An Eye-Tracking Evaluation of Gauge Shapes in Process Control

Abstract

Operators monitor gauge shapes in control room displays to maintain the status of the refinery control process within normal limits. To test if shapes currently used by operators are effectively designed, two experiments were conducted to test the effectiveness of individual shapes in a Visual Thesaurus toolkit for comprehension and change detection. Moreover, eye tracking technology was used to investigate basic perceptual recognition behaviors of each Visual Thesaurus shape for comprehension and change detection. Thirty-one students from Pennsylvania State University participated in this experiment. It was found that pupil size could be used to track the cognitive load of participants. Correctness was also measured but it was not as sensitive as pupil size, as it did not capture a difference in the effectiveness of shapes.