Foveated fisheye lens design using an angle-variant distortion projection function

Light projection function is a major area of interest within the field of designing ultra-wide angle cameras. In this paper, we introduce a novel ultra-wide angle projection function that is characterized by an angle-variant distortion model similar to that of human retina space-variant resolution. The projection peculiarities were compared with the classical equidistant fisheye projection function to illustrate the benefits of our projection model on real-time tracking and ultra-wide angle imaging applications. The new projection model produced an accurate result with uncomplicated distortion control using Zemax user-defined macro program. The inverted model is also successfully used in correcting such distorted image. The paper shows as well the design of an original 170° fast foveated fisheye lens that provides more than 52 % undistorted image with a high-resolution performance over the entire lens field of view.