Binocular Virtual Reality Displays: When Problems Do and Don't Occur

It has been demonstrated that a stereoscopic virtual reality system can cause deficits of binocular vision but that a well-engineered bi-ocular (nonstereoscopic) display can avoid causing stress to the visual system. The stereoscopic depth information present in binocular displays has been hypothesized to be a contributing factor to visual stress. We undertook research to determine the effect of stereoscopic depth in virtual reality displays on the visual system and found that stereoscopic depth does not, per se, cause problems to binocular vision over short (10-min) viewing periods. However, 10 min of viewing a display that required constant ocular focus with changing vergence eye movements was sufficient to cause deficits of binocular vision.