Image projection system

Abstract

A system for use in retinal image projection comprising at least first and second image projection units and an eye projection optical module. The projection units are configured and operable for projection of at least first and second image portions respectively. The eye projection optical module is optically coupled to the image projecting units and is configured and operable to combine optical paths of projection of the at least first and second image projection units along a general optical path. Thus providing light beams from the first and a second image projection units, associated with projection of first and a second image portions respectively, to be directed to propagate towards a user's eye to project a combined image of the first and second image portions on the retina.

1 . A system for image projection comprising:
 (a) An image projector adapted for projection of at least two image portions with different respective projection parameters;   (b) a processor adapted for receiving input data indicative of at least one image to be projected, and for processing the input data to segment the image data to at least two segmented image portions and rendering said at least two segmented image portions according to said different respective projection parameters to respectively generate said at least two image portions for projection by said image projector.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said at least two image portions comprise at least one foveal image portion and at least one parafoveal image portion; and wherein the image data is segmented to at least a segmented foveal image portion indicative of said foveal image portion and a segmented parafoveal image portion indicative of said foveal image portion. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the image data is segmented according to designated portions of said image intended to be respectively received by foveal and parafoveal regions of a retina of user's eye. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  comprising determining said designated portions according to registration/alignment data indicative of aligned position of the image relative to a line of sight (LOS) of the user's eye. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising an eye tracking module and operable for detecting changes in said line of sight (LOS) of the user's eye thereby enabling to determine said registration/alignment data. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of said segmented foveal image portion and said segmented parafoveal image portion corresponds to a region of said image that is larger with respect to the respective one of the foveal image portion and the parafoveal image portion being projected, thereby rendering the segmented image portions with shoulder image data. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising an eye tracking module and operable for detecting changes in a line of sight of the eye; and wherein said processor utilizes said shoulder image data for projecting the foveal and parafoveal image portions while compensating for small changes on said line of sight. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said foveal and parafoveal image portions include an overlap at a boundary region between them thereby providing a smooth transition at the boundary region, between different respective projection parameters of the projection of said foveal and parafoveal image portions on the retina. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein said processor is adapted for registering said foveal and parafoveal image portions to provides said shoulder image data associated with overlapping parts of the foveal and parafoveal image portions to correspond to the similar image content. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the image projector includes at least two image projection modules adapted for projecting said at least two image portions respectively. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , comprising an eye projection optical module optically coupled to the two or more image projection modules and configured and operable to combine optical paths of projection of the image projection modules along a general optical path along which light beams from said first and a second image projection units are directed to propagate towards a user's eye. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein said two or more image projection modules and said eye projection optical module are configured and operable such that a foveal image portion, projected by a first image projection module, is directed onto a central region of image projection, and a parafoveal image portion, projected by a second image projection module, is directed onto a second, annular, region surrounding said central region of image projection. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 2  wherein said parafoveal image portion has an angular extent larger than an angular extent of the foveal image portion. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said foveal image portion has higher image projection quality with respect to said parafoveal image portion. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 2  wherein said foveal image portion has higher color depth with respect to said parafoveal image portion. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said processor comprises a graphical processing unit (GPU). 
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 (a) providing input image data and processing the input image data by segmenting the image data to at least two segmented image portions;   (b) rendering the at least two segmented image portions with selected different respective projections parameters and generating at least two image data portions;   (c) providing output data comprising said at least two image data portions to be projected by a corresponding image projector.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said at least two image portions comprise at least one foveal image portion and at least one parafoveal image portion; and wherein the image data is segmented to at least a segmented foveal image portion indicative of said foveal image portion and a segmented parafoveal image portion indicative of said foveal image portion. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one of said segmented foveal image portion and said segmented parafoveal image portion corresponds to a region of said image that is larger with respect to the respective one of the foveal image portion and the parafoveal image portion being projected, thereby rendering the segmented image portions with shoulder image data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein said foveal and parafoveal image portions include an overlap at a boundary region between them thereby providing a smooth transition at the boundary region, between different respective projection parameters of the projection of said foveal and parafoveal image portions on the retina.