Towards Understanding Depth Perception in Foveated Rendering

2025-01-28

AI Summary

Conventional wisdom assumes that peripheral blur in foveated rendering degrades stereoscopic depth perception, limiting achievable foveation strength in VR/AR systems. Method: We conducted psychophysical experiments to quantitatively measure stereo acuity under varying degrees of peripheral blur and developed a perceptual model characterizing the relationship between blur intensity and depth perception fidelity. Contribution/Results: Contrary to prevailing assumptions, moderate peripheral blur does not impair—yet can enhance—stereo acuity. We introduce the first foveation strength threshold model that preserves stereoscopic depth perception, enabling up to twice the conventional foveation strength without perceptible depth distortion. This model is empirically validated using natural-scene stimuli. Our findings challenge the long-standing assumption that blur inevitably compromises depth perception, providing both theoretical foundations and practical guidelines for optimizing rendering efficiency while maintaining high-fidelity stereoscopic depth experience in immersive applications.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Low Level & Physics-based Vision
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Common-Sense Reasoning

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

The true vision for real-time virtual and augmented reality is reproducing our visual reality in its entirety on immersive displays. To this end, foveated rendering leverages the limitations of spatial acuity in human peripheral vision to allocate computational resources to the fovea while reducing quality in the periphery. Such methods are often derived from studies on the spatial resolution of the human visual system and its ability to perceive blur in the periphery, enabling the potential for high spatial quality in real-time. However, the effects of blur on other visual cues that depend on luminance contrast, such as depth, remain largely unexplored. It is critical to understand this interplay, as accurate depth representation is a fundamental aspect of visual realism. In this paper, we present the first evaluation exploring the effects of foveated rendering on stereoscopic depth perception. We design a psychovisual experiment to quantitatively study the effects of peripheral blur on depth perception. Our analysis demonstrates that stereoscopic acuity remains unaffected (or even improves) by high levels of peripheral blur. Based on our studies, we derive a simple perceptual model that determines the amount of foveation that does not affect stereoacuity. Furthermore, we analyze the model in the context of common foveation practices reported in literature. The findings indicate that foveated rendering does not impact stereoscopic depth perception, and stereoacuity remains unaffected up to 2x stronger foveation than commonly used. Finally, we conduct a validation experiment and show that our findings hold for complex natural stimuli.

Problem

• Gaze-aware Rendering
• Depth Perception
• Visual Quality

Innovation

• Gaze Rendering
• Depth Perception
• Optimization of Visual Technology