An hybrid reflective/refractive head mounted display, comprising:
- a structural frame arranged generally along a X-axis and a Y-axis for viewing along a Z-axis, the X, Y, and Z axes being mutually perpendicular;
- first and second refractive optical lens elements;
- first and second openings in the structural frame and respectively positioned at least partially in front of a user's first eye and a user's second eye;
- first and second light-emitting visual sources respectively contained in the structural frame;
- first and second plurality of reflective optical surfaces supported by the structural frame, at least one of each of the first and second plurality of reflective optical surfaces is a concave or convex reflective optical surface, each of the first and second plurality of reflective optical surfaces comprising:
- a first reflective optical surface facing in a substantially rearward direction along the Z-axis;
- a second reflective optical surface facing in a substantially forward direction along the Z-axis;
- and
- a third reflective optical surface facing in a substantially rearward direction along the Z-axis, to define an optical path comprising:
- a first optical path segment directed forward along the Z-axis and downward along the Y-axis from the light-emitting visual source to the first reflective optical surface,
- a second optical path segment directed rearward with respect to the Z-axis and downward with respect to the Y-axis from the first reflective optical surface to the second reflective optical surface,
- a third optical path segment directed forward along the Z-axis and downward along the Y-axis from the second reflective optical surface to the third reflective optical surface, and
- a fourth optical path segment directed rearward along the Z-axis and downward along the Y-axis from the third reflective optical surface;
- a first compound optical element in the first opening, the first compound optical element comprising the first refractive optical lens element and comprising the first reflective optical surface of the first plurality of reflective optical surfaces, the respective first reflective optical surface disposed on the first refractive optical lens element;
- and
- a second compound optical element in the second opening, the second compound element comprising the second refractive optical lens element and comprising the first reflective optical surface of the second plurality of reflective optical surfaces, the respective first reflective optical surface disposed on the first refractive optical lens element;
- wherein visual content is transmitted from the first and second light-emitting visual sources to the first and second plurality of reflective optical surfaces, the visual content is reflected within the plurality of first and second reflective optical surfaces at least three times without passing through a refractive optical lens element, and the visual content is transmitted to the user's first eye or the user's second eye;
- wherein, simultaneous with the transmission of the visual content to the user's first eye or the user's second eye, a real-world view of an outside surrounding environment is transmittable through the respective one of the first and second refractive optical lens elements and then to the user's first eye or the user's second eye;
- wherein the visual content is overlaid onto the real-world view of the outside surrounding environment in response to transmission of the real-world view;
- and
- wherein the downward direction with respect to the Y-axis is in a direction of gravity when the user is standing erect and wearing the hybrid reflective/refractive head mounted display.