The goal of this Phase I SBIR effort was to develop hardware and an experimental plan suitable for testing the “dichoptic hypothesis”, which suggests that the brain can effectively process and utilize a single, detailed scene by combining dissimilar images presented to each eye. For the purposes of this effort, one of those images is a narrow field of view, high-resolution foveal image, while the other is a much wider field of view, low-resolution peripheral image.

If size, weight, and technology were not limitations relevant to head-mounted display (HMD) design, one would simply provide both a wide field of view and high resolution imagery to both eyes in a stereo pair. Generally speaking, however, one can readily achieve either high resolution or a wide field of view, but not both, due to the limited number of pixels available from current camera and display technologies. If the dichoptic hypothesis proves to be correct, this could be a straightforward means of producing affordable HMDs that effectively present wide-angle, high-resolution imagery using currently available microdisplays with reasonable pixel counts and electronic processor loads.

During Phase I, we built and demonstrated a head-wearable Dichoptic Vision System (DiVS) demonstrator HMD. We also designed DiVS HMD hardware to be built and tested in Phase II, and we designed a set of human factors studies that would use this hardware to examine the dichoptic hypothesis.

Project details:

Title: Dichoptic Vision System (DiVS)
Contract: FA8650-10-M-6068
Period of Performance: 22 April 2010 – 24 January 2011
Principal Investigator: Dale R. Tyczka (dtyczka@chattenassociates.com)

Publications:

Tyczka DR, Chatten MJ, Chatten JB, Merritt JO, Task HL, Hopper DG, Fath BI, "Development of a dichoptic foveal/peripheral head-mounted display with partial binocular overlap", Head- and Helmet-Mounted Displays XVI: Design and Applications, Peter L. Marasco; Paul R. Havig, Editors, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 8041, April 2011.