Designing Gaze-Based Interactions for Teleoperation: Eye Stick and Eye Click

Abstract

Perspective-taking and attentional switching are some of the ergonomic challenges that existing teleoperation human-machine interface designs need to address. This study developed two gaze interaction methods, the Eye Stick and the Eye Click, which were based on the joystick metaphor and the navigation metaphor, respectively, to be used in exocentric perspective teleoperation scenarios. We conducted two user studies to test the task performance and the subjective experience of the gaze interaction methods in a virtual ground vehicle teleoperation task. The results showed that compared with a traditional joystick design, the Eye Stick led to a shorter driving distance and the Eye Click led to less task time, and the gaze interaction methods had performance advantages in more difficult mazes. After multiple task sessions, the participants reported that the gaze interaction methods and the traditional joystick were similar in terms of task workload, perceived learnability, and satisfaction; however, the perceived usability of the Eye Stick was not as good as the Eye Click and the traditional joystick. In conclusion, both the Eye Stick and the Eye Click are feasible and promising gaze interaction methods for teleoperation applications with task performance advantages; however, more research is needed to optimize their user experience design.