High-resolution insets in projector-based stereoscopic displays: principles and techniques

We propose a dual-resolution foveated stereoscopic display built from commodity projectors and computers. The technique is aimed at improving the visibility of fine details of 3D models in computer-generated imagery: it projects a high-resolution stereoscopic inset (or fovea, by analogy with biological vision) that is registered in image space with the overall stereoscopic display. A specific issue that must be addressed is the perceptual conflict between the apparent depth of the natural boundary of the projected inset (visible due to changes in color, brightness, and resolution) and that of the underlying scene being displayed. We solve this problem by assigning points to be displayed in either the low resolution display or the inset in a perceptually consistent manner. The computations are performed as a post-processing, are independent of the complexity of the model, and are guaranteed to yield a correct stereoscopic view. The system can accommodate approximately aligned projectors, through image warping applied as part of the rendering pipeline. The method for boundary adjustment is discussed along with implementation details and applications of the technique for the visualization of highly detailed 3-D models of environments and sites.