Open Perception

Open Perception supports coordinated psychophysical and neurophysiological data collection using consumer VR headsets. Contributions may come from both professional scientists and volunteer participants interested in contributing to perceptual science. At present, data collection is limited to the Meta Quest 3 and related Meta Quest headsets.

Why VR for Psychophysics

Consumer VR headsets have quietly become some of the most capable display platforms available to vision researchers. Modern head-mounted displays provide stereoscopic imagery with per-eye control, accurate head tracking, increasingly capable eye tracking, and wide-field immersive presentation — all within inexpensive self-contained devices.

For experiments involving depth perception, three-dimensional motion, spatial organization, and immersive or naturalistic viewing, VR substantially expands what is experimentally possible. Equally important, the portability and relatively low cost of these systems may allow perceptual experiments to move beyond the traditional laboratory, enabling larger and more diverse participant populations as well as new forms of distributed scientific participation.