Hybrid fused displays: between pixel- and region-based image fusion

This paper describes a new class of fused image displays called hybrid fused displays. Such displays can be created by gradually transforming a fused image computed by one fusion method into another fused image computed by a different fusion method, either in the spatial domain or in another domain. By defining either global image-to-image or local region-to-region mapping(s) between the two key fused displays, sequences of hybrid fused displays can be generated. In this paper we propose a number of global and local inbetweening algorithms which transform pixel-based fused displays into various region-based fused displays. The main motivation behind this research is that while pixel-based fused displays generally provide belter situational awareness, region-based fused displays, such as cut-and-paste displays or pseudo-coloured segmentation maps, often lead to better performance in tasks such as target detection and tracking. Having the ability to generate hybrid displays between these two classes is essential for being able to evaluate their perception, performance and usefulness for various tasks in different scenarios and applications.