Effects of Cue Reliability, Realism, and Interactivity on Biases of Attention and Trust in Augmented Reality

Abstract

This experiment seeks to examine the relationship between three advanced technology features (presentation of target cueing – and the reliability of that data, image reality, and interactivity) and the attention and trust provided to that information. Sixteen military personnel were asked to detect targets camouflaged in terrain, presented at two levels of scene detail, while performing a terrain association task. Half the subjects actively navigated through the terrain; the other half passively viewed the control path of an active navigator. Cueing was presented for some of the targets, and the reliability of this information was manipulated at two levels (100% and 75%). The results revealed that the presence of cueing aided the target detection task for expected targets but drew attention away from the presence of unexpected targets in the environment. This attentional tunneling was mediated by cue reliability; unexpected targets, presented in conjunction with a cued object, were detected more often when cueing was only partially reliable. Neither image reality nor interactivity directly influenced trust in the display.