A fundamental evaluation of human performance with use of a device to present different two-eyesight both eyes

Abstract

To investigate the flexible adaptation of the human visual system, we developed a system, "Virtual Chameleon", that provides a human user with the artificial oculomotor ability to control their eyes independently. Virtual Chameleon consists of two independently controlled CCD cameras and a head-mounted display. We performed fundamental experiments to evaluate adaptation to the use of Virtual Chameleon and its effects on the user's visual capabilities. Eleven healthy volunteers (18-44 years old) with normal or corrected-to-normal vision participated in the study. We obtained accuracy rates and response times while using Virtual Chameleon, as well as without it. The results showed that all volunteers were able to actively control independent visual axes and correctly understand two different fields of view while using Virtual Chameleon. However, providing two independent fields of view led to binocular rivalry in volunteers, which reduced performance compared to the control case. These results raise interesting questions on adaption to two independent fields of view. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.