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Visual clutter: The role of item quantity, spatial organization, and surface complexity in model and human estimates
Yelda Semizer1,2,3, Sathvik Gopu4,5, Tomer Weiss6,7
1Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
Journal of Vision
|July 21, 2026
Summary
Visual clutter is complex, with objective metrics and human judgments capturing only parts of it. Integrating both subjective and objective measures provides a more comprehensive understanding of visual clutter.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Cognitive psychology
- Computer vision
Background:
- Visual clutter is commonly perceived in crowded and untidy spaces.
- Quantifying visual clutter involves objective measures (e.g., mathematical models) and subjective measures (e.g., human judgments).
- Existing metrics often capture different facets of clutter, necessitating a unified approach.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the contributions of visual factors to perceived clutter.
- To evaluate the predictive performance of clutter metrics against human judgments.
- To determine if subjective and objective measures of clutter can be integrated.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a controlled semi-realistic image database.
- Assessed visual factors: item count, spatial organization, and surface complexity.
- Collected human judgments of perceived clutter.
- Tested the predictive accuracy of various clutter metrics.
Main Results:
- All examined factors (item number, organization, surface complexity) contribute to visual clutter.
- Both human judgments and objective metrics capture only a subset of these contributing factors.
- A significant discrepancy exists between subjective perception and objective quantification of clutter.
Conclusions:
- Visual clutter is a multifaceted construct influenced by multiple interacting factors.
- Neither subjective nor objective measures alone fully capture visual clutter.
- An integrative approach combining subjective and objective clutter measures is recommended for a holistic understanding.
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