Using a 3d display to train a weak eye

Abstract

A method for treating a weak viewer-eye includes the steps of receiving eye-strength data indicative of an eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye and causing a 3D display system to vary, in accordance with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, display characteristics of a perspective that the 3D display system displays.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for treating a weak viewer-eye, the method comprising:
 receiving eye-strength data indicative of an eye-strength of a weak viewer-eye with respect to a strong viewer-eye; and   causing a 3D display system to vary, in accordance with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, display characteristics of a perspective that the 3D display system displays, wherein varying the display characteristics cause the weak viewer-eye to work harder than the strong viewer-eye to visualize the perspective without alerting the viewer of the weak viewer-eye working harder.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the eye-strength data is received from an external storage medium. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the eye-strength data is received from an integral eye-monitoring system. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating, at an eye-monitoring system, the eye-strength data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises tracking the focus of the weak viewer-eye and a corresponding strong viewer-eye. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises determining the strength of the weak viewer-eye relative to the strong viewer-eye based on the tracked focus. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises monitoring the dilation of the weak viewer-eye to determine the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises:
 using the 3D display system to perform an eye-strength test; and   as part of the eye-strength test, receiving user-input indicative of the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating the eye-strength data comprises:
 causing the 3D display system to display a first perspective of an image to the weak viewer-eye and a second perspective of the image to a strong viewer-eye, wherein the strong viewer-eye is a dominant viewer-eye;   receiving an indication regarding a quality of a viewer's perceived 3D effect from the images;   determining, in accordance with the received indication, data associated with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the 3D display system comprises a gaming system, and wherein the received indication comprises a metric of the viewer's game play performance. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the received eye-strength data comprises user-input indicating at least the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 3D display system comprises at least one of a lenticular display screen, a parallax-barrier 3D display screen, a holographic display screen, a directed-beam display system, a pulsed-projection display system, and a glasses-based 3D display. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein causing the 3D display system to vary, in accordance with the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye, the display characteristics comprises:
 evaluating a difference in eye-strength between the weak viewer-eye and a second viewer-eye;   determining that the evaluated difference in eye-strength is larger than a predefined threshold difference in eye-strength;   in response to determining that the evaluated difference is larger than the threshold difference, causing the 3D display system to vary the display characteristics.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 determining that the evaluated difference in eye-strength is larger than any of a plurality of predefined threshold differences in eye-strength; and   in response to determining that the evaluated difference is larger than a particular set of threshold differences of the plurality of threshold differences, causing the 3D display system to vary the display characteristics in accordance with the particular set of threshold differences.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of threshold differences constitute a substantially continuous set of threshold differences in eye-strength, wherein the display characteristics are varied in accordance with incremental changes in the eye-strength of the weak viewer-eye. 
     
     
         16 . A method of training a first viewer-eye comprising:
 causing a 3D display system to display a first perspective of an image and a second perspective of the image;   determining an eye-strength of a first viewer-eye with respect to an eye-strength of a second viewer-eye, wherein the first perspective is intended for display to the first viewer-eye, and wherein the second perspective is intended for display to the second viewer-eye; and   varying, based at least in part on the determined eye-strength of the first viewer-eye, display characteristics of at least one of the first perspective and the second perspective, wherein varying the display characteristics of the at least one of the first perspective and the second perspective cause the first viewer-eye to work harder than the second viewer-eye to visualize the intended perspective.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the varied display characteristics comprise one or more of (a) brightness, (b) spatial resolution, (c) sharpness, (d) complexity, (e) image size, (f) image position, (g) peripheral content, (h) spectral content, (i) color saturation, and (j) temporal resolution. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises decreasing a relative brightness of the first perspective with respect to a brightness of the second perspective. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises reducing a relative amount of time that that the second perspective is displayed with respect to an amount of time that the first perspective is displayed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises reducing, in relative image complexity, the second perspective with respect to an image complexity of the first perspective. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises varying the display characteristics in a way that increases a viewing difficulty of the first perspective with respect to a viewing difficulty of the second perspective. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises varying the display characteristics in a way that decreases a viewing difficulty of the first perspective with respect to an unvaried viewing difficulty of the first perspective. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises:
 initially varying the display characteristics in a way that decreases a viewing difficulty of the first perspective; and   gradually increasing the viewing difficulty of the first perspective.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein varying the display characteristics comprises:
 initially varying the display characteristics in a way that increases a viewing difficulty of a perspective associated with the first viewer-eye, wherein the first viewer-eye is a weak viewer-eye; and   gradually decreasing the viewing difficulty of the perspective associated with the weak viewer-eye.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising storing a viewer-profile, wherein the viewer-profile comprises eye-strength data associated with a viewer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein determining the eye-strength of the first viewer-eye comprises:
 determining that a current viewer is associated with a particular viewer-profile; and   accessing the eye-strength data from the particular viewer-profile associated with the current viewer.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 determining an eye-strength for each viewer-eye of a first set of additional viewer-eyes with respect to an eye-strength of a corresponding viewer-eye from a second set of additional viewer-eyes, wherein the first perspective is intended for display to each of the first set of viewer-eyes, and wherein the second perspective is intended for display to each of the second set of viewer-eyes; and   varying, based at least in part on one of the determined eye-strengths, the display characteristics of at least one of the first perspective and the second perspective.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein causing the 3D display system to vary, in accordance with the eye-strength of the first viewer-eye, display characteristics comprises causing the 3D display system to vary display characteristics in accordance with the relative eye-strength of the first viewer-ye and a second viewer-eye. 
     
     
         29 . A method of training a first viewer-eye comprising:
 causing a 3D display system to display a first perspective of an image and a second perspective of the image;   determining an eye-strength of the first viewer-eye with respect to an eye-strength of a second viewer-eye, wherein the first perspective is intended for display to the first viewer-eye, and wherein the second perspective is intended for display to a second viewer-eye; and varying, based at least in part on the determined eye-strength of the first viewer-eye, display characteristics of at least one of the first perspective and the second perspective.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the varied display characteristics comprise at least one of (a) brightness, (b) spatial resolution, (c) sharpness, (d) complexity, (e) image size, (f) image position, (g) peripheral content, (h) spectral content, (i) color saturation, and (j) temporal resolution. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein varying the display characteristics of the perspective comprises decreasing a relative brightness of a perspective that is displayed to the first viewer-eye with respect to a brightness of a perspective that is displayed to the second viewer-eye, wherein the second viewer-eye is a dominant viewer-eye. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein varying the display characteristics of the perspective comprises reducing a relative amount of time that a perspective for the second viewer-eye is displayed with respect to an amount of time that a perspective for the first viewer-eye is displayed, wherein the second viewer-eye is a dominant viewer-eye and the first viewer-eye is a weak viewer-eye. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein varying the display characteristics of the perspective comprises reducing, in relative image complexity, a perspective displayed to a dominant viewer-eye with respect to an image complexity of a perspective displayed to the weak viewer-eye. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein varying the display characteristics of the perspective comprises varying the display characteristics in a way that increases a viewing difficulty of a perspective for the weak viewer-eye with respect to a viewing difficulty of a perspective for a dominant viewer-eye, wherein the dominant viewer-eye is second viewer-eye. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein varying the display characteristics of the perspective comprises varying the display characteristics in a way that decreases a viewing difficulty of a perspective associated with the first viewer-eye with respect to a previous viewing difficulty, wherein the first viewer-eye is a weak viewer-eye, wherein the dominant viewer-eye is second viewer-eye.