Measuring Spatial Distribution of Visual Attention in Action Video Game

Abstract

In this study, we applied a gaze-contingent window method to measure the spatial distribution of visual attention while playing an action video game. The peripheral visual field of a player was restricted to an area around the gaze by masks with various spatial extents. The quantitative relationship between window size and game performance confirmed that superior players had a wider distribution of visual attention than inferior players. An additional analysis of eye movements showed that the mean length of saccadic eye movements (indicating an overt allocation of attention) of inferior players was comparable to that of superior players. These results suggest that the difference in game performance between inferior and superior players may be due to the qualitative difference in the efficiency of covert allocation of visual attention. The present study also indicates the applicability of the gazecontingent window method for the online evaluations of performance and learning during dynamic visual-motor tasks.

Objective and Subjective Sizes of the Effective Visual Field during Game Playing Measured by the Gaze-contingent Window Method

“…As we discussed earlier, many studies have reported that a size of effective visual field becomes larger with increasing player's expertise of video games [6][7][8]19]. In the visual-masking game task of the present study, the game performance differed among the participants in the car racing game and the falling block game.…”

“…Following previous studies [19,20], we also calculated fixation duration and saccadic amplitude in order to explore eye movement behavior during game play. In the analysis, we used the output of the EyeLink Online Parser which detects saccades, fixations, and blinks.…”

“…However, it remains unclear whether an effective visual field estimated by objective measures, for example, game scores, would be different from that estimated by subjective measures, for example, subjective reports of players. Previous studies measured the effective visual field by using game scores [19,20]; however, this type of measurement takes a relatively long time, and as a result, the derived size of the effective visual field may be affected by fatigue [18]. If the players accurately recognize their size of effective visual field while playing video games, then the effective visual field can be measured quickly by asking participants about the subjective difficulty of playing with a restricting window.…”

“…One was a visual-masking game task and the other was a window adjustment task. In the visual-masking game task, the effective visual field was estimated as done in previous studies [19,20]. In this task, participants were asked to play a video game with various sizes of window masking and to attempt to earn the highest game scores possible.…”

“…However, those studies did not lead to a direct measurement of the effective visual field in the game-play situation because it was not an effective visual field during actual video-game play. Furthermore, it has been suggested that there are a few methodological limitations in the measurement of the effective visual field by dual task paradigms (see [19][20][21] demonstrated that the effective visual field during game play can be measured objectively and quantitatively by using a gaze-contingent window method (see also [21,22]). In their study, participants could freely move their eyes while playing an action video game, but they could only see the game screen within a fixed range from the gazing position because a masking window restricted their peripheral visual field and moved with the participant's gaze shifts.…”