How people focus on things in everyday scenes
Guiding Attention in Real-World Scenes
This project uses a new computer method to map how people focus on parts of real-world scenes as those scenes change over time.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California at Davis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Davis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11298754 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a participant's point of view, researchers will show pictures and videos and record where people look while scenes unfold. They will build and use a new computational tool called DeepMeaning to link the 'meaning' in different parts of a scene to the way attention moves. The team will extend past work on static images to study dynamic, changing scenes so they can see how semantic information updates attention over time. Results come from combining human eye-movement data with advanced computer models.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults who can view images or videos in a lab setting and are willing to have their eye movements or responses recorded, including people with typical vision and those with attention or visual-processing complaints.
Not a fit: Because this is basic research into how attention works, participants should not expect direct medical treatment or immediate personal health benefits.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could inform better tools, displays, and therapies that help people with attention or vision difficulties find important information more reliably.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have shown that semantic meaning guides gaze in static images, but applying computational models like DeepMeaning to dynamic scenes is a new extension of that work.
Where this research is happening
Davis, United States
- University of California at Davis — Davis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Henderson, John M — University of California at Davis
- Study coordinator: Henderson, John M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.