An Experiment in Using Visual Attention Metrics to Think About Experience and Design Choices in Past Places

Abstract

An experiment in using visual attention metrics to think about experience and design choices in past places. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 24(4), pp. 1203-1226. (doi:10.1007 This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/142948/ AbstractThe influence of the visual properties of a built space or landscape on the behaviors of people within them and the manipulation of these visual properties to cue or constrain behaviors are subjects of longstanding archaeological interest. Advances in cognitive neurosciences and a suite of improved computational modeling tools, combined with the proliferation of detailed 3D models of archaeological complexes and landscapes, offer an opportunity for new approaches to these topics based on models of lowlevel perceptual cues and visual attention. The approach described here takes aim at the question of where people will look, rather than simply what is visible, with the goal of investigating the intentions of designers of spaces and visual aspects of the experience of a place. In simple terms, our approach involves placing detailed 3D models of built spaces or landscapes into a digital environment. An individual then virtually walks through the space and what is visible at each moment is recorded in the form of a video stream, which may be broken down into a sequence of scenes. This set of scenes is then analyzed using software that calculates and maps the visual saliency of each scene and the path of focuses of attention (FOAs) over time. This set of saliency maps, raw images, and FOA paths provide the basis for further interpretation. This paper presents an initial experiment to illustrate the approach, carried out in the eastern passage at Knowth, one of the main mounds in the Brú na Bóinne in Ireland.

Application of Line of Sight and Potential Audience Analysis to Unravel the Spatial Organization of Palaeolithic Cave Art

“…com/ inaki intxa urbe/ lineof-sight-and-poten tial-audie nce-analy sis-to-cave-art), including the parameters we used in our analysis. In any case, this script is easily editable and can therefore be adapted for other different cases, including new variables and parameters that could have an effect on the visual perception itself, such as reflectance (de Beaune, 1987;Delluc & Delluc, 1979a;Jouteau et al, 2019bJouteau et al, , 2020 and psychological perception (Opitz, 2017).…”

Ancient Hermione revealed: the contribution of high‐performance computing and digital methods to the analysis of a hidden cityscape

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“…This would allow the moving of three-dimensionality from being a simple attribute for improving any user's visualization experience, to becoming an exploratory tool which has the capability of enabling more complex analysis on datasets. Indeed, most of the research conducted so far in the field of 3D Archaeology (or Virtual Archaeology) very seldom presented three-dimensionality as a framework for spatial analysis (Paliou, Wheatley, and Earl 2011;Paliou 2011;Opitz 2017) and almost no discussion has been raised regarding the need for a functioning 3D GIS, with the exception of very few articles published recently (Richards-Rissetto 2017). Interestingly, research conducted at Lund University in the last few years has tried to demonstrate the enormous potential of combining in the same digital environment the analytical capabilities of GIS with the accuracy of data representation provided by advanced 3D graphics (Campanaro et al 2015;Dell'Unto et al 2015;Landeschi et al 2015).…”