Volumetric display including liquid crystal-based lenses

1. A volumetric display comprising:

a two-dimensional display;

a varifocal optical system configured to receive image light from the two-dimensional display and focus the image light; and

at least one processor configured to:

control the two-dimensional display to cause a plurality of sub-frames associated with an image frame to be sequentially displayed by the display, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, and wherein each sub-frame includes a plurality of pixels of the image frame binned into the sub-frame based on depth values associated with the pixels;

control the varifocal optical system to a corresponding focal state for each respective sub-frame; and

control the varifocal optical system to achieve a selected focal state associated with a sub-frame prior to image light associated with the sub-frame propagating through the varifocal optical system.

2. The volumetric display of claim 1 , wherein the varifocal optical system comprises a plurality of optical stages, and wherein each optical stage of the plurality of optical stages comprises a focusing optical element.

3. The volumetric display of claim 2 , wherein the focusing optical element comprises a polarization sensitive focusing optical element, and wherein at least one optical stage of the plurality of optical stages further comprises a switchable wave retarder.

4. The volumetric display of claim 3 , wherein the switchable wave retarder comprises a switchable half waveplate.

5. The volumetric display of claim 3 , wherein the switchable wave retarder comprises at least one ferroelectric liquid crystal cell.

6. The volumetric display of claim 3 , wherein the polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises at least one of a Pancharatnam-Berry phase (PBP) lens, a polarization sensitive hologram (PSH) lens, a metamaterial, or a liquid crystal optical phase array.

7. The volumetric display of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate the plurality of sub-frames by binning pixels of the image frame into bins based on depth values associated with the pixels.

8. The volumetric display of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sub-frames together recreate the image frame.

9. A system comprising:

a head mounted display comprising:

a housing;

a two-dimensional display mechanically coupled to the housing;

a varifocal optical system mechanically coupled to the housing and configured to receive image light from the two-dimensional display and focus the image light; and

at least one processor configured to:

cause a plurality of sub-frames associated with an image frame to be sequentially displayed by the display, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, and wherein each sub-frame includes a plurality of pixels of the image frame binned into the sub-frame based on depth values associated with the pixels;

control the varifocal optical system to a corresponding focal state for each respective sub-frame; and

control the varifocal optical system to achieve a selected focal state associated with a sub-frame prior to image light associated with the sub-frame propagating through the varifocal optical system.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the varifocal optical system comprises a plurality of optical stages, and wherein each optical stage of the plurality of optical stages comprises a focusing optical element.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the focusing optical element comprises a polarization sensitive focusing optical element, and wherein at least one optical stage of the plurality of optical stages further comprises a switchable wave retarder.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the switchable wave retarder comprises a switchable half waveplate.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the switchable wave retarder comprises at least one ferroelectric liquid crystal cell.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises at least one of a Pancharatnam-Berry phase (PBP) lens, a polarization sensitive hologram (PSH) lens, a metamaterial, or a liquid crystal optical phase array.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate the plurality of sub-frames by binning pixels of the image frame into bins based on depth values associated with the pixels.

16. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a console communicatively coupled to the head mounted display, wherein the console is configured to generate the plurality of sub-frames by binning pixels of the image frame into bins based on depth values associated with the pixels.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of sub-frames together recreate the image frame.

18. A method comprising:

causing, by one or more processors, a plurality of sub-frames associated with an image frame to be sequentially displayed by a two-dimensional display, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, and wherein each sub-frame includes a plurality of pixels of the image frame binned into the sub-frame based on depth values associated with the pixels; and

controlling, by the one or more processors, a varifocal optical system to a corresponding focal state for each respective sub-frame, wherein the varifocal optical system is configured to receive image light from the two-dimensional display and focus the image light, wherein the varifocal optical system is configured to achieve a selected focal state associated with a sub-frame prior to image light associated with the sub-frame propagating through the varifocal optical system.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the varifocal optical system comprises a plurality of optical stages, and wherein each optical stage of the plurality of optical stages comprises a focusing optical element.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the focusing optical element comprises a polarization sensitive focusing optical element, wherein at least one optical stage of the plurality of optical stages further comprises a switchable wave retarder, and wherein controlling the varifocal optical system comprises controlling a state of the switchable wave retarder.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises at least one of a Pancharatnam-Berry phase (PBP) lens, a polarization sensitive hologram (PSH) lens, a metamaterial, or a liquid crystal optical phase array.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises an active polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises controlling a state of the active polarization sensitive focusing optical element.

23. The method of claim 18 , further comprising generating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of sub-frames by binning pixels of the image frame into bins based on depth values associated with the pixels.

24. The method of claim 18 , further comprising generating, by a console, the plurality of sub-frames by binning pixels of the image frame into bins based on depth values associated with the pixels.