“Balancing fusion, image depth and distortion in stereoscopic head-tracked displays” by Wartell, Hodges and Ribarsky

Stereoscopic display is a fundamental part of virtual reality HMD systems and HTD (head-tracked display) systems such as the virtual workbench and the CAVE. A common practice in stereoscopic systems is deliberate incorrect modeling of user eye separation. Underestimating eye separation is frequently necessary for the human visual system to fuse stereo image pairs into single 3D images, while overestimating eye separation enhances image depth. Unfortunately, false eye separation modeling also distorts the perceived 3D image in undesirable ways. This paper makes three fundamental contributions to understanding and controlling this stereo distortion. (1) We analyze the distortion using a new analytic description. This analysis shows that even with perfect head tracking, a user will perceive virtual objects to warp and shift as she moves her head. (2) We present a new technique for counteracting the shearing component of the distortion. (3) We present improved methods for managing image fusion problems for distant objects and for enhancing the depth of flat scenes.

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