The findings could have important implications for application areas such as medical displays, cognitive assistants, product design and the environment, the researchers said.
To determine how the human brain processes an object visually, the study authors showed participants various images and images of objects that could be easily manipulated with their hands, such as a coffee mug, snow shovel, or screwdriver. A houseplant is rarely manipulated with their hands, like a picture frame or fire hydrant. For half of the experiment, a small slit can be cut at the bottom of each item. In the other half of the experiment, objects flashed on the screen. The team asked participants to report the presence or absence of a vacuum or vibration; this helped the researchers determine the speed and detail of object processing, as well as which areas of the brain are used to process an object.
The researchers found that objects that are typically manipulated by the hands are perceived faster than objects that are not manipulated, making it easier to detect flicker. On the other hand, objects that we do not normally manipulate are perceived in greater detail than objects that are manipulated, making it easier to detect small gaps.
The study also showed that if you interfere with the object-recognition process, making it difficult to recognize an object as manipulated or unmanipulated—for example, by turning it over—then differences in the speed and detail of detection of objects disappear. .
Source: Ferra
