Parameter estimation variance of the single point active alignment method in optical see-through head mounted display calibration

The parameter estimation variance of the Single Point Active Alignment Method (SPAAM) is studied through an experiment where 11 subjects are instructed to create alignments using an Optical See-Through Head Mounted Display (OSTHMD) such that three separate correspondence point distributions are acquired. Modeling the OSTHMD and the subject's dominant eye as a pinhole camera, findings show that a correspondence point distribution well distributed along the user's line of sight yields less variant parameter estimates. The estimated eye point location is studied in particular detail. The findings of the experiment are complemented with simulated data which show that image plane orientation is sensitive to the number of correspondence points. The simulated data also illustrates some interesting properties on the numerical stability of the calibration problem as a function of alignment noise, number of correspondence points, and correspondence point distribution.