BINOCULAR VIRTUAL-REALITY DISPLAYS - WHEN PROBLEMS DO AND DONT OCCUR

It has been demonstrated that a stereoscopic virtual reality system ca n cause deficits of binocular vision but that a well-engineered bi-ocu lar (nonstereoscopic) display can avoid causing stress to the visual s ystem. The stereoscopic depth information present in binocular display s has been hypothesized to be a contributing factor to visual stress. We undertook research to determine the effect of stereoscopic depth in virtual reality displays on the visual system and found that stereosc opic depth does not, per se, cause problems to binocular vision over s hort (10-min) viewing periods. However, 10 min of viewing a display th at required constant ocular focus with changing vergence eye movements was sufficient to cause deficits of binocular vision.