Color Blending in Outdoor Optical See-through AR: The Effect of Real-world Backgrounds on User Interface Color
Joseph l. Gabbard, J. Edward Swan II, and Adam Zarger. Color Blending in Outdoor Optical See-through AR: The Effect of Real-world Backgrounds on User Interface Color. Technical Report arXiv:1908.09348, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, 2019.
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Abstract
It has been noted anecdotally and through a small number of formalstudies that ambient lighting conditions and dynamic real-world backgrounds affect the usability of optical see-through augmented reality (AR) displays; especially so in outdoor environments. Our previous work examined these effects using painted posters as representative real-world backgrounds [1]. In this paper, we present a study that employs an experimental testbed that allows AR graphics to be overlaid onto real-world backgrounds as well as painted posters. Our results indicate that color blending effects of physical materials as backgrounds are nearly the same as their corresponding poster back- grounds, even though the colors of each pair are only a metameric match. More importantly, our results suggest that given the current capa- bilities of optical see-through head-mounted displays (oHMDs), the implications are, at a minimum, a reduced color gamut available to user interface (UI) designers. In worse cases, there are unknown or unexpected color interactions that no UI or system designers can plan for; significantly crippling the usability of the UI or altering the semantic interpretation of graphical elements. Further, our results support the concept of an adaptive AR system which can dynamically alter the color of UI elements based on predicted background color interactions. These interactions can be studied and predicted through methods such as those presented in this work.
BibTeX
@TechReport{TR19-ocb,
author = {Joseph l. Gabbard and J. Edward {Swan~II} and Adam Zarger},
title = {Color Blending in Outdoor Optical See-through AR: The Effect of
Real-world Backgrounds on User Interface Color},
institution = {Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA},
type = {Technical Report},
number = {<a target="_blank"
href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1908.09348">arXiv:1908.09348</a>},
year = 2019,
abstract = {
It has been noted anecdotally and through a small number of formal
studies that ambient lighting conditions and dynamic real-world
backgrounds affect the usability of optical see-through augmented
reality (AR) displays; especially so in outdoor environments. Our
previous work examined these effects using painted posters as
representative real-world backgrounds [1]. In this paper, we present a
study that employs an experimental testbed that allows AR graphics to
be overlaid onto real-world backgrounds as well as painted
posters. Our results indicate that color blending effects of physical
materials as backgrounds are nearly the same as their corresponding
poster back- grounds, even though the colors of each pair are only a
metameric match. More importantly, our results suggest that given the
current capa- bilities of optical see-through head-mounted displays
(oHMDs), the implications are, at a minimum, a reduced color gamut
available to user interface (UI) designers. In worse cases, there are
unknown or unexpected color interactions that no UI or system
designers can plan for; significantly crippling the usability of the
UI or altering the semantic interpretation of graphical
elements. Further, our results support the concept of an adaptive AR
system which can dynamically alter the color of UI elements based on
predicted background color interactions. These interactions can be
studied and predicted through methods such as those presented in this
work.
},
}