More or less? Improving monocular head mounted display assisted visual search by reducing guidance precision.

OBJECTIVE:To test six different methods of directing a user's attention in a peripheral head mounted display assisted visual search task. BACKGROUND:Each time a user needs to shift their attention between virtual information and their environment has a cost. The faster a user can process a guiding cue and the fewer times they need to return to it, the more efficient that cue will be at directing a user's attention. The most effective method, creating a visual effect at the location of the target, is not suitable for peripheral head mounted displays. This study tests alternative guiding cues better suited to these devices. METHOD:Participants searched for a singleton target hidden among 299 distractors while directed with one of six device-delivered guiding cues. Search times were recorded. RESULTS:A static region map was the most efficient and most preferred cue. Static and dynamic directional cues were also effective in comparison to non-guided search. Cues designed to work solely within the participants' peripheral vision were relatively ineffective CONCLUSION: Guidance cues that direct a user's attention to targets within the real environment do not need to precisely lead to the target. It is instead more efficient to lead a user to the general vicinity of the target quickly and then have the user revert to their natural visual search behaviour. APPLICATION:This finding is broadly useful when assisting visual search tasks with handheld or worn devices which do not cover the user's full field of view. PRéCIS: This study tested six different methods of guiding attention in a peripheral head-mounted display assisted visual search task. This study compared static, dynamic and peripheral-vision endogenous cues to targets and found a static simple map cue both fastest and most preferred by users.