Systems and methods to provide privacy protection and brightness enhancement in an interactive environment

A method of providing an augmented reality environment, the method being implemented in a headset configured to be worn on a head of a user, the headset comprising a light source, an optical element, one or more physical processors, and storage media storing machine-readable instructions, the optical element being arranged on the headset such that when the headset is worn on the head of the user, the user's gaze is directed toward the optical element, the method comprising:

• generating, using the light source, linearly polarized light rays along an axis of propagation, the light rays being linearly polarized on a first polarization plane along the axis of propagation;
• directing the linearly polarized light rays onto the optical element to form images of virtual content on the optical element, the images of the virtual content on the optical element being superimposed over a view of the real world through the optical element to create the augmented reality environment;
• receiving the linearly polarized light rays at a reflective polarizer of the optical element;
• transmitting light rays polarized on a second polarization plane through the reflective polarizer, the second polarization plane being transverse to the first polarization plane;
• reflecting the light rays polarized along the first polarization plane off the reflective polarizer and directing the reflected light rays toward one or more eyes of the user when the headset is installed on the head of the user;
• arranging an absorptive polarizer downstream from the reflective polarizer with respect to the propagation of light rays generated by the light source;
• transmitting light rays polarized on the second polarization plane through the absorptive polarizer so that when the headset is installed on the head of the user, light rays from an ambient environment surrounding the user that are polarized along the second polarization plane and propagating toward the optical element are transmitted through both the absorptive polarizer and the reflective polarizer to the one or more eyes of the user;
• and
• controlling the light source to generate the linearly polarized light rays to form the images of the virtual content;
• wherein:
• the optical element comprises a curved visor having a concave side and a convex side;
• and
• the reflective polarizer and the absorptive polarizer are both disposed on either the concave side or the convex side.