MF-CFI: a fused evaluation index for camouflage patterns based on human visual perception

Abstract The evaluation index of camouflage patterns is important in the field of military application. It is the goal that researchers have always pursued to make the computable evaluation indicators more in line with the human visual mechanism. In order to make the evaluation method more computationally intelligent, a Multi-Feature Camouflage Fused Index (MF-CFI) is proposed based on the comparison of grayscale, color and texture features between the target and the background. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed index, eye movement experiments are conducted to compare the proposed index with existing indexes including Universal Image Quality Index (UIQI), Camouflage Similarity Index (CSI) and Structural Similarity (SSIM). Twenty-four different simulated targets are designed in a grassland background, 28 observers participate in the experiment and record the eye movement data during the observation process. The results show that the highest Pearson correlation coefficient is observed between MF-CFI and the eye movement data, both in the designed digital camouflage patterns and large-spot camouflage patterns. Since MF-CFI is more in line with the detection law of camouflage targets in human visual perception, the proposed index can be used for the comparison and parameter optimization of camouflage design algorithms.