Anne Collins McLaughlin, Maribeth Gandy Coleman, Vicky Byrne, Rachel Benton, Frank Lodge, Trevor Patten
{"title":"Cognitive Aid Design Using Diminished Reality to Support Selective Attention by Reducing Distraction.","authors":"Anne Collins McLaughlin, Maribeth Gandy Coleman, Vicky Byrne, Rachel Benton, Frank Lodge, Trevor Patten","doi":"10.1177/00187208251325169","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>ObjectiveWe conducted two experiments to understand the effects of computationally diminishing reality on performance, awareness of the environment, and subjective workload.BackgroundAdvances in extended reality (XR) technologies make it possible to alter or remove auditory and visual distractions from an environment. Though distractions are known to harm performance, there is no work examining the effects of removal via XR.MethodAcross two samples, STEM graduate students and Johnson Space Center employees, the effects of reducing distraction during a novel, demanding assembly task via a form of XR (diminished reality) were compared to a full distraction control condition, studied in a virtual reality (VR) environment. In one condition, participants experienced universal attenuation of distractions. In a second condition, attenuation was context-aware: only nontask objects were made less visible and only unimportant off-task audio was eliminated.ResultsBoth experiments found subjective workload could be lowered via a Diminished reality (DR) aid. The STEM graduate student sample showed a benefit of a DR aid for performance and environment awareness; however, the sample of professionals from Johnson Space Center showed no performance differences with the DR aids. There were mixed results regarding awareness of the location of objects and events outside of the assembly task.ConclusionDR aids can have effects similar to those seen in studies that removed distractions entirely. More work is needed to understand the match between distraction removal design and task.ApplicationThese findings contribute to the development of a class of XR aids: Diminished Reality.</p>","PeriodicalId":56333,"journal":{"name":"Human Factors","volume":" ","pages":"187208251325169"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Factors","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00187208251325169","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ObjectiveWe conducted two experiments to understand the effects of computationally diminishing reality on performance, awareness of the environment, and subjective workload.BackgroundAdvances in extended reality (XR) technologies make it possible to alter or remove auditory and visual distractions from an environment. Though distractions are known to harm performance, there is no work examining the effects of removal via XR.MethodAcross two samples, STEM graduate students and Johnson Space Center employees, the effects of reducing distraction during a novel, demanding assembly task via a form of XR (diminished reality) were compared to a full distraction control condition, studied in a virtual reality (VR) environment. In one condition, participants experienced universal attenuation of distractions. In a second condition, attenuation was context-aware: only nontask objects were made less visible and only unimportant off-task audio was eliminated.ResultsBoth experiments found subjective workload could be lowered via a Diminished reality (DR) aid. The STEM graduate student sample showed a benefit of a DR aid for performance and environment awareness; however, the sample of professionals from Johnson Space Center showed no performance differences with the DR aids. There were mixed results regarding awareness of the location of objects and events outside of the assembly task.ConclusionDR aids can have effects similar to those seen in studies that removed distractions entirely. More work is needed to understand the match between distraction removal design and task.ApplicationThese findings contribute to the development of a class of XR aids: Diminished Reality.
期刊介绍:
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society publishes peer-reviewed scientific studies in human factors/ergonomics that present theoretical and practical advances concerning the relationship between people and technologies, tools, environments, and systems. Papers published in Human Factors leverage fundamental knowledge of human capabilities and limitations – and the basic understanding of cognitive, physical, behavioral, physiological, social, developmental, affective, and motivational aspects of human performance – to yield design principles; enhance training, selection, and communication; and ultimately improve human-system interfaces and sociotechnical systems that lead to safer and more effective outcomes.