Computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular phones, and countless types of Internet-capable devices are increasingly prevalent in numerous aspects of modern life. Over time, the manner in which these devices are providing information to users is becoming more intelligent, more efficient, more intuitive, and/or less obtrusive.
The trend toward miniaturization of computing hardware, peripherals, as well as of sensors, detectors, and image and audio processors, among other technologies, has helped open up a field sometimes referred to as “wearable computing.” In the area of image and visual processing and production, in particular, it has become possible to consider wearable displays that place a small image display element close enough to a wearer's (or user's) eye(s) such that the displayed image fills or nearly fills the field of view, and appears as a normal sized image, such as might be displayed on a traditional image display device. The relevant technology may be referred to as “near-eye displays,” and a wearable-computing device that integrates one or more near-eye displays may be referred to as a “head-mountable device” (HMD).
A head-mountable device may be configured to place a graphic display or displays close to one or both eyes of a wearer, for example. To generate the images on a display, a computer processing system may be used. Such displays may occupy a wearer's entire field of view, or only occupy part of wearer's field of view. Further, head-mountable devices may be as small as a pair of glasses or as large as a helmet. To transmit audio signals to a wearer, a head mounted display may function as a hands-free headset or headphones, employing speakers to produce sound.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds