Eliminating accommodation-convergence conflicts in stereoscopic displays: Can multiple-focal-plane displays elicit continuous and consistent vergence and accommodation responses?

Kevin J. MacKenzie; Simon J. Watt

doi:10.1117/12.840283

24 February 2010 Eliminating accommodation-convergence conflicts in stereoscopic displays: Can multiple-focal-plane displays elicit continuous and consistent vergence and accommodation responses?

Kevin J. MacKenzie, Simon J. Watt

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7524, Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXI; 752417 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.840283
Event: IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, 2010, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Conventional stereoscopic displays present images at a fixed focal distance. Depth variations in the depicted scene therefore result in conflicts between the stimuli to vergence and to accommodation. The resulting decoupling of accommodation and vergence responses can cause adverse consequences, including reduced stereo performance, difficulty fusing binocular images, and fatigue and discomfort. These problems could be eliminated if stereo displays could present correct focus cues. A promising approach to achieving this is to present each eye with a sum of images presented at multiple focal planes, and to approximate continuous variations in focal distance by distributing light energy across image planes - a technique referred to as depth-filtering¹. Here we describe a novel multi-plane display in which we can measure accommodation and vergence responses. We report an experiment in which we compare these oculomotor responses to real stimuli and depth-filtered simulations of the same distance. Vergence responses were generally similar across conditions. Accommodation responses to depth-filtered images were inaccurate, however, showing an overshoot of the target, particularly in response to a small step-change in stimulus distance. This is surprising because we have previously shown that blur-driven accommodation to the same stimuli, viewed monocularly, is accurate and reliable. We speculate that an initial convergence-driven accommodation response, in combination with a weaker accommodative stimulus from depth-filtered images, leads to this overshoot. Our results suggest that stereoscopic multi-plane displays can be effective, but require smaller image-plane separations than monocular accommodation responses suggest.

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Kevin J. MacKenzie and Simon J. Watt "Eliminating accommodation-convergence conflicts in stereoscopic displays: Can multiple-focal-plane displays elicit continuous and consistent vergence and accommodation responses?", Proc. SPIE 7524, Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XXI, 752417 (24 February 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.840283

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