US Patent 10268268 Waveguide integrated eye tracking

An eye tracker for determining a position of an eye, which may be integrated into a head-mounted display. The eye tracker includes a waveguide, switchable Bragg gratings (SBGs) that selectively out couple light from the waveguide, light sources coupled to the waveguide, a detector coupled to a return path of the waveguide, and a controller. The controller instructs at least one light source to emit at least one light beam propagating through the waveguide, and activates at least one SBG to out-couple the at least one light beam from the waveguide toward the eye. The waveguide in-couples at least one reflected light signal reflected from the eye that originates from the at least one light beam out-coupled from the waveguide. The detector detects the at least one reflected light signal. The controller determines a position of the eye using the detected at least one reflected light signal.