Toward a Real-Time Index of Pupillary Activity as an Indicator of Cognitive Load

Abstract

The Low/High Index of Pupillary Activity (LHIPA), an eye-tracked measure of pupil diameter oscillation, is redesigned and implemented to function in real-time. The novel Real-time IPA (RIPA) is shown to discriminate cognitive load in re-streamed data from earlier experiments. Rationale for the RIPA is tied to the functioning of the human autonomic nervous system yielding a hybrid measure based on the ratio of Low/High frequencies of pupil oscillation. The paper's contribution is drawn from provision of documentation of the calculation of the RIPA. As with the LHIPA, it is possible for researchers to apply this metric to their own experiments where a measure of cognitive load is of interest.