Multiresolution image compression using image foveation and simulated depth of field for stereoscopic displays
Ian van der Linde · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2004
Spatial contrast sensitivity varies considerably across the field of view, being highest at the fovea and dropping towards the periphery, in accordance with the changing density, type, and interconnection of retinal cells. This observation has enabled researchers to propose the use of multiple levels of detail for visual displays, attracting the name image foveation. These methods offer improved performance when transmitting images across low-bandwidth media by conveying only highly visually salient data in high resolution, or by conveying more visually salient data first and gradually augmenting with the periphery. For stereoscopic displays, the image foveation technique may be extended to exploit the additional acuity constraint of the human visual system caused by the focal system: limited depth of field. Images may be encoded at multiple resolutions laterally taking advantage of the space-variant nature of the retina (image foveation), and additionally contain blur simulating the limited depth of field phenomenon. Since optical blur has a smoothing effect, areas of the image inside the high-resolution fovea, but outside the depth of field may be compressed more effectively. The artificial simulation of depth of field is also believed to alleviate symptoms of virtual simulator sickness resulting from accommodation-convergence separation, and reduce diplopia.