Free-form light field displays for VR/AR headsets

A device for virtual reality imaging, comprising:

• a pixel array including multiple pixels configured in a two-dimensional surface, each pixel providing multiple light beams forming an image provided to a user;
• a first optical element configured to provide a central portion of a field of view for the image through an eyebox that limits a volume including a pupil of the user;
• and
• a second optical element configured to provide a peripheral portion of the field of view for the image through the eyebox, wherein the second optical element includes a lenslet array to provide a segmented view of the peripheral portion of the field of view that includes multiple lenslets selected from at least one of:
• a free form lenslet, a liquid crystal lenslet, a Fresnel lenslet, and a pancake lenslet,
• wherein the central portion and the peripheral portion of the field of view together occupy at least one half steradian of a user's field of view when the device is worn by the user.

A device for virtual reality imaging, comprising:

• a pixel array including multiple pixels configured in a two-dimensional surface, each pixel providing multiple light beams forming an image provided to a user;
• a first optical element configured to provide a central portion of a field of view for the image through an eyebox that limits a volume including a pupil of the user;
• and
• a second optical element configured to provide a peripheral portion of the field of view for the image through the eyebox, wherein the second optical element includes a lenslet array to provide a segmented view of the peripheral portion of the field of view that includes multiple lenslets selected from at least one of:
• a free form lenslet, a liquid crystal lenslet, a Fresnel lenslet, and a pancake lenslet,
• wherein the pixel array includes segmented portions of active pixels separated by a gap of inactive pixels, wherein two sub-portions of the peripheral portion of the field of view of the image from two adjacent segmented portions of multiple active pixels form a continuous image on a retina of the user, and the light beams from the segmented portions of active pixels go through the eyebox at an angle that is unique for each pixel, based on a location of the pupil of the user.