The Impact of Spatial Dimensions, Location, Luminance, and Gender Differences on Visual Search Efficiency in Three-Dimensional Space

Visual searching is a key cognitive process for acquiring external information, involving the identification of specific stimuli in complex environments. This study, utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) technology and eye-tracking devices, systematically explores the mechanisms by which spatial dimensions, location, luminance, and gender differences affect visual search efficiency in three-dimensional space. The experiment assessed visual search efficiency across three aspect ratios (0.5, 1, 2) of spatial configurations, different icon locations (top, bottom, left, right, center), and under different luminance conditions. Experiment A found that spatial dimensions and target location significantly influenced search efficiency. Targets located on the central plane were searched most quickly, followed by those on the right and bottom planes. Experiment B revealed that the difference in luminance between targets and distractors enhanced the search speed, but this effect diminished as the target depth increased, suggesting that luminance is a key factor in optimizing visual search. Regarding gender differences, both Experiments A and B showed that males generally exhibited a higher visual search efficiency than females in three-dimensional spaces, with the male advantage becoming more pronounced as the difficulty of recognition increased.