Generation of visual fields for ergonomic design and evaluation

Among numerous factors that have an effect on the visual field, the effects of background conditions on the size of the visual field were investigated to obtain more practical visual fields that can be readily applicable to industrial settings. An experiment was conducted, in which the subject was instructed to search for a target with distinct orientations. Size contrast, nontarget density, and meridian, as experimental variables, showed a significant effect on the size of the visual field at α = 0.01. The size of the three types of visual fields; stationary, eye, and head and eye fields, was linearly proportional to size contrast, and inversely proportional to nontarget density. The size of the visual fields on the horizontal axis was larger than that on the vertical axis, and the size of the head and eye field on the right meridian was also larger than that on the left meridian. The shape was found to be horizontally oriented oval and statistically non-symmetric with respect to both horizontal and vertical axes. The regression equations to predict the visual fields on the given background condition were suggested. The visual fields suggested in the study would be valuable to the design of visual displays and the panel layout of various displays and controls. Relevance to industry: Guidelines to the design of displays, controls, and panel layouts are of great importance to designers in order to provide an ergonomically sound working environment to operators. In addition to the operator's anthropometry and task geometry, design factors that ensure proper interfaces would be a key element to successful design. Among the factors, operator's visual field has rarely been suggested in a practically applicable format. This study provides the designer with useful guidelines to the interface design of visual displays and panel layouts. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.