Holographic in-field illuminator

Abstract

A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An eye-tracking system, comprising:
 an optical detector; and   a holographic illuminator that includes:
 a light source configured to provide light; and 
 a holographic medium optically coupled with the light source, the holographic medium positioned to:
 receive the light provided from the light source; 
 project a plurality of separate light patterns concurrently toward an eye; 
 receive a reflection of at least a subset of the plurality of separate light patterns reflected off the eye; and 
 redirect the reflection toward the detector.