Evaluation of 3D Pointing Accuracy in the Fovea and Periphery in Immersive Head-Mounted Display Environments

The coupling between perception and action has seldom been explored in sophisticated motor behaviour such as 3D pointing. In this study, we investigated how 3D pointing accuracy, measured by a depth estimation task, could be affected by the target appearing in different visual eccentricities. Specifically, we manipulated the visual eccentricity of the target and its depth in virtual reality. Participants wore a head-mounted-display with an integrated eye-tracker and docked a cursor into a target. We adopted a within-participants factorial design with three variables. The first variable is Eccentricity: the location of the target on one of five horizontal eccentricities (left far periphery, left near periphery, foveal, right near periphery and right far periphery). The second variable is Depth at three levels and the third variable is Feedback Loop with two levels: open/closed. Eccentricity is refactored into Motion Correspondence between the starting location of the cursor and the target location with four levels: periphery to fovea, fovea to periphery, periphery to periphery, fovea to fovea. The results showed that the pointing accuracy is modulated mainly by the target locations rather than the initial locations of the effector (hand). Visible feedback during pointing improved performance.

[1]  Frank Steinicke,et al.  Stylo and handifact: modulating haptic perception through visualizations for posture training in augmented reality , 2017, SUI.

[2]  R. Rosenholtz.  Capabilities and Limitations of Peripheral Vision. , 2016, Annual review of vision science.

[3]  Carl Gutwin,et al.  The Effects of Feedback on Targeting Performance in Visually Stressed Conditions , 2000, Graphics Interface.

[4]  R. Harwerth,et al.  Stereopsis, spatial frequency and retinal eccentricity , 1995, Vision Research.

[5]  J. M. Foley.  Binocular distance perception. , 1980, Psychological review.

[6]  Gerd Bruder,et al.  Touching the Sphere: Leveraging Joint-Centered Kinespheres for Spatial User Interaction , 2016, SUI.

[7]  Jörg Krüger,et al.  Application of head-mounted devices with eye-tracking in virtual reality therapy , 2017 .

[8]  Kellogg S. Booth,et al.  A study of interactive 3D point location in a computer simulated virtual environment , 1997, VRST '97.

[9]  Carl Gutwin,et al.  Air pointing: Design and evaluation of spatial target acquisition with and without visual feedback , 2011, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[10]  I. Rentschler,et al.  Peripheral vision and pattern recognition: a review. , 2011, Journal of vision.

[11]  Beau B. Bruce,et al.  Comparing distance visual acuity measurement with a novel eye chart and the Landolt C chart in a population of children aged 6–18 years , 2016, International Ophthalmology.

[12]  Kellogg S. Booth,et al.  A study of interactive 6 DOF docking in a computerised virtual environment , 1998, Proceedings. IEEE 1998 Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (Cat. No.98CB36180).

[13]  John M. Foley,et al.  Error in visually directed manual pointing , 1975 .

[14]  Lei Liu,et al.  Insights from Dividing 3D Goal-Directed Movements into Meaningful Phases , 2009, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[15]  W. H. Zangemeister,et al.  Virtual reality hemianopic scotomas induce eccentric fixation scanpath strategies to optimize high-level vision in healthy subjects , 1997, Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 'Magnificent Milestones and Emerging Opportunities in Medical Engineering' (Cat. No.97CH36136).

[16]  Mar González-Franco,et al.  The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment , 2010, 2010 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference (VR).

[17]  Lester C. Loschky,et al.  The limits of visual resolution in natural scene viewing , 2005 .

[18]  David Whitaker,et al.  Detection and discrimination of curvature in foveal and peripheral vision , 1993, Vision Research.

[19]  J. Edward Swan,et al.  Depth judgment measures and occluding surfaces in near-field augmented reality , 2010, APGV '10.

[20]  Gerd Bruder,et al.  Analysis of Proximity-Based Multimodal Feedback for 3D Selection in Immersive Virtual Environments , 2018, 2018 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR).

[21]  Robert J. Teather,et al.  Pointing at 3d target projections with one-eyed and stereo cursors , 2013, CHI.

[22]  J. Edward Swan,et al.  Peripheral Stimulation and its Effect on Perceived Spatial Scale in Virtual Environments , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[23]  Bliss M. Altenhoff,et al.  Near-field distance perception in real and virtual environments using both verbal and action responses , 2011, TAP.

[24]  Peter Wolf,et al.  Missing Depth Cues in Virtual Reality Decrease Performance of Three-Dimensional Reaching Movements , 2017 .

[25]  Robert J. Teather,et al.  Pointing at 3D targets in a stereo head-tracked virtual environment , 2011, 2011 IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI).

[26]  Ivan Poupyrev,et al.  The go-go interaction technique: non-linear mapping for direct manipulation in VR , 1996, UIST '96.

[27]  John M. Foley,et al.  Stereoscopic distance perception , 1991 .

[28]  Thomas M. Spalek,et al.  The Left-to-Right Bias in Inhibition of Return Is Due to the Direction of Reading , 2005, Psychological science.

[29]  D. McCloskey,et al.  Proprioceptive Illusions Induced by Muscle Vibration: Contribution by Muscle Spindles to Perception? , 1972, Science.

[30]  Kellogg S. Booth,et al.  The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance , 2006, Graphics Interface.

[31]  F. Barbagli,et al.  Evaluating haptics and 3D stereo displays using Fitts' law , 2004, Proceedings. Second International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing.

[32]  D. Heeger,et al.  Center-surround interactions in foveal and peripheral vision , 2000, Vision Research.

[33]  Eric Kolstad,et al.  The Effects of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Motion Parallax on Egocentric Depth Perception , 2008, 2008 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.

[34]  Lester C. Loschky,et al.  The contributions of central versus peripheral vision to scene gist recognition. , 2009, Journal of vision.

[35]  Robert J. Teather,et al.  Effects of tracking technology, latency, and spatial jitter on object movement , 2009, 2009 IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces.

[36]  Will Spijkers,et al.  Depth Perception in Virtual Reality: Distance Estimations in Peri- and Extrapersonal Space , 2008, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[37]  Ferran Argelaguet,et al.  A survey of 3D object selection techniques for virtual environments , 2013, Comput. Graph..

[38]  Xoana G. Troncoso,et al.  Microsaccadic Efficacy and Contribution to Foveal and Peripheral Vision , 2012, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[39]  Trevor Hastie,et al.  Statistical Models in S , 1991 .

[40]  Gerd Bruder,et al.  Evaluation of field of view calibration techniques for head-mounted displays , 2011, APGV '11.

[41]  Donald B. Johnson,et al.  Testbed Evaluation of Virtual Environment Interaction Techniques , 1999, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[42]  Gary R. Bradski,et al.  Peripheral-Foveal Vision for Real-time Object Recognition and Tracking in Video , 2007, IJCAI.

[43]  Ivan Poupyrev,et al.  3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice , 2004 .

[44]  Robert J. Teather,et al.  Visual aids in 3D point selection experiments , 2014, SUI.

[45]  Lei Liu,et al.  Comparing Aimed Movements in the Real World and in Virtual Reality , 2009, 2009 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.

[46]  Marlene Behrmann,et al.  Left hemisphere specialization for word reading potentially causes, rather than results from, a left lateralized bias for high spatial frequency visual information , 2015, Cortex.

[47]  D Whitaker,et al.  Relative roles of resolution and spatial interference in foveal and peripheral vision. , 1996, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.