Visual attention towards gestures in face-to-face interaction vs. on screen
Marianne Gullberg, Kenneth Holmqvist · 2002
Previous eye-tracking studies of whether recipients look at speakers' gestures have yielded conflicting results but have also differed in method. This study aims to isolate the effect of the medium of presentation on recipients' fixation behaviour towards speakers' gestures by comparing fixations of the same gestures either performed live in a face-to-face condition or presented on video ceteris paribus. The results show that fixation behaviour towards gestures is largely similar across conditions, although fewer gestures are fixated on video (non-significant). In discussing the effect of the absence of a live interlocutor vs. the projection size as a source for this reduction, we touch on some underlying mechanisms governing gesture fixations. The results are pertinent to man-machine interface issues as well as to the ecological validity of video-based paradigms needed to study the relationship between visual and cognitive attention to gestures and Sign Language.