JP2007219116A - Head-mounted display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head-mounted display which does not consume wasteful power when video display is not necessary. <P>SOLUTION: A display part 1 for displaying a video is attached to the front edge of a support part 2. The support part 2 is attached so that it can rotate in the direction of the arrow to one side of a headphone 3 (the amount of rotation is 180°+an adjustment margin). The two headphones 3 are connected by a connection part 4. By the rotation of the support part 2, the head-mounted display can be switched either for a left eye or for a right eye. When the support part 2 is directed to the part adjacent to top of head, the video is made not to be displayed in the display part 1. Therefore, in the case, such as when the head-mounted display is used simply as a headphone, wasteful power is not supplied to the display part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a head mounted display.

  In recent years, various glasses-type image display devices for observing an image displayed on a display such as a liquid crystal panel (LCD) as a virtual image enlarged through an optical system having an eyepiece, a half mirror, and the like have been proposed. It is called a mount display. An example of such a head mounted display is described in, for example, WO 2004/061519 A1 (Patent Document 1).

  In many cases, the video display device is configured to be worn on the face in a form wound around the head, and corresponds to one eye of the binocular type in which a video display system is formed at a position corresponding to both eyes and one of the left and right eyes. There is a one-eye type in which an image display system is formed at a position.

When the head mounted display is used continuously, there is a problem that the eyes observing the image become tired. Therefore, in a one-eye type head-mounted display, after observing an image for a certain period of time, it is preferable to switch to another eye and observe the image. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-233777 (Patent Document 2) describes a head-mounted display that prompts the user to swap left and right eyes based on the time when an image is observed.
WO2004 / 061519A1 publication JP 2004-233777 A

  However, even if a display that prompts the user to swap the left and right eyes for observing the video is displayed, the user tends to continue to watch the video with only the familiar eyes, and the switching between the left and right is troublesome. There is a tendency not to do. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not always effective to prevent the eye fatigue from accumulating only by urging the left and right eyes to observe the video.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and makes it a subject to provide the head mounted display which can be switched and used for right and left eyes reliably.

  A first means for solving the above-described problem is a head-mounted display that can be used by switching between the right eye and the left eye by inverting the top, bottom, left, and right of a display unit that displays an image. The head-mounted display has a function of inverting the top / bottom / left / right of the image displayed on the display unit each time an operation is performed.

  This means has a function of inverting the top, bottom, left and right of the image displayed on the display unit every time an artificial operation is performed, so the user has to change the eye for observing the image. Therefore, it is possible to prevent fatigue from being accumulated in one eye. Note that “inverting the top / bottom / left / right of the display unit for displaying video” does not necessarily mean to invert only the top / bottom / left / right of the display unit. Includes a case where the entire portion to be worn on the head is turned upside down.

  The second means for solving the above-mentioned problem is the first means, wherein the artificial operation includes turning on / off the power, attaching / detaching the head-mounted display, changing the display content, pausing the display. It is either one.

  The third means for solving the above-mentioned problem is the first means or the second means, and the left and right outputs of the headphones are reversed simultaneously with the vertical and horizontal reversal of the image displayed on the display unit. It has the function to make it have.

  When the left and right sides of the headphones are flipped together with the display upside down, left and right, if the sound is monaural, the output of the headphones may be the same for both left and right eyes, but the sound is stereo. In this case, by inverting the left and right output of the sound together with the horizontal and vertical reversal of the video, the correct sound can be output to the left and right ears.

  A fourth means for solving the above problem is any one of the first to third means, and the right and left of the user is adjusted in accordance with the upside-down and left-right inversion of the image displayed on the display unit. It has a function of adjusting display according to eye ability or ability difference.

  If there is a difference in visual acuity between the left and right eyes, adjust the display according to the ability of the user's left and right eyes or the difference in ability according to the up / down / left / right inversion of the image displayed on the display unit. Even when the video is viewed with the switched eye, the video can be observed without any particular adjustment.

  A fifth means for solving the problem is any one of the first to fourth means, and the exterior portion displays whether the right eye can be used or the left eye can be used. It is characterized by having a display device.

  In this means, since it is displayed on the exterior portion whether it can be used for the right eye or the left eye, it can be prevented that the user makes a mistake in wearing.

  A sixth means for solving the problem is any one of the first to fifth means, wherein the video is vertically / horizontally inverted for a certain period after the video is inverted vertically / horizontally. Even if a command is issued, it has a function that does not flip the image upside down.

  In some cases, an input that triggers a command to invert the image up / down / left / right, such as attachment / detachment of a head-mounted display, change of display content, and suspension of display, may be repeatedly performed within a short time. In such a case, it is troublesome if the image is flipped up and down and left and right faithfully. Therefore, in this means, the image is not reversed up / down / left / right for a certain period after the image is flipped up / down / left / right even if a command to flip the image up / down / left / right is issued.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a head mounted display that can be used by switching the left and right eyes with certainty.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an appearance of a head mounted display as an example of an embodiment of the present invention. This head mounted display has a display unit 11 which is a display means for displaying an image to the wearer M. In this embodiment, the display unit 11 displays an image only on the left eye of the wearer M. The display unit 11 is supported by the mounting unit 13 via a support unit 12 that is a support means. The mounting portion 13 can be mounted on the front surface of the head H, that is, at a position not on the face F. The mounting part 13 has two holding parts 14 arranged on the head H of the wearer M and a connecting part 15 that connects the holding parts 14. In this embodiment, the holding portion 14 is fixed to the connecting portion 15 via the connecting portion 16 and is disposed at the position of the ear Y on both sides of the face F.

  Further, the connecting portion 15 is located on the back head HB opposite to the face F. The connecting portion 15 is formed in a curved shape along the back head HB. The connecting portion 15 is made of, for example, an elastic resin. In this embodiment, the holding unit 14 is provided with a speaker 17 as an audio output means, and the holding unit and the speaker 17 constitute a headphone.

  The support unit 12 can move horizontally from the position where the display unit 11 is disposed in front of the left eye of the wearer M to the back of the head HB through the side of the head. The support portion 12 is formed in a curved shape along the side of the head. The support part 12 is made of, for example, an elastic resin.

  And the support part 12 is movable along the head side. In this embodiment, the support portion 12 can be accommodated in the connecting portion 15 of the mounting portion 13 and can be moved along the connecting portion 15.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the display device described above is configured such that the connecting portion 15 of the mounting portion 13 is on the back head HB side of the wearer M, and the two holding portions 14 are applied to the ear Y. It is attached to the head H of the wearer M. In this state, the two holding portions 14 are lightly pressed against the ear Y by the elasticity of the connecting portion 15, and the display device is securely attached to the head H of the wearer M.

  When the wearer M views the video on the display unit 11, the support unit 12 is pulled out from the connecting unit 15 of the mounting unit 13 by pulling out the display unit 11 with a finger as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the display unit 11 is disposed in front of the left eye.

  Since this head mounted display is axisymmetric with respect to the vertical direction shown in FIG. 1, when it is used for the right eye, it can be used by rotating it 180 degrees from the position shown in FIG. . In this case, the display unit 11 is inverted vertically and horizontally, and accordingly, the image displayed on the display unit is also inverted vertically and horizontally, so that the image reproduction unit (not shown) that controls the image display is It is necessary to reverse the left and right.

  Note that the left and right display device 18 is attached to the head mounted display, and it can be seen from this whether the image displayed on the display unit 11 is for the left eye or the right eye. It has become.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the control circuit of the head mounted display. The playback information storage unit stores video information and audio information to be played back, which are played back by the video / audio playback unit and output to the video display unit and the audio output unit (headphone) of the head mounted display main body unit, respectively. Is done.

  The operation switch is a switch for turning on / off the power, changing the display content, pausing the display, and the like, and the video / audio control unit performs a predetermined operation in response to this operation. The display eye / sound direction storage unit stores whether the head mounted display main body is currently used for the right eye or the left eye.

  The video / audio control unit receives the power on / off signal from the operation switch to turn on / off the power, and reads the contents of the display eye / sound direction storage unit each time the power is newly turned on. The video / audio reproduction unit is controlled so that the output for the right eye is output for the left eye and the output for the left eye is output for the right eye. In other words, from the state that was used before, the top and bottom and left and right of the video are reversed and the left and right of the audio output are reversed. The video / audio control unit also inverts the video to be displayed next and the audio to be output in the same manner as described above even when receiving an instruction to change the display content or pause the display from the operation switch.

  In this embodiment, a head mounted detector is attached to the head mounted display main body. This may be, for example, a microswitch that detects that the head mounted display main body is in contact with the head. Each time the video / audio control unit detects that the head-mounted display main body is newly attached to the head by a signal from the head-mounted detector, the video / audio control unit Invert in the same way.

  Note that the video / audio output unit displays whether the video is output for the right eye or the left eye on the left and right display device 18 shown in FIG. 1 (for example, used for the right eye). The left and right display device 18 is lit only when the wiring is on), but the wiring is not shown.

  FIG. 3 is another block diagram showing an outline of the control circuit of the head mounted display. The block diagram shown in FIG. 2 is different from the block diagram shown in FIG. 3 only in that the diopter changing means is attached and the optical system is shown in the figure, and the description of the same parts is omitted.

  Depending on the person, the visual acuity of the right eye is different from that of the left eye, and simply switching the video for the right eye and the left eye requires the user to re-adjust the optical system according to the difference in visual acuity There are cases like this. In this example, the visual acuity of the right eye and the visual acuity of the left eye are stored in advance in the video / audio control unit, and the video / audio control unit switches between the left eye and the right eye at the same time. A command is issued to the changing means, and the diopter changing means operates the optical system to display an image with a diopter suitable for each eye on the eyes of the user.

  By the way, depending on the case, an input that triggers a command for flipping the image up / down / left / right, such as attachment / detachment of a head-mounted display, change of display content, and suspension of display may be repeatedly performed in a short time. In such a case, it is troublesome if the image is flipped up and down and left and right faithfully. Therefore, it is preferable not to flip the image upside down, leftward, rightward, leftward, or rightward even if an instruction to flip the image upside down, leftward, rightward or leftward is issued for a certain period after the image is turned upside down. This can be realized as a function of the video / audio control unit.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an appearance of a head mounted display that is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the outline | summary of the control circuit of a head mounted display. It is another block diagram of the outline | summary of the control circuit of a head mounted display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Display part, 12 ... Support part, 13 ... Mounting part, 14 ... Holding part, 15 ... Connection part, 16 ... Connection part, 17 ... Speaker, 18 ... Left-right display apparatus

Claims (6)

  A head-mounted display that can be used by switching between the right eye and left eye by reversing the top, bottom, left, and right of the display section for displaying images, and is displayed on the display section every time a human operation is performed. A head-mounted display having a function of reversing the top / bottom / left / right of an image.   2. The head mounted display according to claim 1, wherein the artificial operation is any one of power on / off, attachment / detachment of the head mounted display, change of display contents, and suspension of display.   3. The head mounted display according to claim 1, wherein the head mounted display has a function of inverting the left and right output of the headphone simultaneously with the up and down and left and right reversal of the image displayed on the display unit.   The display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display unit has a function of adjusting display according to the ability of the left and right eyes of the user or the ability difference in accordance with the upside down of the video displayed on the display unit. The head mounted display of any one of these.   The head-mounted display according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the exterior portion includes a display device that displays whether it can be used for the right eye or the left eye.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function that does not perform up / down / left / right reversal of a video even if a command for up / down / left / right reversal of a video is issued for a certain period of time after the video is reversed. The head mounted display according to any one of 5.

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