Three Patents Awarded to Ocutrx Technologies for Field-of-View Tech

Ocutrx Technologies Inc. has added three new patents to its IP portfolio, covering the firm’s Near-Eye Pupil-Forming Catadioptric Optical Engine. 

The patents are important in the augmented and extended reality industry because virtually every other headset manufacturer—Microsoft (HoloLens 2), Magic Leap, Beyeonics (Clear), Augmedic (Xvision) or Dispelix—use “waveguide” technologies to create AR images. Waveguide optics, as a general rule, restricts the user to a limited field-of-view and typically contain chromatic aberrations and artifacts. Ocutrx’s patents, on the other hand, cover a new non-waveguide-related method that reportedly teach the largest field-of-view (FOV) in the augmented reality industry, at 70 degrees diagonally, 60 degrees horizontally and 40 degrees vertically. 

“It is my impression that nothing else in AR has such a large field-of-view, high resolution, brightness, and crisp artifact-free cinematic quality except Ocutrx’s Catidioptrxx optics in their AR/XR headsets,” said David Kessler, Ph.D., Ocutrx’s chief optical engineer, and a member of the Ocutrx International Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. William “Bill” Link, Ph.D. Kessler was the first-named inventor on all three patents, followed by Michael Freeman, founder and CEO/chief technology officer; Mitchael Freeman, chief operations officer; and Jordan Boss, Ocutrx’s chief product engineer. 
 
The first patent covers the company’s AR/XR wearable headset called OcuLenz and its specific lens configuration based on catadioptric optics, which form a superimposed 3D image from electroluminescent image generator onto a visible object scene using pupil imaging. The headset patent includes several sensors, like Time of Flight, SLAM,  head and hand gesturing sensors, 6DOF tracking, and voice UI and context awareness. The patent also covers actuators for adapting generated image content to the viewer. This patent covers what is believed to be the largest field-of-view in the industry at 60 degrees horizontally and 40 degrees vertically, which is a 16:9 configuration which is found in most televisions and monitors.
 
The second patent covers the AR/XR headset with added “Dynamic Opacity,” which is a light modulator in the visible path capable of varying opacity of the visible object scene according to image characteristics. Similar to photochromatic lenses, the Dynamic Opacity permits a user to increase the shading on the outer lens so that the virtual image can still be seen in bright light conditions or on a sunny day. This solves one of the most troublesome problems for AR, which is the brightness of the image in bright light conditions. This patent also solves another of the industry’s unsolved problems—the eyes looking both near and far, and still having a clear virtual image. When looking at close real-world objects closer focal length is advantageous. To achieve this, the patent’s solution provides automatic sensor measurement for diopter adjustment of the optical relay optics as a part of a focal plane adjustment system. 
 
The third patent covers an AR/XR headset with catadioptric optics and microdisplays which are positioned perpendicular and away from the user’s forehead to reduce heat to the user. It also covers eye-tracking in the headset and additional control system function and features as well as data acquisition for the viewer. 
 
“We are incredibly pleased to add these important patents to our intellectual property portfolio and the value of our company. These patents bring us to eight patents issued now, with over 100 pending in more than 30 patent families,” said Freeman. “These patents are important to the entire augmented reality headset industry, which is expected to bloom to over $300 billion per year. We also applaud Dr. David Kessler on his 100th patent, which was the third optical patent for Ocutrx.”

Most of Dr. Kessler’s other patents were for Eastman Kodak Company, where he manages the Advanced Optical Systems Design Group within Kodak Research Labs. 
 
Pete Conley, managing director and head of IP Banking for the company’s investment banking firm, Boustead Securities LLC, stated, “As you obviously know, optical engines are widely used in televisions, projectors, laser systems, scanners, industrial robots, etc. Not surprisingly, the 8,131 issued “optical engine” patents worldwide (all jurisdictions) are held by leading players in those global markets (Bosch, Coretronic, LG, Samsung, GE, etc.) and the subcategory of catadioptric optical systems are generally used in telephoto lenses, telescopes, microscopes, semiconductor photolithography, etc. So, as expected, the 2,711 “catadioptric” issued patents worldwide are held by leading players in those global markets (Zeiss, Nikon, Canon, KLA-Tencor, ASML, etc.). Utilizing PatSnap, I could find no issued patents in any jurisdiction utilizing catadioptric optical engines (other than yours) for AR, and no company utilizing these combined technologies for a wearable headset form factor with a plethora of use cases in AR/VR. I believe that Ocutrx is literally leading a new field of technology—and developing your key enabling technology as an “engine” transforms your business model to that which made Qualcomm and ARM Holdings / Nvidia the companies they are today.”
 
With offices in Palo Alto, Calif., a research and development labs in Tulsa, Okla., and manufacturing in Colorado Springs, Colo., and a new innovation office in Laguna Beach, Calif. and London, England, Ocutrx focuses on a 3D visualization ecosystem for healthcare. The Oculenz for patients and the ORLenz for Surgeons both provide the best-connected, lightest-weight, highest-resolution AR headset, with the widest  field-of-vision in the market. The Ocutrx OR-Bot provides surgeons with three different 3D visualization options in a cobotic O.R. system. The Ocutrx surgery microscope provides the highest (12K) resolution and the highest 3D magnification in the market with 24x to 144x magnification at 4K resolution per eye, and .8X too 288x at Full HD (1920×1080) resolution per eye.