A method to study visual attention aspects of collaboration
Sami Pietinen, Roman Bednarik, Tatiana Glotova, Vesa Tenhunen, Markku Tukiainen · 2008
The previous research of visual attention has mostly considered the situations in which a single person performs a task. The current eye-tracking devices and software support this research situation. Applications of eye-tracking in the research of collaborative tasks have been rare to date. We present a methodological framework of a research in which visual attention of pair programmers with a single display has been studied. We discuss the challenges of such research when conducted in real-world settings and the requirements on the eye-tracking setups. The hardware setups and software solutions to the problems of acquisition and synchronization of streams of eye-tracking data are presented. We outline the methodological questions of future visual attention research of collaborative tasks.