VRpursuits: Interaction in Virtual Reality Using Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements

Khamis, M. , Oechsner, C., Alt, F. and Bulling, A. (2018) VRpursuits: Interaction in Virtual Reality Using Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements. In: 2018 International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces, Grosseto, Italy, 29 May - 01 Jun 2018, ISBN 9781450356169 (doi: 10.1145/3206505.3206522)

Abstract

Gaze-based interaction using smooth pursuit eye movements (Pursuits) is attractive given that it is intuitive and overcomes the Midas touch problem. At the same time, eye tracking is becoming increasingly popular for VR applications. While Pursuits was shown to be effective in several interaction contexts, it was never explored in-depth for VR before. In a user study (N=26), we investigated how parameters that are specific to VR settings influence the performance of Pursuits. For example, we found that Pursuits is robust against different sizes of virtual 3D targets. However performance improves when the trajectory size (e.g., radius) is larger, particularly if the user is walking while interacting. While walking, selecting moving targets via Pursuits is generally feasible albeit less accurate than when stationary. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings and the potential of smooth pursuits for interaction in VR by demonstrating two sample use cases: 1) gaze-based authentication in VR, and 2) a space meteors shooting game.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This work was funded, in part, by the Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction (MMCI) at Saarland University, Germany, and by the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and the Arts in the framework of the Center Digitization.Bavaria (ZD.B). This research was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Grant No. AL 1899/2-1.
• Keywords: Eye tracking, gaze interaction, pursuits, virtual reality.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Khamis, Dr Mohamed
• Authors: Khamis, M., Oechsner, C., Alt, F., and Bulling, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Publisher: ACM
• ISBN: 9781450356169
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces: 18
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy