viou-fillclcrs « secl to 1>c' nlaullfacturccl slloll tllilt, the
point of focus ill the
vicwfillflc'r was iufillity. rcyarcllc'ss of wllerc t he calllera lolls was
focused. More lloderu
eanleras tellcl to 1>c~ Lua1111faLOturcfl slu'll that tllc 1>c>int of focus is
1 lllctcr. re~axclless
of whero the canu'ral lolls is foo ll~.ocl.
Orclillarilv, when lookill~; t.llroll;ll a walllera with ollc cyc, <lllcl
viewing the s,cellc'
flirectly with the other eye'. tlo'1c' «-ill 1->c a cliflc'reuc'e ill fc>f'lls
lletween lllo camera
cye~s fixed f'of:us, and the other c ~,~e~s <ll>ilit,v t.c> foows on
cliffcrc~llt olljcc'.ts in tile scene.
Sonle vicw-finclcrs aLlc rcsl>cnl;;i~'c t,o a ll~lr~ullc~ter of tlle' cyc of
the user, such as
where tile e~'e is loolcint;. lost. tllc' ~ellsecl 1>arnllc'turs of t:llc eye
mllv affect. t.lle operation
of a caluera to which t,lle vies-vfillf lc-'r is colllloct.eol. F,or
exalllple, Yalllzmhi Shoichi
of CA\Oi~. I_VC'.. iu .II'() t>111>licot,ic>u uunlllcr ()t'~17J2'?;3, llavillg
lnllllicrltion chafe 12-
07-f)G and apl>liorltion uunlllcr I1~33.5~)33, cliaclc>a('s a view-fillfler
havillt; an eye tracker.
2I1 ~Ll'1'llll~E'lllE'llt tlliLt 15 IlSc'(1 111 ('()Illlll('1'C.lilll\'
I11~LI111f~11<'t111't'<1 a~:)111111 ('illll('1'11S 111aC1(' 1)V
CA~iO~. Thcsc callleratm lt,; oll t-vllatc'vcr t.lln user is lf>ohill~ at. Hov-
evf~r, tile
~'1('«flllflel' Of th(-'~f' <'.21I11('1'll;i 1'f'lllillll~ 111VLL1'ltLllt t()
p211'cllll<'t('1'S I)t iLll ('V(' Of thf' W'('111'C'1'.
allf:l the focus of tllo viwvfinclc'r re111~1i11s ;It its Iixccl valve c>f 1
Meter. or the like.
rea.rclless of whc~rc, t,llc' oallcra i~, l~oonsccl.
Herl->cert ~f St,:tt,lcr. ill all iltorllutic>Lll Ila,tellt llavinf;
lllulllo~r V-O 1)G~3G271. en-
titled '' I'ROC'ESS ~~D DEVICE FOI3 THE I'~~RAI,LEL C',~PTtIR.E OF VISUAL
IN FOR.IlATIO\'~ clisclc>sf's a ~:lovic c that use's c'~~ctr.lclccrs. cvc'
foolls llloawre:lllcllt
(lf'V1('('.5 t<> ('()Iltl'<)1 wl pl('tlll'(1 I'f'<'i)1'(llllt'~ ('a,lli('1'a.
T1115 lll'1t)2LI'il.tllh; lltLN 11<) VlE'R'f111CIE'I'. a,llCl
sillply rc-'corfls tlle~ seellf' tht the visor lc>c>Ia o.t., usillt; t,llf'
user's eyes) to c'ontr'ol the
camera.

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
Sonic viewfinders for o~mzcras may lzc rmuotc tiwm t lzo c zuncr~z. snclz ~~s
tlzc: vicwfindel.
lziuir disclosed ly 5iwc>fl. fi.ozmlcl Sivvoff clisclosc~s, in DIL'TSC'HES
PATE\'TAI\IT
9'?1 i G~3 vidcoglosscs ( W~iclcol>rillc~" ) whioli uro c~~-e~ln,ssos
ccnztaining two dill}lays,
o nc display- few aj left cyc~. <zucl tlo' other disl>loy for a right. cyc.
The glasaes ore con-
nected to an external viclcc> cwmu~ra, usccl 1>v the aisttrilly challcngccl to
read ;mall
print, or the like. The viou-fimlc~rs arc nc>t ucl.jastol~lc, a.nc1 a,rc made
to match the
needs of am incliviclual Irut foot using t lzenc. Snc lz vie-wvtiudors t c>
uc>t allow- a izscr to
easily compose the vicsv from tln~ oazzzcra w~lzile simnltazzeotzsly looking
at the scene.
The fi~ecl viewfinder focus is also lilo-~1v to ni~~e rise to ewestr~iiu.
Open -air vice finders arc oltc~n used on evtrc~Illolv low cost cameras, as
well as on
acme professional oanzcra,s for nse at might wlo~n the light levels u-ould lze
t.oo low to
tolcra,to any optical loss in tlu~ viewfinclcr. Exa.nzples c>f c>pm air vicv-
fiuclers used on
1>rofcssio zzal ca,mcrm, in additic>tz to rogoMw vio«~finclers, iuclmlc tlzosc
used on the
GrafHcw picas c~mou~ra,s c>f tlic IJ-1()s (which lead tlwce <liffe~rc~mt himls
of viewfizldc:rs).
as well as those usccl on aouzc t~s-iu Ices refit .~ oaluleras. Opeu air
viewfinders allow the
eye of tlzc user to focus uu varic>zzs ol>,jeects izz tlzc ;;cane, at their
true depth. However.
szzclz open air viewfinders do mot generally prc>viclc a sha,rplv ~lefiued
boundary. The
rec;tangnlar l~ounclari~ dc,timol 1>y suolz view-tinclcos is in poor fc>c us.
malting it difficult,
for tlzc user of such a eo.tczcr~L to clctemuine t lzc emc t e.~t.e~mt c>f
c~covc~rmgc of tho camera.
l~lorcovor. these vicwvfiudcrs hjcl: tlzc rilzilit~- to ~~ltcr the nscr~s
perception of reality.
since there is no cwuvcniczzt, tsw,,~ to insert ~~ cc>m1>utzztionolly
nzcecliating processor into
tlzesc vicwfinclers.
SI1MMARY OF Z: HE INVENTION
Accordingly. tlzc, prc,scnt-, iuvmri.iou comf~risc~s an arcmac with a focus
lihcrator.
so that. ozznzcras iuoor~>c>rrn;iy tln~ uremrzc of t.lcc izzvcntiou will allow
users to look
tlwougll the vicu-fimlcr v-it h c>uc~ ~~y~. rzncl look at tlzc se emc
direet,ly with tlzc otlzcr
eve. aml enjoy a grua,tl~- rcdzwcxl ~leriree of cwcstrain.

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
The reclu~~cfl cvcatrrlin is of :;rcpt, i111o)rtallce ill call)dilllcllts of
the ila'clltion
incorpf>ratefl illtf> \\'c11,1-ll)llc clullcr;ls, llcwoltsf' of the loll;
t.ilno l>erif>fls that \\~erlrable
C;11I11(.'I'a,9 llla~' 1)El \\-()1'll f()I'. ill lllll)(11'tilllt 1)lll'1)o';e
(lf th(' O\'('11.1'111)1(' ('11111('1'11 1S t0 21110\\'
a person to rccorfl llia or her fnlt,it'c~ life. often vecarin1hc apparatus 1G
or lllore hours
ll flll~'. :~('C'Ol'Cllll~l\'. t\'('111'al)lf' C;rLlll('1'RS t-lltl,t 115e t
h(' t1I'~'lllll(' I11V('lltloll ('1111 1W? \Vn)rrl f~01'
I111L11\' 110111'8 llt 11 tllllc \Vallolut: f'~('stl'lllll.
Tllc llrcnlaf-' c(nltaill,s t,\\-o Darts, 1L fliaf>luv olclllfalt. <Llal 1~
fflctls lihf~rator. Tllc
arcllac slay also illclnfle other f'fmlpnleltts. such lls 11. l~~lclcli~llt
for tllc flisplay, ill
cml>oflilaents of the illvmltioll ~wllcrf' the ff)f:ns lilerlltf)r doe s slot
culllx)fly ,~ lif;ht
so lu'cc.
The term warellmc'~ uriginatc~, frf)m tllf' word '~c;~lllcril.'~ spelled
hllckveards, dellot-
Ills t,llllt: th<' 111'('11111(' 1S tll(' (-'.~llCt (lI)I)o5lt(' of 21
('iLlllcl'1L. rlllf' Rr(!Illa(' pl'odllG('S 11~?,'ht lOLlt
a ca11er11 is rcsp<)Ll~ive t-f) li~llt. 'I'lu' lLrf'nlaf' is lul outl)ut
flcvif'c. m-hercas a calllera
is 1111 input do\-ice. The ure111LC is not tlu' aallc as o llr()jf'ctor.
lcf:lluse 1L pro .jector
profhlces ray's of li~;llt t 111Lt sllrcad (nlt fi'f)m the prf>,jcctiou leas
to strike' a screen.
wllcrf-~lis the arenlll,f w'llell llsefl v~ <I cmllf~rll vicw'fillflcr. fn'
tllfe liho. gcllerllll~' prodLtces
revs of lihht that llorc fn' lf~ss f'()L1c to~f-~tllf'r to mltcr <lirf'f'tlv
itltf> all f-'vc of the wiser.
t~ccorflillg to another a>pect f>f t llf-~ illv<'tlt loll. tllcr(e is
hroviflcd al viewfinder suit-
1Ll)lf-' fOI' llSf' 111 R,11 1_'.''(' -rr211) ('111111'1'11. .~ll l~S'('
rl,al> ('.11111(''1'11 15 iL ('1L111('1'ft 111 ~b'111C11 llt 1<;ll,5t
a I)ortiful of the rrlvs f)f li~;llt tllllt woulfl otllc~l'w~isc c.llter tllc
canlero eve of the User
is fli\'ertcd int,f) a calllera f>r clun('ra a(?lsor array a lfl then
sllf>f>licd tf~ the vie\\-finder
of the iavf~lltioll (pf)aailllv aft-,cr fmssill~; thrc)n~ll a 1)rof'cssur).
Tllc divcrter hrf:fera,llh~
flivcrts rays of li~;llt t-,111Lt \~fllllfl c~tllcrw'isc 1)llss tllrou~;ll
tllf~ ccatcr of projection of a
lolls of 11,11 cyc of the ltscr. I'rcf('rul>ly tlae orfllllllf' proflucxes
ra,vs f)f light that lire each
collillcllr with allfl rcspollai\'o tc> ~l, oorrcspf)tlflill~; divcrtcfl ra,s
f)f libht.
acf'fimlillg to lLnotllcr uspeo.t of the invention. tllcrc is provided an
arelnac suitahlc
for use as a viewfinder for use \~~it ll 1L divertcr tllllt calhodies part of
a calaera lolls
ystelll. Tlu~ divorr,cr ILIs<) illcorl)f)rlltf's sonic f)f tllc ff)clls
lillcratfw optics of thf: arclnac
:)

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
of the invention.
Acccnoling to <uu>tlicr osl>oca c>f the iuvontiou, tlurc i;; 1>rc>vidccl au
wcma,c using
a focus lil~emotor that c omsist~ c~f m point ~couwc~ 1>eeltiud a clisi>lry
panel, oral a leas
in front of the clisl~law 1><mel. 'hlcis cmlmolimmut of the arcmac is to a. co
mlonser
enlarger as a traditional viewfim'.cr is to a cliffusioo cmlargor.
I'lmtogralhic enlargers
are typically of two hinds, tl~ c omlenser enlarger and the cliff~ttsicm
c~mlarger. Tlie
cliff~cr ln~imarily in lmw the lamb lcousiug zhuvc~ the I~liotogrul~hie
negative carrier is
oracle. The olyjectivc lcm 1>olow tlLC uegaLtivo carrier is the same in loth
c.mse~. 'The
condenser enlarger has a lamp hawing that. is lolm:lc insiclc. and ores a Oarc
clcrzr glass
lonlh. Typically tho la.ny> lcottsiy; has lmr~;c c ooliug fins ou the o ntsidc
to dissipate
wwtc-~ ltcat. Tlic cliffnsiuu r~mlmrgor 1us a lrmy lumsing tlm,t is white
iusi<lc. wml ha.5 n
frost~~ l~ull~. TyI>ic~olly lmll>' maclc~ c>f c>pel g1<css (very cliflutse)
a.rc used. Somctinues a
fiuorcsccnt lamp is usccl, owing t.c»t,s cliffotsc~ uat me. 1)itfmiou
eulrnrgers mall. ~~Iefec;ts
likce dirt or scratolu~s on tho film, while c:omlcnscr enlargers provide
l~ettol contrast
(e.g. less scattering in the film, c tc .).
The 1>liotogryoliic enlarger diffm-s from the mreruac of the invent=ion. iu
the sense.
that the photographic enlarger emits clivcrging rays of light to ilhumiuate. a
pic~'e of
photo scmitivc Iwl~cr. wllilc~ t lm zcacm~~c c~tuits comc~rgiug rays of light
to d.irectl~-
enter au ow of tlu~ user of the ,zr~:ouao of flee invc~uticm. A lccv inventive
con°ept here
is the use of the pc>iut sowoe as a l~~~clcligln f~c>r a clisplu,~- slido,
ma,kiug am aremac that
works like tlic condenser onlargcr. ~~-'lmn f lie pc>iut scauo a is made
wfficientl~- small.
the effect of the olyjectivc lc~m is roclmccl. c.g. if the olyjcctive lops is
slightly out of
fowls. the image of the clisplr~s- slide will still afycar sliarl>. Tlu~ rove
nt.ive concept is
Mlle tore of the light scnwcc it loll t o cc>ut,rol ur e~atmul cleI>tll of
focus of a vic~wfiuder.
A related invcmtiv<: co>uocht. is tlu~ use of a vicw~finder with eltcndcd
<lcl>th of iicld.
or with depth of hold <~.cnrtrc>l. in on I-~yc 'ral~ c ~~uucrn. ao that rays
of light that aLrc
diverted a.ml re ~;~mtliesiic~l lay tluv arolrmc oa.n 1>0 1>rouglit into focm
ly the c~~e, just
like tlu~y could 1c if tluc~ alyaratn~; were al>scut. Iu tluis sva,~-, the
a,fyaratns does not
(>

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
iplposc it.s focus I11>op t=Ilc tlael-. :~ tllc~ Eve' Tol~ (yoeriellf fe is
t1111s a,ttaiped, in which
the E~-f-~ Tn,h calllorn, lllefli<lte~s I;mut;lluolts. (lolil>oraltoh-
~lilllinishos, or ot,llcrwise alters]
the visual t>erccpt.iop of rf~ulity. 'hlle y-c of Mlle llscr looks t,hrf>u~ll
tllo appare,tus, apd
sees exactly the saplc alllyject lltt to <ls wonllfl lle aecp with tllo
al>ha,ratus ahaept.
There is no shiftily;. 1>~lralla~ crm>r. or cllau"c ill aizc of the
slll>,jf~ct platter zi,s with
view-fipdcrs of t,llc t>rior urt. \c>r is tllcrc all illlilclwcl lc>clls, as
va:ith vifvvfinclers of the
prior art.
Ip a.llotllcr ashcc;t of tllc-a illcltifnl, tllc ff~f ns lil>fel;li<>r call lo-
a tllrpcfl op or off, ly
switohill~; 1-~etweel <1 point source mllcl a cliffllsc smtrc;c of
laclcli~;llt for a, display panel.
hl another a,shcot of thc~ iuwmticnl. tllcrc is tuw~iflf~fl a.p a,replac with
a point
source of adjnstal>lf~ size sc> th.lt- tlu~ fliff'llsfulf~ss of the ateplac
call he adjusted from
that of a convmltic>llal cliffolsf' l~in~.vl-ill<lcr to o pc>iut.scuuwc
arclllac. In this w,lv. the
dchrcc of focus lil>cration < an 1>c~ od.jllstccl front near zero. t.o llf~ur
infipit,y. ''f'hell the
iris is v-ifle open, tile f'of lls lilo~ru,tfw is f~ssf'lltiolly, f'f>r a,ll
prao.t-.icall i>url>oses. allsept.
'~'llep the iris is f;losed flfnvll slnali, the ff><ols lilmratol' is
fnulctiollillt;. In this wa.v; all
arepla,o with flclltll of focus ud.jusclllmlt is Clroviclefl. Alt.llc>ugll
caplcras of the -prior
art llroviclc loth focus afl.jllst.llcllt allfl cletltll c>( field
ad,jnstlllf~llt, vie.wfipdcrs of the'
prior art provide <nllv focus acl,justplclt. Tllcrof«rc thu acl.ju»t;ll>lc
cpll>odiplept of tho
ipvcltiop provides t llc Ilscr i-vitll a nscrflll 11111c;t ion.
Ill allothcr aspect of tile ill~reult.ioll. tlmnc is hrc>videcl ml alltofocus
libermtor so
that diffusfe display clmnepts sllol~ us oathcmlc ray tul>cs, c>r display-
panels with diffuse
lmckli~;hts, call he llsefl ill f~llllo><lilumlt,s o1 t,llc ;lrmllaf
ipvelltioll. This coplhilles the
insepsitivity to clcf'ects (flllst. flirt. inlpcrfc'ctious, otc. j almlo~olls
to t ha,t of clifl'llsion
elllur~ers. with the alilit:y tci lc>oJ< tllrou~;ll tllf' vicwfipder and sec
olljf~cts sharp apcl
clear rey lidless of llf~w~ tllc f~yf~ i~, fflullsefl. Tllc'reforc, the llsc'r
wall still look around
at Ol).~f'f't~ V'1t11 tile Iloll('21111f'1'a C\'(', itll(1 t,ll(' ('illll('1'a
C~'f' (:a11 f1]('l1S at the Sa,lll(' dP~tl1
as the llollca,lllera eye tc> re~dm~,~ eyf~straill. «-llilc' tllc display
«~ill focus to the calllera
cvc.

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
In alnother alslo,ot of tllc invelltic»1 tllerc i,s ptoviclccl mn aronlac;
('ontailling an
aperture step, ill erclcr i a cxllt wol (1(ytll c>f fiolcl. The <lf>e.rt:ltrc
stop allld it,s assoclrit(-~c1
optics c:onlprise th(~ f(>cus lillerotor tllrlt Allow; t:ll(~ cyc~ tcl sec
tll(~ display ill sharp
foc:lls regardless of what otllcr r(~~nl «-orld olyjccts the eye alight he
focllscd on at tllc:
same time. Th(-a apertlre stop c'ml 1>(~ clclsc~(1 clc>w11 ~-erv slllall, sc>
tllt the arenla.c
ef the invention fmu°tic»ls in ~n nmnner almlogc>us t.o al pinhole
cunleral, ill which the
display of the arenlac is visilllc ~:~cyl~ulli- f'mr vll clept.lls of focus of
tllc evc~~s lolls. In
this wily, tllc nr(~lllzw prc>viclcs ~:(~rc ~ illHtl(~llc'u oval' wllorc t
11(' c~'T(~ w-oullcl ~i-allt to focus,
Wllen one looks inte> the urmlmc'. ~I'llerefcn(~. <lll of th<~ influence all
tile eves lens c'rm
c:onle from tho slll>,ject: nmtt.c~r ill the scellc~. Ill this v-w~. the;
511hject lla,tte:r ill the
scene llec:onles the sole sour('(' of illffuencc nz-or where t=he c~ve of the
user should focus,
and the canlcral does nor iu alny «-av llias (>t intiuenc'e v-Il(~r(~ the eye
alight «anlt to
foals.
hl Another rlsllect of tllc ilm~~lltic>n, tllero is i>1'ovicled zl we~.lrlllle
c;allllara svstenl
ill w-lli(11 there is n. serve 1u(~challi~ln to lccoll t]1~~ light going into
tllo cyc, oven if the
eye llovcs sliglltl~~ relative to thc~ rlpilarat tls. 'hllis alsl>ect of tllo
iuvclltic>n is useful
ill conjunction Witll 1>ointsoln'c'ce focus liheraltc>rs, v~horc the light
Must enter the eve
exactl~~ a its c:ellter of pro,jocticm. ~Tlu~ zlpfolraltlls contains all y-
etrac:her that loc'at,es
the eve, a,ld then follows it , rh~'(~utill~; tlu~ 1>el il of rays illt,co
t=he c,xoc;t center of
pro.jccticnl of thc~ lc'lls of tllc~ eye. Profernl>ly tile servo lllecllnisll
affects 11 plalulr
cliverter which is liglltwc~igllt anon caul l>e 111eolOalt(~(1 or villrutecl
ctllickls: all(-l easily. In
thlH W~l,'', all c'lr(:I11i1C' 21,11(1 ('wllll('ril C'<111 51111I'E' ~l
(:ellllllell ()1)t.lC'~l.l axl5, Ne thR,t th(: d<'V1CC
has porfoct: alignnlcnt,, nmilltaillill~; Moth rotrltionvl and trallslationul
control over the
(liverter to lsc~(~l> tlu~ Eye Tzlll distollco c(n'r(~c t. aaol the owe
illulninatcol rl,t its center of
projection.
BRIEF DESCRIP~rION OF THE DRAWINGS
Thc~ inve.ltion will n(w- llc cl(~s(vrilo-of ill Mere detail, lw W av of
cxa,llples which
in no wl;~~ alre llleullt to Iinlit the scale of t he iovclltiell, loft. ra
ller. these examples

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
will nerve to illustrate illC iltvelttioa with reforc~uco to t,llc
accolllpa,ltvillg drawillg;a, ill
w-llicvll:
FIC.. 1 sho«~a ilte alrmuao elf t-llc~ ill~~ctltiml which inuorllorat.es a
focus lillerator and
clislllay clellleut.
FICT. 2 ilhlstrates a,ll al>lalicaticot of tllC arcllac of t=llc ittvcltion
ill a ca111Cral sytCln
ill which a planar divertor is 1ac-~cl to divert light t]lax v~onlcl other«-
isc~ Cuter tllC cont,e.r
of projection of tho c~yC of tllC llaor, alld t llmu lcplrlw~ this 1i~;111
with light from the
alrenla,c itlc;orl~orat,illt; <1 focus lilu~r;ltor.
FIG. 3 sho«-s tile arcluac' of the ilmCltic>u with a fc>c lls 1i11cratc>r
partially incor-
iloratccl illt.c> a divcrtcr.
FIG. 4 ilhlstrat,es llc>w- a llointsonn'cC call l.c' an essential inbreclient
to ~, focus
lillcrator.
FICT. 5 chows au c~llllloclilllwtlr, of t he ormlac of tltc illventionl ill «-
llic.h tllc~ focus
liberator can be av~itcllccl ou c»' c;fl at will.
FIG. 6 sho«-s all urclll<lc with an ~ul,jnstal>1c~ f~orlts lillcru,tor such
tlmt, tbC clegrec~
of liberation ca,tl llc; rc~cluc-o~cl or ittct'emsecl ao t,ht tllo allllaratns
will exert more or less
(r<-eapCCti~~c-ely) illfinc~ncxe cut t,ho clol>tll t>lrlltn iu « lliclt tllc
cw~ of tllc~ user will tClocl to
focus.
FIG. 7 shows an onhxulinletlt c>f tllce <u'c-llmlc itmClttiou nsill~; a
diffllsC clispla~-
Clentctlt. lntt still 1>l'omicliu~; focus lilcration.
FIG. 8 shows au c11111c1clitlCtlt c~f tllo armlmc illventioll ill whiolt the
focus 1il>erator
leas diacretC states of focus. c~.~~;.. c>llo llc~ill~; ,l noa.r foots atatc~.
and another hCing a
fa,r fomls statC, the ac>le ctioll of which of tlleao t wc> (c>r 11c>rc~) disc
rc~t c' stntCS of focus
lleily rcal>c>naive tc> ltow- tllc~ c,vc~ of the llsor is fc~cusecl (tlc,ur or
far).
FIG. 9a show's a ll~l.ol:~~aleEls I'etw-al lens ussc~mlllv in «-llich the
Focus lillcrator in-
(:lll(-1(.'S 2111 ft;~Cl't,lll'c' stop 1)('1,~\'E'('1l 1('I15 ~T'()lll»,
f()I'llllll~ <lll ~ll'E'llltl(' thwLt llaS 2111 ell)Cl'tllT('
C'.olltro 1.
FICl. 9b chows all onllculiuu~ut c>f ~-m rlrmll<l,c ~~-itll ulo-~rt urC stop.
wllerC tllC a~pcr-

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
tln'e stop is clistnl, t 11E~ clist<11 m1>c~rtllro :;toll 1>c~in~; usc~fol for
lowotimg the aperture stop
far enc»lgli v~rrly frc»11 t.llfe c~ye t.ll~-lr tlu~ a,llert Ilro stall f:ml
lo~ ecnlcenlc~El.
FIG. 9c shflvs llo w a f crvcrt mlhoclilllc~llr, of t lle illveuticln cull 1c
inlllecldcEl inside
f>rdinary eve~la,asE~a wllerc tllc teulllle side pic~cc' ocnlcralls t.lle
zlloEert.nre stop, and the
only porric» 1 ill view is om~ of tloc~ twci f'olclecl lolls t;rcmps tilt
relay be collcealccl so
that the cyc~la,sscs loclk lihc c>rclill~lry llifc>c<11 c~~-c~l;lalssc~s.
FIG. 10 allow an ellllloclilucur c>f t,llc illvmli i<»1 ill v-llicll the Iye
Tap distance.
location. and oriclta,tic»l. are ml,jusl.<~cl aatc»llarically, llrc~foralolv
llv ulc>vin; only tl-le.
(11\'('I'tE'r I'8t11('I' tllall tllE' 1'I1t11'(' 21111)21I'ILt115 (11 r.ll('
arE'LI121.(' i'llld ('alllE'l'a tO~f'tllel' a5 a
Slllhl(' lllllt.
DETAILED DESCR.IPTI()1'~T OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMEl~ITS
~~'llilc l,lie invelltioll shall no~:v Ile flescrillc~cl. ill flcto.il, wit:ll
refcrclE;c to the pre-
(erred cllhodinleuts sllowll ill tllc cll'aivilll;s. it: sllollld llc
lulflE~rstclod that tllc <Iesf:rill-
tioll is Ilot tcl unlit the illvclticlll (»llv to thc~ llart.iwllar
elllllodiulclts shown llut ra~tller
tcl cover all ~lltcralticllls. 111<>clific;l.tiolls alld cxtnivulmlt
arralllnelnents pclssillle ~-ithill the
scone elf the appfulclod claillls.
~'~~llcll it is said that c>lljcxt 'v." is 'hf~rllce' ly c>ll,jcct ''B", this
shall illcludc tllE~
possillilities that A is ottzlelmcl ic> 13. that A is 1on11c~(L onto the
allrfacc of B. that A
is inlllecfclcc:l insiclc B. that .~1 is 1>urt c>f B, t:ll,lt: ~~ i;: llllilt
into I3. or that A is B.
FIC=. 1 is a Elia,f;ralul clcllictillp; tho arcullao elf the illvmltioll. Tllc
worfl '-arenlac"
cu'i~;ill.tcs from the wc>rcl ~'oalllfro" sllellecl llaclcwarcls, clmlclt
illl; that the <Ire:ulac is
the Elllpo site of a cmllcro. Ttlc nrculE llrc~flnf:e~ li~;llt 1>lt a. canlcra
is responsive to
lil;ht. Tlie arellmc~ is mll (»lrpllt device. wllf~rozls ,1 oanlera i~ am
input: device.
Tllc arelnac is not the wllll z~~ a l>rojectc>r. Ilecaltso a 1»'c>.jc~otclr
produces ra~~s of
lihht that spread c»lt frolll tile lmojecric»1 lolls tc> strike a, screE~ll,
svllereas the a,rellac
generally produces ray ~ >Il lit;llt 1 l l t llat collie t ot;et:ller.
l3.atlicr tllzul Eliverging rays of
lil;ht Ilcant: for indirect vieewill~; ou <l llrc>joct is»1 scrc~<ell, t:llo
a.renlac ~;ellerally llrodllces

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
(.onVergillg ra,VS el~ li~llt me<lnt t~> clircctly ~~lltor au (~~-e 1()(1 of
tile user without first
lO)1111C'lll~ (>fI~ Of ti VlE'wlll~ 5('1'(t('71.
Tllc rlrelnac 11() of tllc iuVCntiml is ('.oml~(~sccl of two ll~~nts. al ra«-
(lislMaV elclll(:llt
I2U aln(1 rl focus lil>c~rrlt(ur la(1. ~l~lu~ (lisl>la,V clemcnlt 1'?0 lp'
I~c:
~ oue tlult proollwcs its cvVn s(>lm( c (>f lit;llt. slu:ll w al (all:llo(lc
ray tllllc (CRT).
an _~ctiVC l:Iatrix l~;loctro I_irAllim~sc<~llt (,-1!~IEL) (lisl>lpV, al
Vil~r~ltill~; row of libllt
emitting (liod( s (LI~Ds), ,l a~wo (lilncusiona.l arry- of LEDs; or the lihc:
(~r
~ al sl~~atial lihllt nl(>(llllrltor. (~f w-hicll tll(~IC r~rc tw(1 lolsic
hinds:
- translnissiVC. c.h. il li(tlli(l crystal (lisl>lo,V (I~C'D). acti~r(~ matrix
1i(luinl c_vrvs-
tml (lisl~lrl~~ (.~1\.II~C'1;))_ or the lil.n;
- reflective e.~;. a D\1D ((-ollectiE,u of mo(11.11icz1,11V Vil>ratiu~;
mirrors). or
tllc lil:o
or a.lot,lu:r silllilalr hill (.f clisl>ly- ti~clmolo~;y or wurlc~tllillt; ucw
t,lmt might lo-~ invellte.(1
ilt sonic futtno~ dat.c.
Tllcrc arc t~VC llroa(1 clalsses cf (lisl>lny elclll('llts 1''U:
~ (liffllse, c-~. . tlu~ 1>llesllllor of <l C'I~T is (lif~n,~c l~c~o,msc it
ral(liates ill all directions:
u(>ndiffusc, e.~. tllo (lislWn>- eleluont cell lie ilsc~(1 to llrcduoe raVS of
light pri.umlr-
ily ill t:he (lircrt:icul llcc(1(xl. 'This luy~ llc ucconlhlished. f~(>r
cxallll>lc, by using
tile (~ishlay elonlent t,w lau<lifllusel~~ lo>dllln.te rill ext,crnol source
of lihht.
Or(lilulrilV. a ralw (lisl>la~- cleulcllt, is Vi(eVe(1 tllron~;ll (>I>tics to
ellalple the eye to
f(>clls ou tlu~ disl~lrm. A tylli(all E~~~ullple is a ('alnl(:or(ler
Vievefin(1cr ill w~lli(:h the ohti(a
of tile Vicwfin(ler arc ~u(l,jnstaLlol~~. 'I'1e rcas(nl for the a(I,justnlent
is to alccomnodatc
users of Varvill~; llrwcril>ti(>11 cyw~-<~<lr. allcli Llmt users cmv aee
thr(>ttt;ll the: VicwVfinder
without ~~-carill~; llrc~s(~ril~ti(~n cye;~;~LSSCs.
Sonic Vie~Vfillcrs wall rls tll(~s~:' pr(iVi(lecl 1>V :;5ulln czllllel'as (lo
not liaVe a foots
a(ljustluellt=, and the~refere tllosn wll(> werlr (v>lrectiVC e;ve«~car
llec~(1 to ~>urc'hase apecial
11

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
lenses t.o lie iustallc cl uit.o tlo' c macro viwvfi»clcr. ('amcra viewfimlcr
s usccl to he
mmnufuotmrcecl stu°h tlmi i lcc hc»ur, c>f fc~cas iu tlm vic:v~-fimlor
wa.s iufimity. rcKardlcss of
wlicre tlic canucra, leas was focmcol. More mmlc rn ommn pus tcucl to lie
manufactured
snclu that the 1>oiut of foo u.s is 1 meter. rcf;,crcllws c>f wllcrc tlic
cam~r~~ lens is fc~cuscd.
The focus of viowfimlcrs c>f t)m uric» art clo m>t ~oncw~lly trace, tho focus
of tllc
ea.mcra. Tliercfc>rc. wlmu lookiy tlmc»yl~ a camera wit,lc one cyc. and
viowiur; tOc
socuc clircotlv with tlic c~tllcr cvc. t:lu~rc will 10~ a cliffercm:ce in
focus lx~tw~ecm the
camera eye's fi~ecl f~ocns. aml oloe otl~cr ev-o's rol~ilit~-- to focus c>u
diffcrcut olyjects im
t:hc scene.
The invent ive concef~t of t>1~:~ a.rcmac with foe us lil~c~rat or is that eye
100 ca.n focus
a.yvvlicrc it wants to; aml ills focus lil>cratur 131) will mcsmc that the
ima~;c from the
clispla~- element 1'?(1 is zlh~wvs in ;~liarh f'c>cus on the c v<e. Therefore
if the in~-cmti~:m is
used iusi<lc a c:aulorio, tlo~u tlce eve loc>hiy 1 Ilroyh tlu~ c~mneru ezmu
fowus eomfortml~l~:
with t.lu' other eyc~ that is not lc>c>l,;iy tluo»yu t lie c ~»meru. rhlcc oom-
czmncra. eve eau
focus c»i a,y~ cih.jc ct iu the sec ne. Siucc l~c~th cyc s tcucl to ivc>rh
to~;cther (c.g. w~hcu
one fo<~ttse, on a close o1>jcct the c~tln.~r ~-wonts io fowus close as well).
the user of a
carucra that iu<~orporatcs t lm im~cntiom will cu,jpv a ;roatlv rcclacc~d
lc~vcl of c vcstraiu.
The focus lil~crator cmurc s trot tlic~ information that is di;~l>lavccl to
aac cv~c of tlic
user is iu slia,rh Fc>cm, rc~~;ardloss of tlu~ f~ocutsiy of t:lm cyo c>f l-1'
user. If the umsclc s
in tlic lmm of the uscr~s c~r~ rolro~: fully. a.s clmu>tc~cl achcmatioallv 1>v
thiucr leas 101.
as «-hf-m tlc user wcmld 1c fcscosiu:~; cm m ol>jcct of infinite clistaucc.
flee information
cli~l~la.~~ec1 to the usor~s cvc will I~c~ in sliaul~ f~oo m. If tlm muscles
iu the lens of the
user's eve tense uh. as clcuotccl s< l~cmatiealls- ly tllicl.er leas 1()'~. as
when flee user
would l~c focusing c»i a.m ol>jcct ll) w~atimo~tcrs a«~y~. the iuf~ortnation
dishlaycd will
remain in sha.rh f'c>cus.
Likewise fc>r any otlmr focal distance of tlce Irons ol~ au c~~~c of t1 ~
nsc~r.
It is therefore true, tl~zit lihlit ryes 111 nrc~ ccmstruc-~tccl ly tlcc
arcmac~ 11() in such
a mumcr that they will alvr~i.~-s fcwn a sharp imaf;c iu cyc 10() rcl;ardlcss
of ~~~~hat
1 '?

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
dollth l~lzulo tllc 1<'lls of (y'c 10(i i;~ focllsccl c>11.
This atrltc of wnltilule(1 (~c~eos is oll iml~cm rlllt illvellt:iwc~
(v(>ll<:(yt, alld may lac
attalillcxl using o vnricm of cllll>~:>~:lilllcuts ~>f tlln f(>clls
lil>(~rut(>r. hxallllhlcs (lf fcnlr
(~lnllodilnents of tllc, fo(v~ls liVcr<lt or illcln(lc 1>llt, ~~rc llc>t
lilllitcd t,c>:
~ an autofocus liberator: :~ f~(>clla lilo'rz~,ir>r tlult is antoforlls is
crlllec:l a(11 aut-
ofoclts lil>crrltor, ollcl is ty>icWl~- reallollaivc t(a t hc~ fecal ataltc of
the eve s lens,
for cxn111I>lc. 1»' lo~illt; rcspmsivc' to light 112 cx>lllillg 1 lc'l: ont of
c~y 10(). Just
lil<c the autcif~clcus <~aluoru f(o'llsces cul (>l~je~( is iu t he ',oelle.
tllc r~,lltofocus vrema,c
fc>cuscs oll w'lltcvcr tllc (yc is fc>cllsccl (m. As ~lll alltcrlllt.ivc to
tol:illg its cllc
ft-olll the cv(,. the f~oc:ns lil>orat(>r llmy illat('o(1 (Icrivc it> f~(>ctls
setting frolll an
tllltOlllel,tlC' f()('IiH (:<1i11errl Uf V'l11('11 tl1(' al1'('1118c IS rl
1)~ll't,. 111 1.1115 Rlt('1'1121t1Ve Illtlll-
11(~r. the <lrelllac mauls tln~ focus fmnu o c;lnlcral that is the callllern
lleillg used
by' the llacr of the ohlmrn,tns of the ilvcoliotl. Arr. n.r~crrtao ttnztlr
cr,rt ar,to.,f~ocr~,s
Izhern,tnr~ i.s r°n.llcrl rc-rr a.rr.l.n,fucu"s rtr~crrzrcc. Tire
nucin.f'ocuc.s' rrrrrrra,c r.s tn mn,c'rtrf~rtdcr~,s
in yer.cr~n,l «..s Ih.e u.octo,f~ocn,.~ crrrrro'rrt r:.5 Cn c~~rirr,f rv.s
r:rr c~c~m~rtl.
~ a focus liberator that is a focusfree: _~ fc>wlsfr(o: focus liherotor is one
in
«-1-lick there atrc t:~y>icalls to lllovillg 1>ort~. <ulrl llcllco cost is
lceclncccl. Olle or
lllc>rc yocrtlwc st(>los are lls('(1 to o:;tcll(l tll(~ cl(~lotll cf foows of
the (liahlue clc.lllellt
120. T~~picnllv the fowls lillcrator comllwis(~s optics (lcllaes. luirrors.
holographic
(ll>tical elelll(ulta, otc'.) allollz, with (nlc (>r loom' f-atohs
arrull~;e~cl such tllar the
dial>lvy clement 12(l will ul>l>(~~or ill sllrl> f(>c'.lls frolll
alhiarnrimzltcly 3() c;cutilllc-
ters to illfillitv. Tlrr~ ./ncn,sf;wr°c' ./'nc'rr,.s lib(uw,lnr i,.s
thr lnzu cn.st c'rtr,bodirocnt n.f the
i'nr~cn,tior that i.~ rr.'rralryn'rr.s tn ,focm.s .fr'cc r'orrr,rer~a.s.
Llrr,l,r;~:e .f~oru,.s f~cc crxrn,er~o.s
urhich are tcbzrlcci,tcrrt,.a, rui,c.rn/inrrlr;ts n.f the yr~i.nr u.rt, lads:
.s'rr.ch apcrtu,r~c ,stnr~s. _~lrr
crrrrrr,a,c mith rt ,fncut.s.f~rr'r' .fni rr,5 librmotnr~ i.s ~'rcllctl
a'rr..foct~,.s,fr~ec rm~crn.a,c.
~ a pinhole focus liberator: V'llc ll (nlc or lllore vlertlwc stops of the
foals
lil>crator afro 111(lo snfli< ic1111y allmlll, t llc cleft 11 (>f focus will
itlcrcasc towards

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
infinite cleptli c>f fc>mus. Altitcm;h clifl~t~wU-icm will hrwmut infinite
clcptl> of focus
in 1>rac.tioc. c»te c~lu ;tttniu o cicwfimloa v-itlt oxt,rcnttc~ clcl~tlt of
focus 1r ns:mg a.
I~inlmlc-~ foetus lilxerotor. .5'uc:lr c,u c'.jf~c'c;t r;,s rcrrc~lpgnrr.s to
drat of rr Im;».h,olo ccarner~cc.
fire: pirth,olr: rorurrrmnr i.s .swirl io hrmu: irrjr;nrilc: clr:/>th,
u,j.j~or:u,.s. Pt~tmr~es tcr>vert -mitlr
pi.rrh.nlr: r:urnercr.s. Iromcnrcr~. rnuc° Izrn:ilcx~ hid tlrc
yrrrctac:a,l rrrratt,ma o.f diff~~actiorr.
cto.. urol anr: thr°rn.f~orr: rmt cyf' 7ru:glr yrr,nlit;r~. Horuc:r~cu.
prrrfrnle rocrrrera,.s werrarcirr
a,.s rrrr cantr.sti;c cri,-rwio,~it.r/, rrrrrl yrurln,ec rr cli.~t-i,rr,et yr
»re. _'leccmclin,gl-e/, the pi~zhnlc:
Jc~crc.s lihcmrrtor hrr.s ,~urrro v~r u7~ rlc:.si,rnfrlr trnnlmr-trr:.s.
rcrrcl /morrirlc:.s a,rr oatu:r~ie,»,ce
that i.s o./~ a,r~ti.stzc »r~:w . c r,e» tlrnnic/Ir luc~wirc,g irr
.slt,orp»c.s.s. _4rr cer~entccc with, o
luirrhnle ,fncnr.s Ii:beiain~~ r:.s rcr.llr:d n, pi,rrhule rmc rrtuc.
~ the pointsource focus lilberator: lu crrcler to oUtuin rm c~ffc~cvt tlmt
coml~iues
the exlmessivc~ ~~rtistio viw'v- t hut cme olrtrtims ly: lc>olcittt; into a
pinhole a-remac.
with tlu~ slt~tnpttes,s aml c lurityof wo utttc~fc~raas or fc>cns froc
rLremac. ~, lylrid
focus liherattor is tttrt,clc in zvliiclt fall almuturc~ c>I>tics aucli ms
tltosc uacd iu
orclimurv c;mm~orcler vic~-vlinclc~rs a.rc c cuml~ioc~cl ~~-itll it I~oiut
aottrce c>f light. Tlis
rectttirces at ttottclili~oso clisl>ly~ elctucttt 13(). ,4rr oro-rrrccr:
vrrztlr a ynirrt.sooc7~ce .~'~occLs
lzbo-rn,tor t:.s ccrllod n tuui».t,snrr.rwo ccrcurmr. Tlao~c i.s rm mnrrr.erw
ararrlng,r/ for tlrr~
yninrt..sucmcr: rrrvrrrrrc.
~otc thrut many cmnerrl viw'v-fimlco> 1mc mo fc>cot~ lwul>, lott f,lt<tt
clocsn't, mean tlmt
tltev vre focusfree. It .just nteous r,ltat they a,re fixed fomvs. f~
focuafroe focus lihera.tor
mcmms ~z focus lilerutor th;tt l~rov~icle, extemlc~cl clelot,lt of focus.
dote rtlao tlmt. catnowo,s rtrc tyl~ico,llv c~claiC>1>uc1 ~rVitlt clc~htlt c>f
ficlcl control, i». the
form of att a,hertmrc~ f~stol~. Facm ao- wvllc~cl fc>cnts froc citutc~ras
ltawe a.u f/atop tl o.t
is relatieolv wmtll itt choler to emnre tlmt tyro rill l~c~ o ~c>ool ru,ye of
foc:u,s. For
exemnltle, o typical focus froc cattttcra ~~-ill tulso l~ictnrcs im wliiclt c~-
crvthint; frcam 3
fee-'t to irtfinit,~~ is itt n,coc~l>t;ol~l~~ ~;c>c>cl f~c>c~ns.
dote tlmt view~fin<lers c>f the lrrior art clc> mot hove clehtli of field
controls (e.g.
rul.jttstalle f/atolos). nor clo tlu~s ltzmc~ fixc,cl l/sic>los tlmt, r~rc
stohhccl clown to allo~~-

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
for mu exteric.lecl cleltt,lr c>f fc~ons. Tlnts viewlinclcos of the Iwior art
arf~ lm<vkirr~; a f~owus
lil zerrztor.
Tlre arc~rmnc of t.lrr~ irmc~rutic>n mrw lm ttacol foo uu~;rmmn.c~cl reality,
nrediarted rc,alitv.
cu' the like. in conjturetion with .z c~~eoral>lc' ocmulzntc-er
(«c~orC,'cntrlp). '~'ea,rolzl~:e com-
putcr 150 provides a vis~rrtl infc>rur,zticirt si~uul 151 t<> <lislzl~m~
clement 120. This si.~n~1
151 tray lzc VGA. l~TSC'. I'_AI,. c>r .r clit;it<zl si~rml tlmt slit cc~tlv
~lri~~es a, flat po,mcl dis-
play elcurent 120. (>pticmully. rlm woarnl>le coml>ttte~r 150 stay also puss
irrformatiou
aihnols 152 tc> tln~ fc>wus lil~c~rmor. or rc~ooivo iu(cirnmo-iort sihrr<tls
1'53 from the focus
lil>crotor.
A l>cwver wly~ly 1-1() wlylic~s lmw~er 1~I3 tc, tlu~ comlmtcer 1:p0. us u-cll
vs I>o~~~cr l~l
to the focus lilzerutor. (>pt,icnrrrlly. the 1>oi~-er wlzlzly nmy also
srlzl>lv power 1~2 to
a li~;lrt sour<~e 13~ drat. cnviry to its unicluc' n<zime. is, or mt least
fc>rtus pzzrt of, t,hc
focus liloc~r~ztor 130.
FIG. 2 dc-elzicts an al>1>liouticnr of tlzc~ orn~m~~c liavinr a fc>czrs
lilzcrntc>r. The al~l;~lica-
t-ion depiotecl hero is tlmt c>f \.I.c~cli~rrcol Ileatlity. «~(uclz is o
~,mreroli~a,t,iort of the cr>ncept
of Au~ntented I~eolit.y. Tlte rzplorrutus of 1' i~. '? rtmv he use-~cl for
either nrediared re-
ality (~~-hich. Ize clc~firrit:icm irm~c>lves the' use, of ri carm~ru).
carncra- lz~zsed aztgmentecl
rczrlit~~. c~lc~ctromic ucevs ~utlmriy (1~\G), viclc~cy;rz~ply,
cincrnatcyruply, ea,c..
A Itlmua,r divcrtc~r 200 cli~Tc~rt,;; ;~t- least a lmrtiou c>f tlu~ li~;lit
frc>ur strMjoct nzatt,er 2f)0
tlmzt world otlrerw=ise emte~r on c-~~u f0() e>f tltc' usc~o of the
aly~trwtns. The diverted li~;lt
is div-ortcd into crtntcro 210, mtcl tlrort prc>cc~ssccl. tylzioatlls- lzc o
wc~arazhle computer.
or 1>v rz computer inside tlu~ luw~irt~; of tltc' azlyarattts if t lze
o,ltpar~ztus is hand held.
Tlrc lzrow~ssed image from caLnr~~rrr 21() is ivl>imu.ll clisploycd ou the
aretnac corirhrised
of diaplay c-~lenrc~rrt 120 tcyetlmr v'~itlt f~czc'tts lil>crutor 130.
Focus lilerotor 130 poticnmolly lms a 1>cwt.iou l:ll 1>etwcen the eye 11)0
zurd the
planar diverter 200.
I la.tzar divorter 200 rna,v 1>c' a .'~ea.trtsl>litter mr a ruirrur that is
roffective cm lootlz
siclcs. W'lrcn plarmr clivcrtc'r '?Ot) is m Uc~trzrsl>littc~r, IzrcFc~r~zi~ly
Izczrtion 131 of the focus
lz

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
lil~rator is al>wnt, so drat tlzc' cvc' 10() lms n clca,r view czf tlzc w-
orlcl as it uorn.rallv
ahpcars. 1>v virtue' of tlu~ li~;lrt lr;ssiry clirce tlv i ltroty;lr Izlanar
elivc rtcr 200.
Tlrc imryc c>f sttlyjcc t: tnattc'v ~?S)J cul>i arc~cl by wzrrror~~ '?7() «-
ill 1>c l~acl:w~nrcls.
lzccatrac it, is a reticc tiorz im a mirrc>r o r l~c ,mosl>litter ( planar
clivertcr 20()). Hc:~w-~.wer,
it will trlt irnatcly I>c' clia)zlavc,cl ~ut an arcnmw t prat is Miry v~icwccl
by rcffection om tlrc
otlrcr aiilc of lzlmmr clivcrtcr '?()(). r;o the 1>m~limorcls irrm~<~ will lo~
vicw~e.d a.s a. sccomcl
rcficotiom, a,mcl tlzo t~~-o iwfic~ct ions cancel sc~ t prat tlzc irma~cv
al~hc'~nrs ncu r lmckw~,r~ls.
Im fact tlzc irtmzt;c~ of sttlyjc'c t tmn 1 ~.'r 2S)!) swill u.l>1>c ar in 1>c-
et I~cn rc~t;istcr ~~~itlr strh,jcc;t
2JJ.
The cliatamcc frc>mr tlrc ocutc~r c>t 1>ro,jectiott of~ tlzc icrus c>f tlrc~
cy'c 100 to the I~oint
tit v~hiclr the optical axis c>f cmne:ro 210 rm~e'ts t-,Ire planar clim~rt.cr
200 is ca11cc1 the
Eye T'rzp clistamcc 22(l.
Tlrc al~l~artntms is t>rofcraly ~lc~sit;ned sc~ that Iwc Iap cliatvuoc 220 is
also ccimal
to the clistaucc frcna tlrn octrtc~r of 1>rc>,jcc tic>n c>t tlu~ lc'ns of
catttcra 210 to the point
at which tlrc optic of asis c>f cmmro '210 rrtc~ot s t ltc planar ~livc~rtcr
200.
Irr tlzc sitzra,tiom in whiolr planar clivcrtor '?0() is a 1>eantaplittcr.
c~~c 100 wnm focus
om olyjcets in the 5cemc. amcl owTirr~ to the foo rrs lil>craztc>r 1x30,
inforrrratiou L~reserrtecl
into eve 100 lzv clisplyy c-~lenremt 12~;) sill lac im sharp fc>ctrs,
regardless of prow far away
oljccts seem throuhlc planar cliw'rtcr 200 rni~;lrt lzc fro rn cy' 100. Tlrc
cvc 100 cam
thus fc>cns om amv c>lyjcct iu tlrc ,,c cm~ amcl ainntltauc ottsly fooos on
amv informiatiom
hrcacmtccl cm ~lishla,~- clcttrmot 1 '?().
Im this mzarnrer. the aucmzac v~itlt f~c>ous lil>ora c>r cof t,lrc itrvc,mtiom
emu ho used
for at_r);nremtecl reality, rttecliutc~cl reality. or part iallv me~cliacecl
rcaliti-, or simrpl'' for
a cy~l~cr~u'ti~~ vicwfiuclcr fc>r c:aurorra 210. 'hlt<~ c's-c 100 is. in
cffcc°t (lw rcflcct.ion in
planar ~livcerter 200) tlzc oamrera 21(), arzcl tlmrc'Iurc~ t he v-c>rlol is
seem im am "eye is
a ~armera~' point «f view. ~hLlis apl,>arattrs is tlzcrc~forc useful for
crLhturirr~; the ~~orld
from a first, -pcracnz L~c~rslzcctiw~ of w~c~ 10(l.
FICI. 3 ahow~s liow- a clivorter :jOll mzay irrc orl~c~rat,e sortie of t-lie
optics of the camrera

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
:310 or tllc foc~na lil~crntn>r 1:30.
Tllc clivcrtcr is an o>pt,ica l asscnllrlv t lmt r~,clirocts illoolllill~;
light fi'onl slllyject
platter 2Jf) int,c> a clcvicc-, that farms an inlahc c>f stllyjcot lnatte?r
29J. The inlagillt;
fonninl; clcvi<'c is lllcu'o gollc,rol tllzlu a cwou,r<l. tut will 1>c called
a ca,lnc:ru 310 for
silllplicit~-. ()htics :312 t-ogcthcr v'itll a rc,ficctivc wrf~lc~c~ of a
cli~~crtcr 301 fccrln an
11I1?lg(' Of 5111).1('('t lllatt('1' »)~) oll tl N('ll,s(>l' 2Ll'I'ay' :311.
_'~ W Lt1Sf21('tol''' SE'.llHOl' aT'T'ay 15 'd,
cllargc w>uplccl clcvicc (CC'D). Tllo rcflcc'.t ivc wrfacc 301 of clivc,ltcr
300 that faces
arrzlv :311 is conaiclc,rccl I>art c>f optics .31'2. ()lltics :31'? lwuvi~lc
a. good ctllalit~' image
of slllljcct lllzlttc~r 2JJ c>ll array 311.
Sln'facc 301 play Ochavo lilac o ourvccl flirt or sc> that together with tllc
rest of
optics 312. a v~li~lc allglc ~'icw~ c>1 slll>jcct Illattor '?f>J is
c>l~ta,illol. Alternatively, the
cln'va,tln'c c>f surface, ;3(11 play I>c, selcctc,cl to cauccl ol~errations
ill the rest of optics
312.
Otllcr altrfaccs 302 c~f tlo, optic's ill the eli~-erte~r 3()0 clivcrt 1ig11t
fl'onl the arcnlac
conlprisccl of clishlay cllc~rllcnt 120 t cyct,llcr wit.ll Im~us 1il>cratcn'
13(>, into cyc 101:1. The
climcrtccl light from the m'elllac is 1>cc-,fc~ralllv e~oll>risecl of rays of
1ig11t. c-la,cll of ~~hieh
is collillc-alr with a we're-esl>cnlclill~; ry~ cif li~;llt l~rcml wlyjcot
lmattcr 2JJ to w11ic11 it is
rcsllonsivc.
FIG. 4 clcllict,s a l~oilltaonu'c;c c,111Voclilllcellt c>f Iclcus lil~crnt:or
130. This clnl>oclinlent
of the focus lillcrat-c>r 13() is conllo'isc cl c>f a Ilaolc lit;llt =IJ()
Ilaolclinht,ing disply- ciclllcllt
120, as well as zl fells I~cn'luc<1 within a clivcl'tc~r snrfmw~ -1()l. Tlle
clivertcr slu'fuce 40I
is elra«-n rl,llllrowilllate-~lv to sculc~, rrllcl a e>llsists of a lmul> elf
a le~ar 1>la.stie~ ill the 511apc
sllow'n. Tllc pla stic;. a.lt,llc»lgh c>nc~ solid llicc c. flnlctious as if
i1. «~cu'c a hrianl w'itll two
lenses fcu'lnccl ly tllc rotulclc~cl sln'faocs -102. Tllc fla t snrfo,c~c, 101
on tllc~ 11~-1>otcllllsc is
silvcrccl lw c;oa1illg v~ith a,lllnlillllm in a vacmnn clcllositicnl
ollaull~er.
The point scmrcc of light -1!)0 i~ 1>rcfcr<ll>ly a rc<l laser cliodc; or a red
diode laser
together v'it.li a al>cltial (iltcr that. sllrcacls tile l>calll after
focusing the locale into
a pinhole. Point sollrcc =1c,30 is c~:ulsiclcrccl hart c>f the focus
lillcraltor 130; all is

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
thercfc>rc clra,«-~u iruaidc: t1c clottccl liuc of FICx. -1 drat clc llc~tc s
this crnlooclimc-mt of tlrc
focus lihcrator 130.
Note that this crrrk~c~olimcut of tlu~ Boons lilcrator 130 cloc s not irrc
lnclc the display
clcnrcrrt, 1'?0. This cml~oclirrrcut of t,lic fm tts lil>crator is wnulwisccl
of tlrc arcmac
mums tire clispla,y clorrrcmt 1'?0. ('I'lm Ioem lil>orntc>r arrcl the display
clcnrcrrt tc>gcther
comprise the arcnrac.)
Hcrc the focus liberator is slmvvu as a clasl~ccl lime few clarity. The daahed
lime
passes tlronl;lr tire cuovc'cl parts o1 clivcrtcr I()() sluoviry tlrax these
cmvc.d Darts are
corrsidored hart of t leis c~tnf >coli~unl~f, c>f t,lrc f~oc n~ lil>crator
I3().
I'lrc worncra -110 is corrrprisc~cl of tlu~ lrypc>torrnsc snrfuoc I()1 c>f
divc~rtcr 40() together
~-it,li optics 112 arccl sc rrsor arruv B 1 1.
Irr typical msm~;c of tire arcunlo of tire irrvorrtiorr, t.lrc arcruac~ is
rcesl>onsive to an
out)»at of sensor arrry~ 311. snclr tlratarrv ~iv°cu raLv of li~lit
Lrcnrr t-,hc arcmac entering
c~t-f~ 100 is rcspc>nsivc 10, ;-crrcl coUlinc~~~r wit.lc. a c c>rrcslo~ncliry
ray of li~;lrt arriviu); from
wrlyjcot nrattc-er '?JJ.
Hcrc t=lie clislrla~° clc rncnt 1''() is 1 tmusrnissivo. A aatisfaotory
clishlay clorcrcrrt is a
spatial lit;lrt rrroclulator mock limo liclnicl cr~-st;cl, 0.1;. a clisl>lay
1>anol as fcnnul irr a,
liclrrid crystal displ<yv (L(VD).
If w-c unfold wuf~n,cc~s ~0'? iu tlru mirror imo~;o of clivcrtcr snrf~rrcc
401, ~cc o ltairr a
sirylc eflccaivc leas. This leas leas <u focal lc~u~;tli ~Lhl~rc>.vim~~tclv
cdrral to tire effective
(nufolclcxl) (115talle(' f~rorm woe 1()() tc> clisl>lay c~lmucnt 120.
In anrnrnar~-. the ~~rcmoc of this curl>oclinrcut of tire in~-cution comprises
a lidnicl
crvstvl display clormcrrt, 12() wit lr a reel laser 1>cciut sours c
1>~LCkli);Ot l~elrincl it, and a.
lens in fionrt of it. rI'lre focus lil>c~rutc>r oornLriscs a, lrc~iut aouroe
1>ehirrd the LC'D and
a lcrrs in front of the LC'D. This cnrloiclino'rrt o1 tire foe ns lil>c-
~rot.or 130_ is. im c$~cct.
conrprisccl of a point. source and a. lcm.
FIC~. 5 dc1>icts a.rr arcurao wit;l~ ou c-mrl~c~clirmmt c>f fc:~cus lilrcrator
130 that is swit,clr-
able orr arrd ofl in it s lilrcrvtiom c~flc~ot. rhh~~ arcruru-. is illnst rat
fol in au application im
1'

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
w111(:h It; 15 llNf,'fl ilS ?L f'tllll('I'21 v1t'V: flllflf'1' f()1' R11
1'y'f' h'<ll) ('lllllf'I'tl. 1 )Ilt It. 111N.~' flll(1 11
variety of other a1~1>lic~~utif>lls tll~lt (lo Ilc>t llco:ossarilv°
lmvc' f>r involve oal«cras.
Incc>lllillg revs 510 rlllcl 52() of light, ore (livcl t,col ly~ clivcrtor
20(1 illt<> oalllera 210.
Tllc: ollrlolt of canlero 210 is .sllplllicfl tc> proc'easor r~<10. Tho
c>«t.lo«t of processor
5IO flrives clialllrl.v c~lelllollt 1'?() nllcl ulsc> wlc~c is fr<>ll
alrle>ll~; tw> ll~lc'lcli~;hts, a first
l~aoklit;llt which is rl rocl lal,scr 1>oillt, ac>Ilrc'o 5S)f. <llcl a
aocxulcl 1>acl:ligllt which is a
white C'o«llmct Fllulrwc ellt Ligllt (C'FL) :lS)1. ()htics 5:30 focus light
onto clisplav
cle«lent 120 and <llso foo«s light-, from clialllrly elelnellt 12() ollt o
t,lle reficctioll of epe
100 ill clivorter 2()0.
Processor 540 scloot, fro« 1 tlu' two light son«'cc~s, slu'11 tll«t. al tlscr
of the appa-
raltns wln c:hooao I~rtwc'ml llwill~; al tlc>rlll vic~w~lillfl<'r rl«cl
h~lvill~; a focus lillcratccl
viewfinclor. 'Vhell a n<rlll v-i(w-fiucler cy>tioll is selected, the: ~s~llite
C'FL oS)1 is
wvitcllc>cl on. W'11c'n a. ffclls lil>f~r~ltccl vicwfillclcr is <lcsirc~cl.
C'FL 5J1 is slltlt ofl~, and
point scnlrcc 590 i> s~Titfhlc~cl cur.
It is lwcff~ral>lo tht iho ylrllltity c>f light ill ru,v <~1()' lm reallo«sivc
to the dlta:utity
of light ill rn,v :I10. It is also lno'lc~rrll>le tll<lt rrp 51()' 1e
c'o11i1ea,r with ra,~~ :.p10.
Silnililrly it. is allso luo~fc~rol~lc' thrlt ruv :~'?()' I>e rc~sllousivf'
I,o, al«1 collilloar with
raL~~ 520.
'~'llell point soltrce .'090 is s'vitclm-~fl cm, ryvs 510 allcl 5'?0~ a,rc
ru,~-s of reel Iascr
light that are llocllllatecl ill clllalltity 1y rrlvs 510 ollcl 52(l
reapectivc:lv. Wllcll llorc
light allilles into t llo apl~ar~lt.lls olc>«g ra,v 510. lllc>le light
cllcrges from the npllaraltus
along rav 510'. Likewise fen' rav i'?() alllcl 5'?0~. allcl for ml~- ayes ill
1>erween.
In this wav. tlu~ ~-vllolf~ wc>rlcl i~ ~efm iu laser light. '~illoe thc~
lrlac.r light lls infinite
foc'lls. it looks aollcwvhat like' zl llologral«1. I'e'c>llh' looking t
lwollgll t he appara.tus when
it. is holtccl to al, tall>lc (ao tllcrc' i~ no I«otic>u) oft.cll rc~lllrlrl:
thalt tllcy alre looking at
a llologlalll (e.g. t hinlc t:llrlt tllcy «re loc>killg ;lt rl llologrrlll of
whatcwer object is
actually 1>resfult). 1«ltil they glove their Ilaucl in I~rollt (>f the
rl,lll>~uai ll~ ill orflcr to see
that tllc device is ''live~~ .

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
Divcrt.cr 200 cvzn 1>e o. mirror rc~Huct.ivc~ c~u I-o>t1t ;isles, or it czrrt
1>c a 1>ca.nusplitter.
If it is a l~carusplittor, a pc>lazrizcr '?11 is ~>roforo,l~ly plocc~cl c>vser
orzzucrrz 210, to I~rc~vemt,
viclco fcc~dhacl:. This lmlori~cn i~~ cu-imutc~sl tc> ruiuiuriic t.lu~
clmmtit~- of light slriuiug
into tlic swrucrar from lizylut sotwr~»; ::~J() or 591. I~asc~r dioclc s
proclncc polarize<1 light,
arzcl sliaplrz,v clcuzctrt 12(l m»- ~olso 0o rnprisc lictuicl crv,t,al
l~s'twecn crossed polaLri~ers.
If this is zzot the < asr~ then o sc,rmrul 1>s>lurizcr is neccle~sl l~ctwcerr
slisl>lay elcurcut= 12()
aucl clivortcr 200. to prw-cnt i-iclc c> fcosllmcl:. Thi> s:orzrl>izl<atiom
s>f tws> polazrzcr,~. or of
rzsiug rzppropriatclv polnrirccl s~:~tuccs c>f li;;ltt or of cli~;l>lu,~~
clouzmuts, is callcsl ~~ video
fcodl~ach l~rcvcntcr. Aumtlzcr kiusl of viclcc~ fcxoll>~uelc Iorovczrtcr <azu
he rllclc 1»~ using
a clic;lzroic hcanzsplittcr for the clivcrt.cr 20(). Fc>r s~~aryolc, if tlzc
wlzolc apparatus is
iml>c,clslc~cl into cvcylmsss~'. <z slichrc~ic l~c~mrnsplit,t,~~r onl~e my-
I>c usccl for tlzc clivcrtcr.
V-itlz pr~opcr aclectiom of ps>lariiot.ion ou ilu~ cli~plu~~ 1>ackliglzt.
arzzcl e.anrcraz, a video
fccdl~ach hrc-ws~mtcr will l~c orml~oclic,cl lw tln' ,sclc'<vt.iou of clcsiyr
oritc~riv.
FIC~. 6 slclict~ mu c~ml~solim.cut of tlzc 1c>cus Lilo-~rarcw 1:3() of t:lrc
arcmmc: im-cmticnr
in which the degroc of lil>cration <.z~u l~c~ sv>ntiurtcnzsh- acljustccl. A
lazrnp hozzaing
containing a, light sonrcc~ B5 litz~ uptic~s t-Trot cs»rtazirz azt iris car
stop 600. Stop 000 is
c-either aset rnnrrrmlly lzv tlu~ assn, iu wlriolt c u,se t lie set titz~ is
sent. to V'c.vrCoulp 150,
ly wy- of signal (i01. car tlu' iris i~ am ly V~''c~art'orry> 1a0, zzlso 1>y
wav of sigrml 601.
Tlrcrcforo aigzml 601 oazu 1e frsmu i ltc u,cl.jtrst olole .;top 01)0 ts~ tlic
V'oarC'omp 150 s>r vice
vcersn. A aignal 602 frouz ~~'cnr(:'~nnl> 1.00 to pc>wcr szzlyly l~1()
oottools the 1>owrcr 1~2
to tlzc light: aoorw~ 135. In this wyv. t-lzc li~;lrt fnc>rm light sortrcxe
1:35 can l~c irzcrsvascd
wlzcu t1-~ stop 6()() is oloscsl, ~~tul clcorcosccl wlrc'n tloa st.cy (i0() is
c>i>crrs~d. Tlre light
from t-,ltc light source 135 can l~c oontiurmasly vm~iccl ondcr s:ontrol of
«''carC'ourp
150 (or lry wuot:lu~r dcdic:ratcsl micw>co>ntroller lnult clirertly into tlzc
a.reurae of the
im-cntiou if dcaircd). The contimu>nslv varying cttzrnztity of light
c:ory>crmotcs for tlzo
degree of opcuucas of atot> (>00. Io this wav. tlzc ytmut itv c>f light
catering cvc 100 zzra,y-
1c uzaclc partially or wlzc~lly inwmiront to tlm aottizrg s>f stu>p 600. Tlms,
if clcsirc~d. the
rzpparatrzs emu 1>0 1>rogrrrnnrzocl to provido~ a coortrol that c cuztrs>ls
orrlV° tlzf-~ dc>hr;h of
'2(l

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
field. or proviclw all ill<lc~lo-11<lcllt c'c»ltrol c~f clct>t ll c>1 ficlcl.
rlnd if do sirccl. a scimratc
control tc> a,d.jllst scll~~,rwtcl~~ t-11.' ctLL<llLtitv of li~;llt clltc
rillt; cs~o 1(l0.
hllc clcl>th of fickl oonilol tcyct,llur with a fomls c<~utrol G11 cnl
olyjcctivc lc.lls G10
proviclc fclr a.u arculac tllt hale <l tc>t,al of tlu'ce illdcepc~llclc~ut.
controls, as follows:
~ focus:
~ dcptll of focus:
strength of llackli~;llt.
Note that the clisplrly' c1c11LCnt it;;clf will lil:cl~' 1L<ouc its
clw°n 1>ri~httlcsa and ccultrast
controls. and these ulav I>c ccnltrollccl in rolntic»1 to tllc allclwc tlwcc
controls.
~ calnlcra use c1 with the al>1><llatlls c>f tllc illvcntioll call lu~ovido
~~'<~arC'olllp 150
~b'it.h picture illfOrlL1'1t1011, iLLOlluliLLr',' tllt' dcl)1.11 Of ficl<l
That c'~iSts ill the 5c:cllc. hl this
wav. tllc arculac of the illvcutic»1 lna,y nLltollLaticwllv ;ld.jllst il.scll
to ensure that the
11501' Of R c'a111c1'a. 111('Ul'j)(>1'8t 111 tl.c ?li'('Illrlc' Of tllo
111V<'lltLOl1 ('till lOOls at zLllV' Oly)c'c'.t lIl
the accnc~ with leis or llcr llc>llc.:llllcra cyc allcl tlllt tllc zlppa,ratus
will e~crt littJ.c or
no apprecial~lc ill flucuc'c over t llo fcloLls of flue c'alllclu
cy°<~. I'lllls the calncra c~~'c is
fr<-'c t,o f~o<~.lla «'llcrc~ it. wollts tc>, lullc ly to fm'tls t:ogctllcr
with tho llollcanlera ayce oll
real--v'orlcl ohjccis, so that vicwfillclcr olyjc~c is yol~e~w ovc~l'lzlicl on
real world olyjccts
ut w-hrlto~-cr clcpth t>lano the llsc l' is lool:ill~ at.
F'ICT. 7 clcllicts <lu n.ltorllt.ivc c~1111~c1diLllmlt, of the Boons
lillcra,tor 130. in ~~-hich
fomls lillcration is ol~tzlillccl w-itlL rho C'FI, 5!3 L. r~lthc~r than t.llc
laser source 5;10 of
FIG. 5. Ill FIG. 7 the C'FL 5~)1 tcy;c~tller w-itll the clis111p- clelll<-nlt
1?0 l~rodllcc a di$~tlse
clisplav tnedilun. I>llt it. is still Ilcl~;sil~lc to illllllnlllcut. t;llo
locus lillcra,tion a,slacct of
the ~lrclll~lc: in~~clltiull. Ill this sitlla.tion. tllc f~ocns lilacriltor
l:3(l inc'llules au automatic
focus svstcnL.
A focus colltrollcr 700 scuds .l 1>crioclic' I>llsc~ train as sihllal ~O1 to
one or lucre
slllall illfrarcd t>oillt scnlrccs 7(7'?. rI~llcac pc>illt ;c»lrcc s i ()'?
a.rc located ill the sank
clcpth plmlc~ as clispla~~ o1c111c1Lt l'?0, and tllcs- ohcraltc ill t.llc
llcar infrared, rather
?1

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
than thc~ fa,r infrared. Sine c' they c>1>crate in the uerl,r iufrarc~<l, it
c~~n 1e assmued tlmt
the o l>tics 730 c>f t.loe dislMnv ss°at cm. w w<~l1 w t.ltc lc~us of
eye 1 ()0 will focus sources
7()2 in tlu~ same w~~mus t ltcw will foo ns cli;plas- clouucmt 120. Therefore
it myv 1>e
o,swunocl that if aml wlma clispl~y< elemeW 1 '?0 iin fciom cm tlm retina,
then so will
Me sources 702.
Light from C'FL 5J1 I~~i.sse~ rhrouglt ~lisl>lm~ c~lcmcut 120 zl.ml ol~tios
730. and is
rofiectcd into ovc 1()0 1>v clivcrtc~> '%()(). ~~ 1»~rtion is roH<x~tocl off'
rl second di~~c~rtez 710
and is oonsiclc~re~l wnstc~ light.
After passing into eve 100. s~mm light: mnerges zztuf is <livertc~d lay
<livertor 710.
to emerge as ras-s of lit;lit 112. Evo sensor 72(1 tlterefow~. io oft'ect.
looks into eve
100 and determines its focus. ~c~u~u>r 7'20 i, l~refe~r ul~lv mrade sensitive
tc> sources 702.
tlwouglt the use of al~l>rolmiutc, fiftc~rs. rim c~vc~ focus aonsce signal 721
from sensor
r720 is aupplicd tc> nve focus sem;<~ procc~sn<>r 7:35. F'roc-:essor 735 is
responsive. to n
a~-nchronization signal 73G from fc-wus controller 700. Therefore processor
735 cyan
incorporate the ftmctionalitv of ;u look in ,ml~lifior, so t:lmt it c:rtn 1>c
ma<lc far more
sensitivce to the degree to which sr-m~<~es 71)2 ~~rn in fmws. Tlic
implementation of a
loch in amplifier within lmocssor 7.3o is t~;ouc~rolh- m-~~.essrwv i~t order
t.o ensure that
there is sufficient sensitivity ~~s w~c~ll us tl,o ol~ilitv tc> rcyjert noise.
since tlu-~ signal
coming back cmt of the eve, ~~-ill l~<' very w'~~1:.
~n eye focus sigua,l 7:37 <lcrivod from l~roccssnr 735 is syol>lic-of to a
f<>cus n,nal~-zcr
7~0 w~lticlt tracks the focws mol a.l~l>lics a look uf> t,~l>lc~ (LUT) to the
aigna,l 737.
The output signal i 11 of onalvior 710 is feel l~aclc into tltc focus
controller 700, thus
forming a closed loop f<~c~cll~rlch c ~o:it.rc>l w°st<~~n.
An output 750 of controller 7()0 ol~~i~~c~s a sc~rvn mcc:ha.nsm 731
controlling the focus
of optics 730. Optionnllv the u<oitrollc~r 7()() mn.v ulsc> prc»~icle nn
rldditiona.l output
signal 701 to cx>ntrc>1 camera optic.,, 112 lw v~av of aenvo mechmniwn 7f)l.
The focus lilcrator 130 is clem~te~l Los o clnslmol line iu FICI. 7 outlining
the com-
pone.mts consi<lcre<1 t,o lice l~~i.rt of the focm lil~erutor 1:3(). Note
that, in this c'a;;e. the

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
(lislll~l~' 1o11Clclight w11iC11 is ('FI, ~>l)1 is 1\()rh loaot (>f tllo foCUS
lillCrlltor 130. since it
(lows n(>t lillCraLtC f(>c'als.
\ote also thllt ~mll'( CS i 02 rlro l;alrt, of tllc fowos lillCrat;or 130.
~.vhi1(~ (lislllry' elenlerlt
120 is Ilot pllrt of tile foClls lillur<ltr>r 130. cwnn tllout;ll 1>(>t:ll
aLrC ill the sank planC of
focus.
hl slulllllar~-. illfornllltioll IlrwetltCfl lm v-ay of dishla~' olonlCnt 1'20
always aElpears
t(1 Cvc 1(l0 to lo~ ill locus, (lv'iu; t.c fc~Clls lillCrlltor 13(1,
regzlr(lless of what (lCptll
111anC c~~c 100 llli~ht 110 fcolsCCl ;111. h:vC 10() c,ln rcl<Lx ~llul foc:lts
out to illfillitt', or
it call tc~llsc 1111 all(I foClls cl(n~w t(> JO (~.clltilllctc~rs, (>r znll~'w-
llorC in bctveCCn. ~'et tllC
information on (liallly' ClenlCnt 12t) ~-vill lllwavs ullllcar t(1 110 ill
sllo,rll fowls tcl n user
of the al>lmratns of tllC ill~-(~utiml.
FICT. 8 (lellicts lln oroluaC «-it,ll a discrete ((lihitvl) 1(~lls
illC(lrporat.ed into the focus
lillcrator 1:30. A lllo~rrll>lliC s~~-itclmlllc lE~us ~Lt) is (xllltroll(~(1
llv m s(~llsilll; svst,cln
820. SCllaill~; yst.cllll b20 is clraml rls a sill~;lc 1>lm k, lost (>Ilorntes
itl 11 nlllnller sinlila,r
to sensor r20 c(lnllline(1 v-itll Cue fcl(als senso Ilrc essor i 35, f~(>Clls
anah'zer 7~0, foClls
Controller 700. et( ..
AltCrnativCh-, v lnuoll nlcrC (rl'll(1C foons senaiu); ystcnl b20 luau lle
nsed hccausC
it only lmc~ds to (>l~tnin a rou~,ll <~stinlt,C of f(lCUS. In ull(~
Cnl)lo(lilnCnt, tllCrC a.rC
onh' two regi(>ns of foe ns. cuC f(lr distant rll>,jCCts an(1 an(>ther f~<>r
ClosC oll.jccts. The
9~\-itC1121111e llol(l~rn,l>llic 1(~lls (.'21.I lsC c's-c l ()() tc f()( lls
('it.ll('r 11('<lr flr fair. (lepCll(lin~ (111
it,s state.
rllis enlllodilnent ef tllC inve~lltioll is llsolnl «11011 nsinh 1111
u,ut;lncllte(1 or nle(liated
1'('iLlltV ('1111)0(11111('llt Of tll(' «'('i11'ill)lf' ('eLlll('rR
111\'('Iltl()Cl 111C'<)I'1)Ul'~ltlll~' th(' wll'C,111aC' Of
tllc~ illelltion as zl viCi~'fillclc~l. ~','ll(~11 wor1:i11Y; ou ClosC
ol>,jects at oral's lell~llt, the
arolllac of the invmlt.iou luc~selli; text alll(1 ~rz11111iCS ov(~rlovs onto
these olljeCts with
11 focal (IistanCC of 1 I11<~tc~r. :lost ol>,jCCts tlmt; mlln ~wn'lcs w-itll
(sllCli lls wllilC fil:in~;
21,11 1111t0I1101)11(' Cll~lll('~ 111'(' 1f111)I'<)XITIlat:('l~' (>ll('
I11('t('l' alW'1LS', th(' 21,1)1~1'()Xlllliltl()11 1)C1I1
511fI1C1GIlt f()I' 11 I'~1,11~'(,' Of WOI'lClllt; <llstal.ll('E'S 8'0111
211)Ollt J~) C('lltllll('te1'S t(> tW'O Illf't('T'S.
°7: j

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
When the ~-calror of tile Llplolrlltns is clmlc w'c>rkillg on t=llo E~ugille,
he or sl~c my
115E' th(' Llt>l>tll'LLtllS 115 il 1111 F1gt1.t111 71LE1. Z~~hll(' EI1'I~'lllg
11()111(', 111 W'lllE'll C'LLSC 111051 Ol),)cCt
stwh Lls rcolEl sighs L111E1 11i1111clurels nre~ sllfficielltly fllr Llv-L1
Lls t.o ile overlrliEl with text
alucl grallhica focllsE:d tc> iufillitv.
This sEecoucl zc>Ilc of I-oc'lls cy>c~laltns frcnll two ulctcrs tc> infillitv.
Tllc acnsc a~~atelll 8?0 tllc~rc~Icn'c oulv llce~c is tc) Elc,tcrlllinc w-
llcthcr the c,VE-~ is f~oc115ed
rlt olyjE~crs closer tll.ln t.wo lllcters wyv. or oll cal),jc:cts flu'tller
tllnu tv-o nlctcrs llwav.
It can therefore l>c a vors ,sillll>lc clcvicc tc> i1111~1c~lucllt.
FIG. 9a shows 11 bvc:lcwllrds 1'ctivlll lolls Llssclnl>ly coulllrisod c>f two
groups 910
and 920. The foals liberator E'oulprises tlleso tv-c> groups S)10 Llnd x)20
together with
all vtocrtllrc stop G()0 1>f~twecll tllc~ Lens grolll>s. 'I Ilc llsc of the
~lI>erture st-,op forllls a,n
arcnlac' that fills 1111 Llpc-~l t lu'o c'cultrol. Tllc 1 >Llckw~ll,r<ls
Pct,zvlLl lolls wsclnhlv provides
infornllltic>11 cliap111y~c1 onl i11111gc~ hl<Lllo Misloly c~lc:lucllt 1'?(l.
into c~ye 100. Llud ol-)crates
5111111~1I'l~' t0 13 ('Lllll<'1'Ll L1~111~r~, t.lli' V.'E'11 1i11<)~Vll
h~'t,6V11.1 IE'115. llel.~'lllg 1111 2lpE'1'tlll'E', 115 2l
camcrll Eloc s. Uulikc vicwfillclcr~ of the price' ort. 11 view-fin<Lcr
iull>lculcutiug this
coufignu'ation provides t.llc user wia,h Elcptll of foc'lls cx)tltrol.
FIG. 9b sllo«~s ~Lll ellll>colilllc~ut of au orE~lllm w-itll Lltlcrturc stop
G00. ~~llere tile
alllcrtlu'c stop G00 is 11: cliatul Ly~~ltlu'E~ stc)I>. ~l~llc dist,lll
alpcrtlu'c stop is uscflll for
lOC'~l,tlllg th<' LIpE'1'tlll'(' Stc)p fell' i'I1;>Ilgll L1W'L1~- fl'Olll
tllE' t'~'(' 111111- 1111' Llpcl'tlll'c St()p c'1111
be collccalcd.
FICT. 9c chows llo«- 11. covert c~l.llloclilllcmt of the illvcultiou c'Lln 1>c
nlclc, using au
a.pe.rture atop G00 vvhic;ll is 11. dist111 Llllertlll'c stop, the clistlll
lllltlu'c of tllc Ll.pcrturc
atop nlllking it coltcc allaolc l>c~'c>ll~_1 tile ~'isil>lc ~workillg rcgiou
c>f tlle: cycgla,ss nlountcd
optics. Urclillllril~-_ lcnacs Lltlcl t.llE~ lilcc ilnllccl<lccl in tln~
frcnlt ghlss portion of c~'cf;lllss
lcllscs call he hiElclfn, ovain<~ tc ~ i-,llc~ glu.,ssy LlYyc~o.r~llcc c>I the
c~'egluss lolls alld the
lens group s J10 Lulcl cJ2(). rI'hc~ El~:lsigu c'an 1>c, cy>tillli~ccl w tlult
leas J20 is redwood
ill visillility alt tllc~ c~xl>cllsc of rll;llcing lolls S)10 lnorc cisilolc.
since lolls J10 call llc
c;onccalcd at the edge of the E-~vegla,ss lmls. I>v f:llo frllllle:; ~~)0 of
the eyeglasses. this i5
:7 I

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
a us(~flll t 1. o,flcoff .
An alperture sif>11. 1y its nzltolo~. is f~lr lluno~ (lifficllt to of>uceal
i11 aln c~~ehlvsa lens
than tra,n611arent optics. AI>crrlno~ stops or(~ ~;r~lu~raLllv lllack. A
lrlrt;f: lllack flick, for
exa.ulple. with al sluall h>le i11 it , vv~:>lllfl lle 111 fl t o cnl: call
ill tllc plain central pol~tiol
of all eyef;la66 lens. Tllclcfere tllf~ 116e of au <lllertllre stole ti()f)
that is a fli6tal alperture
atop helps My ~ettin~; t:Lee aperture stop 1>auk falr e11o11~11 that, it c<Ln
lee collcc~~Llecl
1- tllo frullles 7~0 of tllf~ c~et;l;ns;,f~s. I'r~ef(~lal>ly Mlle Eiaunes 7~)0
of the evegla,6se6 ure
Mock, 6o that the apcrtlwe 6tfy ~,vlli( h is als(> 1>m~fm~al>lv lllrlch,
alolltwith a lloltsill~;
to prevent li ht 1er11:a~;e. will rl.ll olcllfl ill t(> 1c c(nlc(~.olf~fl
within tll(~ eyeglass fralne6
7J0.
I11 ~(~ueral, tho <Lp< rtllr(~ 6tcl> f~l~ the oh(~llul( 6ho111(1 ifleztllv
I>f~ 6n1,11 enfmgh (e.g.
tile f-n1u11her 6hfn11fl lee lli~; ol»Lz;ll) io 1>rovicl(~ sufficient flepth
of foals to af:hieve
focus lil~cr~ltioll. f refer<ll>li- t.lm arclllac ai>oltluw 6top wotll(1 leave
an opcnily with
flltllll(!t,er ~.t lealst 61112111 ellf)11~11 stl(.Il 71N t o forul 71, st op
v\~it.h f 111u111>f'r of alt least J.~, the
flisplay elelncnt llciuT; 611fficif-~llrly Ilri~llt o,s t(> 11(~ rea6(>lllllv
visilolc llotwit116t<l,nfling
the rcdllction ill 1>rihhtuc66 callsf~fl lrv the 6IUa11 cl>enin~; ef tlli6
stop.
~~l)tl('S. 1111)~l,l'tlf'111e1T'. lf'115 hI'(>I11) ~)~~1), all(1
'<1,56(>('ltlt('(1 11('wll~ (,~.f~ f>htlC'S 81'(' prCf('ltll)1\'
collcealf~fl within ille leu6 111at,cri<ll of the c-e~;lassw. I~eus t;rolll>6
X10, aufl c6peciall~-
J2f). nlrulc of pleat:eri<ll 11<1vi11~; <l lli~;llcr rcfrof t iv o illdcx
t11a11 Cllf~ cvct;la6s le us 111ate-
rial, ulav lie inlhcflflefl th(~rcill. ,l,llfl still lntuctiou, if fle6it;ned
for nse in a nledinnl
of rcfrncaive inflex efylal tf> th<Lt of tllc e~~(~g1r1.6s lens nlatcrizll.
All index nmltcllinb
sollltioll, inch as xylen(~. 11L,~- I m u6ed tf> fle6i~;u a.llfl test the
(wi~;illzll Ilrototyl>es.
Optic6 inllleflflc(l ill cs-c~;la6se,~ of the prior alt do uc>t: inclttfle aln
aperture stop.
Optics inlhef.ldefl iu eye~lu,66 If~ll;;f~~ of the 1>rior alrt ~;ellorall~.~
real horizontal. There_
fore another important ilmetltiw~ couoeht in t(»ou1 flee olat,ic6 vertically,
so that lens
group 9I0 i6 situat e(I rlt thf~ tep mr 1>tt.(>nl of tho (~ye~;lrls6 frzlnlc6,
allfl the llypotennse
of a diverter illcf>rp(wa.till~; Ices ~;Lf:ul> S>2U rluls 11(>rizo lltallv
alcrf>66 within flee e~~eZ~la,ss
lolls. ~lorf~ovf-er, tlli6 f:liveltcr cmo lc luo.fl(~ unlcll wifl~~n t11a11 i6
(>llticolly llf:ce6wrily,
~::>

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
so tlmt it lxrx,s ~z width c~cyml to t.lie width of tlic cntt line
c>rclixxz~rilt~ aaaocinted with
1>if~oca,l eyeglasses.
Im this vvay, tlx<~ fimialiccl 1>rc~clnct loc>l~s ,just like ou~climory
l~ifc,wnl c~~c~la scs, im
which tlm clivcrtc~r is ccmcc~nlccl lw umhixy it loch lil:c the cmt limy amd
<vssc>ciaLtc~cl
lnxlge of ordim<xry l~ifooal cvcylo,s~~c~.
A mxicro mximimtmc c~~~xxxc~rri, 21() is c>lt.ic>mMly iuclmlc~cl «-ith tlo~
imvemtiom to provide
an Eye--hah camicro iml>nt to rl 1>rc~cc~~sc>r clrivixy, the urcmroc c>f tlxo
imvemtion.
llorco>ver. wlxou onxly once cy°e od~ tlic ~~~ern c~r is t.uhlo~cl. t
lu~ oi-lxcr cycgla,ss lem of the
cyc gla,sscs can ho fittc~cl with ra 'v-l~nmm~'' optic. 1aa-ing tlxc aamxc
ohl>carmxcc as lcms
l;roul S)20 ra.nd tln~ assc>ciut,ccl clivcrtcr. lnxt uot- notmjlly
fmoticuxixx~;. In this way, the
aplnrmtus cam I>c imxl~cclclccl ixxsiclc ordinary c~ve~la,sscs wlmrc t,hc
frames 790 coxxce~l
tlxc al>ortnr<~ stop. mxxcl t:lu~ ~nxl~- Lmrtic>n in view is c>mc of tlxc two
folded lens groups
amd the rust of tlxc clivc rtcr. a.ncl nuotlicr "clmmnv~~ vor siou of
iclcxxtic Col looking o~stics.
so tluat overall, the cxxt:irc vlol>~lr;-nt us is cc>ucualnd in ivlmt. look
liko ordinary Uilocal
c yc glosses.
FIG. 10 clc:l>icts um cuxl>c>climcut c>f tlxe c~':e;luss 1>~~.sccl arcmmc im
which divertor
200 is mov~~,lolo imx~:lor control c>f rc l~roccssor oncl aervo meclxa.misux.
Di~~ertcr 200 at its
neutral rzud ccmtra.l loc°aticm ~mrl ~:wicutotiou is clmuotecl 1»~
mxmcral 200. Divcrt:cr 200
at u,m rirl~itrary of lu~r losition. lc>c oticm, amcl ori~~m,mti~m is dcmotcol
ly numeral 200'.
For siuxllicity. two clivorters '?OU cud '?()0~ me drawn in tlxc figmc, where
it will
be understood tlm,t tlxcesc rlrc lx>tll tlic same divcertcr im lc>ssilly-
di$~erc-pmt positions.
locations. mmcl orientations.
Divcrtcr 200 diverts of l~mst a i>c>rticux W rav 510 into ra l~ix~llole
camxera comprised
of sensor array 311 a.xol l~iolu>lc~ l.()00 c<mcc~~ilcd iu thce cy~glass
frzmuc s 7~)0. A Corrc-
slomdimg rav 510' c>f light ss-utlicsiiccl from tlic~ mrcmr~c mm~rges to lass
into cvc 100.
Tlxe clmamtity of Light in rov 510' is rcsl~omivc to the clmu,xxtitv of light
in ra,y 510. Ray
510" is also collimeor with rw :u 1l). Lihcwviso for rzi~~ 5'?0 a.ml 520.
Divcrtcr 200 clivcrts ry~ lt)10 out,o tlu~ aumie l~i~cl c>f cn.mc'ra, rx,rrn,y
311 ~~, did
2(>

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
clivcrtc-'r '?()0 clivcrt ra,v 51(t. 'l,liew~Fcme rp~ 1(t I0 ~ivos rise tc>
rein output from. the
arcmac that c:onu~s out of tlic s~ouc~ oremac direct is»~ os clicl t:ltat.
~ivcm rise. to lw
ray ~1() with clivcrtcr 2(l(). I3ttt mw the r<u~ of lint, that cc>mcs c»it of
the arcmac
gets rcficotc-~cl off cliw~rtco~ '?()0' itutc~ml c>f clivcrton 200. mnl so it
t;ocs off in a di$~crcnt
direction. This ray of li;;lut Oomuciu~; off clivurtc'r '?00' cmer~;es as ray
1010' «~hich is
c;ollinca.r with nml clm~ntihrul>hicollv rcslo>u;;ivc to r~~,v 101().
Similrly, rav -l ()'?0' i,s c c>lliocor witlc <mn-1
1>hotoclmwti~;t~ahliioullyc~slxmsivc t,o ra,~-
1020.
l~.ava 1010' aml 10'?0~ cuter cvc 10(1'. Ew~ 10l)' dcnc>tcs cvc 7()0 after it
has shifted
in hoaiticm. location, auul c>ricntntic~n from it., ori;;inal I~osition as cyc
1(l0.
Prefcaal~lv a relative cvc lmc;ot.iou mol oricm,o,tiou tracker itnsiclc~ the
cy~c~;lasses
clctcrmincs the location ;jml oric:otr~ticiu of c~vc 1()t) aml ozauscs the
clivcrtcr to reclircct
lit;lt into tlm cec, uo mrot.tcr wlicrc~ it. is.
In this way. tlm wc~ncr caa loch arc»uol to some clchrco. amd the mediation
zone will follow ilic wom~cr's hare . Tlms t c> o o c~rtaiu clc~;rcc. tl>c
onicicra will shoot
in t,l>e clirccaion iu ~-vltie li tl>c wcwrcr looks. «-itll tltc
V'icloo()rlits algorithm (see:
ltth:/yvcrurcam.cny~orl>its or htth://wcarcomh.c>r~;~orl~its~ tllt,
sc~~zmlcssly stitches
images t:cycthcr. o "lool:lmimtip" c:ou l~c ~c~m~rntccl. .1 loc~klrvintiy is a
still picattrc
formal from viclco t akc~u fmmu t.llc w~cwer~s vars-iug :;mzc.
Anol.her advamt~u~;e of this nl~lmratus cif FI(.;. 10 is t,lia.t if t:hc
evet;lasses move
arcmncl, c.g. ly slicliy clo«-a flee mwc c>f tlu' wc~n.ncr, or ahiftiy
slil;lltly~, the clivcrtcr
will movo to oomlo~mszltc~ for the ~miwli~;ummnt. Thus tllc pencil of re~.ys
formal ly-
X10' and X20' will movr~ t,o the nwv looaticm clcfiuccl 1>y tlcc hcucil of
ra,v s 1010' aml
1020'. ~I'hcercforc thn lo~mil c>f rrys will o,lw~yvs l~»ul o.t or incur tlic
ccmcr of hrojcctiou
of flu-~ lens of an cy~ of tltc wcrmcr of tl~c special ovcgl~~ssc~s.
13E\EFI'I'S (>F ~hI-IIi~ I:\VI~_~'T'I()N
Am Eve -TnI~ c r~meru, is a cmucra tlm.t uses a elivc~rtcr to divert rays of
light that,
wonlcl otlu-~rwisc c mt cx thc~ lmns c>f ~m cvc c>f t ltc usc~lw>f tl~c
omllcr<a. into muf-wns, such
'O r

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
as ru C'C'D array, for Oosorl~iy aucl clmnlltif~~iun tlicsc rays c>f liylit. A
vicwfimlcr for an
Eye Tal> camera c omlwiscs amorc~mm tlmt l~rcfc~rzi,l~ly rcswutlccsiiea the
rays of light
that. v~crc cliwcrtccl.
With this coufiyu~a ion. a new lciu~l c~f clc vice rewlts. Tltc tvhicallv
wearable
clcvicc camcs the c ~ c it-self t o l~cl~ovc, im effect. ~,s if it were a
c;amcra.. This ashcct of
the invcutiom «~ill 1c rcformol tc~ a,s Eye ~hal> tc~clmolo~y.
~r.Y'hicnl enhoclimcmts of llcis Lye Tal> clcvioo lia,vc tlic alyczrrancc of
orcli~iary
loc>kiug sunglasses or orcliu;uy loohiug 1>ifownl <~yc~~;lassos. or tln~
lil:c. and arc therefore
of great use owing to tlmir l~otcuciul to lm~~c~ m natural alyc,arauc:c.
Light tlmt w-oulcl othorwisc Im,~~, throuhlc the ucmter of the lens c>f at.
lca,st one c~~e of
the wcarcr is iustc<uc1 ~liw~rtc~<I into ;u wc~ara.l~lc~ comhutaticmal imagce
1>roccssimg clcvicc.
After this visual inf~orumt,iom i~, luo>c cssccl. it is tlccn use cl to
moclulatc a co mptttc:r
oontrollccl laser light somcc~ lmilt iutc~ tlic tcml>lc sick l~icocs of tlic
sunglasses,. Tlm
laser soltrcc is clircctcd, cooler cwnlmtor cmutrol. so that it. shines
tlwough the canter
of the lens of at: lcmt one ceyo of the wcarco.
Eye -Ta.h t,cclmology- hroviclw tlic 1~~~.sis ic~r ullovaint, tlcc i~-cr~rcr
of the shccia,l suu-
glasses to alter leis or lu~r ~-iwal p~l~cl>tiou of rcaLlit~~. Fc>r ehaml~le.
a vecarer of the
wnglwscs can sec im tc>ta.l clarkncss. or in t lcc iulr,o~ccl region c>f tllc
shcctrcun. Tlmrc-
forc, w~hcu liglitiy is boor. a lmrsc>n v-ho has tncmlolo aceing in hews light
c:am use the
device to provi<-lc light mnl~lificmicm. C'out,rast, uri,n also lx~ cnllauc<~d
using sohh.isti-
o.atccl oomhutc,r programs t lca,t prc>ocss the light clivcrt.ccl from tlic
cmntcr of the c.~-e's
lcm, prior to t~csvllt,lmai~iy tluis liz~ht im,c~h iut<> t-Ilc c-wc's lens.
So~m~ eml~odimcuts of the ar~mi~~c of flee im~cmtic>u arc lmscd on rv point
source
1>adclight, aml tlmsc mul>c>clinu~nts in l~ru t iculi~r pro ~~iclo a new- kind
of vicwfiudc.r
c.xhcri<mw that ~,vill 1>o clc~sorii ~~~cl l~c l<»~-, fc>r tlm l»~mcfit of tlm
rca.clcr w~ho has mot
1 ml an opportmity to look tliron~,h the wnglvssc~s that c:mnl>ocl~- flu-~
aretnac. of the
imvcmticm a,s a vic~wlinclcr.
The 1>oiutsowcc vrcmac mew cv-~Ocient, luscr light in a cx>mhlctcls- new-
wrvy.
p

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
V%ith the hc~intsontrc:o arf~nmo . t lu' Ions in lltc cwt itself has littlo
eff'c~et.. This rcwlts
in a very comfortnlnle wic~wiy ~~~pcrimme loxan;;c~ tho mutsclcs in the ove:
c1o not have
to c1o amv work. The icnagc is clrivmu thrc»tgl tlu~ es~c~'s leas using the
Ey~o- Tip
tcclmologv. amt ol~jocts aro simu.tzi.nccntsly in I»~rfect focus from rcro to
infinity.
I3ec~auso Laser EyeTr~.l~ Iwovides iufinito dept It of focus. out cwm k>olc
tlwouglt the
wuglasscs a,ncl hold a. fiugcr ooc cw two cca~timc~tcrs mw°a,v frotu
tlm cwt anal it looks
like it is in ahurl~ focus. \~'liilc ate doing this. om~ can lc>c>lc off at
tlu-~ clisto,nt- loorizou
aml sec> loth the finger uncl tli~ lmrizc>n in altarl> foe°ns at the
sarme tune.
~lorc,c>ver, other imhc~rf<~< tiou~ iu tlic cy~, ,snclt as astigm<otism,
c;tc., will often have
little conaechu~nco~ on laser Evc~ ~hal~ toclmolo~;~-~.
\ow l~ecauso <nf tltc infinite depth c>f fowus, c»te corn also see the
imperfections in
the lens of oue~s town csw. whilo ~.v-emriug t.liis mnl>oolitucnt of the
invention. One can
ace material auch as clnst ott tlo~ nvc's lens, and irretnlorities in the iris
of the eve.
l~loocl vcaaels in the c~-e.
Also. ea,cli time: one; 1>liuks, tln~ i~-il>e lines of 1lie c,volids will
appear in much the
same way as the linen oracle ly~ the w-imlsliic~lcl wipers c>n a,n rwtcmmhil<~
windshield.
Tlicsc wipe lines are st,raut;elv <li~,m~l~ity <tt first, l~ecausc~ ~n:llcn
you try to look at
tltcm, tlmev go a~~-i». Each time ils.c <~i~c~ tries tc, fovc~~utc c»i tlnmu.
the eve moves and
the cvolicls veipc u~~wv the verb- tltiy that vcm rite tryity to look at.
However, after
aomo-a nettiy nsecl ro, the Fy~~I'a.h suylus5cs ~~r~~ cluit,r' 1>I~~asiy t,c~
wear.
Things look c~ttit c' cliffermut tlirc>n~;ll tlu~ Eve Tvl~ glasses, <uml one
may developed
a liking for this altc~ruretc~ view ~~f reality. I1 is <u very rvl>cruetic
feeling. a, licit like
being in5icle your eve. a,ml seeing the world us n l~hot ol;rahhic ~cc>rlcl,
mappccl inside
the ~~~~c itself. as if t lie eve it-sell ~cnrc~ a camcrn..
Soma emhoclimcnts c>f tho im~:~nt-ic>n or<~ also useful for the visnallv
c:ha,llenged.
As the focus is lil~c~ratc~d to a r;neatcer and hreatcr clegrc,e, althomgh
imperfections in
the eve I~econne more vi;;il>lc~. I>nt u,lsc> the c <mtmnst aml cla,ritv of
the image increases
in certain other ~~wws. So altlu-»tz;h tlm image lo~comuc~s clcegradcecl in
some ways. it
p)

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
becomes letter in others.
People with poor evc~si ;lit oft-ctc sec umoli uo>rc clmurly v\'lucn looking
thrcm.gli the
Evc--Tab sunglmssce. C'olmrc>>ut La:~c,r light= 1>roviclw for less scattering
thou noncohcereut
light. and this suggests t.hut thcosc wfforing fro ru glanconm may l~c allc to
e~peruencc
some grceatcr degroc of~ sight 1» virtue of the roclncc~cl sc otterimg
l>oasille with laser
Eve -Tra y> tcclmologl~.
\-Iorcovcr. owiut; to the alility to insert m oonyutcr into the reality strewn
between
the camera and the arcmao. one c:acu furtlu~r cnlmuoc imm~;es, for c.~amplc.
ly rca,ltime
video umhping rlrouncl ~ ,c~ol<m.m. l_~sittg a wmll 1>~~t.tcry howcrcd
auhcrcombuter.
imahcs crln l~c hrocessc~cl io only a fmoc ti<>n of a scconcl, sc> that a
reality- stream
rmuing in full motion viclf~<> rc,sult.s. 1-Irmuv c~ml>odimcuts c>f this
acotoma reum.pher
rm at a full 30 fra~ues her scwmol, with loss than 1~~?~() of a soccmd delay.
The invention is also nsofml ire 1>rovidiug a. sc>lution to the loss of
peripheral vision
los' rcmahl>iug tlu, periplmry iW,c> the c cnt,rul rugiom with a hyber fisheye
computer
image I>roc:c~ssimg alg«ritluu.
These results chow bromide. zmd Eve ~l'al~ tc~clmolog,v ~~~omlcl be of great
lcmefit to
visually impaired persons.
On the incorporra.tion r>f cxuuhat,iug into tl~ Eye rIOI~ tcx;luu>logy. 1=he
Linaccess
(T~-I) avatc-mn is nsecl. Limocccss ru:us <m t.oI> of tlm G \ 11 Limu~ (T\I)
opora,timg sv~;tctn,
which is umch nn>rc rc~wmfignrn.l>lc fc>r t:ltc visually cl~allc~uge~:l then
closed operating
aystcms like V-irlt)~~ (T~I)_ V'~%io)~~ (TAI), c~to., ~\~l~icli ouh- auhlo>rt,
low vision users in
~l, VCT'Z' Sll~)(:r'flCl~l1 \\'et~'.
Linaocws is also uscfttl t,o tln>sc \vith m>rtual vision l~c~c~~ause the high
contrast
laser fonts drawn ou tlic rotima v:itl~ infinite clcl>tli of focus z~rc also
temlalle v~~ithout
looking directly of tlm~m. rhliis moons tlmt rm~er i\itlmormul vision can r1m
do\vn
stairs, two or t,lu'ce stc~los at a t imo; mul still rc acl au cmail umssagc
without haci_ub to
look right at the lctt.ers.
~-~-'hile jogging tine em rcacl cmail aml real>cmd to it, ovc~m cn~ a crowded
sides\-alk,
:>()

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
witllolt lonrnping into alls~onc~.
A c.onllmter hrc>granl e~lllefl ~jiclec>Url>its (ht tlz: //w-
earc:ulll.or~/orhits) is also the
lzrzsia for tile l3.ealit v ~-~% inclovv \1<lmu,t;m (li~~'VI) in wilicll
rf~a.l world o lyjects l econle
willflow~~ into alterlla,te vifwv.
C'onnnancls arc-~ elltf~l~cl intcl the ~~f~alral>le c~f>uIl>tlter Using
lliosellsors. A satisfac-
tort' biosonsor system is ehe systclll umlnlf~m twecl by Thcnlgllt
Tcwlllology, a C'anadiwl
colllanv. These aLlld other sell,~ors lual:e tile Eye Ialp sullglassc~s
reslx>lsivc; to both
slLllconscious and conscifnls illlmr. ~~ wt-,hollgllt l crldillg;" aystcnl
lla,s obvious llencfits,
fol' ('xallll)1C, to ('allt,lll'E' 11112Lg<'s t>f Illat<'1'1~t1 tllal
Stlllllllelt('S a gT'etlt (1<'Ill of 1)1'a,lll aC-
tivitv. A hiofeeclllack yst,f~lu cell 111<ll:ce tlle, wll~lusses 1>rwent tile
lest picture, while
llclnitoring brain activity.
Tlle appa,ratlls call 1>e cculirc~ll.ecl sly otlllsoimls effort. For example.
t~~hillk ~colll-
elands call he clollc-~ lz~~ either t,llcnl~;llt, ( "t Ilou~;llt ren,clillg;
Illc>c1e'~ ) or by collseious
ffe ring elf c:ertail llnsclw.
The Eve Ta,p slllgl<ISSCS Ilav lee w-ors i.og;et:ller ~-itll a ha t
cxlntainillg skull elec-
trodes. and/or au llllclc~rallirt ot>ut~linillg; fmtlu~r I~ocl~- c-
~lcctroclfw. V-'ith a single illlnlt
system. one c.a.n type letters ill llc>rso code. f~,clr e~~ullplc~. tale call
flex an 111usecl
port of the hotly fitted with elco troflf~s, ill rn,picl sllcoessic>n tc> form
cots assts dashes
of nlorse code. Three clasllcs ill laLl>icl slwoessif tll. foo c,wllllole~.
form the letter wo'"
which cause s the eveglassc~s to upelll a cc>llleotictll. All advrLltagc of
UXIX connlland
lisle interfaces is that all cxlnlllallcls rLre allc>rt and curl easily lee
altered using lllorse
code Muscle flexing, while wvlkillg arouses ants cloillg fltller things.
Using nlllltihle eleetrf>clc~a (c~.,~. hotel sllcmlclf~r lllaflcs fc>r
Ilianlllic input, or three
lzocly regions fc>r trianll>io input. ~:~to.), the lyoill~ speocl c<ln 1>e,
ilwroased. This llleans
that, one does slot lead tc> o<lrrv a l~evl>oa,rcl. <Lncl c>le eau type while
,jogging. Unf' can
e~~ell typo while c 1i1111~i11g a ladder or rape, prf>vic(ed a t;oocl
selection of body regions is
used. Thc: Eye-Ta.l> slllglasaes mllllcl t,lllla. fc>r eaanlplc~. Ile Used sly
a ctuadrihleg;ic to
react alld send enla,il, using a tliallhic: t,~~pillg; ay,telu from fa cial
electrodes. Since the.

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
laser E~'c T'al~ ulovc's with t.llc fucc. irresl)cc'tivc' c~f whc'rc~ tllcv
head is poilltcd. or where
the cyc is focused, it, is lot llcc c;~wuy to look il a I)rlrt.ici-ll;lr
clircct,ioll (c.~. wllc-arc a
traditiolull screen ~~-ould force' tllo user to 1>oillt tllc llc ald ill zl
1)rlrtic'tllor direction to
sec' it,).
Soluc elll)c>dilumlts of tllc iuvcutic>u will inoc)rl)oratc or include' al
~;~lze tracker.
and for those eull>odinlcllts th<lt clc>ll~t incllulc it. ollc call lle
e<j,sih~ a.ddec:l. Tlic haze:
tracker ca,n 1)e used n.s a cluwor lie:~illtill~; device iust.ca<1 of ~l
luotlsc.
Tllc t;azc tralcl:cr ucc'chut lo' oll cs-o iralclc~r. Eye truc;hcrs call l-)c'
culrclial)lc, es-
pccially ill sln~lll fork factors. \lorcovor. the c~ye trwl:cr lll~- I)o
annoying ill the
selsc tht it, ulkc s it llarcl fc>r tlu' usc'r tc) look uro Ilml wit:bolt the
dist,ractiou of all
wllloy'ill~; cursor f'ollou-ill~ t:llc ~'y~'s ulvcm~~llt.
Aocorclingly. illstcod a new kind of ~;~~io traol:cr is tvllicalls- ttscd. hl
tllc l3.calit~'
~~'illclow i\-Iaua,er (R~'~~:\:I) the yl~:u tlm~~ lie clsecl 1)otll tc> select
«-illclou-s allcl also to
po sitio2l t.llc wirtllal wiuclow vi~'wn>ort .
Live lacer EyoTrlt) viclco come;, into tlm rc)ot wiudc>w. W'iudows such as
the: clock
21,1'E tl'w1115pare.llt No t,ll~lt tll(' Wc'~1:~<'1' ('wtll S('<' thl' I'('111
~-1%01'1(1 t15 E~'(.''I'~l,l) ~'1(lQ0 ('0111111
through these wilulow;;.
Accordingly, the lcllotits c>1 o viewfinder tht is snit-,al)Ic for al v-
c~aral)le Eye, Ta.p
video calllle~ra svstenl. or thc~ lihc. ;llulcl l)c' chit c' eviclcut frc)ol
this clisc'losllre.
There is al al)ec'iz~l aigllificull~:o' tc> the notion of a 'sllrl,psllot ill
tillle" aucl the
1)loccssill~, stora~;c'. trrlllsulissioo. ctc., of tl ulotiou pica llrc ~l,s a
scqucllcc of such
"snal)sllota~~ .
'-~ llmu apl)lyin~; dalta c:'c>llll>rc asic>u to a st2'mn c~f illclividlll
pictures that will
1)c viewed ill realltinle (For cxznlul)Ic i2 vicleco'muf~c~relleilh, sllc'll
as the first--pcrsou
perst)ce't.ivc viclcocmlferellc'ill~; f)I the w-earvl>1el l;ye Trlp clc'vicc).
it is hcll)flll to take
into ac:cc>ltnt tllc ulamlcr in wlliclc tllc clat,a will l~c sent.
'.\-lcwt notably. pict,urcs arc is l>icwllv sc~Ilt over al t)acl;ct lmsccl
coulunulicatious
cllauucl. f or cxalmplc, V'~''earholc \-~' irc~lcess «'el o alll used t 11c
A?~25 Aula,tc llr Fl.adio
.; p

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
protocol. r'lccordingly. 1>~u lscts t-~.y»wullv c~it ltcr n,rrivc illtrlct cn'
zllc corrlll~r. F'aolccts
that arc corrupt. traditio tl<lllv wc>111c1 llc rc sculr.
Al interesting apllrcololl is r~_> 1-~ro~-iclc clntal ccnnl>rcssion on al per
inlagc l;~asis.
and to vary the clcgrcce of oonlhression so tlult Mlle sic of cac:ll picture
in the illa,gc
scctllcllcc is c~actl~- cctlll to tllc lc ltgth of ouc tluckcr.
To~;ctlic~r with t-he 1>ric»- ~~~snll>tiott Itllt ittl~;cs urc alc:cluirc~cl
at a rate that
c:~cccda the c°Ilanucl call>~lcvity). it veill gc tlc'r<llly llc irllc
tllrlt ly the tinlc w~c know
that: a pac:lcct («-hic'h is ~l c ~nlll>lctc~ pie t,lu'c~) is corrupt at the
rccoiver, tllcrc: will have
already l~ccn alwtllircd a newer pictllrc than tll<~ one tlmt. v~~o.s scllt.
Suppose.. for
c~alllplc, the round trip tinlo (13'.'1f~1'j is I()() lns («-llicll is cdllll
to the time: it takes to
gonera,te three, picture s). tllcrc v'cmld lx' lit,t=le acnsc iu rc sc-
~llclillg a llicturc that wa
taken three pic;turcs agc>.
The connnonly arising nitll~lni~>n in v'llicll llict,llrc's arc c<lptltrcd at
a rare than
cxc ccds the RTT sllggcsts th~lt tllre ~~-ill ml~~'avs llc newer llictltrc
information at the
tralnsnlit site that wlmt v-cllllcl 1>c ro salt ill tllc' event of al lost
paohct.
This alll>roacll fc>ruls tllc lmsis for tllc ''1'ictllrc Traltlsfcr 1'rc>t
cool" (I' TP) proposal
ly the rl,ltthor. hl l>articltlor, I''1'I' is lmsc'cl cell t:hc iclcu c>f
treating each "snapshot''
ill tinlc as al. single cnrit:y, ill i~c:~lriott, aaul coitlprcs:;iltg it into
a single packer, so
that it will have citller arrival ill its ctltirit-v or llor orrivc-~<1 <=Lt
X11 (alld therefore he
discarclcd) .
inchuling a rcociwcr sulwystc tll felt rcecciving llaclccts. wid paolccts
packctizcd such
that onu pac;kct oorrcaponds tc~ <nlc~ pictlnw f<>r clispla5- c>tl srlid
display nlcditlnl.
SllC'11 a 1)Cl'SOI1~11 1111Rg1I1~ 5\-'Nt<'lll 111aV 111C'hlcl(' ~l
C'i'c'('1\'c'r Slll)S''~r('lll fol' 1'c:c_'clVlllg
packets. said h~chcts packctiic cl s~.lcll tlla,t ollc' p;lc~l:ot <
orrcshollcls tcl once pictluc for
disllla,y oll said display- umoliluo.
Tllc 1>craolla,l illl~lgitl~svstouu tllll~' also 1>c w~h tlla,t, said rccciecr
sllllsvstcru re-
ccives packets without llckllowlalgclllcnr to a sc>urc c~ rr<lllstllitting
said pa.clccts.
The personal imaging y-stclu caf lll,ly allac> 11c such tll~lt said
tronsnlittcr auhsvstcnl

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
sends l~a('kets witllcntt n(:knowlc~d~r~111(~ut fropl olle (lr room
rec:eiv<~rs.
Although the ahparLltlls of t lee illz~entiop ll:l,~~ lie Used as a z-ie~~-
finder for video
cameras. it shonlcl still 1>e rcecoglliiecl that zl sill~;le I»ct.ltrc fropl a
pictlp'e secfuep(:e
t8k('11 C~~ltll a, vl(1('o C'a lll('1'a Call lltl.''(' a 11111 (l('gl'(,'('
c)f 1'('1('V2111('(' all(1 lllealllll,°' eV(:11
wllep it is taken in isolatic»1.
Sinlilarh-, a clir(o:t re salt of h'TI' is that a single packet from a packet
sequence
leas a high degree of relevlluce all(1 pleanioh evc~ll v-lleu it is taken ill
isolation (for
exanllle wheel the pa cketa 1>efcarc ,ollcl after it Lluvc~ l~c~e-ep
c:orrllptecl).
It is thc-~refore a l>larc~llt tllt if~ <l svstcnl ~-erc~ highly luwelial~le,
to tile extent that
picttn'es c'(nll(1 0lll~~ lie trallsmitt,ecl c>('ewic~llally, ap(1
lulprcclictably, that the video
sectllellce plight live greater value as ~1 strc~all of wuoessive still
pictures. This point
of vie«- conlbine(1 with l'TC' wc>Lllcl 1>rovic-le a sy~st(~111 tllt w-oulcl
(Iegra,(le gracef1111V~.
Ip(leed, if we were to rrlp(lonlly sele('t just a few fralle s fropl a elation
picture, we
woul(1 likely live a good wunplary of t ll(-~ olotiou I»~'t,ure. rlllcl,
C>rovide(1 the illtegrit\-
of the picture s was ipdivi(lually re~toilu~d ly tlu~ yol>ropl-iotc~
transllissiop prot,oc'ol.
ally givop frame «'ollld provide us with a sharp 1»ctutre ill whioll sulyject
flatter of
interest could he clearly disceollecl. I~il:e~wise. if w-e w(~re to randoplly
select a few
packets from a, stroaln c>f tllcnu,ulcls of plckc~t,s of PTP. we wolll~l have
(lata that
~'ollld provide a latch nulrc lllu~allillgfltl illtorprc~tatiol to Ille.
hllllan observer than if
all vae liad v-as ran(1op11v ~electc(l 1>a(:l:ets frupl all \:IPEU sequence.
aec:cnolillgly, an ol>,ject of t,llc~ Personal llagillg project, is to provide
a syst,elp that,
transllits pictllrw ill harsh or Llc>~tile clvironllc'pts. Ope such
at>plicatiop of such a
systcpl is tile Persolla,l 5rlfc~tv 1)cwice (lesclif~e(1 ill http:/%«-
earc<111.org.
Tlle Personal Safety Drvic'e clii~ers frog c>t llnr wiroless clat.a
t.ransplission systepls
ill the sense t=hat it was clesiguc~<l fc>r "Best C'u.sce" c>l~eratio~l.
Ordinarily. wireless
tra.lsplissions are (leesigned for mo ~rsr ('ase scc>llario s, such a.s flight
gnara,lltee a. certa.ip
plininllln level of perforlllaule(~ t'urmlglu~ut a large lletrc>pc>litan area.
The Personal
Safety Device. 11(>wever. is (lesigll~:~cl to luolc~~ it hard for a,p
a.clversarv to gparantee

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
total nonperfortnaucc.
It is mot a goal c>f t10-~ 1'<~rso oral 5afet~- I)<evioc tc> p trl,rmtcc
connectivity itt the
presence of ho stile .jatttmity of tlm radio sltcc twum, lost , rutlo~r. Mlle
goal is to tualcc~
it difficult for the aclvcraary to gmur<zutec tltc alwcncc of wntttcctivitu.
Therefore, a,u
otherwise potential pcrpctratoo of a crime ~wmlcl ocvcr log al~lc to 1~c
certain tlmt; the
wearer's device-a was m~tu cilterr~tio:ml and wntlcl therefore need t.o 1>c on
his or her
1>cst hc~lmwiour at all times.
Since tltcrc is_ n.ncl would l~c. tltc 1>ossil~ilitv of .just c>no 1>aokct,
which cont,aitts
just one pictmc. providiy inc.rituinating m-iclcm:e of wrongdoing, art
individual can
simph~ wear a persc>ttal safety clcvicc to obtain I~rotection from criminals,
a.ssail;ants.
amI attackers.
Tlic Fc-cur c>f Fmctiomjlit-,y~ (Fol~ ) tm>clcl mcaus tlmt if tlicrc e~ista
tltc: possibility-
that the svstcnt tttigltt fnnoaion :~~zrt r>f r,lu~ t-imc. so tha , a «~cntld-
lie hcrhctr<~tor of
a crime against tltc wearer c~f r l c hcrsonal sa,f'ct v clc~~ice tmust be on
his or her l~cst
hehaviour at all tintc s.
The personal wfctv clevicc m~ccl not work wntsta,nt:l, W tt. ra,thcr, tnuat
simply
prf~actt criminals with tlu~ l~ossil~ility t,hax it c:'ntlcl work sometimes.
This scenario
forms the basis for lest-case cleair;u as <u~ ultcrmnt.ivc to the uwal wot~st-
case dosigtt
paraditmn.
Tltc I'cersotta,l httaging svst etn tln~reforo t-rmtsntits viclco, but the
design oil the
s~~atent is such tlnLt it will, at, t lm ~-c~ry least . c>c~ ~~sionull~~
transmit <t, tncanittgfvtl still
nttagc.
Tvhica.lh~ tltc wearer's jadtct fmuctiotts as a lorbc lazy frcctucmcy amtcma,
providing
tranantission capability in a f~rccl~u~m~v lmnul th<ut is vcn~~ llarcl tc>
stop. For example.
the 10 meter band is a ;;ood cl~oi.cc~ l~ecaamc of its util>r~~~lict.alolc
performance (owing
to various 'vkil~" plicmonu~na. <~tc.).
It is alao desirul~le that sltc-mt rzwtgc ccnnnuuticatiou a,moty; mcntl~crs of
a commtt-
ttit~~ of users of w-cara,l>lo corners iucorl~orrnimg t1c invcntiott c:att
"imfcct'' each otluer
~; r~

CA 02280425 2001-03-19
with the possiblitv of h~lviy sc~m all illlhc~.
It, is lot necc~sstry to lllve ~c lli~;ll o~;~;lo!ytt~~ 1><ulcl~~iclt,ll. For
ex~Illlple, a witness
to a crinlc is a vvirus"' or .'lcluo'~ tlutt. tlln l~crlletr~ltor lllit;llt
want to kill. Hc;,wcwer.
a,ly otllcr person wllo oc>lles into lilo of si~;llt li~ltt c'oultatc't or
near ralclio contact wit:ll
thc-~ ~~~itrueaa hecolllca .'c-c>llt-rllllilotcol" with truth lw t,llo
witllcss, ill the sense tht the
perpetrator clots not know wh~~tlmr or loft illanes were sc~llt from the
witness to one
or llorc otllor pec>l>lc. hl this wn,~.' tile l~crLo~tr~L1-or nulat alswulo
tilt ally of those tile:
witless oonlos into c cnlt.zlc t wit ll rlla,;y l~c~ c nrric~rs of tll-c
tr11111 "virus" .
For this reason. a PTI' api»'oatc;ll is nsc~cl, as rl c;ollec'tionless. and
serendip:'itons
con111nications l~rotoc'cll.
Fronl the forc~~;c>ing cle~.crillric>n. it will i lls lie evident tilt tile
1>resclt, invelltio ll
pl'ovlcl<'H a (1('S1~I1 (>f~ 2L ('(»Lttl('t 11'11 f()1' 1I11O1'lll~lf loll
(1151)121y~. ~5 vRl'lollS ('htl.ll~~e5 C'.all
l~c llacle in the z~lolve ollll~c>olilucnuts ~ulcl cyorat illh llletlloo-is
witllont clepartillh f~rolll
the spirit or scone of tlle~ ilvmltion, it is intenclecl that all llrltter
c'ontaincd ill the
above cleseription c>r slunvn in Mlle alcc'ouy~Lll~-iy clrmwill~s sllonlcl lie
interpreted as
illustrative and felt ill al linlitily sc~asc~.
Variations clr lloolifications to tllc~ clesi~,l allcl r'culstrlu'tic»1 c>f
t,llis invention. within
the scope of the illvcellt.ioll, luau c>c'cll' to tho~c~ alcillecl ill tile
art Upon reviewing
tlm-a clisc'loslre herein. ~lelmoriotiolls c>r mo>dific vticills. if witliin
the spirit of this
invmltion. are intenclecl to lie ellc'c>ulpu secl wii,llill the sro l>e of
rtny olainls to patent
protection issuill~; 111>on this invoni i<>n.
>(i

Representative Drawing