Higher Fixation Count Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of AR-HUDs Crash Warning Icon Designs: An Eye-Tracking Study Using 360° Panoramic Driving Simulation

Augmented Reality Head-Up Displays (AR-HUDs) enhance driver perception and safety, yet optimal hazard warning design remains unclear. This study examines three AR-HUD crash warning icon types (BD, BR, BW) across various turning scenarios. Using a 360-degree video-based driving simulation with 36 participants, eye-tracking metrics were collected. Results show BW icons, dynamically linked to hazards, significantly improve drivers’ pedestrian risk awareness and visual attention allocation compared to BD and BR systems. BW consistently demonstrated longer gaze duration, higher fixation counts, and shorter time to first fixation across all turns. BD and BR icons were more susceptible to lane changes, potentially diverting attention from hazards. Findings suggest prioritizing dynamic tracking warning icons over fixed-position alternatives to minimize visual competition and distraction, providing crucial insights for AR-HUD optimization in automated vehicles.

Eye-Tracking Analyses of a Coach's Pointing Gestures Timed With Speech: Implications for Players' Recall of Basketball Tactical Instructions.

Coaches often use pointing gestures alongside their speech to reinforce their message and emphasize important concepts during instructional communications, but the impact of simultaneous pointing gestures and speech on learners' recall remains unclear. We used eye-tracking and recalled performance to investigate the impact of a coach's variously timed pointing gestures and speech on two groups of learners' (novices and experts) visual attention and recall of tactical instructions. Participants were 96 basketball players (48 novice and 48 expert) who attempted to recall instructions about the evolution of a basketball game system under two teaching conditions: speech accompanied by gestures and speech followed by gestures. Overall, the results showed that novice players benefited more from instructional speech accompanied by gestures than from speech followed by gestures alone. This was evidenced by their greater visual attention to the diagrams, demonstrated through a higher fixation count and decreased saccadic shifts between the coach and the diagrams. Additionally, they exhibited improved recall and experienced reduced mental effort, despite having the same fixation time on the diagrams and equivalent recall time. Conversely, experts benefited more from instructional speech followed by gestures, indicating an expertise reversal effect. These results suggest that coaches and educators may improve their tactical instructions by timing the pairing of their hand gestures and speech in relation to the learner's level of expertise.

Evaluation of Instructors’ Demographic Variations on a Web-based Platform for Connecting with Practitioners

Exploration of demographic variations is required to develop dynamic web platforms that cater to the varying preferences of diverse users. Hence, this study evaluated instructors’ demographic variations on a web-based platform for connecting with practitioners for student development. Both objective and subjective measures were adopted to investigate age- and gender-related differences in gaze behavior, task completion time, perceived cognitive load, perceived usability, and trust. Compared to male instructors, female instructors had higher fixation counts, longer task completion times, and statistically significant longer fixation duration. Female instructors gave higher usability and trust ratings but reported a higher cognitive workload. Compared to Generation Y instructors, Generation X instructors had longer fixation duration, higher fixation count, and statistically longer task completion time. Generation X instructors reported high cognitive load, lower usability, and trust ratings. The study also reveals demographic differences in parameters that instructors focused on while connecting with practitioners via a web platform.

Effects of Exercise Habits and Gender on Sports e-Learning Behavior: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study.

In the post-epidemic era, an increasing number of individuals were accustomed to learning sports and physical activity knowledge online for fitness and health demands. However, most previous studies have examined the influence of e-learning materials and resources on learners and have neglected intrinsic factors such as experience and physiological characteristics. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate the effect of exercise habits and gender on sports e-learning behavior via eye-tracking technology. We recruited a sample of 60 undergraduate students (mean age = 19.6) from a university in Nanjing, China. They were randomly assigned into 4 groups based on 2 genders × 2 exercise habits. Their gaze behavior was collected by an eye-tracking device during the experiment. The cognitive Load Test and Learning Effect Test were conducted at the end of the individual experiment. (1) Compared to the non-exercise habit group, the exercise habit group had a higher fixation count (P<0.05), a shorter average fixation duration (P<0.05), a smaller average pupil diameter (P<0.05), and a lower subjective cognitive load (P<0.05) and better learning outcome (P<0.05). (2) Male participants showed a greater tendency to process information from the video area of interest (AOIs), and had lower subjective cognitive load (P < 0.05) and better learning outcomes (P < 0.05). (3) There was no interaction effect between exercise habits and gender for any of the indicators (P > 0.05). Our results indicate that exercise habits effectively enhance sports e-learning outcomes and reduce cognitive load. The exercise habits group showed significant improvements in fixation counts, average fixation duration, and average pupil diameter. Furthermore, male subjects exhibited superior learning outcomes, experienced lower cognitive load, and demonstrated greater attentiveness to dynamic visual information. These conclusions are expected to improve sports e-learning success and address educational inequality.

ENHANCING WEBSITE USABILITY TESTING: CORRELATING EYE-TRACKING, GSR, AND SUS DATA WITH RESPECT TO GENDER PREFERENCES

Having a professional team of web developers can produce a professional website, but cannot guarantee an expected usable website. This study presents a comprehensive multilayer approach for examining the correlations between different layers of user consciousness in website usability testing. It utilizes visual attention data from eye-tracking, emotional engagement data from galvanic skin response, and self-reporting data from the system usability scale. Testing AUK and UoZ university websites with 18 users using the Gazepoint GP3 system revealed insightful correlations among different layers of user consciousness, such as high emotional engagement is associated with higher fixation counts and shorter time-to-complete and thus lower SUS scores. Whereas low emotional engagement is associated with lower fixation counts, longer time-to-complete, and thus higher SUS scores. Gender preferences verifies the results from the literature on female users generally experiencing higher emotional arousal thus having lower time-to-complete and lower SUS scores. Design problems are presented in the form of improvement recommendations. The findings of the study highlight the importance of considering different layers of user consciousness in website usability testing, as well as the importance of gender preferences. Finally, current limitations and future works are presented.

A Study of Attention Bias in Body Image Perception within the Context of Clothing Industry

In contemporary society, body anxiety is a prevalent and multifaceted psychological distress affecting individuals of all ages. The gaze of both same-sex and opposite-sex individuals can contribute to heightened body anxiety. Body anxiety is not merely a personal concern but also a collective societal issue. This study investigates people’s attention bias towards different body shapes, employing small and plus-size models as stimuli. Participants were presented with images of plus-size and small-size models wearing identical clothing. Both female and male models were included in the stimuli. Participants’ gaze patterns were recorded using an eye-tracking device, yielding quantified attention-related gaze results. Statistical analyses revealed that participants exhibited a higher level of attention towards small-size models, as evidenced by significantly longer fixation durations and higher fixation counts. Subsequent gender-based analyses demonstrated that female and male participants spent more time viewing small female models than male models. This finding suggests that participants placed a greater emphasis on female body figures and exhibited a preference for slim figures. At the same time, a greater tolerance towards male body figures was demonstrated. These results provide valuable insights into attention bias in body figures and gender differences.

Advantages of Print Reading over Screen Reading: A Comparison of Visual Patterns, Reading Performance, and Reading Attitudes across Paper, Computers, and Tablets

ABSTRACT We examined the effects of the reading medium (print vs. digital) on readers’ visual patterns, reading performance, and reading attitudes. Two within-subject experiments were conducted with 74 readers, who read articles using three reading media: print, computer, and tablet. The experimental results showed that in terms of visual patterns, readers exhibited a shorter fixation duration and a higher fixation count during print reading than during screen reading; reading performance, as measured on the basis of reading comprehension and reading time, was equivalent across all three media; however, in terms of reading attitude, readers reported higher levels of perceived understanding, perceived confidence, and perceived immersion and lower levels of perceived fatigue for reading printed text than reading from a device screen. Therefore, the performance gap between print and screen reading is narrowing. However, printed text may still be the preferred mode of reading, as demonstrated by the readers’ preferences.

Exploring Eye-tracking Technology as an Assessment Tool for Point-of-care Ultrasound Training.

Eye-tracking technology has emerged as a potentially useful learner assessment tool in several medical specialties. In the fields of general surgery and anesthesiology, it has been shown to reliably differentiate between different levels of expertise in procedural skills. In the field of radiology, it has been shown to be a valid assessment tool for diagnostic test interpretation. Current methods of competency assessment in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) remain a challenge, because they require significant direct observation time by an instructor. The purpose of this study was to determine if eye-tracking technology can accurately distinguish between novice and experts in the interpretation of POCUS clips, specifically of the focused assessment using sonography in trauma (FAST) scan. A convenience sample of medical students, residents, and emergency physicians from a single academic emergency department were invited to participate. Participants included both novices and experts in POCUS. Each participant completed a baseline questionnaire and viewed 16 video clips of a FAST ultrasound examination while their gaze patterns were recorded by a commercially available eye-tracking device. The primary outcome was total gaze time on the area of interest (AOI). Secondary outcomes included total time to fixation, mean number of fixations, and mean duration of first fixation on the AOI. Fifteen novices and 15 experts completed this study. For total gaze time on the AOI, experts fixated their gaze significantly longer than novices (75.8±16.2 seconds vs. 56.6±12.8 seconds, p=0.001). Similarly, experts were significantly faster to fixate on the AOI and had a higher fixation count on the AOI (8.5±4.0 seconds vs. 15.1±6.8 seconds, p=0.003; and 170±30 vs. 143±28 seconds, p=0.016). There were no differences on the mean duration of first fixation on the AOI (0.42±0.12 seconds vs. 0.39±0.09 seconds, p=0.467). Eye-tracking technology shows the potential to differentiate between experts and novices by their gaze patterns on video clips of FAST examinations. The total gaze time on the AOI may be a useful metric to help in the assessment of competency in POCUS image interpretation. In addition, the evaluation of gaze patterns may help educators identify causes of interpretation errors. Future studies are needed to further validate these metrics in a larger cohort.

Simple or complex? Consumer response to display signs

Retail signage provides information from the marketer to facilitate product purchase. An increase in sign information creates greater sign complexity, which raises the question: for consumer product choices, what quantity of information is helpful versus overwhelming? We hypothesize that consumers would allocate more visual attention to complex signs and that sign complexity would be a predictor of likeliness to buy (LTB). Five experts rated 105 real garden center signs for complexity and five low, moderate, and highcomplexity signs were selected for the study. Signs were incorporated into Tobii X1 Light Eye Tracker software, where 85 non-student subjects rated sign attractiveness and LTB from a display containing that sign. Subjects allocated greater visual attention (higher fixation count and longer total fixation duration) to more complex signs, which were also rated as most attractive. Initial regression results showed sign attractiveness and fixation count were positive predictors of LTB, while complexity and total fixation duration were inversely related to LTB. Mediation analysis showed that fixation duration fully mediates fixation count impact on purchase intention. Results suggest that informationrich messaging in high complexity signs, while seen as attractive, may give consumers too much information and higher cognitive load, which makes decision-making more difficult.

Do not allow pop-up ads to appear too early: Internet users’ browsing behaviour to pop-up ads

ABSTRACT This study examines the timing of pop-up advertising appearance and its effect on perceived intrusiveness, advertising irritation and advertising avoidance. Experiment was designed to build a virtual Internet environment (including the main content on the webpage and a pop-up ad) and to manipulate the timing of the pop-up advertising appearance. Participants were invited to participate in two experiments, and then assigned to a specific target browsing task; their advertising browsing activities during the task were measured. In order to measure their cognitive advertising avoidance, an eye-tracking device was utilised to gain objective and accurate psychological information. Results showed that earlier pop-up advertising appearances are associated with a lower consumer fixation count and fixation length; in contrast, pop-up advertising that appears later is associated with a higher fixation count and fixation length. This study attempts to gain more objective and accurate psychological data by using an eye-tracking device to collect information about eye movements associated with the appearance of pop-up advertising to better analyse consumer behaviours towards them. These results offer insights to Internet advertisers and Internet platform companies on how to provide more efficient Internet advertising.

Attention allocation in pilots based on climbing and circling mission behavior.

Exploration of changes in eye movement at different flight conditions can enrich scholarly understanding of situation awareness (SA) and inform new scanning behavior training techniques for efficient and effective pilot education. The SA requirements for pilots vary from mission to mission. Eye tracking is often used to analyze various attention allocation and SA acquisition processes at work in different missions. Pilot eye movements were measured during a climbing task and circling task using a cockpit-based simulator. Results of situation awareness rating technique (SART) tests show that there are significant differences between attention processes during climbing versus circling flight tasks. Fixation frequency during climbing is lower than in the circling task. Additionally, saccade frequency and average fixation time in the climbing task are markedly higher than those in the circling task. Wilcoxon test results show that the pilot has a higher fixation count and fixation time during the circling phase in out-view (OV) areas of interest (AOI) than during the climbing phase. Notably, the attention probability is higher in climbing task than in circling task when the current area of fixation (AOF) is in the head-up display (HUD) AOI and the next fixation area is in the instrumentation panel left (IPL); when the current AOF is in the out-view right (OVR) and the next AOF is HUD, the attention probability is higher in climbing task than in circling task; when the current fixation is in the IPL and the next fixation probability is to the out-view left (OVL), the attention probability is higher in task climbing task than in circling task. In terms of the Markov stationary distribution, the Wilcoxon test shows that, when IPL AOI is the area of the maximum probability of fixation in both tasks, the attention probability of HUD AOI and instrumentation panel right (IPR) is higher in climbing task than in circling task. Circling tasks require efficient eye movement patterns accompanied by strict attention distribution, which yields high SA level and flight performance when performed properly. This paper summarizes the attention characteristics at different flight phases and various requirements of different tasks according to pilot eye movement tracking results. Similar activities, as routine training, can enhance the efficiency of a novice pilot's attention distribution.

Eye-movement benchmarks in Heritage Language reading

AbstractThis eye-tracking study establishes basic benchmarks of eye movements during reading in heritage language (HL) by Russian-speaking adults and adolescents of high (n = 21) and low proficiency (n = 27). Heritage speakers (HSs) read sentences in Cyrillic, and their eye movements were compared to those of Russian monolingual skilled adult readers, 8-year-old children and L2 learners. Reading patterns of HSs revealed longer mean fixation durations, lower skipping probabilities, and higher regressive saccade rates than in monolingual adults. High-proficient HSs were more similar to monolingual children, while low-proficient HSs performed on par with L2 learners. Low-proficient HSs differed from high-proficient HSs in exhibiting lower skipping probabilities, higher fixation counts, and larger frequency effects. Taken together, our findings are consistent with theweaker linksaccount of bilingual language processing as well as thedivergent attainmenttheory of HL.

A comprehensive study of the affective and physiological responses induced by dynamic virtual reality environments

AbstractPrevious studies showed that virtual reality (VR) environments can affect emotional state and cause significant changes in physiological responses. Aside from these effects, inadvertently induced cybersickness is a notorious problem faced in VR. In this study, to further investigate the effects of virtual environments (VEs) with different context, three dynamic VEs were created. Each VE had a particular purpose: evoking no emotion in Campfire (CF), unpleasant emotions in Hospital (HH), and cybersickness symptoms in Roller Coaster (RC). We made use of objective measurements of physiological responses such as pupil dilation, blinks, fixations, saccades, and heart rate, as well as subjective self‐assessments via pre‐ and post‐VE session questionnaires. While previous studies investigate different subsets of these measures, our study makes a comprehensive analysis of them jointly in dynamic VEs. The results of the study indicate that cybersickness produced higher saccade mean speed, whereas unpleasant context caused higher fixation count, saccade rate, and pupil dilation. Moreover, CF decreased anxiety, whereas HH and RC increased it and they also decreased comfort. Participants felt cybersickness in all VEs even in CF which is designed to minimize the effects.

Exploring effects of discussion on visual attention, learning performance, and perceptions of students learning with STR-support

In this study, we aimed to explore effects of discussion on visual attention, learning performance, and perceptions of non-native English speaking students attending lectures in English in learning environments supported by Speech-to-Text Recognition (STR) system. One experiment was carried out with 60 students who were assigned into the control (n = 30) and experimental (n = 30) groups. Students in the control group attended lectures without discussing lectures content whereas students in the experimental group attended lectures and discussed lectures content. Our result showed that students in the experimental group had higher fixation time during two lectures compared to their counterparts in the control group. We also found that students in the experimental group had higher fixation count during the first lecture compared to the control group but there was no difference between the two groups in fixation count during the second lecture. Our results demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the control group on both tests. In addition, most students in the two groups had high perceptions towards usefulness of STR-text for learning; however, no differences were found between the two groups in their perceptions towards STR-text. Based on our results, we suggest that learning activities, such as student discussion, need to be introduced during lectures in order to stimulate active learning, which in turn, enhances students’ learning and comprehension of lecturing content. Discussion may encourage and facilitate students to take more active role in their learning.

How colour similarity can make banner advertising effective: insights from Gestalt theory

ABSTRACTThis study used Gestalt theory to examine the effects of colour similarity on blurring the boundary between banner advertising and web page content, as well as how colour similarity can elicit unconscious scanning behaviour and improve attitudes towards brands advertised using banner advertising at the pre-attention stage. An eye tracking device was used to record and analyse participants’ eye movement, and a psychological scale was used to measure the participants’ brand attitudes. The results suggested that using banner advertisements with background colours similar to those of the web page content increases the fixation time and fixation count. In addition, the results revealed that a longer fixation time and a higher fixation count increase positive attitudes towards a brand advertised in a banner advertisement. The results clarify the relationship between unconscious exposure and brand attitudes and provide physiological information relevant to e-commerce.

The effect of involvement on visual attention and product choice

Our study examined the effect of consumers' level of involvement on visual attention to product, information sign and price sign guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). We also investigated the relationship between visual attention captured by eye fixation on information and price sign and product choice for garden plants. Using a Tobii X1 light eye tracking device, we obtained data from 101 respondents in Texas and Michigan. We found that participants who had high (vs. low) product involvement paid more attention to the product and its information as demonstrated through higher fixation count (FC), longer total fixation duration (TFD), and total visit duration (TVD). We also found highly involved participants processed price information as a central rather than a peripheral cue. In addition, total visit duration (TVD) on an information sign was found as the strongest predictor of product choice.