The Use of Virtual Screens in Perceptual Studies on Electric Light: A Comparison Between 2D, Panoramic, Cardboard, and Head-Mounted Displays

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the results of an experiment on lighting perception and reading speed where data collected in a physical space is compared to that collected in representations of that space simulated through a web survey and three VR Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). The results build on an experiment, where perceptions of electric lighting conditions in a physical space were compared to those of the same space simulated in a single VR HMD (HTC Vive Pro). This study extends the previous scope to compare three VR HMD groups (cardboard VR, Oculus Quest 2, and HTC Vive Pro) to ratings of the same lighting conditions viewed through 2D-perspective or immersive panoramic images displayed in a web survey. Past research has compared perceptions of daylight and electric lighting scenes between physical and VR environments, but there is a lack of research that compares ratings of lighting conditions between VR HMDs and to other conventional image formats. For the VR HMD groups, the results revealed significant differences in reading speed between the physical space and cardboard VR HMD groups. An analysis of our subjective ratings showed all three VR HMDs producing fewer significantly different ratings from the physical space than either of the web groups, but ratings in the panoramic group outperformed the 2D-perspective group. The findings suggest that the type of VR HMD impacts reading speed in virtual lighting scenes and more immersive images produce less error than 2D-perspective images when compared to ratings in a physical space.

KEYWORDS:

• Virtual reality
• lighting perception
• electric lighting
• visual acuity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting R&D Program, part of the Building Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.