Accommodation, cognition, and virtual image displays: A review of the literature

This paper reviews the literature on factors that influence the visual (ocular) accommodation response when using see-through virtual image displays (VIDs) such as head-up and helmet-mounted displays. This review suggests that the overall accommodation response is determined by a complex interaction of many factors, some of which are associated with the visual stimulus (such as blur and chromatic aberration) and some of which are cognitive in nature (such as workload and attention). When using VIDs, the effects of these different influences on the accommodation response may not be congruent, leading to the level of accommodation being inappropriate for the task.