Stereopsis–Occlusion Conflicts Impair Visual Performance in Augmented Reality

Abstract

Binocular rendering in augmented reality (AR) displays is prone to several artifacts that can impact visual performance, comfort, and user experience. A number of these artifacts stem from conflicts in the visual system. Vergence–accommodation conflicts (VAC), that is, the mismatch between vergence demand (driven by the horizontal binocular disparity of the augmentation) and the accommodative demand (driven by the focal distance of the display), and their impact on visual processing have been well described. However, other conflicts such stereopsis–occlusion conflicts, stemming from the absent or erroneous occlusion of the augmentations when rendered in depth behind a physical object, remain rather underexplored. In this study, we mainly focused on the impact of stereopsis–occlusion conflicts on visual performance. The results indicate that stereopsis–occlusion conflicts are a real concern for an effortless and immersive AR experience and that stereopsis–occlusion conflicts, under certain conditions, can be more detrimental to visual performance than VAC.