The effect of lightness, chroma, and hue on depth perception

Abstract

Color coding of the graphical user interface (GUI) is effective in cognitive tasks, especially searching and identifying target stimuli from a crowded GUI. The perceived color depth on a flat GUI is a critical feature in mapping the stratification of information. In color science, the visual phenomena of advancing and receding colors provide the perceived depth needed for GUI design. The experiment used a series of color pairs as experimental samples to observe the phenomenon of depth perception caused by colors and obtain the judgment of the perception of color depth. This study developed a best-fit regression model to predict the perceived color depth. The study found that the higher the lightness, the higher the chroma, and the closer the hue is to 33° (reddish color), the colors tend to be the advancing colors; the lower the lightness, the lower the chroma, and the closer the hue is to 213° (blue-greenish color), the colors tend to be the receding colors.