Dextrous VR in Professional Settings: the Importance of Stereoscopic Display and Hand-Image Collocation

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly important in a variety of professional settings. Our particular interest is in applications requiring the examination and manipulation of detailed, volumetric medical images by surgeons and other medical staff. It is important to determine how best to maximise accuracy and speed of interaction without unrealistic technical or financial requirements. In this study, we compared performance on a trial task in a virtual environment, with and without stereoscopic display and with and without hand-image collocation. These are the most immediately tractable approaches to enhancing dexterity. Although both factors affected speed and accuracy of task completion, adding stereoscopy to desktop VR gave significantly greater benefits than adding hand-image collocation. Surprisingly, there was no additional benefit from combining the two. The work contributes to a better understanding of the factors that are important to the successful proliferation of dextrous VR in professional work settings.