Visual content search using subconscious retinal response

Abstract

Searching an object or content only with the context is a crucial and time consuming task in conscious state of mind. For more than a century ago, Charles Darwin depicted that subconscious mind is more powerful than conscious mind. The parasympathetic Edinger-Westphal oculomotor complex hinders the sympathetic activity and this mediates the pupil dilation or retinal reflection. It causes subconscious retinal response significantly associates with a rapid visual search or identification of images of events, a person of interest during crossover roads or watching some interesting content. To prove the concept, the authors developed a Rapid Serial Visual Image Slider (RSVIS) and record the pupillary response on a subject. Thus, the radius amplitude of dilation (in pixels) for six set of Inter-Stimulus Intervals (ISI) during RSVIS were gathered. Analyzing the radius amplitudes of pupil on different ISIs, authors found a significant pupil dilation occurred during the search of an interesting image of events, objects, and human despite the rapid image replacement.