Assessment of consumer VR-headsets' objective and subjective field of view (FoV) and its feasibility for visual field testing

Virtual reality as a research environment has seen a boost in its popularity during the last decades. Not only the usage fields for this technology have broadened, but also a research niche has appeared as the hardware improved and became more affordable. Experiments in vision research are constructed upon the basis of accurately displaying stimuli with a specific position and size. For classical screen setups, viewing distance and pixel position on the screen define the perceived position for subjects in a relatively precise fashion. However, projection fidelity in HMDs strongly depends on eye and face physiological parameters. This study introduces an inexpensive method to measure the perceived field of view and its dependence upon the eye position and the interpupillary distance, using a super wide angle camera. Measurements of multiple consumer VR headsets show that manufacturers' claims regarding field of view of their HMDs are mostly unrealistic. Additionally, we performed a Goldmann perimetry test in VR to obtain subjective results as a validation of the objective camera measurements. Based on this novel data, the applicability of these devices to test humans' field of view was evaluated.

Automated summary

Virtual reality has gained popularity as a research environment, and this study introduces a method using a super wide angle camera to measure the field of view and its dependence on eye position and interpupillary distance. The results show that manufacturers' claims about the field of view are mostly unrealistic, and the applicability of virtual reality devices for testing humans' field of view was evaluated.