We propose a novel, to our knowledge, approach to address the limitations of traditional pancake lenses for virtual reality headsets, such as low image contrast and poor performance when eyes rotate. The design leverages the foveated nature of human vision, achieving a superior modulation transfer function in the foveal area to enhance optical performance significantly. Furthermore, the pancake lens design is presented that considers the rotation of the user’s pupil position, maintaining optimal image quality even when the user’s eye rotates. The proposed method presents the parameters and optimization of a novel pancake lens that utilizes the characteristics of the human visual system and accounts for the rotation of the pupil position of the user, leading to improvements in image quality and user experience. The lens design and image simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

https://opg.optica.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-49-10-2593