An Evaluation of Dichoptic Tonemapping in Virtual Reality Experiences

September 20, 2023

Martin Mišiak, Tom Müller, Arnulph Fuhrmann and Marc Erich Latoschik

In: Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität – 20. Workshop der GI-Fachgruppe VR/AR, 2023, Köln, Germany

To study the influence of dichoptic tonemapping on depth perception, participants complete a block matching game in two environments (Street, Cafe). Left: One participant group is presented with dichoptically tonemapped image-pairs. These images exhibit different contrast curves for each eye (labeled as L and R). The goal of the game is to position a moveable block directly above a random opening in the underlying plane. Right: The game is divided into three difficulty levels, where each level increases the block’s distance from the target surface.

Abstract:

Recent research has shown that dichoptic tonemapping can invoke an increased sensation of depth. However, many aspects of the technique still remain unexplored in the context of Virtual Reality. In this work, we investigate the impact of dichoptic tonemapping on user presence, depth-based task performance, as well as its potentially adverse influence on cybersickness. While no significant effect was found on user presence, our results show that dichoptic tonemapping has a higher probability of increasing cybersickness symptoms. No clear conclusion could be made regarding its interaction with task performance.