Abstract
Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) displays provide an additional sense of depth compared to non-stereoscopic displays by sending slightly different images to the two eyes. But conventional S3D displays do not reproduce all natural depth cues. In particular, focus cues are incorrect causing mismatches between accommodation and vergence: The eyes must accommodate to the display screen to create sharp retinal images even when binocular disparity drives the eyes to converge to other distances. This mismatch causes visual discomfort and reduces visual performance. We propose and assess two new techniques that are designed to reduce the vergence-accommodation conflict and thereby decrease discomfort and increase visual performance. These techniques are much simpler to implement than previous conflict-reducing techniques. The first proposed technique uses variable-focus lenses between the display and the viewer's eyes. The power of the lenses is yoked to the expected vergence distance thereby reducing the mismatch between vergence and accommodation. The second proposed technique uses a fixed lens in front of one eye and relies on the binocularly fused percept being determined by one eye and then the other, depending on simulated distance. We conducted performance tests and discomfort assessments with both techniques and compared the results to those of a conventional S3D display. The first proposed technique, but not the second, yielded clear improvements in performance and reductions in discomfort. This dynamic-lens technique therefore offers an easily implemented technique for reducing the vergence-accommodation conflict and thereby improving viewer experience.
Highlights
When a viewer looks at an object in the natural environment, the two eyes must be directed to that object
A benefit of the coupling is that vergence and accommodative response happen more quickly when they occur together
The optical correction for one eye is appropriate for distance viewing while the correction for the other eye is appropriate for reading distance [36]. In adapting this approach to stereoscopic displays, we hypothesized that the viewer’s binocular percept will be dictated by the eye whose focal distance is closer to the vergence distance of the fixated object, and that the vergence and accommodative responses will be more similar than they would be in a conventional Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) display
Summary
When a viewer looks at an object in the natural environment, the two eyes must be directed to that object. Because of the desire to retain dramatic 3D effects while reducing visual discomfort, there have been many attempts to construct S3D displays that reproduce focus cues and thereby decrease vergence-accommodation conflicts They can be divided into three categories: volumetric, multi-plane, and light-field displays. The optical correction for one eye is appropriate for distance viewing while the correction for the other eye is appropriate for reading distance [36] In adapting this approach to stereoscopic displays, we hypothesized that the viewer’s binocular percept will be dictated by the eye whose focal distance is closer to the vergence distance of the fixated object, and that the vergence and accommodative responses will be more similar than they would be in a conventional S3D display. We implemented the two proposed techniques and assessed their efficacy relative to a conventional S3D display by measuring visual performance and visual discomfort
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