Eccentricity Effects on Blur and Depth Perception

Abstract: Foveation and focus cue are the two most discussed topics on vision in designing near-eye displays. Foveation reduces rendering load by omitting spatial details in the content that the peripheral vision cannot appreciate; Providing richer focal cue can resolve vergence-accommodation conflict thereby lessening visual discomfort in using near-eye displays. We performed two psychophysical experiments to investigate the relationship between foveation and focus cue. The first study measured blur discrimination sensitivity as a function of visual eccentricity, where we found discrimination thresholds significantly lower than previously reported. The second study measured depth discrimination threshold where we found a clear dependency on visual eccentricity. We discuss the results from the two studies and suggest further investigation.