Sensor Spatial Distortion, Visual Latency, and Update Rate Effects on 3D Tracking in Virtual Environments

Several common defects that we have sought to minimize in immersing virtual environments are: static sensor spatial distortion, visual latency, and low update rates. Human performance within our environments during large amplitude 3D tracking was assessed by objective and subjective methods in the presence and absence of these defects. Results show that 1) removal of our relatively small spatial sensor distortion had minor effects on the tracking activity, 2) an Adapted Cooper-Harper controllability scale proved the most sensitive subjective indicator of the degradation of dynamic fidelity caused by increasing latency and decreasing frame rates, and 3) performance, as measured by normalized RMS tracking error or subjective impressions, was more markedly influenced by changing visual latency than by update rate.