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 displayed by the display in an order corresponding to a depth value range of each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, 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 wherein the depth value range of each sub-frame is determined based on the depth values associated with the pixels such that a first sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more first pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values between a first depth and a second depth greater than the first depth and a second sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more second pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values greater than the second depth; and

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

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 control the varifocal optical system to the corresponding focal state for each of the sub-frames within a persistence of a user's vision.

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 displayed by the display in an order corresponding to a depth value range of each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, 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 such that a first sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more first pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values between a first depth and a second depth greater than the first depth and a second sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more second pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values greater than the second depth, wherein the depth value range of each sub-frame is determined based on the depth values associated with the pixels, and wherein the plurality of sub-frames together include all of the image data associated with the image frame; and

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

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 control the varifocal optical system to the corresponding focal state for each respective sub-frame within a persistence of user's vision.

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 displayed by a two-dimensional display in an order corresponding to a depth value range of each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames, wherein each sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes a corresponding portion of image data associated with the image frame, 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, wherein the depth value range of each sub-frame is determined based on the depth values associated with the pixels such that a first sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more first pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values between a first depth and a second depth greater than the first depth and a second sub-frame of the plurality of sub-frames includes one or more second pixels, of the plurality of pixels, having depth values greater than the second depth, wherein the depth value range of each sub-frame is determined frame-by-frame, and wherein the plurality of sub-frames together include all of the image data associated with the image frame; 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.

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, wherein the focusing optical element comprises a polarization sensitive focusing optical element, 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, wherein the polarization sensitive focusing optical element comprises an active polarization sensitive focusing optical element, wherein controlling the varifocal optical system comprises controlling a state of the active 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.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein causing the plurality of sub-frames associated with the image frame to be displayed by the two-dimensional display and controlling the varifocal optical system to the corresponding focal state for each respective sub-frame occurs within a persistence of a user's vision.