Through a barn owl's eyes: interactions between scene content and visual attention

Abstract In this study we set to investigate visual attention properties of freely behaving barn owls using a miniature wireless camera attached to their heads. The tubular eye structure of barn owls makes them ideal subjects for this research since it limits their eye movements. Video sequences recorded from the owl's point of view capture part of the visual scene as seen by the owl. Automatic analysis of video sequences revealed that during an active search task owls repeatedly and consistently direct their gaze in a way that brings objects of interest to a specific area in their retina (fixation area). Recording in various types of environments (aviary, office, outdoors) revealed significant statistical differences of low level image properties at the fixation area compared to values extracted at random image patches. These differences are in agreement with results obtained in primates in similar studies. To investigate the role of saliency and its contribution to drawing the o...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: BC
• Authors: Shay Ohayon, Wolf Harmening, Hermann Wagner, Ehud Rivlin
• Keywords: BC 2008, Fixation Area, Miniature Wireless Camera, Owls