Enhancing VR experience with RBF interpolation based dynamic tuning of stereoscopic rendering

Providing a depth-rich Virtual Reality (VR) experience to users without causing discomfort remains to be a challenge with today's commercially available head-mounted displays (HMDs), which enforce strict measures on stereoscopic rendering parameters for the sake of keeping visual discomfort to a minimum. However, these measures often lead to an unimpressive VR experience with shallow depth feeling. Using radial basis function interpolation and projection matrix manipulations, we propose a novel method for dynamic tuning of stereoscopic rendering parameters toward enhanced VR experience and demonstrate that it is ready to be used with existing consumer HMDs for automated stereoscopic camera control. We present our method with an approach that is primarily intended for guided VR experiences such as VR walkthroughs or VR rides, assuming a depth layout defined by a path of depth-authored key points in the virtual environment. For this purpose, we also introduce a novel immersive interface for authoring unique 3D stereoscopic cinematographies for VR HMD experiences. The results of the user study indicate that our approach, with proper depth authoring, is able to enhance user experience in terms of overall perceived depth and picture quality while maintaining visual comfort on a par with the HMD's default arrangement. We also investigate the effects of using depth-of-field blurring in combination with our approach and observe that the quality of the outcome varies based on the overall scene depth. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.