A Real-Time Eye Tracking System for Predicting and Preventing Postcompletion Errors

Abstract

Procedural errors occur despite the user having the correct knowledge of how to perform a particular task. Previous research has mostly focused on preventing these errors by redesigning tasks to eliminate error prone steps. A different method of preventing errors, specifically postcompletion errors (e.g., forgetting to retrieve the original document from a photocopier), has been proposed by Ratwani, McCurry, and Trafton (2008), which uses theoretically motivated eye movement measures to predict when a user will make an error. The predictive value of the eye-movement-based model was examined and validated on two different tasks using a receiver-operating characteristic analysis. A real-time eye-tracking postcompletion error prediction system was then developed and tested; results demonstrate that the real-time system successfully predicts and prevents postcompletion errors before a user commits the error.