Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pendyala, Ishan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.19692
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908468361822208
author Pendyala, Ishan
author_facet Pendyala, Ishan
contents In the virtual realm, individuals with photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) encounter challenges when using devices, resulting in exposure to unpredictable seizure-causing visual stimuli. The current norm for preventing epileptic flashes in media is to detect asynchronously when a flash will occur in a video, then notifying the user. However, there is a lack of a real-time and computationally efficient solution for dealing with this issue. To address this issue and enhance accessibility for photosensitive viewers, FlashGuard, a novel approach, was devised to assess the rate of change of colors in frames across the user's screen and appropriately mitigate stimuli, based on perceptually aligned color space analysis in the CIELAB color space. The detection system is built on analyzing differences in color, and the mitigation system works by reducing luminance and smoothing color transitions. This study provides novel insight into how intrinsic color properties contribute to perceptual differences in flashing for PSE individuals, calling for the adoption of broadened WCAG guidelines to better account for risk. These insights and implementations pave the way for stronger protections for individuals with PSE from dangerous triggers in digital media, both in policy and in software.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_19692
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle FlashGuard: Novel Method in Evaluating Differential Characteristics of Visual Stimuli for Deterring Seizure Triggers in Photosensitive Epilepsy
Pendyala, Ishan
Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
Social and Information Networks
In the virtual realm, individuals with photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) encounter challenges when using devices, resulting in exposure to unpredictable seizure-causing visual stimuli. The current norm for preventing epileptic flashes in media is to detect asynchronously when a flash will occur in a video, then notifying the user. However, there is a lack of a real-time and computationally efficient solution for dealing with this issue. To address this issue and enhance accessibility for photosensitive viewers, FlashGuard, a novel approach, was devised to assess the rate of change of colors in frames across the user's screen and appropriately mitigate stimuli, based on perceptually aligned color space analysis in the CIELAB color space. The detection system is built on analyzing differences in color, and the mitigation system works by reducing luminance and smoothing color transitions. This study provides novel insight into how intrinsic color properties contribute to perceptual differences in flashing for PSE individuals, calling for the adoption of broadened WCAG guidelines to better account for risk. These insights and implementations pave the way for stronger protections for individuals with PSE from dangerous triggers in digital media, both in policy and in software.
title FlashGuard: Novel Method in Evaluating Differential Characteristics of Visual Stimuli for Deterring Seizure Triggers in Photosensitive Epilepsy
topic Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.19692