EURASIP Journal on Image
and Video Processing
Chen et al. EURASIP Journal on Image and Video
Processing
(2016) 2016:23
DOI 10.1186/s13640-016-0127-4
RESEARCH Open Access
3D visual discomfort prediction using low
complexity disparity algorithms
Jianyu Chen
1,2*
,JunZhou
1
, Jun Sun
1
and Alan C. Bovik
2
Abstract
Algorithms that predict the degree of visual discomfort experienced when viewing stereoscopic 3D (S3D) images
usually first execute some form of disparity calculation. Following that, features are extracted on these disparity maps
to build discomfort prediction models. These features may include, for example, the maximum disparity, disparity
range, disparity energy, and other measures of the disparity distribution. Hence, the accuracy of prediction largely
depends on the accuracy of disparity calculation. Unfortunately, computing disparity maps is expensive and difficult
and most leading assessment models are based on features drawn from the outputs of high complexity disparity
calculation algorithms that deliver high quality disparity maps. There is no consensus on the type of stereo matching
algorithm that should be used for this type of model. Towards filling this gap, we study the relative performances of
discomfort prediction models that use disparity algorithms having different levels of complexity. We also propose a set
of new discomfort predictive features with good performance even when using low complexity disparity algorithms.
Keywords: Visual discomfort, Low complexity disparity calculation algorithms, 3D NSS, Uncertainty map
Abbreviations: GGD, Generalized Gaussian distribution; LCC, Linear correlation coefficient; MOS, Mean opinion
score; NSS, Natural scene statistics; QA, Quality assessment; SAD, Sum-of-absolute difference; SROCC, Spearman rank
order correlation coefficient; SSIM, Structural similarity; SVR, Support vector regression; S3D, Stereoscopic 3D
1 Introduction
The human consumption of stereoscopic 3D (S3D) movies
and images has dramatically increa sed in recent years.
3D content can better allow the user to understand the
visual information being presented, thereby enhancing
the viewing experience by providing a more immersive,
stereoscopic visualization [1]. However, stereo images
that have low-quality content or shooting errors can
induce unwanted effects such as fatig ue, asthenopia, eye
strain, headache, and other phenomena conductive to a
bad viewing experience [2]. A large number of studies
have focused on finding features (e.g., disparity, spatial
frequency, stimulus width, obj ect size, motion [3], and
crosstalk effects) that can be reliably extracted from 3D
images (stereopairs) towards creating automatic 3D dis-
comfort prediction algorithms to predict and potentially
*Correspondence: skychenyuran@sjtu.edu.cn
1
Institute of Image Communication and Network Engineering, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, 200240 Shanghai, China
2
Laboratory for Image and Video Engineering (LIVE), The University of Texas at
Austin, 78701 Austin, USA
reduce feelings of visual discomfort experienced when
viewing 3D images [2, 4].
Several possible factors of visual discomfort have been
extensively studied, such as the vergence-accommodation
conflict [5, 6], excessive disparities and disparity gradi-
ents [7], prolonged vie wing, the viewing distance [8], and
the amount of defocus-blur [9]. Prolonged exposure to
conflicts between vergence and accommodation is a main
determinant of the de gree of experienced visual dis com-
fort and fatigue when viewing S3D content [9–11]. Hence,
several predictive models have been built to simulate
and predict occurrences of this phenomenon. Commonly,
the features used in discomfort prediction models were
extracted from disparity maps . These features included
the disparity location, disparity gradient, disparity range,
maximum angular disparity, and disp arity distribution
[7, 12–16]. Hence, the predictive powers of these discom-
fort assessment models strongly depends on the accuracy
of disparity calculation.
However, there is no consensus regarding the ty pe of
disparity calculation algorithm that should be used for 3D
visual discomfort. Early on, some developers used stereo
© 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the
Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.