Visual Performance in Augmented Reality Systems for Mobile Use

Abstract

Users of augmented reality (AR) must direct their attention toward real world as well as artificial information. The authors investigated some aspects of interference between the 2 sources of information that affect performance in completing a visual search task. The search task was carried out under 3 different conditions, 2 of them as found in AR in mobile systems. Participants were asked to detect a target that was superimposed on a background. Target and background were presented on a screen subtending a rectangular area of 55� � 43� (horizontal � vertical). The target appeared at 6 different locations on the screen. A video recording of a car drive served as the background. In 1 condition, the recording was replayed continuously. Static images of the record were sampled at 5-sec intervals and replayed as background in another condition. A uniform gray background served as a baseline.