How interaction methods affect image segmentation: User experience in the task

Interactive image segmentation is extensively used in photo editing when the aim is to separate a foreground object from its background so that it is available for various applications. The goal of the interaction is to get an accurate segmentation of the object with the minimal amount of human effort. To improve the usability and user experience using interactive image segmentation we present three interaction methods and study the effect of each using both objective and subjective metrics, such as, accuracy, amount of effort needed, cognitive load and preference of interaction method as voted by users. The novelty of this paper is twofold. First, the evaluation of interaction methods is carried out with objective metrics such as object and boundary accuracies in tandem with subjective metrics to cross check if they support each other. Second, we analyze Electroencephalography (EEG) data obtained from subjects performing the segmentation as an indicator of brain activity. The experimental results potentially give valuable cues for the development of easy-to-use yet efficient interaction methods for image segmentation.