Review Paper: Human factors of stereo displays: An update

This updated review paper provides a selected review of a number of important perceptual and human-factors issues that arise when stereo displays are designed and used. This review and analysis draws heavily from the basic vision literature in order to help provide insight for future design solutions for stereo displays. Issues discussed include: (1) the basics of human stereopsis (horopter, binocular disparity, binocular rivalry); (2) low-level factors (interocular cross talk, interocular differences in luminance and contrast, accommodation-vergence mismatch, stereoanomaly); (3) contextual factors (spatio-temporal frequency effects, distance scaling of disparity); and (4) a high-level cognitive factor (high-level cue conflict). In this updated review, significant new material has been added: (1) interocular luminance and contrast differences and their effect on stereo viewing; (2) more insightful discussion of accommodative-vergence mismatch; (3) high-level cognitive factor. Two topics in the earlier review (visual pathways; dark focus and dark vergence) have been deleted. The paper concludes with the presentation of several recommendations for the design of stereo displays.