Eye tracking in human interaction: Possibilities and limitations

Abstract

There is a long history of interest in looking behavior during human interaction. With the advance of (wearable) video-based eye trackers, it has become possible to measure gaze during many different interactions. We outline the different types of eye-tracking setups that currently exist to investigate gaze during interaction. The setups differ mainly with regard to the nature of the eye-tracking signal (head- or world-centered) and the freedom of movement allowed for the participants. These features place constraints on the research questions that can be answered about human interaction. We end with a decision tree to help researchers judge the appropriateness of specific setups.

Cultural differences in mutual gaze during face-to-face interactions: A dual head-mounted eye-tracking study

“…Consequently, a trade-off will typically exist when setting up a social interaction paradigm involving eye-tracking; for example, while a chin-and headrest can improve data quality, this would interfere with a dyadic interaction, and while dual eye-tracking setups such as those introduced by Hessels et al (2017) provide an intriguing approach for examining scanning behaviour to individual facial features during live dyadic interactions, this may not be suitable for every study given that faces are presented on a screen. Researchers therefore should evaluate the pros and cons of their experimental set-up and equipment to identify a methodology that best fits the given research question (see also Valtakari et al, 2021). Critically, although future research will benefit from more spatially sensitive measures for "real-world" social interaction paradigms, current evidence reporting gaze avoidance is not based on more spatially precise techniques than those employed here.…”

Application of Eye Tracking Technology in Aviation, Maritime, and Construction Industries: A Systematic Review

“…Advantages, disadvantages, and ideal applications of video-based eye tracking system types[122,156].…”

Social attention in the real world

“…Clearly, face-to-face interactions are not the most ideal conditions for most eye-tracking systems. Consequently, these technical limitations thereby constrain what kind of research questions can feasibly be investigated by researchers interested in gaze behavior in interactive situations (for a recent review, see Valtakari et al, 2021). In our case, to better estimate what regions of the face are looked at during turn transitions periods in face-to-face interactions, we need an eye tracker which is not only robust against some face and head movements but is also quick to recover gaze position after face and head movements during turn transitions.…”

“…These studies show how eye-tracking technology provides a tool to objectively measure gaze behavior which can be used to investigate aspects of gaze and how these are related to visual perception, social attention, and face-to-face communication in different social situations. However, there are also many challenges and limitations of eye-tracking when applied to the context of human interaction (for a recent review, see Valtakari et al, 2021). For example, as was clear from Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, it was especially difficult to measure gaze behavior during parent-child conversations.…”

“…In Deel 2 van dit proefschrift is beschreven hoe eye tracking technologie gebruikt kan worden om kijkgedrag tijdens sociale interacties te onderzoeken. Echter, er zijn ook nog vele beperkingen aan deze technologie om kijkgedrag tijdens sociale interacties te onderzoeken (zie ook Valtakari et al 2021 voor een uitgebreide bespreking). Uit Hoofdstuk 5 en 6 bleek bijvoorbeeld dat er veel eye tracking data van onvoldoende kwaliteit waren om antwoord te kunnen geven op de onderzoeksvragen, omdat er verschillende vormen van signaalverlies optraden tijdens de metingen.…”