Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Improving target detection with nonlinear magnification in visual inspection

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This experiment examined the effect of nonlinear magnification and foveal loading on the detection of peripheral visual targets. Peripheral objects were scaled using cortical magnification factors, and the foveal task was to determine mirror symmetry for pairs of figures. The results showed that nonlinear magnification had the effect of equating target detection performance at the centre and the periphery. The improved detection performance was present in both with and without foveal loading conditions, with the greatest performance improvement occurring for the farthest peripheral targets. These results suggest the potential usefulness of variable resolution projection displays designed to match the psychophysical properties of the human visual system and reduce the tunnel vision effect found in visual inspection and vigilance tasks in manufacturing industries. However, because of a lateral masking effect, it seems necessary to concurrently magnify the inter-object spacings as well as the object sizes to achieve better overall effectiveness with such variable resolution displays.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Drury CG (1992) Inspection performance. In: Salvendy G (ed) Handbook of industrial engineering, vol 88. Wiley, New York, pp 2282–2314

  2. Chi CF, Drury CG (1998) Do people choose an optimal response criterion in an inspection task?. IIE Trans 30(3):257–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Stark L, Yamashita I, Tharp G, Ngo HX (1993) Search patterns and search paths in human visual search. In: Brogan D, Gale A, Carr K (eds) Visual Search in Visual Search 2. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 37–58

  4. Ainsworth I, Ristic M, Brujic D (2000) CAD-based measurement path planning for free-form shapes using contact probes. Int J Adv Manuf Tech 16:23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gramopadhye AK, Drury CG, Jiang X, Screenivasan R (2002) Visual search and visual lobe size: Can training on one affect the other?. Int J Ind Ergonom 30(3):181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chow SWH, Chan AHS (1996) Effects of defect occurrence percentage and search time limit on inspection performance. Proc 4th Pan Pacific Conference on Occupational Ergonomics, Taiwan, ROC, pp 268–271

  7. Tsai DM, Lin CP (2002) Fast defect detection in textured surfaces using 1D Gabor filters. Int J Adv Manuf Tech 20:664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lin YJ, Murugappan P (2000) A new algorithm for CAD-Directed CMM dimensional inspection. Int J Adv Manuf Tech 16:107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Prieto F, Redarce T, Lepage R, Boulanger P (2002) An automated inspection system. Int J Adv Manuf Tech 19:917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Chen WF, Chen WY, Tang YY (2002) Evaluation of contour quality in sampling inspection of two drill types. Int J Adv Manuf Tech 19:66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wiltschi K, Pinz A, Tony L (2000) An automatic assessment scheme for steel quality inspection. Mach Vision Appl 12:113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Drury CG, Prabhu PV (1994) Human factors in test and inspection. In: Salvendy G, Karwowski W (eds) Design of work and development of personnel in advanced manufacturing. Wiley-Interscience, Wiley Canada, pp 355–401

  13. Drury CG, Addision JL (1973) An industrial study of the effects of feedback and fault density on inspection performance. Ergonomics 16:159

    Google Scholar 

  14. Schoonard JW, Gould JD (1973) Field of view and target uncertainty in visual search and inspection. Hum Factor 15:33

    Google Scholar 

  15. Schoonard JW, Gould JD, Miller LA (1973) Studies of visual inspection. Ergonomics 16:365

    Google Scholar 

  16. Faulkner TW, Murphy TJ (1975) Lighting for difficult visual tasks. In: Drury CG, Fox JG (eds) Human reliability in quality control. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 133–148

  17. Boyce PR (1997) Illumination. In: Salvendy G (ed) Handbook of human factors and ergonomics. Wiley, New York, pp 882

  18. Chan AHS, Ma RCW (2004) Effect of linear magnification on target detection performance in visual inspection. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 23:375–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Courtney AJ, ChanHS (1976) Visual lobe dimensions and search performance for targets on a competing homogeneous background. Percept Psychophys 40(1):39

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kee D, Jung ES, Chung MK (1992) Isoresponse time regions for the evaluation of visual search performance in ergonomic interface models. Ergonomics 35(3):243

    Google Scholar 

  21. Rantenen EM, Goldberg JH (1999) The effect of mental workload on the visual field size and shape. Ergonomics 42(6):816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Barbur JL, Forsyth PM (1988) The effective contrast of coloured targets and its relation to visual search. In: Brogan D (ed) Visual search. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 319–328

  23. Sanders AF, Bruck R (1991) The effect of presentation time on the size of the visual lobe. Bull Psychon Soc 29(3):206

    Google Scholar 

  24. Chan HS, CourtneyAJ (1993) Effects of cognitive foveal load on a peripheral single-target detection task. Percept Motor Skills 77:515

    Google Scholar 

  25. Chan HS, Courtney AJ (1995) Visual performance on detection tasks with two targets. Int J Human Factor Manuf 5(4):417

    Google Scholar 

  26. Chan HS, Courtney AJ (1997) Visual performance on synchronous and asynchronous target detection tasks. Int J Human Factor Ergonom Manuf 7(3):197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Rovamo J, Virsu V (1979) An estimation and application of the human cortical magnification factor. Exp Brain Res 37:495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Virsu V, Nasanen R, Osmoviita K (1987) Cortical magnification and peripheral vision. J Opt Soc Am 4(8):1568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Virsu V, Rovamo J, Laurinen P, Nasanen R (1982) Temporal contrast sensitivity and cortical magnification. Vision Res 22:1211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Rentschler I, Treutwein B (1985) Loss of spatial phase relationships in extrafoveal vision. Nature 313:308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Levi DM, Klein SA, Aitsebaomo AP (1985) Vernier acuity, crowding and cortical magnification. Vision Res 25:963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Saarinen J (1987) Perception of positional relationships between line segments in eccentric vision. Perception 16:583

    Google Scholar 

  33. Gattass R, Sousa APB, Covey E (1985) Cortical visual areas of the macaque: Possible substrates for pattern recognition mechanisms. In: Chagas C, Gattass R, Gross C (eds) Pattern recognition mechanisms. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–20

  34. Deyoe EA, Van Essen DC (1988) Concurrent processing streams in monkey visual cortex. Trends Neurosci 11:219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Van Essen DC, Newsome WT, Maunsell JHR (1984) The visual field representation in the striate cortex of the macaque monkey: asymmetrics, anisotropies and individual variability. Vision Res 24:429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Perry VH, Cowey A (1985) The gang lion cell and cone distributions in the monkey’s retina: Implications for central magnification factors. Vision Res 25:1795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Chan HS, Courtney AJ (1994) Effects of priority assignment of attentional resources, order of testing, and response sequence on tunnel vision. Percept Motor Skills 78:899

    Google Scholar 

  38. Kubala K, Hatch A, Hooker RB, Lewis L (1998) Investigation into variable addressibility image sensors and display systems. In: SID International Symposium Digest of Technical Papers 0098–966X, vol 29, pp 45–420

  39. Wolford G, Chambers L (1983) Lateral masking as a function of spacing. Percept Psychophys 33(2):129

    Google Scholar 

  40. Eriksen CW, Schultz DW (1978) Temporal factors in visual information processing. In: Requin J (ed) Attention and performance VII. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ

  41. Butler BE, Currie A (1986) On the nature of perceptual limits in vision: A new look at lateral masking. Vis Sel Attention, Psychol Res 48(4):201

    Google Scholar 

  42. Norman DA, Bobrow DG (1975) On data-limited and resource-limited processes. Cognit Psychol 7:44

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  43. Tullis T (1983) The formatting of alphanumeric displays: A review and analysis. Human Factor 25:657

    Google Scholar 

  44. Panerai FM, Juday RD (1996) Probabilistic anti-aliasing methods for dynamic variable resolution images. Proc Int Soc Opt Eng 2847:130

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, P.R. China

    Alan H.S. Chan & Rachel C.W. Ma

Authors
  1. Alan H.S. Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rachel C.W. Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan H.S. Chan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chan, A., Ma, R. Improving target detection with nonlinear magnification in visual inspection. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 28, 362–369 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-004-2358-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-004-2358-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation