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The access to the contents of this doctoral thesis it is limited to the acceptance of the use conditions set by the following Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en STEREOSCOPIC USER INTERFACES Creating a Pipeline for Stereo Application Development Luis Diego González Zúñiga JUNE 3, 2016 UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain Stereoscopic User Interfaces: Creating a Pipeline for Stereo Application Development Luis Diego González Zúñiga Ph.D. Thesis Dissertation Directed by Jordi Carrabina, Enric Martí PhD of Computer Science of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Engineering School. Department of Microelectronics and Electronics Systems Bellaterra, June 2016 - A Pía. Porque siempre quisiste que fuera doctor. Acknowledgements Five years have taught me that family is first, and they are the ones that have supported me through this process. Mami, Papito, Johanna, Paula and Ulises, thank you. This is the result of Diego in Spain. I know you never doubted it. The only bad thing is we were apart all this time. Five years have taught me friends can be extended family. Maszerowska, Yonatan, Ezgi, Roby, Blakey, Colella, Nacho, Victor, Zara, Andreita, Fernanda. You’re constantly in my thoughts. Five years has also taught me co-workers can be friends. To my colleagues in UAB and in Samsung R&D UK, Marc, Shordi, Toni, Christos, Albert. Thanks for making my days less of a routinary thing. Finally, two special groups without which this thesis could not be accomplish. My 3D family, Dale, Ludger, Kathleen, Lizzie, Karel, Matt, and Adrian, those constant messages and cries for help actually resulted in something productive, as you can read. And my PhD supervisors, Jordi and Enric, for your patience, wisdom and intuition. This work is as much mine as yours, and I’ve enjoyed every single second of this “good life”. Orero, you helped me get started. Ralf, you helped me finish, and that I won’t forget. And yet everything arrives to an end. Thanks. i Abstract The present work is PhD research done in the field of stereoscopic graphical user interfaces. It evaluates the current state of 3D technology and the state of the art trends in the area and translates them to software applications. The main objective is to study how 3D depth can enhance a GUI application, by having an aesthetic and utilitarian function. Independent of medium, our main focus is to provide efficient tools and techniques that apply to the interface design process to add depth to it. In this vein we work with web, desktop, gestural technologies and perception User Experience (UX) studies with the intention of documenting both user reactions and innovative software implementations. The present thesis documents our 4-year effort in the field of stereoscopic graphical user interface. We walk through the foundations of the stereo theory and the state of the technology. We then approach several phases of a GUI creating pipeline: from sketching prototypes to measuring the perceived depth effect. We built frameworks and plugins that go hand to hand with the current technology stack and allow other developers and enthusiasts to create both stereoscopic 3D GUIs and VR applications. ii Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... i Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Contents .......................................................................................................................................... iii 1 Motivation ............................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 The Addressed Problem ............................................................................................ 2 1.2 Hypothesis ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Objective ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Structure of the dissertation .................................................................................... 4 2 The Third Dimension ........................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Understanding Projections ....................................................................................... 7 2.2 Understanding Stereoscopy ..................................................................................... 9 2.3 Depth Cues .................................................................................................................. 11 2.4 S3D Content and Related Research ................................................................... 12 2.4.1 Movies .................................................................................................................. 13 2.4.2 Videogames ........................................................................................................ 14 2.4.3 Virtual Reality ..................................................................................................... 16 2.4.4 Software ............................................................................................................... 17 2.4.5 Stereoscopic Related Hardware .................................................................. 19 2.5 Why 3D? ....................................................................................................................... 22 2.6 Summary of the chapter ......................................................................................... 23 3 Creating the tools for S3D Development ................................................................. 24 3.1 CANVAS ........................................................................................................................ 24 3.1.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 25 3.1.2 Challenges ........................................................................................................... 26 3.1.3 Implementation ................................................................................................. 27 3.1.4 Performance ....................................................................................................... 28 3.2 HTML5 ........................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.2 Challenges ........................................................................................................... 31 iii 3.3 Three.JS ......................................................................................................................... 31 3.3.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 32 3.3.2 Challenges ........................................................................................................... 32 3.3.3 Implementation ................................................................................................. 32 3.4 Windows Presentation Foundation .................................................................... 32 3.4.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 33 3.4.2 Challenges ........................................................................................................... 33 3.4.3 Implementation ................................................................................................. 34 3.4.4 Result ..................................................................................................................... 34 3.5 Unity ............................................................................................................................... 35 3.5.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 35 3.5.2 Implementation ................................................................................................. 36 3.5.3 Performance ....................................................................................................... 36 3.6 Summary of the chapter ......................................................................................... 36 4 Human Factors for Measurement ............................................................................... 39 4.1 Usability ........................................................................................................................ 40 4.1.1 How to