Kai Biermeier, technical assistant in the Transregional Collaborative Research Center TRR 318 and at the Chair of Cognitive Psychology at Paderborn University, was honored for his research at the PETRA conference (International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments). His contribution to the measurement of attention in various virtual realities received the Best Paper Award Runner Up in the Novelty category.
The PETRA conference is an interdisciplinary platform that concentrates on technological innovations to improve quality of life and efficiency in various areas. It is also dedicated to important social and health issues, particularly for vulnerable population groups.
In his award-winning paper, Kai Biermeier investigates visual attention in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) environments. While previous studies primarily focused on overt attention (e.g. eye movements), self-reports and reaction times, Biermeier uses the theory of visual attention (TVA) to analyze covert visual attention. An exploratory study with 30 participants shows clear differences in visual attention between reality and virtual reality and smaller differences between reality and augmented reality.
