Abstract
BackgroundWe present a series of experiments on visual search in a highly complex environment, security closed-circuit television (CCTV). Using real surveillance footage from a large city transport hub, we ask viewers to search for target individuals. Search targets are presented in a number of ways, using naturally occurring images including their passports and photo ID, social media and custody images/videos. Our aim is to establish general principles for search efficiency within this realistic context.ResultsAcross four studies we find that providing multiple photos of the search target consistently improves performance. Three different photos of the target, taken at different times, give substantial performance improvements by comparison to a single target. By contrast, providing targets in moving videos or with biographical context does not lead to improvements in search accuracy.ConclusionsWe discuss the multiple-image advantage in relation to a growing understanding of the importance of within-person variability in face recognition.
Highlights
We present a series of experiments on visual search in a highly complex environment, security closed-circuit television (CCTV)
In many countries, closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance is common in public spaces
We asked participants to look for target individuals in real surveillance footage from a city rail station
Summary
We present a series of experiments on visual search in a highly complex environment, security closed-circuit television (CCTV). Visual search is typically studied in highly artificial, but tightly-controlled visual environments, for example asking viewers to find a particular letter among a set of distractors (Duncan & Humphreys, 1989; Treisman & Gelade, 1980). This fundamental approach can elicit general principles, such as the importance of target salience and the effects of multiple distractors. A number of search experiments have been performed with real scenes, and some with specialist displays such as airport baggage or medical radiology From these it is possible to make general observations demonstrating the effects of scene context While most experiments are conducted with static stimuli, it has been established that attention can follow moving objects within a scene (for example as Mileva and Burton Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2019) 4:37 measured by inhibition of return to projected future object locations, Tipper, Driver, & Weaver, 1991; Tipper, Jordan, & Weaver, 1999)
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