Highly immersive head-mounted displays based on aspherical and freeform optics

Field of view (FOV) and resolution are two key parameters for head-mounted displays (HMDs), which determine the user´s experience including immersion and comfort. We present four different designs for large FOV and high resolution HMDs developed at Beijing Institute of Technology. Each of them provides an FOV greater than 80 degrees and an angular resolution better than 4 arcminutes. Two of the designs are immersive for virtual reality applications, and the other two are optical see-through for augmented reality applications. The designs can be divided into another two categories according to the size of the display devices employed. Design methods and experimental results are discussed in detail.