Quantifying external focus of attention in sailing by means of action sport cameras

Abstract

The aim of the current study was twofold: (1) to validate the use of action sport cameras for quantifying focus of visual attention in sailing and (2) to apply this method to examine whether an external focus of attention is associated with better performance in upwind sailing. To test the validity of this novel quantification method, we first calculated the agreement between gaze location measures and head orientation measures in 13 sailors sailing upwind during training regattas using a head mounted eye tracker. The results confirmed that for measuring visual focus of attention in upwind sailing, the agreement for the two measures was high (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.97) and the 95% limits of agreement were acceptable (between -8.0% and 14.6%). In a next step, we quantified the focus of visual attention in sailing upwind as fast as possible by means of an action sport camera. We captured sailing performance, operationalised as boat speed in the direction of the wind, and environmental conditions using a GPS, compass and wind meter. Four trials, each lasting 1 min, were analysed for 15 sailors each, resulting in a total of 30 upwind speed trials on port tack and 30 upwind speed trials on starboard tack. The results revealed that in sailing - within constantly changing environments - the focus of attention is not a significant predictor for better upwind sailing performances. This implicates that neither external nor internal foci of attention was per se correlated with better performances. Rather, relatively large interindividual differences seem to indicate that different visual attention strategies can lead to similar performance outcomes.

Long-term Practice with Domain-Specific Task Constraints Influences Perceptual Skills

“…The scene camera of a mobile eye tracking system (Mobile Eye, Applied Sciences Laboratories, Bedford, MA, United States) was used to collect participants’ attention orientation, consistent with Pluijms et al (2016) previously validated methodology. An external camera (GoPro 3+) was placed in one corner of the pitch to record the task.…”

“…The center of the image from the scene camera was used as a reference to classify attention orientation into two areas of interest, consistent with Pluijms et al (2016) . The orientation of attention was classified either as ball-directed, whenever the ball was in the center of the image, or as player-directed, when the ball was not in the center.…”

Arthroscopic simulation using a knee model can be used to train speed and gaze strategies in knee arthroscopy

“…Plujims et al conducted a study to validate the use of sports cameras, to establish the gaze focus in sailing and determine whether the gaze focus is related to an improvement in performance in upwind sailing. The conclusions did not demonstrate that gaze focus predicts a better performance 18 .…”

Commentary: Long-term Practice with Domain-Specific Task Constraints Influences Perceptual Skills

“…Reflection on instrumentation is also necessary. In order to assess visual search strategies Oppici et al ( 2017 ) utilized a sports camera method to track visual gaze behaviors, citing a paper by Pluijms et al ( 2016 ) to justify this methodology. While this paper validates the approach for sailing, no evidence is available regarding its generalisability for invasion sports.…”

“…While this paper validates the approach for sailing, no evidence is available regarding its generalisability for invasion sports. Pluijms et al ( 2016 ) also acknowledge that participants might feel “constrained” by this method thereby influencing behaviors observed.…”