An evaluation of an eye tracker as a device for computer input2

Abstract

Since humans direct their visual attention by means of eye movements, a device which monitors eye movements should be a natural “pick” device for selecting objects visually present on a monitor. The results from an experimental investigation of an eye tracker as a computer input device are presented. Three different methods were used to select the object looked at; these were a button press, prolonged fixation or “dwell” and an on screen select button. The results show that an eye tracker can be used as a fast selection device providing that the target size is not too small. If the targets are small speed declines and errors increase rapidly.

The Attentive Hearing Aid: Eye Selection of Auditory Sources for Hearing Impaired Users

“…As in [35], we defined switch time as the time between the instant the red dot flashed or appeared in a new location to the instant the user selected the correct actor. The switch time variable obviously could not be applied in the Control condition.…”

“…Ware and Mikaelian [35] compared three eye pointing styles for selecting targets on a CRT: (1) dwell time click, where the target was selected if the observers' gaze fixated on it for more than .4 s; (2) screen button, where the observer had to fixate on a button on the screen after looking at the target; and (3) hardware button, where the observers pushed a keyboard button while fixating on the target. Results showed click times compared favorably to those of the mouse, with an intercept approximately twice as small.…”

A neural network based real-time gaze tracker

“…To list a few, it may be used as a mode to interface with computer for physically challenged. There is also empirical evidence that eye tracking based interface actually can be quite faster than traditional interfaces [12]. This system can also be used to implement smart displays, which can be tailored to user's current point of attention, for example, to provide higher resolution within the ®eld of focus.…”

Eyes and Keys: An Evaluation of Click Alternatives Combining Gaze and Keyboard

“…However, while it has been successfully used for specialized UIs such as carefully-designed menus [9,10], dwell alone is generally insufficient as a general click alternative because it is not accurate enough for small targets. Hardware buttons for clicking seem slightly faster than simple dwell with a typical 0.4 seconds dwell threshold, but less accurate as people tend to click before the gaze has fully settled on the target [11]. The accuracy can be improved by taking into account system lag and delaying triggers accordingly [12].…”