title: From Motion to Photons in 80 Microseconds: Towards Minimal Latency for Virtual and Augmented Reality.
abstract: We describe an augmented reality, optical see-through display based on a DMD chip with an extremely fast (16 kHz) binary update rate. We combine the techniques of post-rendering 2-D offsets and just-in-time tracking updates with a novel modulation technique for turning binary pixels into perceived gray scale. These processing elements, implemented in an FPGA, are physically mounted along with the optical display elements in a head tracked rig through which users view synthetic imagery superimposed on their real environment. The combination of mechanical tracking at near-zero latency with reconfigurable display processing has given us a measured average of 80 µs of end-to-end latency (from head motion to change in photons from the display) and also a versatile test platform for extremely-low-latency display systems. We have used it to examine the trade-offs between image quality and cost (i.e. power and logical complexity) and have found that quality can be maintained with a fairly simple display modulation scheme.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lincoln
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blate
authors.forename: Montek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Turner
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Whitted
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: State
authors.forename: Anselmo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lastra
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fuchs