Rendering system and method for images having differing foveal area and peripheral view area resolutions

A computer readable medium encoded with software for generating an image for user viewing, said software performing the steps of:

• determining a point of interest of a user within a full field of view;
• capturing a full resolution foveal field of view image within said full field of view;
• capturing a full field of view image with a reduced resolution;
• overlaying said foveal field of view image onto said full field of view image such that a combined image having a full resolution foveal area and a reduced resolution peripheral area is rendered;
• providing said combined image for display to a user.

A system for rendering an image comprising:

• a user point of interest tracking system which determines a user point of interest;
• a full resolution image capturing means for capturing a foveal field of view image centered upon said user point of interest;
• a reduced resolution image capturing means for capturing a full field of view image centered upon said user point of interest, said full field of view image being relatively broad compared to said foveal field of view image;
• a combined image renderer adapted to overlay said full resolution foveal field of view image onto said reduced resolution full field of view image thereby creating a combined image having full resolution in a foveal area and reduced resolution in a peripheral area;
• and
• a means for displaying said combined image to a user.