FixationNet: Forecasting Eye Fixations in Task-Oriented Virtual Environments

IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph. 2021 May;27(5):2681-2690. doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2021.3067779. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Abstract

Human visual attention in immersive virtual reality (VR) is key for many important applications, such as content design, gaze-contingent rendering, or gaze-based interaction. However, prior works typically focused on free-viewing conditions that have limited relevance for practical applications. We first collect eye tracking data of 27 participants performing a visual search task in four immersive VR environments. Based on this dataset, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the collected data and reveal correlations between users' eye fixations and other factors, i.e. users' historical gaze positions, task-related objects, saliency information of the VR content, and users' head rotation velocities. Based on this analysis, we propose FixationNet - a novel learning-based model to forecast users' eye fixations in the near future in VR. We evaluate the performance of our model for free-viewing and task-oriented settings and show that it outperforms the state of the art by a large margin of 19.8% (from a mean error of 2.93° to 2.35°) in free-viewing and of 15.1% (from 2.05° to 1.74°) in task-oriented situations. As such, our work provides new insights into task-oriented attention in virtual environments and guides future work on this important topic in VR research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Computer Graphics
  • Deep Learning
  • Female
  • Fixation, Ocular / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Neural Networks, Computer*
  • Virtual Reality*
  • Young Adult