Google patents glasses that share one lens for cameras and projectors
Google has been granted a patent for a way to build virtual reality glasses by making the camera and projector lenses on the same piece of glass. This shared component sits inside the frame, allowing both devices to work together in a smaller space. The design helps guide light out of the projector and into the camera without needing separate, bulky parts.
In the filing’s own words
Various configurations of projectors and cameras are disclosed that use shared wafer level optics, in which optical elements, e.g., microlenses, of a projector are fabricated on the same wafer as optical elements, e.g., microlenses, of a camera. Projectors and cameras can be mounted together on a mixed reality headset, e.g., an AR/VR headset, for example, as a feature of smart glasses. Some projectors and/or cameras can be co-located in the arm or temple of the glasses. Some projectors and/or cameras can be co-located near a center point of the frame of the glasses. Use of shared wafer-level optics provides a compact and efficient solution for simultaneously guiding light leaving a projector and light entering a camera.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An apparatus, comprising: a frame; a camera disposed in the frame, the camera including a first optic fabricated on a wafer; and a projector disposed in the frame, adjacent to the camera, the projector including a second optic fabricated on the wafer, the wafer spanning continuously between the camera and the projector within the frame.
Facts
- Company
- Google (Google LLC)
- Official title
- Wafer level optics for virtual reality cameras
- Patent number
- US12769129B2
- Application number
- 18620454
- Filed
- Mar 28, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 13
Classified under
G02B 27/0172 Physics & computingG02B 13/0085 Physics & computingG02B 2027/0138 Physics & computingG02B 2027/0178 Physics & computingMore from Google in AR, VR & displays
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.