Information Access Effort: Are Head Movements “Cheap” or Even “Free”?

Abstract

Augmented reality head-mounted displays (AR-HMDs) can present information at the center field of view (FOV) to 360° around the user. Deciding where to place virtual content when using an AR-HMD could directly impact the effort required to access information for different tasks. The current paradigm investigated the cost of information access effort for two different tasks presented on a virtual display using an AR-HMD. Participants made comparison judgments for two types of tasks (focused attention and computation integration) based on information presented at increasing lateral distances from the left side of the virtual display. Results showed no loss in performance as predicted by the Information Access Effort function. However, results show that evoking head movements played a significant role in restoring and preserving accuracy at greater visual eccentricities without hindering response time.