The Effects of Lens Focus When Viewing Stereoscopic Micro-Display Images

Abstract

In a typical Head Mounted Display (HMD), the distance between the lens and the display screen is fixed. When viewing stereoscopic images presented on a HMD with different binocular disparities, viewers are forced to perform vergence without appropriate eye accommodation. This posts an un-natural demand on viewers' eyes. This paper reports the successful development of a HMD with computer-controlled lens focuses and the results of an experiment conducted to study the benefits of appropriate lens focus adjustment on the time taken for viewers to converge a pair of left and right binocular images into a single stereoscopic image. 3D letters were presented with binocular disparities appropriate to a virtual depth of 40cm. Two lens focus adjustments were used: 40cm and infinity. The order of presenting the two lens focus conditions was randomized. Data from ten participants with five repetitions indicate that the participants took significantly less time to converge the left and right images when the lens focus matched with the virtual depth of the images (p < 0.0001, ANOVA). The effects of repetitions, participants, and their interactions with the main effects of lens focus are presented.

Keywords

Head-Mounted Display Vergence Accommodation Stereopsis Lens Focus

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