Fiber-Scanned Microdisplays

Helmet- and head-mounted display systems, denoted fiber-scanned micro-displays, have been proposed to provide information in an “augmented reality” format (meaning that the information would be optically overlaid on the user’s field of view). A system of this type would include laser diodes feeding light into the input ends of optical fibers. The output ends of the fibers would be vibrated in prescribed patterns (scanned), in synchronism with excitation of the laser diodes, to trace out the patterns to be displayed. Lenses would form virtual images of the patterns and project the images directly (or by reflection) into the viewer’s eyes.