Toward the zero attention interface: wearable subliminal cuing for short term memory support

In this paper we summarize the results of an experiment showing that subliminal cuing using short-duration masked video fields on a head mounted display can be effective in improving short term memory performance. We found that our subjects did 1.8 times as well on subliminally cited memory trials as uncued trials, a result statistically significant at the /spl alpha/ = 0.1 confidence level. This suggests subliminal citing holds promise as a low-attention alternative to overt reminders for some wearable and mobile applications.