evaluatingdesign.com

They all come together to make a pretty good article.

Here’s the link:

http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/15-09/ff_halo?currentPage=1

(Image from Wired)

Recently, one of our groups at GMU worked to used eye tracking for some of the smae types of problems noted in the article.

Which brings up a great example of eye tracking and usability. In the wired article, there’s a problem of a user not picking up certain grenades, with the conclusion that the grenades aren’t salient enough. But (as is the case in many video games), it sounds like there’s a whole lot going onscreen during that time. So how can we be sure that increasing saliency will help?

Practical experience and perceptual theory certainly argue in that direction - but simply increasing saliency may not capture the user’s attention. What you want to know is if the users is perceiving the current grenades at all - and that’s a great opportunity for eye tracking work. By examining whether the eyes ever fall on the grenades, we can verify if the user’s completely failed to perceive the grenades, or if they perceived the grenades, but failed to act on them - an important distinction for game designers.

For example, if a lack of perception is the culprit, the eyes should not land on the target (or within a degree or two of visual angle). If this is the case, make the item (grenades) more salient.

But, if the eyes fall on the target, and the users still do not use the item, there’s a more complex problem at hand. Here, there may need to be a auditory or visual prompt directing the user to the grenades.

We’re currently working in the GMU labs to provide specific, applied examples of how eye tracking can be applied to help clarify some of these issues. More on this soon!

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