Dichoptic Vision System (DiVS)

Today’s head-mounted displays fall short of providing wide-FOV imagery with high visual acuity. One reason for this is the difficulty of creating lightweight, distortion-free wide-angle optics. Instead of attempting to recreate the entire visual field at high resolution, we propose to present a small, high-resolution foveal image to one eye and a larger, lower-acuity peripheral image to the other. This combination loosely mimics the human eye, in which high visual acuity is present only in the narrow foveal region. By limiting high-resolution imagery to only the foveal image, the wide-angle peripheral optics can be greatly simplified. To determine if this “dichoptic vision system” (DiVS), can be used effectively, we propose to build benchtop and head-aimed DiVS demonstrators using COTS components. The demonstrators will be used to evaluate design concepts, leading to a lightweight, wearable DiVS prototype to be built in Phase II. A reference binocular system (RBS) will also be designed. We will also design a set of human subjects experiments including tasks representative of those performed by pilots, ground vehicle drivers, dismounted soldiers and EOD robot operators. Our experimental plan will be submitted to one or more Institutional Review Boards for approval of performance in Phase II. BENEFIT: DARPA’s MANTIS program would specifically benefit from this effort’s hardware designs and experimental plan. A well-designed foveal/peripheral dichoptic vision system would also open up new capabilities for the display industry and enable HMD users to have much better situational awareness while also retaining the high visual acuity necessary for their primary tasks. All applications which require operators to view the world indirectly will benefit from this system. Specific examples include remote piloting of UAVs, ground vehicle driving using sensory inputs and EOD robot operation. If coupled to a head-aimed camera system, the benefits can be even further increased. The gaming and home entertainment markets could also benefit, as they constantly strive to improve their reproduction of the visible world.