Gaze allocation in natural stimuli: Comparing free exploration to head-fixed viewing conditions

Bernard Marius 't Hart, Johannes Vockeroth, Frank Schumann, Klaus Bartl, Erich Schneider, Peter König, Wolfgang Einhäuser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

“Natural” gaze is typically measured by tracking eye positions during scene presentation in laboratory settings. How informative are such investigations for real-world conditions? Using a mobile eyetracking setup (“EyeSeeCam”), we measure gaze during free exploration of various in- and outdoor environments, while simultaneously recording head-centred videos. Here, we replay these videos in a laboratory setup. Half of the laboratory observers view the movies continuously, half as sequences of static 1-second frames. We find a bias of eye position to the stimulus centre, which is strongest in the 1 s frame replay condition. As a consequence, interobserver consistency is highest in this condition, though not fully explained by spatial bias alone. This leaves room for image specific bottom-up models to predict gaze beyond generic biases. Indeed, the “saliency map” predicts eye position in all conditions, and best for continuous replay. Continuous replay predicts real-world gaze better than 1 s frame replay does. In conclusion, experiments and models benefit from preserving the spatial statistics and temporal continuity of natural stimuli to improve their validity for real-world gaze behaviour.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1132-1158
JournalVisual Cognition
Volume17
Issue number6-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2009

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • human
  • eye movements
  • real world
  • natural stimuli
  • attention

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Gaze allocation in natural stimuli: Comparing free exploration to head-fixed viewing conditions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this