When viewing content in a see-through head mounted display (HMD), displaying
readable information is still difficult when text is overlayed onto a
changing background or lighted surface. Moving text or content to a more
appropriate place on the screen through automation or intelligent algorithms
is one viable solution to this kind of issue. However, many of these
algorithms fail to act as a human would when placing text in a more
appropriate location in real time. In order to improve these text and view
management algorithms, we report the results and analysis of an experiment
designed to evaluate user tendencies when placing virtual text in the real
world through an HMD. In the conducted experiment, 20 users manually
overlayed text in real time onto 4 different videos taken from the
first-person perspective of a pedestrian. We find that users have a tendency
to place overlayed text in locations near the center of the viewing field,
gravitating towards a point just below the horizon. Common locations for text
overlay such as walls, shaded areas, and pavement are classified and
discussed.
Social Program