What is it about?

We are examining whether using icons (i.e., pictograms) is more effective than just using text when getting notifications on Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays, which are also called augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. This becomes crucial when we are multitasking and need to grasp the message that's appearing on our glasses quickly. We've seen benefits from using icons in things like road signs, but for some reason, it hasn’t quite worked the same for digital notifications on devices. So, we decided to see how icons and text together might work, specifically for calendar notifications on these AR glasses.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

With so much going on in our days, we often find ourselves doing multiple things at once. When we use augmented reality smart glasses, it’s essential for us that the information they show is swift and straightforward. By figuring out the most effective way to present these notifications, we hope to help make AR glasses that are advanced and user-friendly. This way, we can ensure that when we use smart glasses, we can get our digital updates without feeling overwhelmed or distracted.

Perspectives

We’ve always been curious about the varied results of previous studies around the use of icons in digital notifications. We feel there might be specific situations where icons, especially when paired with text, could prove beneficial in smart glasses. Our focus has been on real-life uses, like calendar notifications, in hopes of understanding when and how these icons can be used most effectively. We’ve also thought about how this can be applied beyond just calendar notifications, offering some of our insights on designing for different scenarios.

Nuwan Janaka
National University of Singapore

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Can Icons Outperform Text? Understanding the Role of Pictograms in OHMD Notifications, April 2023, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3544548.3580891.
You can read the full text:

Read

Resources

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page