Real-Time Omnidirectional Stereo Rendering: Generating 360° Surround-View Panoramic Images for Comfortable Immersive...

Area of Science:

• Computer graphics
• Human-computer interaction
• Virtual reality

Background:

• Surround-view media offers immersive experiences, enhanced by stereoscopic 3D.
• Traditional omnidirectional stereo rendering causes binocular misalignment at projection poles.
• This misalignment leads to visual fatigue and discomfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a real-time, geometry-based approach for omnidirectional stereo rendering.
• To address binocular misalignment issues in surround-view projections.
• To improve user comfort in virtual reality environments.

Main Methods:

• Developed a real-time, geometry-based rendering technique.
• Integrated the approach into standard rendering pipelines.
• Introduced tunable parameters for 'pole merging' to reduce stereo effect near poles.

Main Results:

• The pole merging technique effectively minimizes binocular misalignment.
• User studies confirmed reduced visual fatigue and discomfort.
• Depth perception remained unaffected by the pole merging adjustment.

Conclusions:

• The proposed real-time omnidirectional stereo rendering method enhances user comfort.
• Pole merging is a viable solution for mitigating visual issues in immersive media.
• This approach improves the usability of virtual reality and interactive viewing experiences.