Meant to be Seen

Ulexite is a naturally occurring mineral found in California that has the unique optical property of containing millions of optical fibers that allow it to transmit an image from one side of the stone to the other side with perfect resolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isPBecyaZYg

The necessity of curved screens to achieve uniform focus across the entire field of view (with conventional optics) required new technologies such as curved OLED panels or other new technologies...

But if one were to machine several ulexite stones into a smooth curved surface, and overlay them on top of the rift's display, one could conceivably achieve uniform focus without any new or exotic technology.

The unfortunate side effects are increased weight and loss of brightness/contrast.

Does anyone here know where I can buy a lot of high quality ulexite?

I think the main problem will be weight. I couldn't find any exact figures, but looking at http://www.crystalreflection.co.uk/ulexite.asp, I think it safe to say that the weight will be roughly 2g/cm^3. If maximum thickness is 2cm and you're using a concave curve towards the middle, then the average thickness will be roughly a third of that, giving a volume of .66cm*15*9 = 89.1g. I think you're likely to notice the difference in terms of comfort with that added to the display.

zalo wrote:But if one were to machine several ulexite stones into a smooth curved surface, and overlay them on top of the rift's display, one could conceivably achieve uniform focus without any new or exotic technology.

Wouldn't a curved glass panel achieve the same thing ? Sorry if I'm daft...

?
Using a glass lens would probably ruin the focus.

Using a curved glass display would be prohibitively expensive/technically complex to manufacture. It's what the ulexite is suggested to replace.

other curved display tech looks more promising. the weight issue will never go away taking this approach.