Search and target acquisition: single line of sight versus wide baseline stereo

This study investigates observer performance in visual search and target detection tasks for two different conditions of image viewing: binocular viewing of single line of sight images versus stereoscopic display of wide baseline stereo images. A multiple baseline imagery database was obtained during a field test, The targets were personnel wearing forest camouflage uniforms. They were arrayed at two rural terrain sites. The weather condition at the first site was clear to partly cloudy and at the second site overcast with light rain. The preliminary analysis of the first site database indicated that wide baseline stereo can improve search and target acquisition, but that the baseline used was too wide for many of the closer targets at that site. The database from the second site was then analyzed through observer testing, with single line of sight and wide baseline stereo displays. The results indicate that with training, stereo vision effectively reduces false alarm detection by a factor of 2. Additionally, guidelines are obtained for optimum stereo display that can be used to improve positive target detection by 20%. (C) 2001 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.