Multi-illumination 3D holographic display using a binary mask.

We introduce a novel, to the best of our knowledge, method to increase the bandwidth in holographic displays. Here, multi-angle illumination using multiple laser diodes (LDs) is adopted to expand the limited diffraction angle of the spatial light modulator (SLM). To solve the problem of signal repetitions caused by sharing the same SLM pattern, we use a random binary mask (BM). We demonstrate via simulations and experiments that our method effectively increases the bandwidth with sufficient image quality. Furthermore, the speckle noise, a critical issue of the holographic display that decreases the contrast and is potentially harmful to eyes, is reduced by the advantage of incoherent summation in the reconstruction plane. We believe that this method is a practical approach that can expand the bandwidth of the holographic display by alleviating the bottleneck of hardware limitations.

Learning-based compensation of spatially varying aberrations for holographic display [Invited].

We propose a hologram generation technique to compensate for spatially varying aberrations of holographic displays through machine learning. The image quality of the holographic display is severely degraded when there exist optical aberrations due to misalignment of optical elements or off-axis projection. One of the main advantages of holographic display is that aberrations can be compensated for without additional optical elements. Conventionally, computer-generated holograms for compensation are synthesized through a point-wise integration method, which requires large computational loads. Here, we propose to replace the integration with a combination of fast-Fourier-transform-based convolutions and forward computation of a deep neural network. The point-wise integration method took approximately 95.14 s to generate a hologram of 1024×1024pixels, while the proposed method took about 0.13 s, which corresponds to ×732 computation speed improvement. Furthermore, the aberration compensation by the proposed method is verified through experiments.

Volumetric Head-Mounted Display With Locally Adaptive Focal Blocks.

A commercial head-mounted display (HMD) for virtual reality (VR) presents three-dimensional imagery with a fixed focal distance. The VR HMD with a fixed focus can cause visual discomfort to an observer. In this article, we propose a novel design of a compact VR HMD supporting near-correct focus cues over a wide depth of field (from 18 cm to optical infinity). The proposed HMD consists of a low-resolution binary backlight, a liquid crystal display panel, and focus-tunable lenses. In the proposed system, the backlight locally illuminates the display panel that is floated by the focus-tunable lens at a specific distance. The illumination moment and the focus-tunable lens' focal power are synchronized to generate focal blocks at the desired distances. The distance of each focal block is determined by depth information of three-dimensional imagery to provide near-correct focus cues. We evaluate the focus cue fidelity of the proposed system considering the fill factor and resolution of the backlight. Finally, we verify the display performance with experimental results.

Optimization of computer-generated holograms featuring phase randomness control.

In this Letter, we introduce a computer-generated hologram (CGH) optimization technique that can control the randomness of the reconstructed phase. The phase randomness significantly affects the eyebox size and depth of field in holographic near-eye displays. Our proposal is to synthesize the CGH through the sum of two terms computed from the target scene with a random phase. We set a weighting pattern for summation as the optimization variable, which enables the CGH to reflect the random phase during optimization. We evaluate the proposed algorithm on single-depth and multi-depth contents, and the performance is validated via simulations and experiments.

Compact tomographic near-eye display using a MEMS scanning mirror.

We propose a compact tomographic near-eye display by combining a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) scanning mirror device, focus tunable lens, and a single light-emitting diode source. A holographic optical element was used to elaborately focus the light source into the MEMS scanning mirror while providing further miniaturization. We implemented a drastically downsized multifocal display system that expresses a depth range of 4.8 D with eight focal planes by synchronizing these modules. Furthermore, the planar images are optimized to achieve correct retinal scenes at each accommodation state. The simulated and experimental results verify that the suggested near-eye display system can provide three-dimensional virtual images while showing physical feasibility.

Ultrahigh-definition volumetric light field projection.

We introduce a projection-type light field display featuring effective light modulation. By combining a tomographic display with integral imaging (InIm) technology, a novel optical design is capable of an autostereoscopic light field projector. Here, the tomographic approach generates a high-resolution volumetric scene, and InIm makes it possible for the volumetric scene to be reconstructed on a large screen through a projection. Since all the processes are realized optically without digital processing, our system can overcome the performance limitations associated with the number of pixels in the conventional InIm displays. We built a prototype display and demonstrated that our optical design has the potential of massive resolution with a full-parallax in a single device.

Occlusion-capable see-through display without the screen-door effect using a photochromic mask.

Conventional occlusion-capable see-through display systems have many practical limitations such as the form factor, narrow field of view, screen-door effect, and diffraction of a real scene. In this Letter, we propose an occlusion-capable see-through display using lens arrays and a photochromic plate. By imaging the occlusion mask on the photochromic plate with near-UV light, the visible light transmittance of the plate changes. Since no black matrix lies on the photochromic plate, our system provides a clear real scene view without the grid structure of the pixels and can prevent diffraction defects of the real scene. We also alleviate the drawback of a narrow field of view using the lens arrays for a reduced form factor.

LensIet VR: Thin, Flat and Wide-FOV Virtual Reality Display Using Fresnel Lens and LensIet Array.

We propose a new thin and flat virtual reality (VR) display design using a Fresnel lenslet array, a Fresnel lens, and a polarization-based optical folding technique. The proposed optical system has a wide field of view (FOV) of 102°x102°, a wide eye-box of 8.8 mm, and an ergonomic eye-relief of 20 mm. Simultaneously, only 3.3 mm of physical distance is required between the display panel and the lens, so that the integrated VR display can have a compact form factor like sunglasses. Moreover, since all lenslet of the lenslet array is designed to operate under on-axis condition with low aberration, the discontinuous pupil swim distortion between the lenslets is hardly observed. In addition, all on-axis lenslets can be designed identically, reducing production cost, and even off-the-shelf Fresnel optics can be used. In this paper, we introduce how we design system parameters and analyze system performance. Finally, we demonstrate two prototypes and experimentally verify that the proposed VR display system has the expected performance while having a glasses-like form factor.

Eye-box extended retinal projection type near-eye display with multiple independent viewpoints [Invited].

We introduce an approach to expand the eye-box in a retinal-projection-based near-eye display. The retinal projection display has the advantage of providing clear images in a wide depth range; however, it has difficulty in practical use with a narrow eye-box. Here, we propose a method to enhance the eye-box of the retinal projection display by generating multiple independent viewpoints, maintaining a wide depth of field. The method prevents images projected from multiple viewpoints from overlapping one other in the retina. As a result, our proposed system can provide a continuous image over a wide viewing angle without an eye tracker or image update. We discuss the optical design for the proposed method and verify its feasibility through simulation and experiment.

Optimal binary representation via non-convex optimization on tomographic displays.

There have been many recent developments in 3D display technology to provide correct accommodation cues over an extended focus range. To this end, those displays rely on scene decomposition algorithms to reproduce accurate occlusion boundaries as well asretinal defocus blur. Recently, tomographic displays have been proposed with improved trade-offs of focus range, spatial resolution, and exit-pupil. The advantage of the system partly stems from a high-speed backlight modulation system based on a digital micromirror device, which only supports 1-bit images. However, its inherent binary constraint hinders achieving the optimal scene decomposition, thus leaving boundary artifacts. In this work, we present a technique for synthesizing optimal imagery of general 3D scenes with occlusion on tomographic displays. Requiring no prior knowledge of the scene geometry, our technique addresses the blending issue via non-convex optimization, inspired by recent studies in discrete tomography. Also, we present a general framework for this rendering algorithm and demonstrate the utility of the technique for volumetric display systems with binary representation.

Tomographic near-eye displays.

The ultimate 3D displays should provide both psychological and physiological cues for depth recognition. However, it has been challenging to satisfy the essential features without making sacrifices in the resolution, frame rate, and eye box. Here, we present a tomographic near-eye display that supports a wide depth of field, quasi-continuous accommodation, omni-directional motion parallax, preserved resolution, full frame, and moderate field of view within a sufficient eye box. The tomographic display consists of focus-tunable optics, a display panel, and a fast spatially adjustable backlight. The synchronization of the focus-tunable optics and the backlight enables the display panel to express the depth information. We implement a benchtop prototype near-eye display, which is the most promising application of tomographic displays. We conclude with a detailed analysis and thorough discussion of the display's optimal volumetric reconstruction. of tomographic displays.

Hybrid multi-layer displays providing accommodation cues.

Hybrid multi-layer displays are proposed as the system combines additive light field (LF) displays and multiplicative LF displays. The system is implemented by integrating the multiplicative LF displays with a half mirror to expand the overall depth of field. The hybrid displays are advantageous in that the form factor is competitive with existing additive LF displays with 2 layers implemented by a half mirror and two panels, only half of brightness loss is experienced compared to multiplicative LF displays with 2 layers, and no time-division is required to provide images for multi-layer displays. The images for presentation planes are processed by light field factorization and optimized with the presented algorithm. Retinal images are reconstructed based on various accommodation states and display types to check the accommodation response and utilized to compare the proposed displays with existing displays. With ray tracing method, retinal images generated by the proposed displays can be obtained. To verify the feasibility of the system, a prototype of hybrid multi-layer displays was implemented and display photographs were captured with different accommodation states of camera. With the simulation results and experimental results, this system was confirmed to support accommodation cues in a range of 1.8 diopters.