What is Field of View Really?

[calfee20]

When ever MS comes out with a product the tech media will latch onto a perceived fault and beat it to death. We have all heard it, there aren't enough apps, that hinge is ugly, the kickstand isn't adjustable (but no-one else even has one), and finally the field of view is to small. I have never seen a Hololens in real life never mind look through one so I will need some help here.

So what is your field of view in normal life? I am sitting in front of a 32" monitor about 3 or 4 feet away and when I look at it do I really see the whole thing? My eyes are constantly moving around the screen because the focused part of our vision is actually very narrow. So first question when using a Hololens does your field of view move with eye movement or do you have to move your head?

I have found that my comfortable field of view side to side by moving my eyes is about 90 degrees, but more than that and I have to shift my head slightly. So is moving your head slightly to take in a large hologram going to be that much of a detriment and is field of view limited by the tech or the power of the PC powering it?

I can imagine a true panoramic photo wrapped around me in a circular room that the Hololens could duplicate just by slowly turning around in an office chair. First and foremost we have to remember that VR and AR are two different things because if AR gave you a field of view all the way out to your peripheral vison then it would become VR.

So anyone who has used Hololens, what do you think? Help me out here......calfee

Rats I guess you can't edit the heading so I will have to live with that misspelling.

 

[cracgor]

So what is your field of view in normal life? I am sitting in front of a 32" monitor about 3 or 4 feet away and when I look at it do I really see the whole thing? My eyes are constantly moving around the screen because the focused part of our vision is actually very narrow. So first question when using a Hololens does your field of view move with eye movement or do you have to move your head?

I can't speak of the HoloLens, but I think your understanding of visual fields is a bit incorrect. Your whole visual field is about 100 degrees lateral and 60 degrees medial per eye. That adds up to about 200 degrees medial/lateral. Vertically, you get about 60 degrees upward and 75 degrees downward. This is why you can see something out of the "corner of your eye" like staring forward and seeing your hand directly out at the side of your eyeball.

You scan your screen because central gaze where you see details better is straight forward to the inner 30 degrees per eye. The closer you are to an object, the more you have to scan along its size because more of it takes up your central field.

 

[calfee20]

I don't think you read my whole post. Perhaps my writing skill prevents me from expressing myself properly. You are talking 200 degrees of vision which wraps slightly behind you but are we really seeing all of that.

We are kind of like a Hololens ourselves. If you walk into a room you will look around then sit down and focus your attention forward but what have you done. You have looked around and mapped your area so you know what is there. Now your brain is using your peripheral vision to detect movement. You don't really look at anything with your peripheral vision it is just used to tell you when you need to turn and focus your attention elsewhere.

Referring back to the end of my post "if AR gave you a field of view all the way out to your peripheral vison then it would become VR.". We could say that Hololens tacks a rectangular window to your entire field of view unlike using binoculars which kills your peripheral vision. Would being forced to move your head and look around a little to observe an object ruin the experience of Hololens?

This is quite like regular vision. When looking at an object our eyes track all over it so fast it is automatic and done on almost an unconscious level. Perhaps Hololens will have to be used enough to get to that automatic state that makes it seem natural.

You say that our field of view is 200 degrees which is true but how many degrees is it when inspecting something. 50% of our optic nerves are utilized by our Fovea centralis and this chart shows,


that our fine vision is only a couple of degrees. So what really is field of view......calfee

BTW don't try to tell me that my understanding of visual fields is a bit incorrect.

 

[cracgor]

Referring back to the end of my post "if AR gave you a field of view all the way out to your peripheral vison then it would become VR.".

Don't be so hard on your writing style. If all you wanted to know is this, then:

Augmented reality = adding something (as in with hololens) with virtual items or information
Virtual reality = replacing everything with a virtual world (as in gear VR)

None of the visual field stuff matters. Google Glass was augmented reality. A HUD is augmented reality. If you can't see any real reality, then it is VR. Hope this helps.