Effects of Blur and Color on AR Display and Virtual Character Visibility

To investigate methods for improving the visibility of virtual characters in augmented reality (AR), we conducted sensory tests as an exploratory pilot study. In this experiment, participants were asked to find a designated real object while viewing both real objects and virtual characters. Each real object was labeled with a letter (A‐J) and an arrow. The virtual characters, which were four‐digit numbers, were displayed on a stereoscopic display and viewed through a half mirror to simulate an AR environment. We tested three conditions: blurred AR, colored AR, and blurred‐colored AR. In the blurred AR condition, we added blur to the virtual characters that were not being gazed at by the participant. In the colored AR condition, we changed the color of the virtual characters being gazed at. In the blurred‐colored AR condition, we simultaneously added blur to nongazed characters and changed the color of the gazed‐at characters. To measure the effectiveness of each condition, we compared them based on participants' response times and questionnaire results. Specifically, we compared blurred AR with blurred‐colored AR, and colored AR with blurred‐colored AR. The results showed that the blurred‐colored AR condition led to a shorter response time and a higher evaluation from the participants.