JP2000352688A - Head mounted type display and picture input/output device equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clearly observe the figure of a user including the eyes (or photograph it as an image) without making the user feel dazzled while maintaining the high contrast of a displayed picture. SOLUTION: This head mounted type display 10 is constituted of a picture display part 11 for displaying a picture presented to the user, a transmitted light beam selecting element 12 having property that a light beam in specified wavelength or a specified band is transmitted and concurrently a light beam in a visible area is reflected, and transmitted light source 13a and 13b emitting light beams having a continuous or discrete wavelength band. This picture input/output device is obtained by combining a user photographing unit 20 consisting of a camera 21 for a visible light beam and a camera 22 for a transmitted light beam which have the same characteristic in terms of geometrical optics and only whose sensing wavelength area is different, a beam splitter 23 arranged to couple them so that their optical axes and the angles of view may be coincident and a picture composition part 24 compositing the pictures taken by the cameras 21 and 22 with the display 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head-mounted display and an image input / output device provided with the head-mounted display, and more particularly, to photographing a user's line of sight and eyes while providing an image for presentation to the user. The present invention relates to a head-mounted display that can be used and an image input / output device provided with the head-mounted display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional head-mounted displays (or head-mounted displays) include, for example, those shown in FIGS.

The head mounted display shown in FIG. 5 is a closed type (closed type) head mounted display, and an image displayed on a screen display section 51 is reflected by a mirror 52 and presented to a user. According to this closed type head mounted display, the eyes of the user can be completely shielded from the outside by the closed type casing 50, so that an image with good contrast can be presented to the user.

[0006] On the other hand, the head mounted display shown in FIG. 6 is a transmissive (or see-through type) head mounted display in which the outside world can be seen through a half mirror. And is presented to the user. According to this transmissive head-mounted display, the image displayed on the screen display unit 61 by the transmissive housing 60 is reflected by the half mirror 62 located in front of the eye, and is presented. While watching, you can also observe the outside world at the same time. Further, if the transmittance of the half mirror is adjusted, an external person can observe the eyes of the user.

[0005]

However, the conventional head mounted display has the following problems. (1) In a closed type head mounted display, since an object (mirror) that does not transmit light rays is arranged in front of the user's eyeball, for example, as shown in FIG. There is a problem that the eyes of the user cannot be seen by anyone other than the user. Eyes and eyes are important information for communication between people.However, when a user of a closed head mounted display and another person have a face-to-face or image communication method, the eyes The conversation is held in a hidden state, which makes the user feel uncomfortable when viewed from a person other than the user. Also, in general, it is troublesome to attach and remove the head mounted display of the sealed type, so it is troublesome to attach and detach the head mounted display every time you talk.
In addition, there was a problem that the efficiency was not good.

(2) On the other hand, a transmissive head-mounted display allows a user to observe the outside world while viewing the display image, and also allows the user to observe the user's eyes from outside. This eliminates the problem of such discomfort and troublesome attachment / detachment.However, in the visible light region, the light emitted from the head-mounted display is mixed with the light from the surroundings. Has a problem that the contrast of the image becomes low and the image becomes difficult to see. Further, since the light amount of light rays from the face image is attenuated by the half mirror and the face is covered by the half mirror and the head mounted display, and the light amount irradiated on the face is small, for example, as shown in FIG. There is a problem that the eyes of the user can be observed by an outside person, but the eyes of the user cannot be clearly observed. For example, as described above, when a user of a transmissive head-mounted display and another person have a conversation by face-to-face or image communication means, the user's eyes and eyes cannot be clearly observed, so communication is not possible. There is a possibility that an unsuccessful situation may occur. Means for solving this problem include measures such as lowering the reflectance of the half mirror and irradiating the face of the user with illumination with visible light. However, when the reflectance of the half mirror is reduced, the contrast between the image presented to the user and the outside world is further reduced, and on the other hand, measures such as irradiating the user's face with visible light are used. In this case, a new problem arises in that the user is dazzling and difficult to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to clearly observe a figure including a user's eyes (or take an image as an image) while maintaining a high contrast of a displayed image without causing the user to feel dazzled. It is another object of the present invention to provide a head-mounted display capable of performing the above-mentioned operations and an image input / output device having the head-mounted display.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a head mounted display which presents image information to the user's eyes by being mounted on the user's head. A head-mounted display provided with a transmitted light selecting element for reflecting the image information displayed by light rays to the user's eyes and transmitting a predetermined light ray having a specific wavelength or a specific band to the outside. Is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head mounted display for presenting image information to the user's eyes by mounting the image information on the user's head. Image display means for displaying a light beam in the visible region, and reflecting the image information displayed in the light beam in the visible region to the user's eyes and transmitting a predetermined light beam having a specific wavelength or a specific band. A transmitted light selecting element, and a light source that emits the predetermined light beam to the user's face, and the predetermined light beam emitted to the user's face is reflected by the face; It is an object of the present invention to provide a head-mounted display, wherein a predetermined light beam is transmitted from the transmitted light beam selecting element to the outside.

In the above configuration, it is preferable that the transmitted light beam selecting element is made of a semiconductor, and the predetermined light beam is an infrared ray.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image input / output device provided with the above head mounted display, which reflects an input visible light beam and transmits the input transmitted light beam. A transmitted light selecting element, a visible light photographing means for photographing only the image by the reflected visible light, a transmitted light photographing means for photographing only the image by the transmitted transmitted light, and a photographed light by the visible light photographing means. And an image synthesizing means for synthesizing the image captured by the transmitted light imaging means and outputting the synthesized image to the outside.

In the above configuration, it is desirable that the image input / output device provided with the head mounted display is mutually connected to another image input / output device provided with a plurality of head mounted displays via communication means. .

[0013]

As described above, according to the head mounted display of the present invention, by using the transmitted light selecting element, it is possible to present to the user without impairing the light amount of the light generated from the screen display unit, A face image including eyes can be observed with a light beam in a specific wavelength region transmitted by the transmitted light beam selecting element.

Further, a semiconductor is used for the transmitted light beam selecting element,
A head-mounted display using an infrared light source as a transmission light source can capture an image around a user's eyes having good contrast without the user feeling glare.

Further, according to the image input / output device having the head mounted display of the present invention, the image synthesizing unit supplements the face image portion of the user, which is not photographed by the visible light camera, with the image of the transmitted light camera. Thus, the user can obtain a normal-view image of the user while observing the presentation image displayed on the screen display unit.

[0016]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
A head-mounted display according to an embodiment of the present invention and an image input / output device including the head-mounted display will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a head mounted display according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the head mounted display 10 has a screen display unit 11 for displaying an image to be presented to a user, and a property of transmitting a specific wavelength or a specific band of light and simultaneously reflecting a visible light. , And transmission light sources 13a and 13b that emit light having a continuous or discrete wavelength band.

In the above configuration, the screen display unit 11
The image is displayed by visible light and presented to the user. If the number of reflections of light rays from the image on the screen display unit 11 to the user's eyes is an odd number, the user observes the inverted image. It is necessary to reversely display the image on the unit 11 in advance. As a method of inverting an image, there are a method of storing an image in a frame memory or the like immediately before the screen display unit 11 and inverting the image, and a method of inverting a scanning direction when drawing a screen inside the screen display unit 11. You can choose any method.

The transmitted light selecting element 12 has a characteristic of transmitting a light of a specific wavelength and reflecting a light emitted from a display, so that a user can observe the reflected image as a normal display image. It is easy to select a flat plate as the shape of the transmitted light selecting element 12. When a specific optical system is arranged from the screen display unit 11 to the user for the purpose of displaying an image at an enlarged or reduced scale or adjusting the focal position, the transmitted light selecting element 12 is replaced with a concave mirror. Alternatively, by processing as a convex mirror, the same transmission effect as that of a flat plate can be obtained. In that case, it is effective to correct the influence of the refraction of the transmitted light. As a method of correction, an optical element for correction is inserted in front of the transmitted light selecting element 12, or the image is corrected by image processing after photographing with a visible light camera and a transmitted light camera as described later. Is also good.

It is desirable that the thickness of the transmitted light beam selecting element 12 is designed to be strong enough not to be affected by its own weight or deformation due to the support of the housing.

In the present embodiment, the screen display unit 11
When the housing is designed so that the user perceives as being dark when the user mounts the head mounted display 10 according to the present embodiment in a state where no image is displayed on the upper side, the displayed screen is The contrast is improved and effective. For this purpose, the housing is made of a material that does not transmit visible light, and has a structure in which the screen display unit 11 and the transmitted light selection element 12 are built in and shields visible light from the surroundings. At this time, a structure is provided in front of the transmitted light beam selecting element 12 so that the transmitted wavelength can be transmitted, or the light beam transmitted through the transmitted light beam selecting element 12 can go straight. Further, the transmission light sources 13a and 13b are arranged on the housing, inside the housing, or around the transmission wavelength selection element 12 so that the light beam can irradiate the face evenly.

The operation of the head mounted display according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described. First, the image for user presentation displayed on the screen display unit 11 is displayed by visible light 14, and the image for user presentation is
The light is reflected by the transmitted light selecting element 12 and presented to the user. The transmitted light selecting element 12 has a property of transmitting light of a specific wavelength or a specific band and reflecting light in the visible region at the same time, so that the transmitted light selecting element 12 is capable of transmitting visible light inserted between the surrounding scenery and the eyes of the user. Works the same as a shield. Therefore, the user cannot see the actual scenery behind the transmitted light beam selecting element 12.

On the other hand, the light beams emitted from the transmission light sources 13a and 13b illuminate the user's face. The light ray is reflected at the user's face, and a part of the light is indicated by reference numeral 15,
The light passes through the transmitted light selecting element 12 and is emitted in front of the user.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the user is observed with the light of the transmission wavelength when the head-mounted display according to the present embodiment is mounted, and the user's eyes are clearly observed through the transmission wavelength selection element. it can.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image displayed on the screen display unit 11 does not overlap with the external scenery and is not displayed. The same effect is obtained, and the user can observe an image for user presentation having sufficient contrast. Further, in front of the user, the user can observe the user's face image by the transmitted light.

By using a semiconductor for the transmission light selecting element 12 and using infrared illumination for the transmission light source 13, it is possible to more effectively observe an image presented by a user and to utilize the image more effectively. Of the person can be observed. This is because many semiconductors have a transmission characteristic in an infrared region and have a characteristic of reflecting light rays in a visible light region.

Silicon (Si) is effective as a semiconductor used for the transmitted light beam selecting element 12. Silicon has a bandgap of about 1.1 eV at room temperature,
Light having a wavelength in the near infrared region can be used as the transmitted light. Therefore, an inexpensive infrared LED can be used as an illumination source, which is advantageous in terms of design in terms of component cost, power consumption, weight, and irradiation life. In addition, since light rays in the visible light region are favorably reflected, the function of a reflecting mirror can be achieved by making adjustments such as making the brightness of the display screen brighter than when reflecting the screen with a mirror.

Although germanium can be used, the band gap of germanium is about 0.66 eV at room temperature, which is in a longer wavelength range than silicon, and a wide variety of imaging devices and illumination sources covering this range. From the point of view,
Harder to handle than silicon. In addition, germanium reacts more easily with water than silicon.If germanium is directly exposed to air, it must be treated with a transparent protective film in the transmitted light region. It costs. In the case where the transmitted light selecting element is made of not only germanium but also a material which is changed in some way when it comes into contact with other air, the protective film is effective in preventing the deterioration. In particular, in the case where the reflection characteristic of visible light or the transmission characteristic changes due to surface deterioration, the performance degradation of the device or element can be prevented by always forming the protective film.

Another advantage of using a semiconductor for the transmitted light selecting element 12 is that the optical characteristics can be changed by changing the amount of impurities to be doped. This makes it possible to change the wavelength range to be transmitted, adjust the reflection characteristics in the visible region, etc., and easily design the desired optical characteristics. It is also possible to form a transmitted light selection element using a semiconductor other than silicon or germanium, and if the material transmits infrared light and reflects visible light with almost flat characteristics, it can be used instead of a semiconductor. It can be used as a transmitted light selecting element.

On the other hand, while obtaining effective reflection of visible light,
In order to prevent scattering of transmitted light, the surface of the semiconductor is processed to be flat and smooth. As a processing method, a mirror finish is generally applied to a flat plate, and a semiconductor single crystal or polycrystal is sliced into a flat plate, and the element is formed by polishing the surface to a mirror surface by means such as polishing. The transmitted light selecting element can be formed by a method of forming a thin film of a semiconductor on a flat mirror-finished transparent substrate by vapor deposition or sputtering or CVD. In addition, an equivalent transmitted light selecting element can be formed by an optical element such as a multilayer dielectric film.

The transmission light sources 13a and 13b emit light having a continuous or discrete wavelength band, including light in the band transmitted by the transmission light selecting element 12. For example, in the case of an infrared LED, the emitted light has a broad peak having a specific half width around a certain wavelength.
If the range from the center wavelength of the light source to the peak region of about half width is within the transmission region of the transmitted light selecting element 12, sufficient performance as a transmitted light source can be obtained.

Further, as will be described later, by using a camera for transmitted light and performing processing such as amplification on the camera for transmitted light, the center wavelength of the light emitted from the light source can be adjusted to the transmission area of the transmitted light selecting element. Even if the boundary or the half width deviates from the boundary, it can be used as a transmission light source.

In addition, a light source that emits light based on the principle of natural radiation may be provided with an optical filter that cuts light rays shorter than the wavelength range to be transmitted light to form a transmitted light source.

As described above, by using infrared illumination for the transmission light sources 13a and 13b, the user does not need to perceive the brightness of the illumination illuminating the face, and does not feel glare. Therefore, the user can be illuminated with a sufficient amount of light, and the face image of the user can be easily observed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device having a head mounted display according to another embodiment. As shown in the figure, the image input / output device provided with the head mounted display includes a head mounted display 10 and a user photographing unit 20.

Since the head mounted display 10 has been described above, a duplicate description will be omitted. The user photographing unit 20 includes a camera 21 for visible light and a camera 22 for transmitted light that have the same characteristic in geometrical optics and differ only in a sensitive wavelength region, and an optical axis of the camera 21 for visible light and the camera 22 for transmitted light. Beam splitter 23 arranged for coupling so that the angle of view and the angle of view match
And visible light camera 21 and transmitted light camera 22
And an image synthesizing unit 24 for synthesizing an image photographed in step (1).
Note that reference numeral 25 denotes a combined image that is combined and output by the image combining unit 24, and the combined image is observed as shown in FIG.

In the image synthesizing section 24, the visible light camera 2
In step 1, the face image portion of the user who cannot be photographed and is missing is supplemented with the image of the camera for transmitted light 22, combined as one user image, and the combined image 25 is output. This allows
While observing the image, the user can obtain an emmetropic image of the user.

Here, in order to detect a defective portion of the user's face image photographed by the visible light camera 21, a marker is formed on the outer periphery of the head mounted display 10 or the transmitted light selecting element 12, and image processing is performed. A technique for estimating a defective portion, a method of applying a paint that does not affect the progress of the transmitted light, and a color having a characteristic that makes it easy to distinguish the surface of the transmitted light selecting element 12 from the face, A method of detecting by processing, a method of setting a configuration in which transmitted light always comes out only from the transmitted light selection element 12, and determining a defective portion of the face image using luminance information of the transmitted light camera 22 as a key There is.

In any case, instead of detecting and synthesizing all the missing portions of the face image by the head-mounted display 10, detecting and synthesizing information around the eyes which plays an important role as non-verbal information. Therefore, even if all the parts of the face image cannot be complemented or generated by the images of the cameras 21 and 22, the desired effect can be obtained.

As described above, the visible light camera 21 and the transmitted light camera 22 are coupled and arranged by the beam splitter 23 so that the optical axis and the angle of view coincide with each other. As a result, it is possible to simplify the composition by a technique such as keying, such as compositing with another image. A method may be adopted in which the images of the two cameras 21 and 22 are matched and combined using a digital image processing method such as reading the image into a frame memory and performing linear conversion.

It is also effective to provide a filter in front of the camera for transmitted light 22 in which only transmitted light is transmitted and light of other wavelengths is cut. at the same time,
If a filter that cuts the transmitted light and transmits the visible light is provided before the visible light camera 21, it is easier to obtain a good synthesis result.

By selecting a light beam of a special wavelength or band having low intensity in a daily living environment as a light beam illuminating the user by the transmission light sources 13a and 13b, the camera 22 for transmitted light mainly uses the face image of the user. You can shoot an image with
For example, an infrared light or a light beam of a single wavelength may be selected. Using the luminance of the image as a key, the image of the transmitted light camera 22 is superimposed and synthesized on the image of the visible light camera 21. According to this method, an image of the user in which the peripheral image of the eye captured by the transmitted light camera 22 is fitted to an image captured by the visible light camera 21 and in which only the user's eyes are hidden is obtained. Can be.

In general, when the user's eyeball is photographed in the infrared region, a sufficient contrast cannot be obtained and an image giving an unnatural impression may be obtained.
A natural image can be generated by performing processing such as reducing the brightness of the iris and pupil of the eyeball by image processing. Also,
Images captured at wavelengths in the infrared region are generally black and white images, but color information such as hue is extracted based on the color information of the user's face captured with visible light, and the brightness information of the monochrome image captured with infrared light By integrating the face color information and the face color information to balance the contrast with the visible light image, it is possible to make the monochrome image portion look like a natural face color. Further, if the visible light image is also a black-and-white image, the composition is simple and the adjustment is easy, and an image with a natural impression is easily generated.

As described above, in the image synthesizing unit 24, the face image portion of the user who cannot be observed by the visible light camera 21 and is missing is supplemented by the image of the transmitted light camera 22, and is used as one user image. Combine and output. As a result, the user can obtain a normal view image of the user while observing the image.

By connecting and using a plurality of image input / output devices according to the present embodiment via a communication device, it is possible to realize natural image communication in which users' eyes can match each other. Can be. FIG. 4 shows the configuration.

In the figure, a user A is photographed by the user photographing unit 20, and a combined image 25 obtained by combining a user image by visible light and a user image by transmitted light by the image combining unit 24 is: It is sent to the image input / output device of the user B via the communication device 30 and presented to the user B. at the same time,
The user B is photographed by the user photographing unit 20, and a combined image 25 obtained by combining the images by the image combining unit 24 is transmitted to the communication device 3.
0 to the user A's image input / output device,
To present. By performing such an opposing connection, it is possible to realize image communication in which the lines of sight can be matched.

As shown in the above embodiments,
Since the head mounted display and the image input / output device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by a simple optical system, the device can be easily designed.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the transmitted light beam selecting element may be configured not for a single eye but for both eyes. As a configuration therefor, two screen display units for the right eye and the left eye are arranged, and a transmitted light selection element is independently assigned to each of the screen display units, and the light emitted from the screen is used by the user. To lead to

Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, the head mounted display used by being mounted on the head is described as an example. However, the size of the screen display unit, the transmitted light selection element, and the housing is reduced. By maintaining a similar relationship and increasing the screen size, the screen size can be changed so that the user can observe it away from the device. It can also be used as a telephone display. In the case of such an enlarged display, since the user is away from the device, the transmitted light is often sufficiently included in the external light, and in this case, the transmitted light is often projected on the user. Therefore, it is possible to photograph a user's face image without a transmission light source.

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be appropriately modified within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

[0051]

As described above, according to the head-mounted display and the image input / output device provided with the head-mounted display of the present invention, image information is provided to the user's eyes by being mounted on the user's head. In a head mounted display to be presented, a transmitted light selecting element is provided to reflect image information displayed by light rays in a visible region to a user's eyes and to transmit predetermined light rays having a specific wavelength or a specific band to the outside. Because it was
It is possible to clearly observe (or photograph as an image) the appearance including the eyes of the user without causing the user to feel dazzle while maintaining the high contrast of the displayed image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a head mounted display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an external user observes the head mounted display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image input / output device including a head mounted display according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state of image communication using an image input / output device provided with a head mounted display according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a form of a conventional closed head mounted display.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a form of a conventional transmission type head mounted display.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which an external user observes the closed type head mounted display of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which an external user observes the transmission type head mounted display of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 head mounted display 11 screen display unit 12 transmitted light selection element 13 transmitted light source 14 visible light 15 transmitted light 20 user photographing unit 21 camera for visible light 22 camera for transmitted light 23 beam splitter 24 image combining unit 25 synthesized image

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/18 H04N 7/18 V // H04N 5/225 5/225 Z F term (Reference) 5C022 AA01 AA12 AB13 AC01 AC55 5C054 AA02 AA05 CA04 CA05 CC02 CD03 CE07 DA01 DA08 EA01 EA03 EA05 ED11 FB01 FB03 FC11 FF02 GB02 HA16 HA17 5C064 AA01 AA02 AB01 AB02 AB04 AC03 AC12 AD06 AD14

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A head-mounted display that presents image information to the user's eyes when worn on a user's head, wherein the image information represented by light rays in a visible region is reflected to the user's eyes. A head mounted display comprising a transmitted light selecting element for transmitting a predetermined light having a specific wavelength or a specific band to the outside. 2. A head mounted display that presents image information to the user's eyes by being mounted on a user's head, wherein the image information is displayed by light rays in a visible region. A transmitted light selecting element that reflects the image information displayed by the light ray in the visible region and transmits a predetermined light ray having a specific wavelength or a specific band while reflecting the user's eyes; A light source emitting to the user's face,
A head-mounted display, comprising: reflecting the predetermined light beam emitted on the face of the user on the face, and transmitting the reflected predetermined light beam to the outside from the transmitted light beam selecting element. . 3. The head mounted display according to claim 1, wherein the transmitted light selecting element is made of a semiconductor. 4. The head mounted display according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined light beam is an infrared ray. 5. An image input / output device provided with the head mounted display according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmitted light selecting element reflects input visible light and transmits the input transmitted light. A visible light photographing means for photographing only an image by the reflected visible light; a transmitted light photographing means for photographing only an image by the transmitted transmitted light; an image photographed by the visible light photographing means; An image input / output device comprising a head-mounted display, comprising: image synthesizing means for synthesizing an image captured by the light beam imaging means and outputting the synthesized image to the outside. 6. The image input / output device provided with the head mounted display is interconnected with another image input / output device provided with a plurality of head mounted displays via communication means. Item 6. An image input / output device comprising the head mounted display according to Item 5.