Beyond Symbols: Motion Perception Cues Enhance Dual-Task Performance with Wearable Directional Guidance

TL;DR

This work tackles the problem of conveying directional information on wearable displays without imposing semantic interpretation or gaze shifts. It proposes a motion-perception-based cueing method that presents monocular peripheral stimuli to directly trigger motion processing, thereby reducing cognitive load during dual-task performance. In controlled and dual-task experiments, the motion-based cues achieved significantly higher accuracy in cue interpretation ($p=0.008$) and showed a favorable trend toward reducing primary-task errors ($p=0.066$) compared with traditional arrow cues. The study demonstrates the practicality and benefits of perception-driven cues for wearables, with implications for navigation, assistive tech, and high-workload environments, while also outlining limitations and directions for future work.

Abstract

Directional cues are crucial for environmental interaction. Conventional methods rely on symbolic visual or auditory reminders that require semantic interpretation, a process that proves challenging in demanding dual-tasking scenarios. We introduce a novel alternative for conveying directional cues on wearable displays: directly triggering motion perception using monocularly presented peripheral stimuli. This approach is designed for low visual interference, with the goal of reducing the need for gaze-switching and the complex cognitive processing associated with symbols. User studies demonstrate our method's potential to robustly convey directional cues. Compared to a conventional arrow-based technique in a demanding dual-task scenario, our motion-based approach resulted in significantly more accurate interpretation of these directional cues ($p=.008$) and showed a trend towards reduced errors on the concurrent primary task ($p=.066$).

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Stimulus design targeting peripheral photoreceptor distribution. (A) Density of cones (foveal, high acuity) and rods (peripheral, motion-sensitive) across the retina, adapted from Osterberg retina1935distribution. (B) Our stimulus pattern targets the rod-dense periphery for motion cues while the foveal region remains unobscured for primary visual tasks. (C) Examples of the stimulus pattern appearance at the five different physical contrast levels evaluated in User Study 1.
• Figure 2: Wearable prototype and stimulus visualization. (A) Hardware design, detailing the 3D-printed frame, transparent Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) integrated into the right lens holder, ESP32-C3 microcontroller, LiPo battery, and Wi-Fi antenna. (B) Representative frames illustrating the moving bar patterns displayed on the transparent LCD to convey the four cardinal directional cues.
• Figure 3: User Study 1 experimental environment. Participants faced a height-adjusted central fixation cross on a white background (approx. 40cm distance) while wearing the prototype.
• Figure 4: User Study 1: Subjective ratings vs. physical contrast (N=14). Box plots show perceived contrast (blue) and difficulty (orange) across five contrast levels, with medians shown as thick black lines. Lines connecting the means illustrate that as hardware contrast increases, perceived contrast increases and perceived difficulty decreases.
• Figure 5: Accuracy of directional cue perception in User Study 1 (N=14) across five contrast levels and four motion directions. Cells are annotated with the mean accuracy percentage for each condition. Accuracy was 100% in most cases, with a notable decrease for horizontal motion at the lowest contrast level.