Computer models of saliency alone fail to predict subjective visual attention to landmarks during observed navigation

Yesiltepe, Demet and Ozbil Torun, Ayse and Coutrot, Antoine and Hornberger, Michael and Conroy-Dalton, Ruth and Spiers, Hugo (2021) Computer models of saliency alone fail to predict subjective visual attention to landmarks during observed navigation. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 21 (1). ISSN 1387-5868

Text (SCC_August_2020)
SCC_August_2020_changes_accepted.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial.
Download (1MB)

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to understand whether or not computer models of saliency could explain landmark saliency. An online survey was conducted and participants were asked to watch videos from a spatial navigation video game (Sea Hero Quest). Participants were asked to pay attention to the environments within which the boat was moving and to rate the perceived saliency of each landmark. In addition, state-of-the-art computer saliency models were used to objectively quantify landmark saliency. No significant relationship was found between objective and subjective saliency measures. This indicates that during passive observation of an environment being navigated, current automated models of saliency fail to predict subjective reports of visual attention to landmarks.