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1. The Effect of Interocular Contrast Differences on the Appearance of Augmented Reality Imagery

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3617684  

   Wang, Minqi; Ding, Jian; Levi, Dennis M.; Cooper, Emily A. (January 2024, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception)

   Augmented reality (AR) devices seek to create compelling visual experiences that merge virtual imagery with the natural world. These devices often rely on wearable near-eye display systems that can optically overlay digital images to the left and right eyes of the user separately. Ideally, the two eyes should be shown images with minimal radiometric differences (e.g., the same overall luminance, contrast, and color in both eyes), but achieving this binocular equality can be challenging in wearable systems with stringent demands on weight and size. Basic vision research has shown that a spectrum of potentially detrimental perceptual effects can be elicited by imagery with radiometric differences between the eyes, but it is not clear whether and how these findings apply to the experience of modern AR devices. In this work, we first develop a testing paradigm for assessing multiple aspects of visual appearance at once, and characterize five key perceptual factors when participants viewed stimuli with interocular contrast differences. In a second experiment, we simulate optical see-through AR imagery using conventional desktop LCD monitors and use the same paradigm to evaluate the multi-faceted perceptual implications when the AR display luminance differs between the two eyes. We also include simulations of monocular AR systems (i.e., systems in which only one eye sees the displayed image). Our results suggest that interocular contrast differences can drive several potentially detrimental perceptual effects in binocular AR systems, such as binocular luster, rivalry, and spurious depth differences. In addition, monocular AR displays tend to have more artifacts than binocular displays with a large contrast difference in the two eyes. A better understanding of the range and likelihood of these perceptual phenomena can help inform design choices that support high-quality user experiences in AR. 

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2. Perceptual Guidelines for Optimizing Field of View in Stereoscopic Augmented Reality Displays

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3554921  

   Wang, Minqi; Cooper, Emily A. (October 2022, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception)

   Near-eye display systems for augmented reality (AR) aim to seamlessly merge virtual content with the user’s view of the real-world. A substantial limitation of current systems is that they only present virtual content over a limited portion of the user’s natural field of view (FOV). This limitation reduces the immersion and utility of these systems. Thus, it is essential to quantify FOV coverage in AR systems and understand how to maximize it. It is straightforward to determine the FOV coverage for monocular AR systems based on the system architecture. However, stereoscopic AR systems that present 3D virtual content create a more complicated scenario because the two eyes’ views do not always completely overlap. The introduction of partial binocular overlap in stereoscopic systems can potentially expand the perceived horizontal FOV coverage, but it can also introduce perceptual nonuniformity artifacts. In this arrticle, we first review the principles of binocular FOV overlap for natural vision and for stereoscopic display systems. We report the results of a set of perceptual studies that examine how different amounts and types of horizontal binocular overlap in stereoscopic AR systems influence the perception of nonuniformity across the FOV. We then describe how to quantify the horizontal FOV in stereoscopic AR when taking 3D content into account. We show that all stereoscopic AR systems result in a variable horizontal FOV coverage and variable amounts of binocular overlap depending on fixation distance. Taken together, these results provide a framework for optimizing perceived FOV coverage and minimizing perceptual artifacts in stereoscopic AR systems for different use cases. 

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3. PEA-PODs: Perceptual Evaluation of Algorithms for Power Optimization in XR Displays

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3658126  

   Chen, Kenneth; Wan, Thomas; Matsuda, Nathan; Ninan, Ajit; Chapiro, Alexandre; Sun, Qi (July 2024, ACM Transactions on Graphics)

   Display power consumption is an emerging concern for untethered devices. This goes double for augmented and virtual extended reality (XR) displays, which target high refresh rates and high resolutions while conforming to an ergonomically light form factor. A number of image mapping techniques have been proposed to extend battery usage. However, there is currently no comprehensive quantitative understanding of how the power savings provided by these methods compare to their impact on visual quality. We set out to answer this question. To this end, we present a perceptual evaluation of algorithms (PEA) for power optimization in XR displays (PODs). Consolidating a portfolio of six power-saving display mapping approaches, we begin by performing a large-scale perceptual study to understand the impact of each method on perceived quality in the wild. This results in a unified quality score for each technique, scaled in just-objectionable-difference (JOD) units. In parallel, each technique is analyzed using hardware-accurate power models. The resulting JOD-to-Milliwatt transfer function provides a first-of-its-kind look into tradeoffs offered by display mapping techniques, and can be directly employed to make architectural decisions for power budgets on XR displays. Finally, we leverage our study data and power models to address important display power applications like the choice of display primary, power implications of eye tracking, and more¹. 

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4. An Overview of 3GPP Standardization for Extended Reality (XR) in 5G and Beyond

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3631588.3631592  

   Luo, Qinpei; Zhang, Hongliang; Xu, Minrui; Di, Boya; Chen, Anthony; Mao, Shiwen; Niyato, Dusit; Han, Zhu (October 2023, GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications)

   In recent years, aiming to enhance and extend user experiences beyond the real world, Extended Reality (XR) has emerged to become a new paradigm that enables a plethora of applications [1], e.g., online gaming, online conferencing, social media, etc. XR refers to the human-machine interactions that combine real and virtual environments with the support of computing/communications technologies and wearable devices. The XR content is generated by providers or other users, including audio, video and other metadata. In general, the generated XR content is transmitted to XR devices and rendered into XR scenes (i.e., to generate an image from a 2D or 3D model by means of a computer program), where users can experience a hybrid experience of the real and virtual worlds. 

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5. Conceptualizing a shared definition and future directions for extended reality (XR) in teacher education

   Kosko, K. W.; Ferdig, R. E. (January 2021, Journal of technology and teacher education)

   Scholarship on extended reality (XR) in teacher education is emerging at an increasing rate. As additional forms of XR become more common in the profession, there is a need for teacher educators to consider how the various forms of XRbased representations of practice are conceptualized. The papers in this special issue of JTATE on XR in teacher education each define XR in similar ways, but often with different terminology. In this editorial, we note how such definitions are characteristic of much of the good scholarship on XR in teacher education. With this in mind, this editorial focuses on how the field may begin to consider defining XR within the boundaries of perceptual capacity—a concept that align with definitions in various other professional fields and with theory and practice in teacher education. 

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