Chinese Color Preference in Software Design

In human–computer interaction interfaces, icons serve as highly symbolic elements that convey information and significantly influence the performance of visual search and other tasks. Thus, the selection of appropriate colors plays a crucial role in the design of human–computer interfaces. This study aimed to investigate the effects of icon color combinations on human visual search task performance across various cognitive load conditions. The experiment was divided into two parts, involving a cognitive load test experiment and an icon search task, wherein the former required participants to select the target icon from 16 de-colored icons, and the latter involved selecting the target icon from 16 color combinations of 8 colors (background colors: black, red, blue, and purple; foreground colors: white, yellow, green, and turquoise). A total of 20 participants (11 females and 9 males, all aged between 18 and 24 years) were recruited for this experiment to perform both tasks sequentially. Through a comprehensive consideration of factors such as the NASA-TLX scale, retrieval time, etc., the experimental results revealed that cognitive load increased with time pressure, resulting in varying optimal color combinations for different cognitive load levels. Additionally, background colors did not affect task response time under different cognitive loads, whereas white foreground color was superior to turquoise foreground color in a medium cognitive load environment. Meanwhile, our results recommend prioritizing white-on-black as the preferred color combination, given that it demonstrated excellent cognitive performance in all three cognitive load environments. Conversely, white-on-blue is not recommended as a color combination for the design of high cognitive load environments. Concerning medium cognitive load environments, yellow-on-red or white-on-purple color combinations were preferred. Finally, in low cognitive load environments, white-on-purple is recommended as the primary color combination. Overall, this study provides a theoretical reference for the future design of interactive interface icons across various contexts.

This research examined how the presence of color in relation to a target within an augmentative and alternative communication array influenced the speed with which typically developing preschoolers located a target line drawing. Fifteen children over the age of 4 years (from 4;2 [years;months] to 5;4) and 15 children under the age of 4 years (2;10-3;11) participated. Participants were asked to find a target line drawing of foods (e.g., banana and tomato) among an array of 12. The reaction time of locating the target was measured across 4 conditions in which the foreground color and the background color of the line drawing were manipulated. For all participants, line drawings featuring foreground color provided greater advantages in the speed of locating the target compared with drawings featuring only background color. Younger participants demonstrated faster reaction times when color was limited to the foreground. Clinicians should consider incorporating color in the foreground of the line drawing when constructing visual displays. Targets that contain only background color but no foreground color appear to have a negative effect on the speed with which younger children can locate a target. Further research is needed to determine the effects in children with disabilities.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of visual fatigue from reading on a tablet when the background luminance and colour were changed. Six levels of background luminance were tested. They were the level with the same luminance as paper (68 cd/m2), three levels with 15%, 30% and 70% increased, and two levels with 15% and 30% decreased from the paper luminance under the same lighting condition. Six background colours with the same luminance as paper were tested: white, red, green, blue, yellow and purple. Subjects read pseudo-text containing 10 lines per page. There were two types of pseudo-text: Thai and English; each had 3 pages. The time subjects spent finding the target letters that were randomly inserted in the pseudo-text was recorded. After the reading tasks, subjects rated the degrees of visual fatigue symptoms that possibly occurred during the tasks. They also answered the general questionnaire about the familiarity of using a tablet and colour preference. Fifty university students with 18 – 35 years of age took part in the experiments. The results showed that the main factor that affected visual fatigue was luminance. Reading media did not affect visual fatigue when the luminance was equal. The level of luminance that tended to cause visual fatigue was +70% from the paper luminance. Colour did not affect visual fatigue. Nevertheless, there was a tendency that red background was the most suitable for reading.

Rainbow trout in artificial stream situations were offered seven colors of dyed rainbow trout eggs in all combinations of two colors. Against a pale, greenish-blue background, in daylight, the color preference was: blue, red, black, orange, brown, yellow, and green. This order largely reflected contrast with background color; but, in addition, there were preferences for certain colors. Particular color combinations such as yellow and black, and yellow and blue, resulted in significantly higher total consumption. When background color was varied, preference was low for the color of eggs that matched the background, but the effect was not statistically demonstrable. At low light intensities the order of preference for various colors was yellow, red, blue, and black. The results collectively indicate keen color discrimination in rainbow trout and preferences for particular colors in particular environmental settings. These findings could have useful application to field situations where it is desirable to modify rates of predation on salmon fry by presenting other kinds of food to satiate predators.

Color sampling based matting methods find the best known samples for foreground and background colors of unknown pixels. Such methods do not perform well if there is an overlap in the color distribution of foreground and background regions. Furthermore, current sampling based matting methods choose samples that are located around the boundaries of foreground and background regions. The contribution of texture and color is automatically estimated by analyzing the content of the image. The method uses texture to complement color in extracting accurate mattes in images when foreground and background colors overlap. This is handled by designing an objective function that uses weighted contribution of color and texture information to select the best (F, B) pair for unknown samples. The final matte is further refined using conventional Laplacian method. The image quality enhancement parameters applied to matting image to produce high visual quality output.

Boundary matting for view synthesis

Mathematical morphology is a theory with applications in image processing and analysis. In a supervised approach to mathematical morphology, pixel values are ranked according to sets of foreground and background elements specified a priori by the user. In this paper, we introduce a supervised fuzzy color-based approach to color mathematical morphology that provides an elegant alternative to the support vector machine-based approach developed by Velasco-Forero and Angulo. Briefly, color elements are ranked according to the degree of truth of the proposition “the considered color is a foreground color but it is not a background color” in the new supervised color morphological approach. Furthermore, the vagueness and uncertainty inherent to the description of colors by humans can be naturally incorporated in the new approach using the concept of fuzzy colors.

The Objectworks/Smalltalk programming environment offers a variety of interaction objects which allows programmers to design user interfaces for application. Programmers often lack the knowledge required to design good user interfaces. Beside the problem of consistency there are a lot of low level sources of errors, such as the size of buttons, the background and foreground colors, etc. User interfaces can be improved by providing this knowledge about design guidelines at this low level, thus giving programmers the opportunity to learn about the design of user interfaces CritiGUI is a knowledge-based critiquing system which supports programmers during the design process by providing this knowledge. It is an adaptable, after-task critiquing system which follows the analytical critiquing strategy.CritiGUI has knowledge about the design of menus, buttons, windows and especially about the use of colors, which is often based on personal preferences and false intuition rather than on ergonomic considerations. It can criticize single interaction objects as well as groups or the whole screen. In this paper the architecture of CritiGUI, its features and its use in the Objectworks/Smalltalk programming environment will be presented.

Offensive visual stimuli represent a potentially important component of avian crop damage reduc- tion strategies. Color perception by diurnal birds is highly developed, but the responses of the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) to different-colored food have never been investigated. Red-winged blackbirds and boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major) cause substantial damage to newly seeded rice in the southern United States, and the examination of color avoidance by these species should contribute to the development of nonlethal methods to reduce depredations. We used rice seed of various colors to conduct a series of feeding trials with captive blackbirds and grackles. Despite variation among individuals and groups of test birds, blue was the least preferred color overall. Differences among species and among background color might affect responses of birds to a given seed color, but, in general, we suggest that blue should be incorporated into strategies for discouraging unwanted feeding by granivorous birds. In particular, further development of visual deterrents should exploit the ability of blackbirds and other species to detect wavelengths in the near ultraviolet. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 63(3):1003-1008

1. This research was designed to further clarify how, in the primate, the neurons of the inferotemporal (IT) cortex support the cognitive functions of visually guided behavior. Specifically, the aim was to determine the role of those neurons in 1) selective attention to behaviorally relevant features of the visual environment and 2) retention of those features in temporary memory. Monkeys were trained in a memory task in which they had to discriminate and retain individual features of compound stimuli, each stimulus consisting of a colored disk with a gray symbol in the middle. A trial began with brief presentation of one such stimulus, the sample for the trial. Depending on the symbol in it, the monkey had to memorize the symbol itself or the background color; after 10-20 s of delay (retention period), two compound stimuli appeared, and the animal had to choose the one with the symbol or with the color of the sample. Thus the test required attention to the symbol, in some trials also to the color, and short-term retention of the distinctive feature for each trial, either a symbol or a color. Single-unit activity was recorded from cortex of the IT convexity, lower and upper banks of the superior temporal sulcus (STS), and from striate cortex (V1). Firing frequency was analyzed during intertrial periods and during the entirety of every trial, except for the (match) choice period. 2. In IT cortex, as in V1, many units responded to the sample stimulus. Some responded indiscriminately to all samples, whereas others responded selectively to one of their features, i.e., to one symbol or to one color. Fifteen percent of the IT units were symbol selective and 21% color selective. These neurons appeared capable of extracting individual features from complex stimuli. Some color cells (color-attentive units) responded significantly more to their preferred color when it was relevant (i.e., had to be retained) than when it was not. 3. The latency of IT-unit response to the sample stimulus was, on the average, relatively short in unselective units (mean 159 ms), longer in symbol units (mean 203 ms), and longest in color-attentive units (mean 270 ms). This order of latencies corresponds to the presumed order of participation of those three types of units in the selective attention to the component features of the sample as required by the task. It suggests intervening steps of serial processing before color information reached color-attentive cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

This chapter describes intelligent multilayer image segmentation algorithm for Optical Character Recognition system. The additional algorithm brings new ability of recognizing colorful texts. Presented solution allows to successfully recognize texts with various background and foreground colors even when their luminosity values are equal. It may be adapted into current OCR systems or work as a standalone pre-processing system.KeywordsText ImageColor ModelOptical Character RecognitionForeground PixelColorful PixelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The European lobster (Homarus gammarus) is a commercially valuable species facing increasing anthropogenic pressure. As hatchery-based restocking and aquaculture expand, optimising artificial rearing conditions, particularly environmental factors like habitat colouration are essential for improving welfare. The present study investigated background colour preference in juvenile (poststage V) lobsters. Custom triangle segments were 3D printed with different-coloured filaments and assembled into hexagonal chambers. In sub-trial 1, each chamber contained six colour: black, red, blue, green, white, and yellow. Lobster behavioural responses were measured using three metrics: time spent (duration), number of incidental movements, and final colour settlement. These metrics had five behavioural parameters: mean duration, total duration, colour preference ratio, final colour settlement and incidental movement. An assessment of these metrics and behavioural parameters revealed that lobsters had a similarly significant preference for black and red background colours. To discern whether there is a higher preference for one colour over the other, sub-trial 2 was performed, using equal black and red segments. Sub-trial 2 indicates that the preference for red is marginally greater than black under the same metrics. These findings contribute to a better understanding of lobster environmental preference and can inform the design of aquaculture systems to enhance animal welfare.

The background color preferences of three age groups of Xenopus laevis tadpoles (young-stages tadpoles [stages 44-46], premetamorphic tadpoles [stages 54-56], and metamorphic tadpoles [stages 58-60]) were examined. Young tadpoles selected a white background, metamorphic tadpoles preferred a black background, and premetamorphic tadpoles selected a white or black background consistent with the background black or white of the test box on which they previously were conditioned. If premetamorphic tadpoles were conditioned in the checkerboard-pattern (white and black) box or white box which was placed a small black square at the center of the box, they preferred to stay in the white area just after transfer to the test box, then shifted their preference for background color to black strongly. Premetamorphic tadpoles conditioned on a white background lost this preference if kept in the dark for 12 hours. Blinding of premetamorphic tadpoles by severance of the optic nerves resulted in loss of preference for a specific background matching the white or black background to which they had been adapted while sighted. Given a choice 3 days postblinding, they tended to congregate on a white background. Injection of MSH into premetamorphic tadpoles conditioned to white shifted their preference to black. In contrast, injection of melatonin stimulated black adapted tadpoles to select a white background. Young frogs showed a preference for a black background.

Different whiteboard image degradations highly reduce the legibility of pen-stroke content as well as the overall quality of the images. Consequently, different researchers addressed the problem through different image enhancement techniques. Most of the state-of-the-art approaches applied common image processing techniques such as background foreground segmentation, text extraction, contrast and color enhancements and white balancing. However, such types of conventional enhancement methods are incapable of recovering severely degraded pen-stroke contents and produce artifacts in the presence of complex pen-stroke illustrations. In order to surmount such problems, the authors have proposed a deep learning based solution. They have contributed a new whiteboard image data set and adopted two deep convolutional neural network architectures for whiteboard image quality enhancement applications. Their different evaluations of the trained models demonstrated their superior performances over the conventional methods.

Pre-linguistic categorical perception of colour cannot be explained by colour preference: Response to Roberson and Hanley