Facebook Open-sources DeepFocus Algorithm for More Realistic Varifocal VR Rendering

DeepFocus is Facebook’s AI-driven renderer that’s said to produce natural looking blur in real-time, something that’s poised to go hand-in-hand with the varifocal displays of tomorrow. Today, Facebook announced that DeepFocus is going open source; while the company’s wide field of view (FOV) prototype ‘Half Dome’ may be proprietary, their deep learning tool will be “hardware agnostic.”When you hold up your hand in front of you, your eyes naturally converge and accommodate, bringing your hand into focus. The experience of this isn’t the same in the VR headsets of today however since the light is coming from a fixed source, sending your eyes into overdrive to resolve near-field images. This is where varifocal displays and eye tracking comes in, as the once fixed focal length becomes variable to match your eyes depending on where you’re looking at any given moment.Essentially it will let you focus on objects regardless of their distance from you, making the overall experience more comfortable and immersive. But the missing piece of the puzzle here is the ability for the headset to also replicate natural-looking defocus blur too, something that happens when you focus on your hand and the background goes fuzzy. Enter DeepFocus.