Effectiveness of spatial level of detail degradation in the periphery of head-mounted displays

Many researchers have proposed degradation of peripheral visual detail as a technique that can both improve frame rates in virtual environments systems, and minimize perceptual impact. A user study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique when used with headmounted displays. Primary dependent measures were search time on correctly performed trials and percentage of all trials performed incorrectly. Results showed that a substantial amount of peripheral detail can be eliminated before user performance is impacted, The performance impact of peripheral detail degradation will vary greatly with task difficulty, although it should be useful even in the most taxing environments.