Systems and methods for generating defocus blur effects

In one embodiment, a computing system may receive current eye-tracking data associated with a user of a head-mounted display. The system may dynamically adjust a focal length of the head-mounted display based on the current eye-tracking data. The system may generate an in-focus image of a scene and a corresponding depth map of the scene. The system may generate a circle-of-confusion map for the scene based on the depth map. The circle-of-confusion map encodes a desired focal surface in the scene. The system may generate, using a machine-learning model, an output image with a synthesized defocus-blur effect by processing the in-focus image, the corresponding depth map, and the circle-of-confusion map of the scene. The system may display the output image with the synthesized defocus-blur effect to the user via the head-mounted display having the adjusted focal length.