CHS: Small: Collaborative Research: Development of a Wearable 3D Integral Imaging Augmented Reality Display Technology

增强现实（AR）显示器能够将2D或3D数字信息叠加在人的真实世界视图上，长期以来一直被描绘为将改变人们感知数字信息和与数字信息交互的方式的技术。虽然已经针对AR应用探索了几种类型的显示设备，但是理想的显示器将是轻量且紧凑的光学透视头戴式显示器（OST-HMD），其使得数字信息能够光学地叠加到物理世界的直接视图上，并且同时保持世界的透视视图。随着移动的计算、图像传感器和云计算的最新进展，实现无处不在的AR技术的唯一剩余障碍是显示技术。缺乏高性能、紧凑和低成本的AR显示器限制了探索其潜在优势的能力。尚未得到充分解决的特定显示问题之一，因此是广泛使用AR技术的特定障碍，是OST-HMD用户的视觉不适和疲劳体验。在用户需要长时间使用AR显示器的应用中，视觉不适是一个关键问题。引起视觉不适的关键因素之一是显示器呈现的数字信息与真实世界场景之间的视差-会聚线索不匹配。这是现有AR显示器固有的基本问题。该项目将通过开发一种紧凑、轻便、眼镜式的3D AR显示技术来解决现有AR显示器中存在的人为因素问题，该技术将可穿戴AR显示技术与显微积分成像方法相结合。3D产品将很快渗透到教育、交通、计算机、医疗、国防和安全领域的日常活动中。美国对3D成像和3D显示的原始创新概念做出了重大贡献，并将受益于3D技术的进一步发展以及美国大学的研究和开发。该项目是美国两所大学的3D视觉技术专家之间的合作，将解决现有AR显示器中存在的人为因素问题。项目成果将很容易过渡到新的3D显示器的商业化，并将培养3D显示器领域的下一代专家，他们将为工业，高科技公司，商业，政府，教育，和健康相关领域。该项目的主要创新之处在于，它将研究和开发一种创新的光学方法，HMD设计独特地集成了3D显微积分成像（micro-InI）显示和可视化方法，用于全视差光场创建，并采用新兴的光学设计方法-自由形式光学技术-用于OST-HMD观察光学器件。该方法使得能够开发具有全视差光场渲染能力的紧凑的3D一体成像光学透视HMD，其预期最小化现有AR显示器的视差-会聚差异问题，并且因此显著减少用户的视觉不适和疲劳。该项目将设计，开发和实施一个定制的紧凑型原型系统;开发系统校准和评估方法;并进行初步的基于用户的评估实验，以评估我们提出的技术对视觉感知和视觉疲劳的影响。

An augmented reality (AR) display which enables the ability to overlay 2D or 3D digital information on a person's real-world view has long been portrayed as a technology that will transform the way that people perceive and interact with digital information. Although several types of display devices have been explored for AR applications, the ideal display would be a lightweight and compact optical-see-through head-mounted-display (OST-HMD) which enables digital information to be optically superposed onto the direct view of the physical world, and which at the same time maintains a see-through view of the world. With recent advances in mobile computing, image sensors, and cloud computing, the single remaining barrier to realizing ubiquitous AR technology is the display technology. The lack of high-performance, compact, and low-cost AR displays limits the ability to explore its potential benefits. One of the specific display problems that has not yet been adequately addressed, and is thus a specific barrier to widespread use of AR technology, is the visual discomfort and fatigue experiences by users of OST-HMDs. Visual discomfort is a critical concern in applications where users need to work with AR displays for an extended period of time. One of the key factors causing visual discomfort is the accommodation-convergence cue mismatch between digital information rendered by the display and the real-world scene. This is a fundamental problem inherent to existing AR displays. This project will address the human factor issues that persist in existing AR displays by developing a compact, lightweight, glasses-style 3D AR display technology that integrates wearable AR display technology with a microscopic integral imaging method. 3D products will soon pervade daily activities in education, transportation, computers, medicine, defense, and security. The U.S. has substantially contributed to the original innovative concepts for 3D imaging and 3D display, and will benefit from further development of 3D technologies, and from research and development in U.S. universities. This project, a collaboration between two experts in 3D vision technologies at two U.S. universities, will address the human factors issues that persist in existing AR displays. Project outcomes will readily transition to commercialization of new 3D displays, and will train of the next generation of experts in the field of 3D displays, who will contribute to industry, high tech firms, commerce, government, education, and health related fields.The key innovation of the project is that it will investigate and develop an innovative optical approach to OST-HMD design that uniquely integrates a 3D microscopic integral imaging (micro-InI) display and visualization method for full-parallax lightfield creation with an emerging optical design approach - freeform optical technology - for OST-HMD viewing optics. This approach enables the development of a compact 3D integral imaging optical see-through HMD with full-parallax lightfield rendering capability, which is anticipated to minimize the accommodation-convergence discrepancy problem plaguing existing AR displays, and thus substantially reduce the visual discomfort and fatigue for users. The project will design, develop, and implement a custom compact prototype system; develop system calibration and assessment methods; and perform preliminary user-based assessment experiments to evaluate the effects of our proposed technology on visual perception and visual fatigue.