Overcoming the field of view: Resolution invariant in head mounted displays

A Head Mounted Display (HMD) with wide field of view and high resolution is very desirable for applications ranging from flight simulation to telerobotics to immersive virtual reality. But this is not always possible because these two display attributes are linked by the focal length of the collimating optics. Using traditional optical techniques, an HMD can have wide field of view or high resolution, but not both simultaneously. This paper will review four different methods of increasing field of view while maintaining image resolution: 1) high resolution area of interest, 2) partial binocular overlap, 3) optical tiling, and 4) dichoptic area of interest, providing a description of each approach, citing some examples and relevant research and presenting advantages and disadvantages.