Detection of visual stimuli on monocular peripheral head-worn displays

To compare people's ability to detect peripherally presented stimuli on a monocular head-worn display (HWD) versus a conventional screen. Visual attention capture has been systematically investigated, but not with respect to HWDs. How stimulus properties affect attention capture is likely to be different on an HWD when compared to a traditional computer display. Participants performed an ongoing perceptual task and attempted to detect stimuli that were displayed peripherally on either a computer monitor or a monocular HWD. Participants were less able to detect peripheral stimuli when the stimuli were presented on a HWD than when presented on a computer monitor. Moreover, the disadvantage of the HWD was more pronounced when peripheral stimuli were less distinct and when the stimuli were presented further into the periphery. Presenting stimuli on a monocular head-worn display reduces participants' ability to notice peripheral visual stimuli compared to presentation on a normal computer monitor. This effect increases as stimuli are presented further in the periphery, but can be ameliorated to a degree by using high-contrast stimuli. The findings are useful for designers creating visual stimuli intended to capture attention when viewed on a peripherally positioned monocular head-worn display. •We examined change detection of various stimuli on real versus simulated HWDs.•Visual stimuli are more difficult to detect on an HWD compared to a normal screen.•The effects of eccentricity are significantly worse on an HWD compared to a screen.•Increasing brightness and adding motion reduces the HWD detection disadvantage. Factors that affect whether people notice a peripheral visual stimulus include distance of the stimulus from the primary task, stimulus brightness, and stimulus change from context. These effects are stronger when peripheral stimuli are displayed on a monocular HWD than on a computer screen.