The Developmental Research of Interactive Visual Display System

1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 02551002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Developmental Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Psychology
• Research Institution: Teikyo University
• Principal Investigator: FUKADA Yoshiro Teikyo Univ., Faculty of Letters, professor, 文学部, 教授 (50199163)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SATO Takao NTT, Basic Research Labs., Chief Researcher, 基礎研究所, 主幹研究員 ; SHIMOJO Shinsuke Tokyo Univ., Coll. Arts and Sciences, Assoc. professor, 教養学部, 助教授 (70183837) ; YAMAMOTO Yutaka Teikyo Univ., Faculty of Letters, Assoc. professor, 文学部, 助教授 (40134423) ; KAWACHI Juro Tokyo Univ., College of Arts and Sciences, professor, 教養学部, 教授 (30083710) ; KATORI Hiroto Teikyo Univ., Faculty of Letters, professor, 文学部, 教授 (80012300)
• Project Period (FY): 1990 – 1991
• Keywords: Visual recognition / Visual stimulus / Interactive visual display / Visual search / Geometrical illusion / Restricted view / Face recognition

Research Abstract

The basic concept of this project came from the belief that the recognition of our outer visual objects is not merely the representation of the retinal image, but the result of the active interactions with the subject and the outer objects. To clarify the dynamics of this interaction, we developed the "interactive visual display system". The core of the hardware consists of a NEC personal computer. This is equipped with the pointing devices and eye-movement detector using the limbus reflexion method, as the acquisition devices of the subjects, responses. and with the stimulus presentation devices such as CRT monitor and projection TV.
First we developed the computer program for stimulus presentation using the assembly language and Turbo C compiler. The overall performance of the system was evaluated and improved satisfactoryly by the experiments where the subject manually scanned the hidden picture using a small aperture through which a part of the picture was visible. There remained a technical difficulty in obtaining and keeping the gaze point with satisfactory accuracy. This could be cleared by improvements in measurement technique.
Applicability of the system was tested in the experiments of the length illusion where the active and the passive viewing were compared. The system was also evaluated in the field of the face recognition research where the information gathering was analyzed.
Further development of the software would make this system applicable to a wide range of cognitive problems as in the cases of neuropsychogy and infant cognitive development.