Evaluating the perceived visual complexity of multidirectional hill-shading

: Eye tracking recordings could reveal the visual behavior for different carto-graphic visualization techniques, such as hill-shading, while at the same time eye tracking metrics (ETMs) can summarize the associated complexity levels in a concise and quantitative manner. In the present study, three different hill-shading methods, including: (i) the standard method based on ideal diffuse reflection, (ii) the Multidirectional Oblique-Weighted method – MDOW and (iii) the combination of a MDOW’s variation with standard hill-shading, are evaluated and ranked in terms of their perceived visual complexity. The performed examination is based on both eye tracking techniques and expert judgement procedures. A weighted combination of basic ETMs has been used, implemented by the Landscape Rating Index – LRI. The weights resulted from an experts’ judgement process where the opinions of experts in geoinformatics, cartography, geovisualization, experimental psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience and eye tracking were analyzed. Fifteen (15) individuals participated in an eye tracking experiment with hill-shading images produced by the three methods under evaluation, while 41 experts participated in an online questionnaire in order to collect all the analysis data. The final evaluation was based on the computation of three LRI models. The outcomes indicate that implementing hill-shading with more than one light sources results in similar perceptual behaviors, allowing for a seamless exploitation of the advantages of using multidirectional illumination.