Evaluation of quality of experience in interactive 3D visualization: methodology and results

Human factors are of high importance in 3D visualization, but subjective evaluation of 3D displays is not easy because of a high variability among users. This study aimed to evaluate and compare two different 3D visualization systems (a market stereoscopic display, and a state-of-the-art multi-view display) in terms of user performance and quality of experience (QoE), in the context of interactive visualization. An adapted methodology has been designed in order to focus on 3D differences and to reduce the influence of all other factors. Thirty-six subjects took part in an experiment during which they were asked to judge the quality of their experience, according to specific features. Results showed that a scene understanding and precision was significantly better on the multi-view display. Concerning the quality of experience, visual comfort was judged significantly better on the multi-view display and visual fatigue was reported by 52% of the subjects on the stereoscopic display. This study has permitted to identify some factors influencing QoE such as prior experience and stereopsis threshold.