Active illumination systems
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsChristian I Moore, Ravi Teja Sukhavasi, Taufiq Habib, Tushar Gupta, Zhiheng Jia
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fiducial patterns that produce diffraction patterns at a camera sensor are etched or otherwise provided on the surface of a cover glass (CG) in front of a camera. An active light source injects light into the cover glass or into a diffractive optical element to strengthen the signal from the fiducial pattern, or alternatively an active light source is used to reflect light off a reflective fiducial pattern on the cover glass, thus requiring fewer frames to capture and process the diffraction pattern caused by the fiducial pattern.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a camera comprising a camera lens and an image sensor;
- a transparent element on an object side of the camera lens, the transparent element including a fiducial pattern on a camera-facing surface configured to cause a diffraction pattern in images formed by the camera lens at a surface of the image sensor;
- a light source configured to illuminate the fiducial pattern to strengthen the signal from the fiducial pattern at the image sensor;
- wherein the camera is configured to capture light passing through the transparent element and fiducial pattern distinct from light from the light source;
- and
- one or more processors configured to process one or more images including the diffraction pattern captured by the camera to extract the fiducial pattern.
A method, comprising:
- illuminating, by a light source, a fiducial pattern on a surface of a transparent element on an object side of a camera lens;
- causing, by the illuminated fiducial pattern, a diffraction pattern in images formed by the camera lens at a surface of an image sensor;
- capturing, by the image sensor, one or more images including the diffraction pattern and based on light passing through the transparent element and fiducial pattern distinct from light from the light source;
- and
- processing, by one or more processors, one or more images including the diffraction pattern captured by the camera to extract the fiducial pattern;
- wherein the light source illuminating the fiducial pattern strengthens the signal from the fiducial pattern at the image sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.