Gaze Sharing, a Double-Edged Sword: Examining the Effect of Real-Time Gaze Sharing Visualizations on Team Performance and Situational Awareness

Abstract

Objective The goal of this study was to assess how different real-time gaze sharing visualization techniques affect eye tracking metrics, workload, team situational awareness (TSA), and team performance. Background Gaze sharing is a real-time visualization technique that allows teams to know where their team members are looking on a shared display. Gaze sharing visualization techniques are a promising means to improve collaborative performance on simple tasks; however, there needs to be validation of gaze sharing with more complex and dynamic tasks. Methods This study evaluated the effect of gaze sharing on eye tracking metrics, workload, team SA, and team performance in a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) command-and-control task. Thirty-five teams of two performed UAV tasks under three conditions: one with no gaze sharing and two with gaze sharing. Gaze sharing was presented using a fixation dot (i.e., a translucent colored dot) and a fixation trail (i.e., a trail of the most recent fixations). Results The results showed that the fixation trail significantly reduced saccadic activity, lowered workload, supported team SA at all levels, and improved performance compared to no gaze sharing; however, the fixation dot had the opposite effect on performance and SA. In fact, having no gaze sharing outperformed the fixation dot. Participants also preferred the fixation trail for its visibility and ability to track and monitor the history of their partner’s gaze. Conclusion The results showed that gaze sharing has the potential to support collaboration, but its effectiveness depends highly on the design and context of use. Application The findings suggest that gaze sharing visualization techniques, like the fixation trail, have the potential to improve teamwork in complex UAV tasks and could have broader applicability in a variety of collaborative settings.