Perceived depth and the feeling of presence in 3DTV

The present study investigates the subjective feeling of presence elicited by 3DTV and its relationship to perceived depth and image content. Subjective methods of assessing presence that have been used or proposed to date do not provide a measure of temporal variation. To overcome this limitation, we have applied the continuous assessment methodology (ITU-R, BT 500-7) to the assessment of presence, perceived depth and naturalness of depth. Twelve observers continuously rated their instantaneous perception of presence, depth and naturalness of depth when viewing stereoscopic footage. The results indicate that subjective presence ratings are subject to considerable temporal variation depending on the image content and camera techniques used. The correlations between the different attributes suggest that an increase in depth may lead to an enhanced sense of presence, provided depth is perceived as natural. A qualitative analysis of the data in relation to the image content provides evidence for the hypothesis that the extent of sensory information available to an observer is a determinant of presence, as proposed by T.B. Sheridan, Musings on telepresence and virtual presence, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 1 (1992) 120-125. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.