Abstract
In human factors and ergonomics research, the analysis of eye movements has gained popularity as a method for obtaining information concerning the operators cognitive strategies and for drawing inferences about the cognitive state of an individual. For example, recent studies have shown that the distribution of eye fixations is sensitive to variations in mental workload—dispersed when workload is high, and clustered when workload is low. Spatial statistics algorithms can be used to obtain information about the type of distribution and can be applied over fixations recorded during small epochs of time to assess online changes in the level of mental load experienced by the individuals. In order to ease the computation of the statistical index and to encourage research on the spatial properties of visual scanning, A Simple Tool for Examining Fixations has been developed. The software application implements functions for fixation visualization, management, and analysis, and includes a tool for fixation identification from raw gaze point data. Updated information can be obtained online at www .astef.info, where the installation package is freely downloadable.
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This work was supported by the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development, United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Grant 053021.
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Camilli, M., Nacchia, R., Terenzi, M. et al. ASTEF: A simple tool for examining fixations. Behavior Research Methods 40, 373–382 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.2.373
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.2.373