Fig. 1. A) Overview of Retinal 3D. The proposed near-eye display provides virtual images with focus cues by generating a localized light field on a pupil with real-time tracking that can then be directly projected onto the retina. Pupil-tracked light field generation can reduce the needed information/computation load as well as provide the eye-box that can overcome the drawbacks of retinal projection-type displays. B) A prototype of Retinal 3D. C) The experimental results showing the generation of focus cues. D) Demonstration of full-color 3D augmented reality.
Abstract
We introduce an augmented reality near-eye display dubbed “Retinal 3D.” Key features of the proposed display system are as follows: Focus cues are provided by generating the pupil-tracked light field that can be directly projected onto the retina. Generated focus cues are valid over a large depth range since laser beams are shaped for a large depth of field (DOF). Pupil-tracked light field generation significantly reduces the needed information/computation load. Also, it provides “dynamic eye-box” which can be a break-through that overcome the drawbacks of retinal projection-type displays. For implementation, we utilized a holographic optical element (HOE) as an image combiner, which allowed high transparency with a thin structure. Compared with current augmented reality displays, the proposed system shows competitive performances of a large field of view (FOV), high transparency, high contrast, high resolution, as well as focus cues in a large depth range. Two prototypes are presented along with experimental results and assessments. Analysis on the DOF of light rays and validity of focus cue generation are presented as well. Combination of pupil tracking and advanced near-eye display technique opens new possibilities of the future augmented reality.