Three Dimensional Tracking in Augmented Environments: User Performance Trade-Offs between System Latency and Update Rate

Three-dimensional tracking performance was measured as a function of system latency (35–335 msec) and update rate (10–30 Hz). Twelve subjects used a custom, see-through head mounted stereo display to control the position of a virtual response cursor with hand and body movements. User performance trade-offs between latency and update rate were measured with objective and subjective measures and a possible performance model was evaluated. The results indicate that earlier findings suggesting that latency influenced tracking performance more than did update rate, could be due to previous studies having tested latency over a larger dynamic range. Iso-performance contours are used to compare objective performance with subjective perception and performance judgments.