Foveated imaging
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Foveated imaging is a digital image processing technique in which the image resolution, or amount of detail, varies across the image according to one or more "fixation points". A fixation point indicates the highest resolution region of the image and corresponds to the center of the eye's retina, the fovea.
The location of a fixation point may be specified in many ways. For example, when viewing an image on a computer monitor, one may specify a fixation using a pointing device, like a computer mouse. Eye trackers which precisely measure the eye's position and movement are also commonly used to determine fixation points in perception experiments.[1][2] When the display is manipulated with the use of an eye tracker, this is known as a gaze contingent display.[3] Fixations may also be determined automatically using computer algorithms.[4][5]
Some common applications of foveated imaging include imaging sensor hardware[6] and image compression.[7] For descriptions of these and other applications, see the list below. Miniaturized foveated imaging systems can be realized by high-resolution 3D printing of multi-lens objectives directly on a CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) chip.[8]
Foveated imaging is also commonly referred to as space variant imaging or gaze contingent imaging.