Facebook Patent | Audio output assembly for a head-mounted display

Patent: Audio output assembly for a head-mounted display

Publication Number: 10178457

Publication Date: 2019-01-08

Applicants: Facebook

Abstract

A head-mounted display (HMD) includes a housing defining an enclosure having an aperture. A is speaker positioned within the enclosure, the speaker having a back side facing an interior surface of the housing and a front side facing away from the interior surface of the housing, a back volume defined between at least a portion of the housing and the back side of the speaker for enhancing sound generated by the speaker. A sound conduit having an end open to the enclosure and extends outside the housing through the aperture. The sound conduit has another end open toward a rear direction to transmit the sound generated by the speaker.

Background

The present disclosure relates to audio output in a head-mounted display (HMD).

The HMD can operate as part of, e.g., a virtual reality (VR) system, an augmented reality (AR) system, a mixed reality (MR) system, or some combination thereof. During operations of the HMD, the HMD is worn on a user’s head and an audio output may be presented in connection with a video output. However, generating a high quality audio output directly from an HMD can be difficult. The housing size of the HMD may be limited to comfortably fit on the user’s head. The housing, for example, may include with a front rigid body that holds a display panel and other electronic components. When the HMD is worn by the user, the front rigid body is positioned in front of the user’s eyes, and thus separated by a distance from the user’s ears. As such, conventional HMD systems have used separate headphones or other audio output devices for audio output instead of audio components integrated within the front rigid body, or other portion of the HMD housing.

Summary

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a head-mounted display (HMD) that includes a back volume defined by a portion of a housing and a back side of a speaker. The housing of the HMD defines an enclosure having an aperture. The speaker positioned within the enclosure and the back side of the speaker faces an interior surface of the housing. A front side of the speaker faces away from the interior surface of the housing. The back volume is defined between at least the housing and the back side of the speaker for enhancing sound generated by the speaker. A sound conduit having an end open to the enclosure and extends outside the housing through the aperture. The sound conduit has another end open toward a rear direction to transmit the sound generated by the speaker.