The Effect of Interocular Distance upon Depth Perception when Using Stereoscopic Displays to Perform Work within Virtual and Telepresent Environments.

Design parameters must be chosen for stereoscopic vision systems intended for telepresence or virtual environments. It is not clear that parameters that closely match human physiology optimize operator performance or enhance understanding of displayed information. This study investigates interocular distance, a basic parameter governing atereopsis, and assesses its effect upon operator performance in a binocular depth perception task. A peg alignment task was used to quantify operator performance. Subjects were required to align virtual pegs presented by a shuttering stereoscopic display. Interocular distance of the projection model was varied between 0 cm and 8 cm. Results revealed a tenfold performance improvement when stereoscopic projections replaced pure monocular projections. A roughly logarithmic relation was found between interocular distance and operator performance. As interjocular distance increased from 0 cm to 2 cm, performance improved rapidly then asymptotically approached a maximum value.