Color Management and Color Perception Issues in a Virtual Reality Theater

In the last years, relevant efforts have been dedicated to the development of advanced technological solutions for immersive visualization of Virtual Reality (VR) scenarios, with particular attention to stereoscopic images formation. Among the various solution proposed, INFITEC™ technology is particularly interesting, because it allows the reproduction of a more accurate chromatic range than anaglyphs or polarization-based approaches. Recently, this technology was adopted in the Virtual Theater of the University of Milan, an immersive VR installment, used for research purposes in the fields of Human-machine interaction and photorealistic, perceptual-based, visualization of virtual scenarios. In this paper, we want to present a first set of measures related to the determination of an accurate chromatic, colorimetric and photometric characterization of this visualization system. The acquired data are analyzed in order to evaluate the effective inter-calibration between the four devices and for the determination of an accurate description of the actual effect of the INFITEC™ technology. This analysis will be the basis for the future integration of visual perception and color appereance principles in the visualization pipeline, and for the development of robust computational models and instruments for a correct color management in the visualization of immersive virtual environments.