| Eye tracking technology is on the brink of becoming ubiquitous. Thus, a need exists for new applications for this potent technology. There are currently three main kinds of eye tracking applications: gaze-responsive, gaze-aware, and gaze-contingent. A fourth classification, termed gaze-guiding, to our knowledge, coined and implemented for first time. The gaze-guiding technique is the use of motion, light, color, or other visual stimuli to modify the user's fixations to pre-determined locations when the user fixates on specific areas of interest. To test the technique, an education software program that teaches Newtonian physics through the use of gaze-guidance was developed. It is suggested that a natural mapping exists between gaze-guidance and the software's built-in lesson plan. It is also speculated that gaze-guidance reduces the extraneous cognitive load of associating written and visual problem elements. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of gaze-guidance. Although not found to significantly affect performance, most participants considered gaze-guidance helpful, especially for difficult problem examples. |
