The Effects of Peripheral Vision and Light Stimulation on Distance Judgments Through HMDs.

Egocentric distances are often underestimated in virtual environments through head-mounted displays (HMDs). Previous studies suggest that peripheral vision can influence distance perception. Specifically, light in the periphery may improve distance judgments in HMDs. In this study, we conducted a series of experiments with varied peripheral treatments around the viewport. First, we found that the peripheral brightness significantly influences distance judgments when the periphery is brighter than a certain threshold, and found a possible range where the threshold was in. Second, we extended our previous research by changing the size of the peripheral treatment. A larger visual field (field of view of the HMD) resulted in significantly more accurate distance judgments compared to our original experiments with black peripheral treatment. Last, we found that applying a pixelated peripheral treatment can also improve distance judgments. The result implies that augmenting peripheral vision with secondary low-resolution displays may improve distance judgments in HMDs.