Perceptual depth cue evaluation on an autostereoscopic display

Abstract: In this work an application for evaluating different 3D displays is developed. The work is carried out in collaboration with Setred AB that develops an autostereoscopic display. A stereoscopic display lets the user see different perspectives of a scene with each eye. A presentation of previous research within depth perception and stereoscopic 3D displays is made. Based on results from previous evaluations, a test environment is designed. It is implemented in C++ and OpenGL and a small Interface Library is developed. A couple of test sessions are carried out with a relative small number of subjects to provide results for an evaluation of the test environment. Results from the evaluation are used in combination with previous research to conclude the design of an evaluation environment. Tracking 3D paths is suggested as a suitable task for evaluating 3D displays. Three types of parameters are suggested for use as dependent variables: response time, rate of correct answers and accuracy. The parameters are used in the evaluation environment developed. One test developed intends to give an appreciation of how small differences in depth that are noticeable on the display. No distinct value for the depth resolution is found. In a scene influence test, the task is to position three objects in specific places on the walls of a room. For this test the accuracy is measured and used as the dependent variable. The presence of a reference structure improves the result in this test. Two different tests are carried out to evaluate occlusion. A number of tiles are to be ordered in increasing depth and the error rate of the ordering is used as dependent variable in this test. The results from the two tests indicate that occlusion overrides binocular disparity. A user interaction test that requires movement in three dimensions is developed. It evaluates six different methods to do this. The keyboard interaction method is preferred by some of the test subjects and provides the best results.