Asymmetric Eye Rendering for VR Frame Rate Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Virtual reality (VR) devices face challenges in maintaining high frame rates due to fluctuating graphical processing demands, leading to motion sickness and reduced user experience, as lowering frame rates or resolution can negatively impact performance.
Innovation Solution
An adaptive rendering system that dynamically adjusts the rendering resolution for one eye while maintaining full resolution for the other, using an adaptive rendering module to monitor frame time and instruct the GPU to output frames at a target rate, thereby reducing computational burdens and mitigating motion sickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the rendering resolution is reduced for one eye, then the frame rate increases, but the image quality for that eye deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies asymmetric rendering by rendering images at full resolution for one eye while rendering at reduced resolution for the other eye. This asymmetric approach allows the frame rate to be maintained at high levels (90fps or higher) while still providing acceptable visual experience, as the human visual system integrates the asymmetric images into a coherent 3D perception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality levels to different parts of the visual output - specifically, full resolution for one eye and reduced resolution for the other eye. This local quality differentiation allows the overall system to achieve high frame rates while maintaining sufficient image quality where it matters most for the user experience.
2Reliability
If the frame rate is increased to reduce motion sickness, then the computational load on the GPU increases, but the device may not be able to sustain high frame rates during graphically intensive gameplay
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by rendering at full resolution for only one eye while using reduced resolution for the other eye. This partial approach to full-resolution rendering significantly reduces the computational load on the GPU, enabling the system to sustain high frame rates (90fps or higher) even during graphically intensive gameplay scenarios that would otherwise be impossible to render at full resolution for both eyes.
3Productivity
If the rendering resolution is reduced, then the computational burden decreases, but the user experience deteriorates due to lower image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses asymmetric rendering where one eye receives full-resolution images and the other eye receives reduced-resolution images. This asymmetric strategy achieves computational efficiency by reducing the total pixel count that needs to be rendered, while maintaining acceptable user experience through the brain's ability to integrate the asymmetric visual inputs into a coherent perception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the resolution parameter differently for each eye - maintaining full resolution for one eye while reducing resolution for the other. This parameter differentiation allows the system to optimize computational efficiency by reducing overall rendering workload while preserving sufficient image quality for the user experience.
Data Source
AI summary
A head-mounted display device including first and second display surfaces associated with first and second eyes of the user, a graphics processing unit, one or more hardware processors, and an adaptive rendering module. The adaptive rendering module is configured to identify a threshold frame time, the threshold frame time representing an upper threshold of time to render frame data by the GPU, receiving a first frame time associated with rendering a first frame to the first eye and second eye of the user, the first frame being rendered at a target resolution, determining that the first frame time exceeds the threshold frame time, and lowering the resolution below the target resolution for parts of a second frame associated with the first eye of the user while maintaining the resolution for parts of the second frame at the target resolution for images associated with the second eye of the user.