Identification of Information-Seeking Behaviors from Air Traffic Controllers′ Eye Movements

Air traffic controllers are the important parts of air traffic management system who are responsible for the safety and efficiency of the system.They make traffic management decisions based on information acquired from various sources.The understanding of their information seeking behaviors is still limited.We aim to identify controllers′ behavior through the examination of the correlations between controllers′eye movements and air traffic.Sixteen air traffic controllers were invited to participate real-time simulation experiments,during which the data of their eye ball movements and air traffic were recorded.Tweny-three air traffic complexity metrics and six eye movements metrics were calculated to examine their relationships.Two correlational methods,Pearson′s correlation and Spearman′s correlation,were tested between every eye-traffic pair of metrics.The results indicate that controllers′two kinds of information-seeking behaviors can be identified from their eye movements:Targets tracking,and confliction recognition.The study on controllers′ eye movements may contribute to the understanding of information-seeking mechanisms leading to the development of more intelligent automations in the future.

Experimental platform for moving double-camera system based on binocular vergence eye movements

A control model of binocular vergence eye movements is presented. The control model can reduce blind areas caused by the double cameras in motion platform. In order to validate the model performance, an experimental platform and its control system based on TMS320LF2407 are designed. The control system has its compacted configuration and high reliability. The simulation and experimental results show that the control system can realize binocular vergence movements. Compared with the conventional moving double cameras system, this new system can considerably reduce blind areas.

Sex differences in eye movements and neural oscillations during mental rotation in virtual reality

Virtual reality(VR)has been a promising tool for developing visuospatial tasks.Among visuospatial tasks,mental rotation tasks are widely used in the assessment of visuospatial ability.Males have a distinct advantage in mental rotation ability compared to females,yet it is generally produced by investigations based on two-dimensional(2D)images on a computer screen.Sex differences in mental rotation tasks with three-dimensional(3D)objects in VR were not fully investigated.It is unclear whether the male's advantages in 2D mental rotation tasks are weakened in 3D tasks.The aim of this study was to provide new insights into the understanding of sex differences in mental rotation tasks presented in VR.Here,we developed a VR mental rotation task(VR-MRT)using 3D objects presented by a head-mounted display(HMD)and used VR-based eye tracking and electroencephalography(EEG)to examine eye movements and neural oscillations for males and females.Our results showed that females preferred a piecemeal strategy compared to males,suggesting a significant sex difference in visual strategy.More importantly,we found no significant sex differences in alpha-band and beta-band oscillations related to rotation processes of VR-MRT.These findings indicated that sex differences in the VR-MRT were mainly attributed to the selection of visual strategy rather than the rotation processes.The study helps to comprehensively understand the dominant factors contributing to the sex differences in the VR-MRT.

Eye movements characteristics of Chinese dyslexic children in picture searching

Background Reading Chinese, a kind of ideogram, relies more on visual cognition. The visuospatial cognitive deficit of Chinese dyslexia is an interesting topic that has received much attention. The purpose of current research was to explore the visuopatial cognitive characteristics of Chinese dyslexic children by studying their eye movements via a picture searching test. Methods According to the diagnostic criteria defined by ICD-10, twenty-eight dyslexic children （mean age （10.12±1.42） years） were enrolled from the Clinic of Children Behavioral Disorder in the third affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. And 28 normally reading children （mean age （10.06±1.29） years）, 1：1 matched by age, sex, grade and family condition were chosen from an elementary school in Guangzhou as a control group. Four groups of pictures （cock, accident, canyon, meditate） from Picture Vocabulary Test were chosen as eye movement experiment targets. All the subjects carried out the picture searching task and their eye movement data were recorded by an Eyelink II High-Speed Eye Tracker. The duration time, average fixation duration, average saccade amplitude, fixation counts and saccade counts were compared between the two groups of children. Results The dyslexic children had longer total fixation duration and average fixation duration （F=-7.711, P 〈0.01; F=-4.520, P 〈0.05）, more fixation counts and saccade counts （F=-7.498, P 〈0.01; F=-11.040, P 〈0.01）, and a smaller average saccade amplitude （F=-29.743, P 〈0.01） compared with controls. But their performance in the picture vocabulary test was the same as those of the control group. The eye movement indexes were affected by the difficulty of the pictures and words, all eye movement indexes, except saccade amplitude, had a significant difference within groups （P 〈0.05）. Conclusions Chinese dyslexic children have abnormal eye movements in picture searching, applying slow fixations, more fixations and small and frequent saccades. Their abnormal eye movement mode reflects the poor ability and strategy of visual information processing.

Identification of Eye Movements from Non-frontal Face Images for Eye-controlled Systems

The novel eye-based human-computer interaction(HCI) system aims to provide people, especially, disabled persons,a new way of communication with surroundings. It adopts a series of continual eye movements as input to perform simple control activities. Identification of eye movements is the crucial technology in these eye-based HCI systems. At present, researches on eye movement identification mainly focus on frontal face images. In fact, acquisition of non-frontal face images is more reasonable in real applications. In this paper, we discuss the identification process of eye movements from non-frontal face images. Firstly, the original head-shoulder images of 0?–±60?azimuths are sampled without any auxiliary light source. Secondly, the non-frontal face region is detected by using the Adaboost cascade classifiers. After that, we roughly extract eye windows by the integral projection function.Then, we propose a new method to calculate the x- y coordinates of the pupil center point by searching the minimal intensity value in the eye windows. According to the trajectory of the pupil center points, different eye movements(eye moving left, right, up or down)are successfully identified. A set of experiments is presented.

Adaptive navigation assistance based on eye movement features in virtual reality

Background Navigation assistance is essential for users when roaming virtual reality scenes;however,the traditional navigation method requires users to manually request a map for viewing,which leads to low immersion and poor user experience.Methods To address this issue,we first collected data on who required navigation assistance in a virtual reality environment,including various eye movement features,such as gaze fixation,pupil size,and gaze angle.Subsequently,we used the boosting-based XGBoost algorithm to train a prediction model and finally used it to predict whether users require navigation assistance in a roaming task.Results After evaluating the performance of the model,the accuracy,precision,recall,and F1-score of our model reached approximately 95%.In addition,by applying the model to a virtual reality scene,an adaptive navigation assistance system based on the real-time eye movement data of the user was implemented.Conclusions Compared with traditional navigation assistance methods,our new adaptive navigation assistance method could enable the user to be more immersive and effective while roaming in a virtual reality(VR)environment.

Application of Eye Movement Analysis in Landscape Visual Quality Evaluation

The existing methods of landscape visual quality evaluation is mostly based on people's subjective feelings,and the objectivity and scientificity of evaluation results are insufficient.As an important means of experimental psychology,eye movement technology can show great advantages and potential in landscape visual quality evaluation.On the basis of combing and summarizing the relevant literature,based on the explanation of the technical principle of eye movement analysis,the application field,research content,technical methods and other aspects of eye movement analysis were reviewed.The application prospect of eye movement technology in landscape visual quality evaluation was explored to provide theoretical reference for the in-depth evaluation and research of landscape visual quality evaluation theory.

Eye Movement Modeling Examples as a Teaching Tool for Epidural Block

Introduction: Video examples with task demonstrations by experts, with the expert’s eye movements superimposed on the task, are known as “eye movement modeling examples” (EMME). We performed this study to evaluate if there were improvements in the performance of anesthesia novice trainees when executing the epidural technique after an EMME of epidural block procedure. Methods: We developed an eye movement modeling example (EMME) from eye tracking recordings made by experienced anesthesiologists with more than 20 years of experience. Forty-two PGY3 anesthesia trainees who had never previously performed an epidural block were randomized to receive (study group) or not receive (control group) the EMME video before their institutional training. All the trainees were evaluated every 10 epidural blocks until the end of the rotation period, by an independent, blinded observer using the Global Rating Scale for Epidural Anesthesia (GRS). Results: Trainees who received the EMME training exhibited more respect for the patient’s tissues (P Discussion: This is the first study that has used the EMME for a practical, clinical teaching purpose on real patients and that has used it as an aid in teaching epidural anesthesia. We demonstrated that inexperienced trainees who received the EMME training improved their proficiency at epidural blocks as compared to those who had no EMME training beforehand. Given this result, we welcome further studies to investigate the impact and the role of EMME on clinical teaching in the field of anesthesia.

Effect of Working Experience on Air Traffic Controller Eye Movement

Eye movement is an important indicator of information-seeking behavior and provides insight into cognitive strategies which are vital for decision-making.Various measures based on eye movements have been proposed to capture humans’ability to process information in a complex environment.The effectiveness of these measures has not yet been fully explored in the field of air traffic management.This paper presents a comparative study on eye-movement measures in air traffic controllers with different levels of working experience.Two commonly investigated oculomotor behaviors,fixation and saccades,together with gaze entropy,are examined.By comparing the statistical properties of the relevant metrics,it is shown that working experience has a notable effect on eye-movement patterns.Both fixation and saccades differ between qualified and novice controllers,with the former type of controller employing more efficient searching strategies.These findings are useful in enhancing the quality of controller training and contributing to an understanding of the information-seeking mechanisms humans use when executing complex tasks.

Eye movement prediction by oculomotor plant Kalman filter with brainstem control

Our work addresses one of the core issues related to Human Computer Interaction （HCI） systems that use eye gaze as an input. This issue is the sensor, transmission and other delays that exist in any eye tracker-based system, reducing its performance. A delay effect can be compensated by an accurate prediction of the eye movement trajectories. This paper introduces a mathematical model of the human eye that uses anatomical properties of the Human Visual System to predict eye movement trajectories. The eye mathematical model is transformed into a Kalman filter form to provide continuous eye position signal prediction during all eye movement types. The model presented in this paper uses brainstem control properties employed during transitions between fast （saccade） and slow （fixations, pursuit） eye movements. Results presented in this paper indicate that the proposed eye model in a Kalman filter form improves the accuracy of eye movement prediction and is capable of a real-time performance. In addition to the HCI systems with the direct eye gaze input, the proposed eye model can be immediately applied for a bit-rate/computational reduction in real-time gaze-contingent systems

Eye-movement Patterns of Chinese Children with Developmental Dyslexia during the Stroop Test

Objective To compare the eye-movement patterns of Chinese children with developmental dyslexia（DD children） with those of non-dyslexic children as they perform the Stroop Color and Word Test（SCWT）, and to explore the relationship between their eye-movement patterns and interference effect. Methods An EyeLink II was used to record the eye-movement parameters of 32 DD children and 37 non-dyslexic children as they performed the SCWT. The independent samples t-test and repeated measures were used to analyze behavioral and eye-movement parameters. Results Compared to the control group, Chinese DD children presented lower accuracy（F = 8.488）, slower response time（F = 25.306）, and larger interference effect（t = 2.29）; Chinese DD children also exhibited lower frequency of fixations（F = 6.069）, greater numbers of saccades（F = 7.914） and fixations（F = 5.272）, and shorter mean saccade distance（F = 4.03）. All behavioral and eye-movement parameters differed significantly among the three tasks in the SCWT. There was significant interaction between groups and tasks in accuracy（F = 5.844）, and marginally significant interaction in response time（F = 3.040）. Chinese DD children tended to have lower accuracy and longer response time than the control group in the ＇color-word naming＇ task. Conclusion Compared to non-dyslexic children, Chinese DD children are subject to a stronger interference effect. When performing the SCWT, Chinese DD children exhibit abnormal eye-movement patterns, namely shorter mean saccade distance, lower frequency of fixations, and more fixations and saccades. These abnormal eye movements may be relatively stable oculomotor patterns of DD children performing visual processing, and not influenced by impaired interference effect.

EasyGaze:Hybrid eye tracking approach for handheld mobile devices

Background Eye-tracking technology for mobile devices has made significant progress.However,owing to limited computing capacity and the complexity of context,the conventional image feature-based technology cannot extract features accurately,thus affecting the performance.Methods This study proposes a novel approach by combining appearance-and feature-based eye-tracking methods.Face and eye region detections were conducted to obtain features that were used as inputs to the appearance model to detect the feature points.The feature points were used to generate feature vectors,such as corner center-pupil center,by which the gaze fixation coordinates were calculated.Results To obtain feature vectors with the best performance,we compared different vectors under different image resolution and illumination conditions,and the results indicated that the average gaze fixation accuracy was achieved at a visual angle of 1.93°when the image resolution was 96×48 pixels,with light sources illuminating from the front of the eye.Conclusions Compared with the current methods,our method improved the accuracy of gaze fixation and it was more usable.

How non-rapid eye movement sleep and Alzheimer pathology are linked

Alzheimer's disease(AD)is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.Research attempts to identify characteristic factors that are associated with the presence of the AD pathology on the one hand and that increase the risk of developing AD on the other.Changes in non-rapid eye movement(NREM)sleep may meet both requirements for various reasons.First,NREM-sleep is important for optimal memory function.In addition,studies report that the presence of AD pathology is associated with NREM-sleep changes.Finally,more and more results appear to suggest that sleep problems are not only a symptom of AD but can also increase the risk of AD.Several of these studies suggest that it is primarily a lack of NREM-sleep that is responsible for this increased risk.However,the majority investigated sleep only through subjective reporting,as a result of which NREMsleep could not be analyzed separately.The aim of this literature study is therefore to present the results of the studies that relate the AD pathology and NREM-sleep(registered by electroencephalography).Furthermore,we try to evaluate whether NREM-sleep analysis could be used to support the diagnosis of AD and whether NREM-sleep deficiency could be a causal factor in the development of AD.

Predictive Model of Live Shopping Interest Degree Based on Eye Movement Characteristics and Deep Factorization Machine

In the live broadcast process,eye movement characteristics can reflect people’s attention to the product.However,the existing interest degree predictive model research does not consider the eye movement characteristics.In order to obtain the users’interest in the product more effectively,we will consider the key eye movement indicators.We first collect eye movement characteristics based on the self-developed data processing algorithm fast discriminative model prediction for tracking(FDIMP),and then we add data dimensions to the original data set through information filling.In addition,we apply the deep factorization machine(DeepFM)architecture to simultaneously learn the combination of low-level and high-level features.In order to effectively learn important features and emphasize relatively important features,the multi-head attention mechanism is applied in the interest model.The experimental results on the public data set Criteo show that,compared with the original DeepFM algorithm,the area under curve(AUC)value was improved by up to 9.32%.

Eye-Movement Characteristics of Drivers According to Driving Experience-Relevance to Traffic Sign Legibility

An experiment was conducted to find the variability of driver eye movement according to different driving experience. An eye tracking system was used to study the regularity of driver eye movements, such as fixation duration, variations of fixation points, and the distribution of glance zone. It was found that driving experience had a significant effect on driver eye movement behavior. The percentage of fixation duration to total glance time for inexperienced drivers was 61.5%, while the percentage for experienced drivers was 50.2%. Moreover, the majority of drivers paid attention to the left region of the field of view more frequently than the central and the right regions. This study indicates that it takes inexperienced drivers more time to recognize traffic signs. The findings from this study will assist traffic engineers in designing and installing the traffic signs in an optimal way.

Chemogenetic activation of sublaterodorsal tegmental glutamatergic neurons alleviates rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder symptoms in a chronic rat model of Parkinson disease

Rapid eye movement(REM)sleep behavior disorder(RBD)is a parasomnia that is featured by elevated motor behaviors and dream enactments during REM sleep.Clinical observations show that RBD bears significant relevance with several synucleinopathies such as Lewy body dementia and Parkinson disease(PD),and often develops prior to their diagnosis.Being a potential biomarker of PD,investigating the relationship of RBD symptoms and their emergence in developing PD would provide insight intoits pathogenesis.Here,in a chronic model of PD,rats with daily rotenone treatment exhibited key RBD features,including elevated sleep muscle tone,sleep fragmentation and EEG slowing at different time points.Based on detectedearly alpha synuclein aggregation and neural apoptosis in the sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus(SLD),an area known to promote REM sleep and maintain sleep muscle atonia,the possible involvement of SLD glutamatergic neurons was interrogated.Via chemogenetic activation of SLD glutamatergic neurons,key RBD symptoms and EEG slowing in REM sleep were alleviated.These results are consistent with a progressive degeneration in REM sleep promoting pathways.Our findings provide a foundation for further studies into RBD and its relationship to neurodegenerative diseases.

Role of vascular endothelial growth factor as a critical neurotrophic factor for the survival and physiology of motoneurons

Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)was discovered by its angiogenic activity.However,during evolution,it appeared earlier as a neurotrophic factor required for the development of the nervous system in invertebrates lacking a circulatory system.We aimed at reviewing recent evidence indicating that VEGF has neuroprotective effects in neurons exposed to a variety of insults.Of particular interest is the link established between VEGF and motoneurons,especially after the design of the VEGFδ/δmutant mice.These mice are characterized by low levels of VEGF and develop muscle weakness and motoneuron degeneration resembling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.The administration of VEGF through several routes to animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis delays motor impairment and motoneuron degeneration and increases life expectancy.There are new recent advances in the role of VEGF in the physiology of motoneurons.Our experimental aims use the extraocular(abducens)motoneurons lesioned by axotomy as a model for studying VEGF actions.Axotomized abducens motoneurons exhibit severe alterations in their discharge activity and a loss of synaptic boutons.The exogenous administration of VEGF to axotomized abducens motoneurons,either from the transected nerve or intraventricularly,fully restores the synaptic and discharge properties of abducens motoneurons,despite being axotomized.In addition,when an anti-VEGF neutralizing antibody is delivered from the muscle to intact,uninjured abducens motoneurons,these cells display alterations in their discharge pattern and a loss of synaptic boutons that resemble the state of axotomy.All these data indicate that VEGF is an essential neurotrophic factor for motoneurons.

AB048.Pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is influenced by irrelevant post-saccadic changes

Background:Many studies have shown that attention is shifted toward the goal of the upcoming saccade.It has been suggested that the purpose of this attentional shift is to aid in trans-saccadic integration by acting as a‘pointer’(Cavanagh,Hunt,Afraz&Rolfs,2010)for remembering,processing and updating objects across saccadic eye movements(Rolfs,Jonikaitis,Deubel&Cavanagh,2011).We tested this hypothesis that pre-saccadic attentional facilitation acts as a pointer for trans-saccadic integration by investigating how irrelevant post-saccadic changes influenced pre-saccadic attentional discrimination.On one hand,if pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is an independent process involved only in enhancing peripheral information before the saccade,then manipulating visual information(absence or shift)after the saccade should have no influence on discrimination.On the other hand,if pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is involved in trans-saccadic integration,changes in visual information should influence discrimination of the pre-saccadic information.Methods:We tested different conditions involving different post-saccadic changes.In the baseline condition,participants made a saccade at the appearance of an arrow and discriminated a symbol(DS)that was presented briefly before the saccade at one of six peripheral locations.The symbol was masked thereafter with a figure 8,which remained till the end of the trial.Importantly,the DS was always presented while participants were fixating at center,and only the figure 8 was present at the end of the saccade.Participants were instructed to make the saccade then report the identity of the DS(4AFC).We then tested how blanking post-saccadic information[blanking of the saccade goal(SG)location,DSOff condition;of the entire visual scene including or excluding the SG location,AllOff and DSOnly conditions]and how displacement of the figure 8s after the saccade would affect performance.Results:We observed that discrimination performance was significantly lower when the SG location disappeared during the saccade and was no longer present when the saccade was completed(DSOff,-6.9%).This decrease in performance cannot be attributed to changes in the visual scene that may have drawn attention,as this was the case for all conditions;performance was not different when the entire visual scene was blanked(AllOff,-0.0%)or when only the DS remained(DSOnly,-1.6%).We also found that the performance decreased as a function of the displacement of the figure 8 from the SG location,particularly if it was displaced outside of the saccade landing zone.Conclusions:Based on these pattern of results,we suggest that pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is indeed involved in trans-saccadic integration by acting as a location marker or pointer.The lack of a visual target at the saccade goal,even if it is irrelevant to the pre-saccadic discrimination task,disrupted performance.

Nonverbal Behavior as an Educational Symbolic Mediator in Class

Effective language strategies play an essential role in traditional teaching.However,the benefits of nonverbal behavior teaching strategy in the classroom have been underestimated.Facial expressions,gestures,and eye contact are all instantaneous nonverbal behaviors that play a significant part in exchanging information in classroom.This study aims to examine how different nonverbal teaching strategies affect teaching and learning and discover what it is used for and how important they are in education.Finally,some suggestions for improving teachers’use of nonverbal behaviors from a teacher professional development perspective are presented.

Information Coding for Cockpit Human-machine Interface

Pilot needs to process lots of information when operating an aircraft, and reasonable information coding can greatly improve the correct rate and speed of information identification. At present, related researches are mainly performed in the laboratory, and the experiment method for abstract simulation is often used to research single digit information coding. The research results demonstrate a lack of systematization and applicability. The present study is based upon information coding methods of human-machine interface under real time in flight simulators. Subjects are required to perform an aircraft landing and the corresponding experiment task. The correct rate and reaction time are chosen as the performance evaluation indexes, combined with eye movement data. The advantages and disadvantages of different information coding methods are also evaluated and analyzed. The experiment results demonstrate that the effect of color coding on the correct rate of information identification is not significant, but the effect on the speed of information identification is obviously significant. The study demonstrates that on a black background, red, green and yellow are suitable colors for color coding, but blue is not. The position of information on the performance of information identification is also significant. The center of the interface is better than the edge, and the left position is superior to the right. The impact of language and a person＇s mother tongue should also be considered in practical applications. The study shows that the Chinese has a higher correct rate of identification than English. As the experiment research method in the present study is based on flight simulator, the actual utility and application value can be guaranteed. The research results have the ability to offer improvements in ergonomic reference for cockpit human-machine interface design.