Gaze Distribution Research Articles

Facial Expression Ambiguity and Face Image Quality Affect Differently on Expression Interpretation Bias.

We often show an invariant or comparable recognition performance for perceiving prototypical facial expressions, such as happiness and anger, under different viewing settings. However, it is unclear to what extent the categorisation of ambiguous expressions and associated interpretation bias are invariant in degraded viewing conditions. In this exploratory eye-tracking study, we systematically manipulated both facial expression ambiguity (via morphing happy and angry expressions in different proportions) and face image clarity/quality (via manipulating image resolution) to measure participants' expression categorisation performance, perceived expression intensity, and associated face-viewing gaze distribution. Our analysis revealed that increasing facial expression ambiguity and decreasing face image quality induced the opposite direction of expression interpretation bias (negativity vs. positivity bias, or increased anger vs. increased happiness categorisation), the same direction of deterioration impact on rating expression intensity, and qualitatively different influence on face-viewing gaze allocation (decreased gaze at eyes but increased gaze at mouth vs. stronger central fixation bias). These novel findings suggest that in comparison with prototypical facial expressions, our visual system has less perceptual tolerance in processing ambiguous expressions which are subject to viewing condition-dependent interpretation bias.

Landscape Impressions Evoked by Color Distribution and Spatial Distribution of Gaze at Station Streets

Landscape Impressions Evoked by Color Distribution and Spatial Distribution of Gaze at Station Streets

Eye tracking metrics and leader\u2019s behavioral performance during a post-partum hemorrhage high-fidelity simulated scenario

BackgroundThe use of eye tracking in the simulated setting can help improve our understanding of what sources of information clinicians are using as they deliver routine patient care.The aim of this simulation study was to observe the differences, if any, between the eye tracking patterns of leaders who performed best in a simulated postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) high-fidelity scenario, in comparison with those who performed worst.MethodsForty anesthesia trainees from the University of Catania Medical School were divided into eight teams, to enact four times the same scenario of a patient with postpartum hemorrhage following vaginal delivery.Trainees who were assigned the leader’s role wore the eye tracking glasses during the scenario, and their behavioral skills were evaluated by two observers, who reviewed the video recordings of the scenarios using a standardized checklist. The leader’s eye tracking metrics, extracted from 27 selected areas of interest (AOI), were recorded by a Tobii Pro Glasses 50 Hz wearable wireless eye tracker. Team performance was evaluated using a PPH checklist.After completion of the study, the leaders were divided into two groups, based on the scores they had received (High-Performance Leader group, HPL, and Low-Performance Leader group, LPL).ResultsIn the HPL group, the duration and number of fixations were greater, and the distribution of gaze was uniformly distributed among the various members of the team as compared with the LPL group (with the exception of the participant who performed the role of the obstetrician).The HPL group also looked both at the patient’s face and established eye contact with their team members more often and for longer (P < .05). The team performance (PPH checklist) score was greater in the HPL group (P < .001).The LPL group had more and/or longer fixations of technical areas of interest (P < .05).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the leaders who perform the best distribute their gaze across all members of their team and establish direct eye contact. They also look longer at the patient’s face and dwell less on areas that are more relevant to technical skills. In addition, the teams led by these best performing leaders fulfilled their clinical task better. The information provided by the eye behaviors of “better-performing physicians” may lay the foundation for the future development of both the assessment process and the educational tools used in simulation.Trial RegistrationClinical.Trial.Gov ID n. NCT04395963.

Using a mobile eye-tracking technology to explore pedestrians’ gaze distribution on street space

The paper deals with the question of smart sustainable city development on the example of public city street space study using a modern mobile eye-tracking technology. The article presents a methodology to obtain data on the distribution of human gaze on dynamic and static objects located on urban streets as well as computer technologies that are used for the acquisition and processing of data. With the help of these technologies, it is possible to study people’s behavior in dynamic environments and to obtain results describing the nature of the pedestrians’ perception of their surrounding space. The results of a survey on urban streets in Berlin using a mobile eye tracking system are shown in this paper. Based on the results of the study, a list of objects that catch people’s attention and a numerical description of the gaze distribution are presented.

Immersion Analysis Through Eye-Tracking and Audio in Virtual Reality

In this study, using Head Mounted Display (HMD), which is one of the biggest advantage of Virtual Reality (VR) environment, tracks the user’s gaze in 360° video content, and examines how the gaze pattern is distributed according to the user’s immersion. As a result of analyzing the gaze pattern distribution of contents with high user immersion and contents with low user immersion through a questionnaire, it was confirmed that the higher the immersion, the more the gaze distribution tends to be concentrated in the center of the screen. Through this experiment, we were able to understand the factors that make users immerse themselves in the VR environment, and among them, the importance of the audio of the content was shown. Furthermore, it was found that the shape of the gaze distribution for grasping the degree of immersion by the subject of the content was different. While reviewing the experimental results, we also confirmed the necessity of research to recognize specific objects in a VR environment.

Social Perception of Facial Feminization Surgery Outcomes: Does Gender Identity Alter Gaze?

The evaluation of gender-affirming facial feminization surgery (FFS) outcomes can be highly subjective, which has resulted in a limited understanding of the social perception of favorable gender and aesthetic facial appearance following FFS. Eye-tracking technology has introduced an objective measure of viewer subconscious gaze. The aim of this study was to use eye-tracking technology to measure attention and perception of surgery-naive cisgender female and feminized transgender faces, based on viewer gender identity. Thirty-two participants (18 cisgender and 14 transgender) were enrolled and shown 5 photographs each of surgery-naive cisgender female and feminized transgender faces. Gaze was captured with a Tobii Pro X2-60 eye-tracking device (Tobii, Stockholm, Sweden) and participants rated the gender and aesthetic appearance of each face on Likert-type scales. Total image gaze fixation time did not differ by participant gender identity (6.00 vs 6.04 seconds, P = 0.889); however, transgender participants spent more time evaluating the forehead/brow, buccal/mandibular regions, and chin (P < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed significant associations between viewer gender identity, age, race, and education, and the time spent evaluating gender salient facial features. Feminized faces were rated as more masculine with poorer aesthetic appearance than surgery-naive cisgender female faces; however, there was no significant difference in the distribution of gender appearance ratings assigned to each photograph by cisgender and transgender participants. These results demonstrate that gender identity influences subconscious attention and gaze on female faces. Nevertheless, differences in gaze distribution did not correspond to subjective rated gender appearance for either surgery-naive cisgender female or feminized transgender faces, further illustrating the complexity of evaluating social perception of favorable FFS outcomes.

Probability Representation of Gaze Distribution Measured When Judging Impression Words of Body Parts

Probability Representation of Gaze Distribution Measured When Judging Impression Words of Body Parts

Smartwatches are more distracting than mobile phones while driving: Results from an experimental study

The use of smartwatches raises a number of questions about their potential for distraction in situations where sustained attention is paramount, like driving a motor vehicle. Our research examines distraction caused by smartwatch use in comparison to mobile phone use while driving. It also studies the difference in distractions caused by inbound text messages versus inbound voice messages, and outbound replies through text messages versus outbound voice replies. A within-subject experiment was conducted in a driving simulator where 31 participants received and answered text messages under four conditions: they received notifications (1) on a mobile phone, (2) on a smartwatch, and (3) on a speaker, and then responded orally to these messages. They also (4) received messages in a “texting” condition where they had to reply through text to the notifications. Eye tracking gaze distribution results show that participants were more distracted in the smartwatch condition than in the mobile phone condition, they were less distracted in the speaker condition than in the phone condition, and they were more distracted in the texting condition than in any of the others. The participants’ driving performance remained the same in all conditions except in the texting condition, wherein it became worse. Eye tracking and pupillometry results suggest that participants’ mental workload might be lower in the texting condition than in the other three conditions, although this result might be caused by a higher number of glances at the device in that condition. This study contributes to a better understanding of the distraction potential of smartwatches as well as identifying vocal assistants as the least distracting way of communicating while driving a vehicle. Industry leaders could become a key factor in informing the public of the smartwatch’s potential for distraction.

Influence of dental education on eye gaze distribution when observing facial profiles with varying degrees of lip protrusion.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of dental education on eye gaze distribution when perceiving facial profile images with varying degrees of lip protrusion. Fifty-one subjects with dental education (dental-education group) and 47 without dental education (no-dental-education group) were included in this study. The eye gaze distribution of the subjects was recorded for 10 seconds using a non-contact eye tracker when determining whether or not the subjects judged each various facial profile image inappropriate. The facial profile images had varying degrees of upper-lip and lower-lip protrusion. The frequency of eye fixation (lasting >0.06 seconds) was counted. The duration was measured as the total time of eye fixation. The facial images were divided into 4 regions of interest (ROIs): the forehead (ROI-I); the orbit and nose root (ROI-II); the nose tip and upper lip (ROI-III); and the lower lip and chin (ROI-IV). The frequency and duration of eye fixation on each ROI was compared. The frequency of eye fixation on ROI-II was greater in comparison to ROI-I and ROI-IV. The frequency of eye fixation on ROI-III was also greater in comparison to ROI-I and ROI-IV. The duration of eye fixation on ROI-III in the dental-education group was longer in comparison to the no-dental-education group. Dental education influenced the eye fixation on the nose tip and upper lip when perceiving facial profile images.

Teachers' gaze over space and time in a real-world classroom.

Reading students’ faces and their body language, checking their worksheets, and keeping eye contact is a key trait of teacher competence. The new technology of mobile eye-tracking provides researchers with possibilities to explore teaching from the viewpoint of teacher gaze, but also introduces many new method questions. This study had the primary aim to investigate teachers´ attention distribution over space: the number and durations of several types of their gazes, and how their gaze depends on the factors of students´ gender, achievement, and position in the classroom. Results show that teacher gaze was distributed unevenly across both space and time. Teachers looked at the most-watched students 3-8 times more often than at the least-watched ones. Students sitting in the first row and the middle section received significantly more gaze than those sitting outside this zone. All three teachers made more single gaze visits - looking at the students but making no eye contact - than mutual gazes or student material gazes. The three teachers’ gaze distribution also varied substantially from lesson to lesson. Our results are important for understanding teacher behavior in real classrooms, but also point to the relevance of appropriate method design in future classroom studies with eye-tracking.

Graph-Based Analysis of Visual Scanning Patterns: A Developmental Study on Green and Normal Images

The present study investigated the visual scanning pattern of children with typical development in three different age groups(4–6,6–8,8–10 years old). We used a data set from one related research, which included images with different low-level features: Green and Normal. This study analyzed age-associated inter-individual differences and was intended to show that graph profiling combined with a fixation time approach could help us to better understand the developmental visual pattern. Thus, degree centrality as one of the graph theory measures was implied to analyze gaze distribution. We explored the influence of bottom-up features, comparing the first 2 s (early phase) with the interval from 4 to 6 s (late phase) of scene exploration during age development. Our results indicated that degree centrality and fixation time increased with age. Furthermore, it was found that the effects of saliency are short-lived but significant. Moreover, we found that Green images during the early phase play an important role in visual anchoring, and the children’s performance was significantly different between 4–6 y and 6–8y-group. This comparative study underscores the ability of degree centrality as a developing innovative measure to perform eye-tracking data analyses.

The influence of body language and expected competency on gaze behaviour while forming an impression of a tennis player

ABSTRACT Cues conveyed by an athlete’s appearance and reputational information provided prior to an encounter have independently been shown to influence the impression perceivers form of others. Underpinning this process, it is not known how a target’s (a) body language, (b) gender or (c) reputation may influence where a perceiver fixates their gaze when an individual comes into view. Participants (N = 106) randomly observed a male or female tennis player appearing on a monitor displaying positive or negative body language having been provided with that player’s recent win/loss record. Eye tracking recorded gaze behaviour in the first 5 s after the player came into view. After segmentation of the player into six areas of interest, MANCOVA at p < .05 showed a clear preference for perceivers to direct their gaze towards the player’s head region. Body language and player gender influenced distribution of gaze per region of interest, but this was largely unaffected by reputational information. This work indicates that the head region accounts for the largest proportion of gaze when individuals form judgements of opponents in a tennis setting. The balance of where observers look when forming these judgements is influenced by the gender of the player being observed and the body language being displayed.

Looking for Infrequent Faces: Visual Patterns and Gender Effect in Detecting Crying and Smiling Expressions

Previous research has focused on documenting the perceptual mechanisms of facial expressions of so-called basic emotions; however, little is known about eye movement in terms of recognizing crying expressions. The present study aimed to clarify the visual pattern and the role of face gender in recognizing smiling and crying expressions. Behavioral reactions and fixations duration were recorded, and proportions of fixation counts and viewing time directed at facial features (eyes, nose, and mouth area) were calculated. Results indicated that crying expressions could be processed and recognized faster than that of smiling expressions. Across these expressions, eyes and nose area received more attention than mouth area, but in smiling facial expressions, participants fixated longer on the mouth area. It seems that proportional gaze allocation at facial features was quantitatively modulated by different expressions, but overall gaze distribution was qualitatively similar across crying and smiling facial expressions. Moreover, eye movements showed visual attention was modulated by the gender of faces: Participants looked longer at female faces with smiling expressions relative to male faces. Findings are discussed around the perceptual mechanisms underlying facial expressions recognition and the interaction between gender and expression processing.

Perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion between dogs and humans

Facial expressions are a core component of the emotional response of social mammals. In contrast to Darwin's original proposition, expressive facial cues of emotion appear to have evolved to be species-specific. Faces trigger an automatic perceptual process, and so, inter-specific emotion perception is potentially a challenge; since observers should not try to “read” heterospecific facial expressions in the same way that they do conspecific ones. Using dynamic spontaneous facial expression stimuli, we report the first inter-species eye-tracking study on fully unrestrained participants and without pre-experiment training to maintain attention to stimuli, to compare how two different species living in the same ecological niche, humans and dogs, perceive each other’s facial expressions of emotion. Humans and dogs showed different gaze distributions when viewing the same facial expressions of either humans or dogs. Humans modulated their gaze depending on the area of interest (AOI) being examined, emotion, and species observed, but dogs modulated their gaze depending on AOI only. We also analysed if the gaze distribution was random across AOIs in both species: in humans, eye movements were not correlated with the diagnostic facial movements occurring in the emotional expression, and in dogs, there was only a partial relationship. This suggests that the scanning of facial expressions is a relatively automatic process. Thus, to read other species’ facial emotions successfully, individuals must overcome these automatic perceptual processes and employ learning strategies to appreciate the inter-species emotional repertoire.

Comparison of Head Movements and Gaze Distribution during Tracheal Intubation between Experts and Novices at Tracheal Intubation

Comparison of Head Movements and Gaze Distribution during Tracheal Intubation between Experts and Novices at Tracheal Intubation

Rapid Preparation of Eye Tracking Data For Debriefing In Medical Training: A Feasibility Study

Simulation-based medical training is an increasingly used method to improve the technical and non-technical performance of clinical staff. An essential part of training is the debriefing of the participants, often using audio, video, or even eye tracking recordings. We conducted a practice-oriented feasibility study to test an eye tracking data preparation procedure, which automatically provided information about the gaze distribution on areas of interest such as the vital sign monitor or the patient simulator. We acquired eye tracking data during three simulation scenarios and provided gaze distribution data for debriefing within 30 minutes. Additionally, we qualitatively evaluated the usefulness of the generated eye tracking data for debriefings. Participating students and debriefers were mostly positive about the data provided; however, future research should improve the technical side of the procedure and investigate best practices regarding how to present and use the data in debriefings.

An eye-tracking study of selective trust development in children with and without autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of this study was to explore whether children with autism display selectivity in social learning. We investigated the processing of word mappings provided by speakers who differed on previously demonstrated accuracy and on potential degree of reliability in three groups of children (children with autism spectrum disorder, children with developmental language disorder, and typically developing children) aged 4–9 years. In Task 1, one speaker consistently misnamed familiar objects and the second speaker consistently gave correct names. In Task 2, both speakers provided correct information but differed on how they could achieve this accuracy. We analyzed how the speakers’ profiles influenced children’s decisions to rely on them in order to learn novel words. We also examined how children attended to the speakers’ testimony by tracking their eye movements and comparing children’ gaze distribution across speakers’ faces and objects of their choice. Results show that children rely on associative trait attribution heuristics to selectively learn from accurate speakers. In Task 1, children in all groups preferred the novel object selected by accurate speakers and directly avoided information provided by previously inaccurate speakers, as revealed by the eye-tracking data. In Task 2, where more sophisticated reasoning about speakers’ reliability was required, only children in the typically developing group performed above chance. Nonverbal intelligence score emerged as a predictor of children’s preference for more reliable informational sources. In addition, children with autism exhibited reduced attention to speakers’ faces compared with children in the comparison groups.

Analysis of User&amp;#x2019;s Eye Gaze Distribution while Interacting with a Robotic Character

Analysis of User&amp;#x2019;s Eye Gaze Distribution while Interacting with a Robotic Character

Contrasting delivery modes for second screen TV content—Push or pull?

Abstract The use of mobile devices during television viewing is now commonplace, and broadcasters are increasingly supplying programme-related ‘companion content’. To produce an optimal user experience, it is important to determine how the delivery of companion content affects and is perceived by the viewer — without this we risk distracting the viewer, leading to frustration and disengagement. We present a controlled study investigating how attention, cognitive load (as measured by the NASA TLX), and users’ preferences are affected by the provision of two different content delivery modes: pushed and pulled. We find that delivery mode affected the temporal distribution of gaze to the tablet, with a consistent viewing pattern for pushed updates, which attracted attention within a few seconds, and a more diverse set of viewing patterns when updates were pulled. Cognitive load was similar in both conditions, and there was no consensus as to which mode was preferred, but users showed strong, polarised individual preferences. The advantages of each delivery mode are presented as a set of recommendations for the delivery of companion content.

Gaze Entropy Measures Reveal Alcohol-Induced Visual Scanning Impairment During Ascending and Descending Phases of Intoxication

Visuospatial awareness is critical for everyday activities like driving. Higher order processes, such as visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and top-down modulation of gaze control, enable goal-driven visual scanning. Although available evidence suggests that alcohol differentially affects VSWM during the ascending and descending phases of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve, it remains unclear whether such impact extends to a systemic disruption of visual scanning behavior. In a placebo-controlled and repeated-measures design, the present study investigated the influence of moderate alcohol intake (0.6 g/kg) on VSWM and gaze behavior by using gaze entropy measures to quantify visual scanning efficiency. Thirty-eight (18 female, 20 male) healthy participants completed a VSWM task across three consecutive sessions (baseline, ascending, descending) while their eye movements were simultaneously recorded. Performance in VSWM was affected during the descending session, where response accuracy declined significantly. Stationary gaze entropy (SGE) and gaze transition entropy (GTE) measures significantly reduced during both ascending and descending sessions. Fixation rate and duration were also affected by alcohol, but only during the ascending session. Reduction in SGE suggests a less explorative distribution of gaze, whereas low GTE is indicative of reduced visual scanning efficiency. These findings reflect the detrimental effects of alcohol on top-down control of gaze behavior, which may limit visual scanning efficiency. Deficits in visual scanning efficiency across the blood alcohol concentration curve may reduce visuospatial awareness and contribute to unintentional injuries during periods of intoxication.