Relating Scene-Motion Thresholds to Latency Thresholds for Head-Mounted Displays

As users of head-tracked head-mounted display systems move their heads, latency causes unnatural scene motion. We 1) analyzed scene motion due to latency and head motion, 2) developed a mathematical model relating latency, head motion, scene motion, and perception thresholds, 3) developed procedures to determine perceptual thresholds of scene-velocity and latency without the need for a head-mounted display or a low-latency system, and 4), for six subjects under a specific set of conditions, we measured scene-velocity and latency thresholds and compared the relationship between these thresholds. Resulting PSEs (min 10 ms) and JNDs (min 3 ms) of latency thresholds are in a similar range reported by Ellis and Adelstein. The results are a step toward enabling scientists and engineers to determine latency requirements before building immersive virtual environments using head-mounted display systems.