Running Head: IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION

iPhone Icons and Age-Related Decline of the Visual Sensory System Armen J. Chakmakjian Bentley University

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION Abstract This paper is an expert review of the current implementation of icons on mobile interfaces, especially the iPhone against the backdrop of customers with declining visual perception. The paper starts by describing the current understanding of the first two stages of the human visual sensory system, the eye and the lateral geniculate nucleus. The research then describes the decline of the healthy visual system related to advancing age in the areas of image size, contrast sensitivity and decline in the ability to distinguish hue, saturation and brightness. The paper then reviews the relevant research about icons and in particular mobile phone iconography against the age-related decline in the visual sensory system. In particular, the paper looks at the affect of retina displays such as on the newest iPhone to see if they may be

exacerbating the visual difficulties of older users. The conclusion is that the iPhone designers are not taking into account the needs of older users with the current model of accessibility. The recommendation in this paper is for Apple to create a mode where the icons are quadrupled in size to accommodate age-related decline in size, contrast sensitivity, and color discrimination.

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION iPhone Icons and Age-related Decline of the Visual Sensory System Perception is a multi-stage signal-processing event in which external stimuli are processed in order to form an integrated cognitive representation that can be used for decisionmaking. (Gazzanina, Ivry, & Mangun, 2002, p. 148). Vision is one of the biological channel through which a set of signals is consumed. This paper deals with the initial stages of visual sensory system, which are key in detecting a stimulus, and the specific biology that is used to process light signals for later use in cognitive functions. Modern technology provides us with an interesting new set of inputs in the form of display technology for our visual sensory adaptations to process that are not found in the natural environment. Display technology has now achieved a pixel resolution such found on the Apples iPhone retina display reaching 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi. (Poor, 2012) The human eye is measured in pixels per degree of visual angle, meaning proximity of the object of interest affects this measurement. As one NASA report points out, this is about 120 pixels per

degree at 100% contrast, or a rough maximum of 350 ppi for those blessed with astronaut vision. (Gille, Martin, Larimer, 1996) This clarity of resolution allows for vibrant and very dense graphical information to be displayed. Concurrently, many users with healthy eyesight are experiencing the expected age-related decline of their visual sensory system. They have difficulty focusing on small objects; their contrast sensitivity decreases and their ability to discern visual properties such as hue, brightness and saturation also decline. Software and mobile manufacturers are creating more and more precise detail on mobile display and a particular feature of iOS is the concept of folders. Folders allow the grouping of several related icons within the space of a normal icon. This shrinking of visual information may create a problem for users as they age. This paper describes the visual sensory system from both a biological and signal theory point of view, and reviews the relevant research in age-related factors that affect the visual sensory system. A description of iconography on the iPhone and the new folder feature follows. The paper concludes with a suggestion that is not currently employed in the accessibility accommodation features in iOS. The Visual Sensory System The visual sensory system has 4 basic stages: the eye itself, including the lens and retina systems, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), the visual cortex, and then the rest of brains cognitive processing on the visual image. The focus of this paper is on the eye and the lateral geniculate nucleus and the age related decline therein. Figure 1 illustrates the eye and its two basic subsystems. The lens is a flexible combination of collagen and epithelium (Werner, Peterzell, & Scheetz, 1990) attached to a muscle that flexes the lens to focus an image on the retina. Lens flexibility is maintained because of a water-soluble protein embedded in it, a-

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION crystallin. (Heys, Cram, & Truscott, 2004)

Figure 1: Stages of the Visual Sensory System The retina is made up of a distribution of neurological photoreceptors each containing light sensitive molecules called photopigments. (Gazzanina, Ivry, & Mangun, 2002, p. 150) These receptors, called cones and rods, detect color and brightness of objects respectively. (Cornsweet, 1970, p. 90) Cones, which are predominantly in the fovea at the center of the retina, concentrate on color and are organized as red, yellow and blue receptors that pass along color signals to the next stage of the visual system. From a quantitative point of view, they are actually short, medium and long wavelength-sensitive receptors and organized into a pattern so that a single class of cone samples the retinal image. (Roorda, 1999, pp. 520-2) The Roorda study of the distribution of the medium and long receptor cones has implications on variation in color sensitivity, one manifestation of which is the well-understood condition of color blindness. Rods concentrate on brightness of objects and tend to be concentrated around but away from the fovea. Cones and rods pass their respective information along to the lateral geniculate nucleus that can be thought of as a filter. Research done by Kaplan, Purpura and Shapley shows that the LGN introduces noise in the signals it receives from the eye and speculates that this adaptation preconditions the signal before sending it along to the visual cortex to avoid premature saturation in the cortex before it combines the signals to create a cognitive image. (Kaplan, Purpura, & Shapley, 1986) A discussion of signal theory is necessary to complete the concept that Kaplan puts forward. One excellent definition of a signal is A signal can be defined as the variation of a quantity by which information is conveyed regarding the state, the characteristics, the composition, the trajectory, the course of action or the intention of the signal source. A signal is a means to convey information. (Vaseghi, 2000). At each stage, the visual sensory system detects, filters and refines the light signal emanating from an object. Light is broken up by color and luminance into signals that are sent to the brain for cognitive processing. Just as in electrical

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION signal theory, anything that attenuates a light signal or introduces or filters noise as it passes through the various stages of the visual sensory system is doing signal processing. Visual Sensory System and Age-Related Decline in Property Sensitivities The ability of the visual system to detect contrast is an adaptation that allows a human to detect the edges of an object and separate that object from its surroundings for processing. The general definition of contrast is (Lmax Lmin)/(Lmax + Lmin) where L is the measure of luminance. (Arden, 1978) This is the ratio of the difference in luminance between 2 regions and

the sum of the luminance of the two regions. Depending on the sensitivity of the individual, if the difference is small, the contrast may not be detectable. Cones themselves do not easily detect brightness; it is the job of the rods to help with this function. Comparisons of test results over time come back with the same data, that contrast sensitivity is relatively stable until the age of 65, and deteriorates after that. (Werner, Peterzell, & Scheetz, 1990) Contrast sensitivity can be affected by texture differences between the object and its background. Basic contrast sensitivity, often referred to as first-order stimuli sensitivity, deals with luminance differences between foreground and background. Second-order stimuli, texture differences between the foreground and background, allow for further detection and recognition of the edges of objects. A 2009 study points out that both contrast sensitivity for first-order and second-order stimuli does show a progressive decline with age and in fact sensitivity to secondorder stimuli may actually begin declining earlier than first-order sensitivity. (Tang & Zhou, 2009) To illustrate this example, consider an object that has a crosshatch pattern that appears as texture, but the background is smooth, over time, the secondary aid in detection diminishes in influence faster than the simple contrast between the objects. The perception of color has 3 distinct factors: hue, saturation and brightness. Hue is, quantitatively for this discussion, the wavelength of light that is detected by the visual system. (Cornsweet, 1970, p. 224). In a 2001 NIH sponsored study, it was found that age-related deterioration seemed to happen with Medium and Long cone sensitivity rather than with short cone sensitivity after the age of 65. (Shinomori, Schefrin, & Werner, 2001) This has large implications since it means that after the age of 65 it can be increasingly difficult to see red and green. Simultaneously, a loss in the ability to distinguish blue begins to occur in old age also because of yellowing that occurs in the lens. This yellowing blocks blue from getting to the blue cones (S cones). (Jackson & Owsley, 2003) Brightness is a measure of variation of intensity of the light source detected by the visual system. (Cornsweet, 1970, p. 225) As a 1990 study points out, there are 2 factors that affect the transmission of light through the eye as a person ages. These are crystalline lens absorption and pupil size. The lens gets stiffer and thicker as humans age which both affects focus of the light on the retina, as well as the amount of light that passes through. The pupil will shrink slightly with

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION age and will alter the quantity of stimulus reaching the retina, the culprit being the aging iris. Color discrimination may also be affected by the amount of light reaching the fovea. (Werner, Peterzell, & Scheetz, 1990) Saturation is a measure of how much white light is mixed in with a monochromatic hue. It tends to vary with brightness. (Cornsweet, 1970, p. 225) This paper does not address agerelated saturation detection with respect to the use of icons in smartphones.

As the Werner article points out, other studies show the decline in the performance of the LGN correlating to declines of up to 50% in neurons in the visual cortex in the elderly. (Werner, Peterzell, & Scheetz, 1990) This paper will not address those changes and effects. Iconography on the iPhone and the Elderly Icons in computing were invented in the Xerox PARC designs that Apple consumed into the Macintosh. Icons allow a user to start a task or open a file from a pictorial representation instead of selecting an action from from a list of files and typing in the request on command line interface. Icons take advantage of several properties of the underlying graphical system in order to communicate with the user. They are made up of visual details of the normal computing display environment, and might try to communicate the function behind the future action if selected. (Leung, McGrenere, & Graf, 2009)

. Figure 2: Spatial Frequency versus Contrast Sensitivity Curves taken for different age groups (McGrath & Morrison, 1981) Since contrast sensitivity is directly correlated with the difference between background and foreground, it would be no wonder that if the user had a background image was not uniform in color and different from the icon which is emblazoned on it, a user with declining contrast sensitivity might have trouble discerning an icon from its background. A study on spatial frequency versus contrast sensitivity (McGrath & Morrison, 1981) tells us that as people age their

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION peak sensitivity to spatial frequency (the ability to discern fine detail in a high contrast environment) was unchanged, but their contrast sensitivity was degraded. Figure 2 shows us the detail of their experimentation. It can be extrapolated here that as long as the background image

of the icon screens of a phone are bright and neutral, this can mitigate the effects of the decline in contrast sensitivity. Size of icons is a significant factor in detection and the ability to perform tasks on the iPhone for the elderly. One study shows that the symbol size of the icon is critical in recognizing the icon, and leads to increased time to find the specific icon of interest. (Mertens, Brandl, Przybysz, Koch-Krfges, & Schlick, 2012) The standard size of an iPhone 5 icon is 114x114 pixels (Apple Inc., 2012) which is roughly 9mm. A year 2000 study showed that people with deteriorating vision were 50 times slower in selecting icons sized at 9.2mm than the fully-sighted. (Jacko, Rosa, Jr., Scott, Pappas, & Dixon, 2000) While the normal iPhone icons themselves may cause some difficulty, a greater problem may have been introduced by Apple in their zeal to allow people to group similar icons together. Apples icon folder function allows a user to press on an icon, and then drag it onto other icon. The system responds by creating an icon-sized container, with miniature versions of the original icons inside it. A tap on that container opens up a drawer that shows the user the full-sized icons contained in the folder. The problem here is that the with the decline in the ability of the lens to flex sufficiently to focus on small objects, the extremely small icons within a folder icon may not be focusable at all for an elderly user.

Figure 3: Typical iPhone 4 display showing icons and folder icons. Figure 3 shows a typical iPhone 4 display with icons and folders. Up to 9 icons are

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION shrunk within a folder icon the size of a standard icon. That means that each shrunken icon is slightly less than 1/3 of the regular icon size (less because there is a space between them), less that 3mm. While the separation of the tiny icons is done on a black background, heightening contrast, the details on each icon are now potentially so small that a typical user with declining ability may no longer be able to detect detail except for icon color.

With the decline in contrast sensitivity and hue sensitivity from the red/green spectrum as previously discussed, one could posit that differentiating certain icons on a non-black or nonwhite background might be impossible for a elderly user, including the small red alert circle some icons will put up on their top right corner (See Figure 3). Compounding this, the yellowing of the lens blocks blue light from reaching the fovea, making it so that the ubiquitous use of blue may be a problem. The example of the Skype icon in Figure 3, if the reader can find it, will be a typical problem for the older user. The blue Skype icon within the folder would be almost unrecognizable in this case because of the elderly users diminished ability to focus, their ability to discern hue, and diminished contrast sensitivity. The blue S symbol might be seen as yellow on the white background which may not be enough contrast. All the user might see is a small yellow blob on black. Further examining Figure 3, when a bluish icon is full sized, such as the Dropbox icon, it is also accompanied by white text below it. If the user has a dark background, the white text might be visible. However, the text is quite small in this case, and any decline in contrast sensitivity combined with a light background might make this apparent textual accommodation less than useful. Recommendation The major recommendation in this paper is due to the lack of serious accommodations on the iPhone for the elderly. There are some accommodations including auditory feedback that can be invoked, but the auditory system for the elderly is also in decline at the same time. Apple should create a mode where 4x sized icons (meaning 18mm x 18mm) icons and folders are used. Given the brightness of the display this would mitigate many of the problems introduced by aging, including inability to focus on small objects and diminished contrast sensitivity. Conclusion This study began by describing visual perception as a concept of signal theory and concentrated on the first two stages of the visual sensory system. These two stages detect and transform light and color into signals that are used later in cognitive functioning. The paper then described the properties of visual perception, object size and the ability of the lens to focus the image on the retina. A description of how the retina receptors, cones and rods, detect light patterns to discern contrast, hue, brightness and saturation followed. A survey of research then pointed to how the sensitivity to these properties decline with age. The paper studied specific feature of the iPhone, application icons and icon folders and the problems in detection and

IPHONE ICONS & AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF VISION discernment in older individuals. Research showed that the usability of the iPhone through its primary interface might become challenging to elderly users. Finally the paper makes a simple recommendation to accommodate the elderly by altering the size of icons.

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