Characteristics of accommodation toward apparent depth

This paper deals with characteristics of accommodation evoked by perceived depth sensation and the dynamic relationship between accommodation and vergence, applying newly developed optical measurement apparatuses. A total of five subjects looked at three different two-dimensional stimuli and two different three-dimensional stimuli; namely a real image and a stereoscopic image. With regard to the two-dimensional stimuli, a manifest accommodation without any accompanying vergence was found because of an apparent depth sensation even though the target distance was kept constant. With regard to the three-dimensional stimuli, larger accommodation and clear vergence were evoked because of binocular parallax and a stronger depth sensation. As for the stereoscopic image, a manifest overshoot (the accommodation peaked first and receded considerably) was found while the vergence remained constant. On the other hand, the overshoot of accommodation was smaller when subjects were watching the real image. These results reveal that brain depth perception has a higher effect on accommodation than expected. The relationship of accommodation and vergence toward the stereoscopic image suggests a reason why severe visual fatigue is commonly experienced by many viewers using stereoscopic displays. It has also paved the way for the numerical analysis of the oculomotor triad system.