Attentional Capture in Stimulus Rich Computer Interfaces

Previous theoretical work has identified a set of attentional mechanisms. This paper explores the practical implications of these mechanisms. Two findings that have particularly inspired this practical work are, 1) the existence of a very rapid (first phase) of attention, called Transient Attentional Enhancement (TAE), which acts within 150ms of stimulus presentation; and 2) that even such rapid attentional deployment is modulated by task set, e.g. it could be initiated by detection of an item in a target category. Such mechanisms have great relevance for the development of Stimulus Rich Reactive Interfaces (SRRIs). In particular, in interfaces with rapidly arriving streams of information, it is important to understand how stimuli capture attention. To explore this issue, this paper presents a prototype SRRI test system. This comprises a central task involving driving through a virtual maze and the presentation of an intermittent stream of competing stimuli of varying levels of salience. Centrally presented arrows are followed in the driving task and the stream of competing stimuli is presented via a head mounted display. The colour relationship between the central arrows and stimuli in the competing stream is varied. How this ''task prescribed'' colour relationship impinges upon attentional capture by stimuli in the competing stream is investigated.