Head-worn displays have the potential to assist professionals in a wide variety of contexts by providing heads-up and hands-off information in real-time. For instance, nurses may be able to use head-worn displays to maintain peripheral awareness of the well-being of multiple patients while away from the nurses’ station and the patients’ beds. However, little is known about the advantages and disadvantages of head-worn displays in such contexts. In fact, many studies have shown that head-worn displays can lead to detriments in attention and visual performance. In three experiments, we tested people’s ability to detect simple, abrupt onset stimuli in peripheral vision when using a traditional computer monitor or Google Glass™. When using Google Glass, participants were significantly less likely to detect peripheral events. These data indicate that monocular optical see-through head-worn displays can make it harder to see peripheral stimuli. Stimuli need to be developed for head-worn displays that preserve their benefits for mobile users, while overcoming some of their disadvantages.
Head-worn displays have the potential to assist professionals in a wide variety of contexts by providing heads-up and hands-off information in real-time. For instance, nurses may be able to use head-worn displays to maintain peripheral awareness of the well-being of multiple patients while away from the nurses’ station and the patients’ beds. However, little is known about the advantages and disadvantages of head-worn displays in such contexts. In fact, many studies have shown that head-worn displays can lead to detriments in attention and visual performance. In three experiments, we tested people’s ability to detect simple, abrupt onset stimuli in peripheral vision when using a traditional computer monitor or Google Glass™. When using Google Glass, participants were significantly less likely to detect peripheral events. These data indicate that monocular optical see-through head-worn displays can make it harder to see peripheral stimuli. Stimuli need to be developed for head-worn displays that preserve their benefits for mobile users, while overcoming some of their disadvantages.
Because computers often rely on visual displays as a way to convey information to a user, recent research suggesting that people have detailed awareness of only a small subset of the visual environment has important implications for human-computer interface design. Equally important to basic limits of awareness is the fact that people often over-predict what they will see and become aware of. Together, basic failures of awareness and people's failure to intuitively understand
Two experiments examined the effects of display location (head-up and head-down), display clutter, and display intensity on pilot performance in a general aviation-cruise flight environment. In Experiment 1, a low-fidelity simulation revealed that the detection of commanded flight changes and flight-path tracking performance was better in the head-down condition as compared to the head-up condition. In contrast, midair traffic detection was superior with the head-up display (HUD), reflecting an attentional trade-off. Experiment 2 used the same paradigm in a high-fidelity visual simulation. Flight performance was equivalent between HUD and head-down locations. Detection of commanded changes and traffic was better in the HUD condition, revealing the HUD benefits of reduced scanning. The presence of clutter inhibited detection of command changes and traffic in both head-up and head-down conditions. Lowlighting the task-irrelevant clutter did not facilitate detection of commanded changes, however, the clutter cost for detecting traffic was diminished if the added information was lowlighted in the head-down location. The data suggested that attention was modulated between tasks (flight control and detection), and between display areas (head-up and head-down).
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