The Effect of Focus Cues on Separation of Information Layers

Abstract

Our eyes use multiple cues to perceive depth. Current 3D displays do not support all depth cues humans can perceive. While they support binocular disparity and convergence, no commercially available 3D display supports focus cues. To use them requires accommodation, i.e. stretching the eye lens when focusing on an individual distance. Previous work proposed multilayer and light field displays that require the eye to accommodate. Such displays enable the user to focus on different depths and blur out content that is out of focus. Thereby, they might ease the separation of content displayed on different depth layers. In this paper, we investigate the effect of focus cues by comparing 3D shutter glasses with a multilayer display. We show that recognizing content displayed on a multilayer display takes less time and results in fewer errors compared to shutter glasses. We further show that separating overlapping content on multilayer displays again takes less time, results in fewer errors, and is less demanding. Hence, we argue that multilayer displays are superior to standard 3D displays if layered 3D content is displayed, and they have the potential to extend the design space of standard GUI.

Brain Activity Underlying Visual Search in Depth when Viewing Volumetric Multiplanar Images

“…Previous studies show that response time can be used as a factor for visual target perception (Pladere et al, 2019;Rogers, 2019). Behavioral data, which indicated the shorter response time in the 3D task, could be a logical proof of the easier perceiving 3D images on the volumetric display compared to 2D images as it is in line (Bader et al, 2016). As far as a time-free experiment designed in our study, the subjects could have enough time and motivation to do the task correctly.…”

“…New approaches are being developed to avoid the forceful separation of views for both eyes to improve user comfort and performance. The new displays aim to provide three-dimensional images on multiple focal planes, which requires no eyewear (Hoffman et al, 2010;Geng, 2013;Bader et al, 2016;Osmanis et al, 2018;Zhan et al, 2020). Speci cally, image points in the physical space of optical elements can be shown in a time-multiplexed manner (Geng, 2013;Smalley et al, 2018;Osmanis et al, 2018).…”

“…As new three-dimensional visualization systems are intended to be used daily, it is crucial to understand how their implementation affects user performance. Previous behavioral studies provided some experimental support for using volumetric visualization instead of stereoscopic images by reporting more accurate judgments on spatial relationships (Grossman & Balakrishnan, 2006) and faster information recognition time (Bader et al, 2016). However, to our knowledge, no studies have yet assessed how neural activity changes in response to new three-dimensional visualization methods.…”

Graphic Interfaces in ADAS

“…This topic has become highly significant since, through the 3D mapping, the spatial awareness of the users can be increased. Several studies show that 3D view is able to improve the recognition of the semantics of spatial information [1], providing robust information. This led to an increase of the cognitive workload, that is however compensated by the accuracy of the perception.…”

“…The amount of information normally hidden to the driver that a 3D representation can offer significantly grows if the vehicle is also connected through a smart city infrastructure powered by IoT devices. To this purpose we designed and implemented a virtual cockpit able to leverage 3D real-time graphics for rendering information related a really-existing instrumented urban area in the city of Modena (northern Italy), called Modena Automotive Smart Area (MASA) 1 . This one square-kilometer wide area is enhanced with smart cameras, several IoT devices, edge and fog nodes able to perform real-time data processing and communicate such data to ADAS-equipped cars through a high speed network.…”