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. 2021 Aug;53(4):1592-1608.
doi: 10.3758/s13428-020-01517-x. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Eye tracking in human interaction: Possibilities and limitations

Niilo V Valtakari  1 , Ignace T C Hooge  2 , Charlotte Viktorsson  3 , Pär Nyström  3 , Terje Falck-Ytter  3   4   5 , Roy S Hessels  2
Affiliations

Eye tracking in human interaction: Possibilities and limitations

Niilo V Valtakari et al. Behav Res Methods. 2021 Aug.

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.

Keywords: Data analysis; Data quality; Eye tracking; Human interaction; Wearable.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An illustration of the different types of eye-tracking setups: a An example of a head-free setup containing a wearable eye tracker. b An example of a head-boxed setup containing a remote eye tracker. c An example of a head-restricted setup containing a remote eye tracker and a chin rest
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The parallax error in a head-boxed setup without screens. The black frame indicates the plane to which the eye tracker is calibrated. This means that the eye tracker reports a gaze position in the black plane. The red frame indicates the plane of regard, i.e., the plane to which the observer looks. a The plane of regard and the calibrated plane roughly coincide. The eye tracker accurately reports where the observer looks. b The plane of regard does not coincide with the calibrated plane (in this case, it is moved toward the observer). This causes a relative offset (here an upward shift indicated by the black arrow in panel b) in the reported gaze position compared to the situation when the calibrated plane and plane of regard coincide
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
A decision tree to make some of the choices for selecting the right type of setup explicit. Part a represents the choice of a single versus a dual setup, while part b represents the choice of type of eye-tracking setup. Of course, it is a schematic overview and not all possible choices are present. For a more nuanced consideration of the different eye-tracking setups, we refer the reader to the main text
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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