Keep it simple: Depth-based Dynamic Adjustment of Rendering for Head-mounted Displays Decreases Visual Comfort

Abstract

Head-mounted displays cause discomfort. This is commonly attributed to conflicting depth cues, most prominently between vergence, which is consistent with object depth, and accommodation, which is adjusted to the near eye displays. It is possible to adjust the camera parameters, specifically interocular distance and vergence angles, for rendering the virtual environment to minimize this conflict. This requires dynamic adjustment of the parameters based on object depth. In an experiment based on a visual search task, we evaluate how dynamic adjustment affects visual comfort compared to fixed camera parameters. We collect objective as well as subjective data. Results show that dynamic adjustment decreases common objective measures of visual comfort such as pupil diameter and blink rate by a statistically significant margin. The subjective evaluation of categories such as fatigue or eye irritation shows a similar trend but was inconclusive. This suggests that rendering with fixed camera parameters is the better choice for head-mounted displays, at least in scenarios similar to the ones used here.