Dissertation Proposal A Systems-Engineering Study of the Registration Errors in a Virtual-Environment System for Cranio-Facial Surgery Planning

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) can be divided into two categories: opaque (the real world view is totally or partially blocked by the display apparatus) and see-through (the computer image is superimposed onto the real world). Each type has its own uses and advantages, depending on the application. See-through head-mounted displays (STHMDs) can be further subdivided into optical STHMDs and video-merge STHMDs. Optical STHMDs use some form of beam splitter to merge the real-world view with the computergenerated view, while video-merge STHMDs use small cameras and a video mixer to do the same thing. This research focuses on optical STHMDs.