Efficiency Analysis of Disruptive Color in Military Camouflage Patterns Based on Eye Movement Data

Disruptive color on animals' bodies can reduce the risk of being caught. This study explores the camouflaging effect of disruptive color when applied to military targets. Disruptive and non-disruptive color patterns were placed on the target surface to form simulation materials. Then, the simulation target was set in woodland-, grassland-, and desert-type background images. The detectability of the target in the background was obtained by collecting eye movement indicators after the observer observed the background targets. The influence of background type (local and global), camouflage pattern type, and target viewing angle on the disruptive-color camouflage pattern was investigated. This study aims to design eye movement observation experiments to statistically analyze the indicators of first discovery time, discovery frequency, and first-scan amplitude in the target area. The experimental results show that the first discovery time of mixed disruptive-color targets in a forest background was significantly higher than that of non-mixed disruptive-color targets (t = 2.54, p = 0.039), and the click frequency was reduced by 15% (p < 0.05), indicating that mixed disruptive color has better camouflage effectiveness in complex backgrounds. In addition, the camouflage effect of mixed disruptive colors on large-scale targets (viewing angle ≥ 30°) is significantly improved (F = 10.113, p = 0.01), providing theoretical support for close-range reconnaissance camouflage design.