Dynamic vergence telepresence system incorporating active gaze control

Brooker, J. P., Plooy, A. M., Sharkey, P. and Wann, J. P. (1999) Dynamic vergence telepresence system incorporating active gaze control. In: SPIE Proceedings, 3644, 1999-05-19, p. 329. doi: 10.1117/12.348453

Abstract/Summary

Visual Telepresence system which utilize virtual reality style helmet mounted displays have a number of limitations. The geometry of the camera positions and of the display is fixed and is most suitable only for viewing elements of a scene at a particular distance. In such a system, the operator's ability to gaze around without use of head movement is severely limited. A trade off must be made between a poor viewing resolution or a narrow width of viewing field. To address these limitations a prototype system where the geometry of the displays and cameras is dynamically controlled by the eye movement of the operator has been developed. This paper explores the reasons why is necessary to actively adjust both the display system and the cameras and furthermore justifies the use of mechanical adjustment of the displays as an alternative to adjustment by electronic or image processing methods. The electronic and mechanical design is described including optical arrangements and control algorithms, An assessment of the performance of the system against a fixed camera/display system when operators are assigned basic tasks involving depth and distance/size perception. The sensitivity to variations in transient performance of the display and camera vergence is also assessed.