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

增强现实(AR)显示器能够在人的真实世界中覆盖2D或3D数字信息，长期以来一直被描述为一种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。尽管已经探索了几种类型的显示设备用于AR应用，但理想的显示器将是轻便紧凑的光学透视式头盔显示器(OST-HMD)，它能够将数字信息光学叠加到物理世界的直接视图上，同时保持对世界的透明视图。随着移动计算、图像传感器和云计算的最新进展，实现无所不在的AR技术的唯一障碍是显示技术。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具体显示问题之一是OST-HMD用户的视觉不适和疲劳体验，因此是广泛使用AR技术的具体障碍。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。导致视觉不适的关键因素之一是显示器呈现的数字信息与现实世界场景之间的适应-收敛提示不匹配。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、眼镜风格的3D AR显示技术，将可穿戴式AR显示技术与微观整体成像方法相结合，来解决现有AR显示中持续存在的人为因素问题。3D产品将很快渗透到教育、交通、计算机、医疗、国防和安全的日常活动中。美国为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3D视觉技术专家的合作项目，将解决存在于现有AR显示器中的人为因素问题。项目成果将很容易过渡到新型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做出贡献。该项目的关键创新之处在于，它将研究和开发一种创新的光学方法来设计OST-HMD，该方法将3D显微积分成像(Micro-INI)显示和用于全视差光场创建的可视化方法与新兴的光学设计方法--自由光学技术--用于OST-HMD观看光学。这种方法能够开发出具有全视差光场渲染能力的紧凑型3D集成成像光学透视式头盔显示器，预计将最大限度地减少困扰现有AR显示器的适应-会聚差异问题，从而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，以评估我们建议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.