HMD calibration and its effects on distance judgments

ABSTRACT

Most head-mounted displays (HMDs) suffer from substantial optical distortion, and vendor-supplied specifications for field-of-view often are at variance with reality. Such displays do not present perspective-related visual cues in a geometrically correct manner, which has the potential to affect applications of HMDs which depend on precise spatial perception. This paper provides empirical evidence for the degree to which these resulting distortions affect one type of spatial judgment in virtual environments. We show that minification in the HMD that would occur from an overstated HMD field of view results in a significant change in distance judgments. Incorrectly calibrated pitch and pincushion distortion, however, did not cause statistically significant changes in distance judgments for the degree of distortions examined. While the means for determining the optical distortion of display systems are well known, they are often not used in non-see-through HMDs due to problems in measuring and correcting for distortion. As a result, we also provide practical guidelines for creating geometrically calibrated systems.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
          Subjects: Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.7 Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism
          Subjects: Virtual reality

Keywords:
field of view, immersive virtual environment, minification, perception, pincushion distortion, pitch