A true virtual window

Abstract

Previous research from environmental psychology shows that human well-being suffers in windowless environments in many ways and a window view of nature is psychologically and physiologically beneficial to humans. Current window substitutes, still images and video, lack three dimensional properties necessary for a realistic viewing experience – primarily motion parallax. We present a new system using a head-coupled display and image-based rendering to simulate a photorealistic artificial window view of nature with motion parallax. Evaluation data obtained from human subjects suggest that the system prototype is a better window substitute than a static image and has significantly more positive effects on observers’ moods. The test subjects judged the system prototype as a good simulation of, and acceptable replacement for, a real window, and accorded it much higher ratings for realism and preference than a static image.