Analysis of Additional Building Effects in Historic Buildings with Visual Attention Software: The Case of Dresden Military History Museum

Abstract

Modern additions to historic environments/buildings have been designed from the past to the present. In this
context, it is always questioned which architectural elements attract more attention: historical elements or modern
elements. When a person encounters an image, their subconscious mind instantly decides what exactly attracts their
attention. According to the theory of Cognitive Architecture, there are architectural principles that people
subconsciously prefer. Considering these principles, it is assumed that traditional buildings attract more
subconscious attention than modern buildings. This assumption constitutes the hypothesis of the study. In the study,
the visual attention method was used to analyze the additional building effects in historical buildings. To predict the
observers' reactions to the visuals, the Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany was selected as a case study.
For visual attention, 3M's VAS (Visual Attention Software), an artificial intelligence application developed using
experimental data from eye tracking, was used. Diagrams and analysis from 3M eye tracking are presented to explain
which architecture is more interesting and why.