Visual Guidance with Unnoticed Blur Effect

Abstract

In information media such as TV programs, digital signage, or web pages, information content providers often want to guide viewers' attention to a particular location of the display. However, "active" methods, such as flashing displays, using animation, or changing colors, often interrupt viewers' concentration and makes viewers feel annoyed. This paper proposes a method for guiding viewers' attention without viewers noticing. By focusing on a characteristic of the human visual system, we propose a dynamic blur control method. Our method gradually blurs the image on the display to the threshold at which viewers are aware of the modulation of the display, while the region where viewers' attention should be guided remains unblurred. Two subjective experiments were conducted to show the effectiveness of our method. In the first, viewers' attention was guided to the unblurred region using blur control. In the second, a threshold was found at which viewers were aware of the modulation, and viewers' gaze is guided below this threshold. This means that the viewers' attention can be guided without them noticing.