Depth perception is an important building block for user experience in AR/VR/MR applications. It is based on visual cues such as blurring, sharpness, relative size, non-uniform details level, and more. The human brain uses these visual cues to create a 3D perception. Displaying enhanced 3D cues requires high resolution while maintaining a large Field of View (FOV). However, current display technologies fall short of fulfilling these requirements. Current solutions require sophisticated optics and loads of additional hardware. Previous work by the authors presented a novel method to produce a foveated image using a Laser-Based Scanning (LBS) display enabling a localized high resolution and large FOV solution for enhanced 3D cues. This work takes this further and presents an implementation that enables a multifocal image projection combined with a foveated display. Multifocal plains provide natural blurring and sharpness cues. The solution is comprised of multi degrees of freedom scanning MEMS mirrors, a laser projector, and an algorithm enabling foveated projection and changeable focal plains. As the focal plains could be changed from frame to frame, the combination of the created image along with foveated pixelization generates a more natural display. This allows visualizing enhanced depth cues which significantly improves the 3D perception and 3D user experience. Moreover, this setup enabled reduced form factor. The authors believe that the presented solution will enable a state-of-the-art user experience with an acceptable form factor that will enable commercialization into daily use AR/VR devices.
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