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Human observers are able to allocate visual attention to multiple locations in a dynamic environment simultaneously. However, this ability depends on an individuals’ capacity to monitor the tracked objects' number, size, speed, and distance between objects. Moving objects in the real-world require that we independently allocate attentional resources to them. Recent studies have demonstrated that observers can focus attention on one location and ignore other locations; tracking performance improves when moving objects are rendered on a range of depth planes, and observers cannot track a moving object that abruptly changes depth in a 3D environment. We investigated whether an object’s abrupt or gradual changes improved attentive tracking under stereoscopic viewing in two experiments. These experiments indicated a similar pattern regardless of the depth-changing characteristics of the objects. Results demonstrated that abrupt- or gradual-changes of moving objects under stereoscopic viewing do not increase a tracking task's difficulty.

We investigate a tool to aid the viewing of PC displays by Unilateral Spatial Neglect (USN) observers by preventing overlook of the left side of the focused window. The basic concept of this tool is using observer's requests to magnify an appropriate part of the display. Based on user-interface trials, three techniques are employed: (1) whole window flashing when opening the magnifying window to realize effective attention, (2) temporal control sequence uses same special key (Ctrl, Alt, etc.) followed by normal key for easy operation by hemiplegia users, and (3) a color combination design to emphasize four sides of the focused window frame to ensure attention is paid to the left side. This tool is also effective for users with presbyopia and/or users who want to add more active window effects for presentations.

Quite recently, NII and Stanford researchers independently showed that the academic abilities of school students in Japan and US have declined significantly due to their acceptance of mobile Internet services and fragmented information. Our solution involves strengthening structural- and logical-mental functions through the bi-modal enhancement of note-taking and review processes.

Visibility of flat and curved simulated displays with 8K resolution are compared. Experiments show that (1) curved displays are preferred over flat ones, however, (2) curved displays with high resolutions might induce strong shape-aftereffects, even if the curvature is small. This suggests visual effects of geometrical distortions in curved displays should be examined further.

Results of earlier multiple object tracking (MOT) studies imply that humans can track several moving targets in a 2D environment simultaneously. Recently, a study suggested that stereoscopic depth has positive effect on tracking multiple objects when the objects are presented separately on multiple planes. However, it remains unclear whether or not humans can track moving targets in a real 3D environment. In this study, we investigated this issue displaying four targets and four distractors on near and/or far depth planes separated physically by 6, 10 or 50cm using a half-mirror and two CRT-monitors. In addition we also tested whether participants could track the targets when either a target or a distractor changed depth during tracking. Our results suggested that performance dropped if the targets were presented on both depth planes especially when the distance between the planes was 50cm. In addition, participants could track a depth-changed target if targets were presented on both planes before the start of a motion phase regardless of whether the initial state of targets distribution randomly varied or not, whereas they failed to track the target if all targets were presented on a single plane before MOT. In conclusion, humans have the ability to set attention on a wide range for MOT in a real 3D environment, with the provision that the efficiency of the tracking is critically dependent not only on the distance in depth but also on an initial state of distribution of the targets without the predictability of the initial state.

Some stereoblind observers do not perceive depth of 3D stimuli that depends on binocular disparity. These individuals, who have no disabilities, comprise over 5% of the general population. In addition, 17–30% of nonstereoblind young and young–middle people do not use disparity information in certain 3D environments, a phenomenon known as pseudo-stereoblindness. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between aging and the proportion of pseudo-stereoblindness in the general population. In an experiment, 134 nonstereoblind participants, ranging in age from 17 to 83 years, judged subjective depth of 3D stimuli containing binocular disparity and pictorial depth cues. Results showed that the proportion of pseudo-stereoblindness among young (17–24 years old) and young–middle aged observers (25–39 years old) was 29%, in both cases. However, the proportion of pseudo-stereoblind observers increased in older populations: 65% and 82% in the middle (40–54 years old) and senior (55–83 years old) age groups, respectively. These results suggest that a number of people, especially in elderly populations, have trouble perceiving depth from binocular disparity in 3D graphic contents despite their essential ability to use disparity information.

The dependency of the visibility of Japanese weather forecast maps on composition is shown. Experiments demonstrate that the intensity of the divisions used to separate isolated islands from the main islands of Japan significantly impacts map visibility and suggests that some of the current maps have less-than-optimum boundaries.

We propose a hue-blending method with improved red-green color segregation capability that supports dichromacy. Subjective test results suggest that the proposed method yields quite high red-green color segregation performance. Furthermore, matches or exceeds the performance of previous methods as regards understanding color perception offered by trichromatic views.

We found that 30 % of non-stereoanomalous observers, aged 19 to 25 years old, did not use disparity in making depth judgments in 3D-graphic environments. However, several questionnaires indicate that the use of disparity can be learned unconsciously, suggesting that poor stereopsis can be improved by appropriate training procedures.

We propose a real-time color simulator employing (1) 90-degree-hue-rotation method (supports red-green opponent color perception for dichromacy) and (2) simple red-green hue reduction method (enables red-green color deficiency). Subjective test results suggest that the proposed simulator will greatly help mutual understanding of color perception.

We show that the recognition rate of scrolled characters is decreased/increased when character-scrolling direction is congruent/incongruent with body-yawing direction compared to the rates in the body-stationary condition. Similar eye movement patterns are observed regardless of the character recognition rate for most subjects. These results suggest that attention, i.e., distribution of brain resources for visual processing, is modulated by the relationship between stimulus-motion and body-rotation directions.

An automatic vehicle speed measurement system is presented that can reliably associate the vehicle ID with the retrieved vehicle speed. The system captures images of vehicles passing between two points on the ground that are in the same vicinity, using a pair of linescan cameras installed in a parallel configuration, and measures the speed of passing vehicles by measuring the time taken for the vehicle license plate to move between the two points. In the proposed method, a pair of linescan cameras arranged in parallel is first used to detect passing vehicles and retrieve images of the front sections of the vehicles by capturing images of the vehicles from an angle diagonal to the direction of motion. High-resolution images of the front section of the vehicles are obtained by image capture at a diagonal to the direction of the vehicles in order to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution images of the objects passing in front of the linescan cameras without the images being overly large. However, the license plate in the retrieved images is distorted depending on the position of the plate and the vehicle speed, and this distortion is corrected by performing a geometrical transformation on the images, based on the position at which the license plate passes the cameras and the time the vehicle takes to pass, as determined by finding corresponding blocks. After this, license plate recognition is used to determine the vehicle speed at the position of the license plate. A 24-hour vehicle speed measurement experiment that used an infrared LED for illumination only during the nighttime achieved an 85.1% success rate in measuring the speeds of vehicles at the position of the license plates, thus verifying the validity of the proposed method. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 89(10): 33–45, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.20274

For effective guidance of walking, the authors developed a quantitative method for evaluating the quality of walking based on physical feature parameters reflecting the views of specialists in walking guidance. The concept of “quality of walking” comprises foot movement, balance, including the upper body, and the aesthetic aspect. This study focuses on foot movement, which allows easy relation of subjective evaluation and physical features. Specifically, two physical features were investigated, which are considered the important requirements in assuring balance in foot movement. They are (1) supination of the sole (after the heel strike, the center of gravity passes slightly outside the body) and (2) rolling (the sole is used successively from heel to toe). The track of the sole pressure point was measured with a pressure sensor, and the difference between the instructor and the learner was represented by spatial and temporal feature parameters. The multiple regression equations for the two feature parameters and the comprehensive evaluation by visual inspection by the instructor were compared. It was found that these feature parameters are useful as evaluation parameters for the quality of walking (with a contribution ratio of approximately 50%). An experimental evaluation device for walking with the data visualization tool was constructed, which implements the estimation function for the quality of walking. It is found that the device can be helpful in the actual guidance of walking. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 89(4): 42–54, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.20237

An apparent 3-D image can be perceived from only two 2-D images displayed at different depths, when an observer views them from the direction in which they are overlapped. The two 2-D images are created from an original 2-D image by dividing its luminance according to independently obtained depth information. Subjective test results show that (1) an apparent 3-D image is perceived and (2) the perceived depth continuously varies according to the change in luminance ratio between the two 2-D images.

A method to analyze gait based on the foot pressure distribution for several steps performed in a natural state would be useful for analyzing gait attributes and walking motion. Extracting each foot region from the foot pressure distribution is a problem in this situation. In this paper, the authors propose a method to measure the position of the foot region by focusing on distinguishing between when the center path of the foot pressure distribution when walking approximates a sine wave or follows a straight line with respect to the walking direction, and to automatically extract the foot region based on grouping the regions around the estimated positions. Based on the results of evaluation experiments, fast, accurate extractions were confirmed for various gait patterns used when analyzing gaits in rehabilitation therapy. The extraction rate was 100% for natural gait in healthy people, and about 98% overall for people with gait impairment. This rate required roughly 1 second of processing. In addition, for gait with shoes, the extraction rate was 100% for natural gait, and 90% when subjects were walking irregularly. This shows that the authors' method can also be applied to the field of crowd dynamics if one person is walking alone, as when giving gait guidance to a healthy person. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 87(10): 15–26, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.20104

This paper describes a method that uses video imaging and foot pressure distribution to estimate a person's lower body posture when walking. The method first estimates the position, posture, and size of the subject, from his or her foot pressure distribution.These estimates are represented by stick models, which are then projected onto video images to estimate the skeletal position. This method was tested on 90 walking patterns of 9 women, and the results show that most of the estimated skeletal structure lies inside the leg, thus confirming that this method functions effectively by repositioning the structure to the center of the leg and matching it to the edge of the video image.