Photosimulation is a widely used method for target detection experimentation. In the defence context, such experiments are often developed in order to derive measures for the effectiveness of camouflage techniques in the field. This assumes that there is a strong link between photosimulation performance and field performance which may hold for situations where the target and background are relatively stationary, such as in land environments. However, there has been some research to suggest that this assumption fails in maritime environments where both the target and background are moving, results implying that the dynamic nature of the search task led to many more cues in field observation compared to still image presented on a screen. In this paper, we explore the link between field observations and photosimulation and videosimulation. Two field observation trials were conducted, at different locations (Flinders and Darwin) and with different, but similarly sized small maritime craft. The small maritime craft deployed in the Flinders field trial in an open ocean environment was harder to detect in photosimulation than in the field. In contrast, the two small maritime craft deployed in the Darwin field trial in a littoral or coastal environment were easier to detect in videosimulation than in the field.
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