Human Perception Engineering

Abstract

In this chapter, we propose the foundations of a new field, perception engineering, to unify and guide XR research in human perception. The key idea is that designing, creating, implementing, and analyzing perceptual illusions themselves are the engineering focus, rather than devices. Perception engineering follows a dynamical systems approach to the human–XR device pairing by leveraging techniques from mathematical modeling, perceptual psychology, neuroscience, and robotics to better understand how the perceptual experience itself may be engineered. We then give attention to the current state and potential shortcomings of human perception and XR research, and set goals for the field to aspire toward best practices, inclusivity, and open-source modular technology.