Automatic Processing of Gaze Movements to Quantify Gaze Scanning Behaviors in a Driving Simulator

Overview

Journal Behav Res Methods

Publisher Springer

Specialty Social Sciences

Date 2020 Aug 5

PMID 32748237

Citations 6

Authors

Garrett Swan

Robert B Goldstein

Steven W Savage

Lily Zhang

Aliakbar Ahmadi

Alex R Bowers

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Eye and head movements are used to scan the environment when driving. In particular, when approaching an intersection, large gaze scans to the left and right, comprising head and multiple eye movements, are made. We detail an algorithm called the gaze scan algorithm that automatically quantifies the magnitude, duration, and composition of such large lateral gaze scans. The algorithm works by first detecting lateral saccades, then merging these lateral saccades into gaze scans, with the start and end points of each gaze scan marked in time and eccentricity. We evaluated the algorithm by comparing gaze scans generated by the algorithm to manually marked "consensus ground truth" gaze scans taken from gaze data collected in a high-fidelity driving simulator. We found that the gaze scan algorithm successfully marked 96% of gaze scans and produced magnitudes and durations close to ground truth. Furthermore, the differences between the algorithm and ground truth were similar to the differences found between expert coders. Therefore, the algorithm may be used in lieu of manual marking of gaze data, significantly accelerating the time-consuming marking of gaze movement data in driving simulator studies. The algorithm also complements existing eye tracking and mobility research by quantifying the number, direction, magnitude, and timing of gaze scans and can be used to better understand how individuals scan their environment.

Citing Articles

Gaze Scanning on Mid-Block Sidewalks by Pedestrians With Homonymous Hemianopia With or Without Spatial Neglect.

Pundlik S, Tomasi M, Houston K, Kumar A, Shivshanker P, Bowers A Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2024; 65(8):46.

PMID: 39078731 PMC: 11290574. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.8.46.

A Comparison of Head Movement Classification Methods.

Callahan-Flintoft C, Jensen E, Naeem J, Nonte M, Madison A, Ries A Sensors (Basel). 2024; 24(4).

PMID: 38400418 PMC: 10893452. DOI: 10.3390/s24041260.

Driving With Hemianopia X: Effects of Cross Traffic on Gaze Behaviors and Pedestrian Responses at Intersections.

Xu J, Baliutaviciute V, Swan G, Bowers A Front Hum Neurosci. 2022; 16:938140.

PMID: 35898933 PMC: 9309302. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.938140.

Gaze During Locomotion in Virtual Reality and the Real World.

Drewes J, Feder S, Einhauser W Front Neurosci. 2021; 15:656913.

PMID: 34108857 PMC: 8180583. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.656913.

Driving With Hemianopia VII: Predicting Hazard Detection With Gaze and Head Scan Magnitude.

Swan G, Savage S, Zhang L, Bowers A Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2021; 10(1):20.

PMID: 33510959 PMC: 7804568. DOI: 10.1167/tvst.10.1.20.

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