Affordable and relatively accurate eye trackers are becoming more accessible for the mainstream user, consequently opening up new opportunities for utilizing eye gaze in interactive real-time applications. When extending gaze data from an eye tracker into real-time rendered 3D virtual environments, there are often techniques applied to correlate the gaze point to a 3D object. Techniques which can be referred to gaze-to-object mapping (GTOM) methods. One featured GTOM method, region-bound Interactors, provided by the eye tracking company Tobii AB, was extended in this thesis by utilizing a custom G-buffer in order to extract accurate shapes of individual objects in screen space. This adapted method was compared against two methods based on ray casting in a controlled 3D test environment consisting of three types of scenarios with varying conditions. Data was collected from a user study with 31 participants to assess if the Interactors method could be viable in 3D virtual environments. The extended method showed some promising result in relation to the other methods, but further work needs to be done to establish whether the method in question is practical for GTOM in 3D. / Relativt precisa eyetrackers med ett lågt pris blir allt mer tillgängliga för den vanlige användaren. Således öppnas nya möjligheter upp för att använda ögonspårning i interaktiva realtidsapplikationer. När man förlänger ögats blickpunkt in till virtuella realtidsrenderade 3D-miljöer, används ofta metoder för att kunna korrelera blicken till ett 3D-objekt. Dessa metoder kan benämnas som så kallade gaze-to-object mapping-metoder (GTOM). En GTOM-metod, regionsbundna Interactors, som tillhandahålls av eyetracking-företaget Tobii AB, kompletterades under detta examensarbete med en specifik G-buffer för att kunna extrahera exakta former av enskilda objekt på skärmen. Denna metod jämfördes med två metoder som var baserade på strålföljning i en kontrollerad testmiljö i 3D som bestod av tre typer av olika scenarier med varierande förhållanden. Information samlades in från en användarstudie med 31 deltagare för att kunna bedöma om Interactors-metoden är lämplig för GTOM i virtuella 3D-miljöer. Den utökade metoden uppvisade en del lovande resultat i förhållande till de andra två metoderna, men ytterligare forskning måste utföras för att kunna fastställa om huruvida den aktuella metoden är praktisk för GTOM i 3D.

Background. Eye-tracking has increasingly been used in games to enhance the experience and make them more accessible to a wider audience. The technology has also previously been found to give a higher sense of social presence and immersion. Objectives. The objective of this study is to review indirect social gaze and its impact on social presence, immersion and problem-solving in a competitive, multiplayer game. In this case, the game was a version of Memory. Methods. An experiment was conducted that had 28 participants. To collect the necessary data a multiplayer game was created using the game engine Unity and the Tobii Unity SDK. The game was used to collect in-game data and separate questionnaires were created and used to collect qualitative answers regarding the participants' game experience and preferred input. During the experiments, participants got to play three different versions of the game using gaze control with blinks, gaze control without blinks and mouse control in varying order to give feedback on all versions of the game. Results. The collected results from the experiment show that indirect social gaze seems to be beneficial in terms of social presence and immersion but worse compared to mouse control in terms of problem-solving. These results found statistical significance in a subset of the data. Conclusions. While limited to a specific group of people specifically young adults with an academic background, the study has found that by simply using a small subset of the functionality that an eye tracker can bring, positive effects on social presence and immersion can be found. Gaze control in terms of problem-solving, however, seems to fit better in some game genres than others and the first person controls in this experiment performed the best using mouse control when reviewing problem-solving.

Theorists have been concerned with the overlap of reading and problem solving for at least a century (Thorndike 1917, 1973-1974; Sternberg & Frensch, 2014). Various reading models have been proposed including bottom-up and top-down reading processing (Goodman, 1972; Gough, 1972). In second language literature, theorists have further noted that reading consists of strategic, purposeful, and interactive processes (Grabe, 2009). In test taking situations, problem solving is important because it can compensate for students' language proficiencies. In spite of research showing the use of problem solving in reading, less is known about how learners actually read and problem solve in test-taking situations. This study centers around Khalifa, Weir and colleagues' model for cognitive processing in reading (Weir, Hawkey, Green, Unaldy, & Devi, 2009) in combination with eye-tracking technology in order to examine how ESL readers employ careful and expeditious reading. Data were gathered from 50 students attending a university sponsored Intensive English Program. Participants read eight validated reading comprehension items at varying difficulty levels while their eye movements were recorded. Results indicate that student level may not be a factor in how carefully and expeditiously a student reads. However, statistical analyses suggest that text difficulty may be a factor in how carefully students read.

Många undersökningar har gjorts inom marknadsföringsområdet med hjälp av eye-tracker. Gemensamt för majoriteten av dessa undersökningar är att de har gjorts på statisk reklam såsom reklam i tidningar och reklambanderoller på hemsidor. Relativt få undersökningar har gjorts där reklamen är integrerad i den rörliga bilden. I denna rapport undersöks logotyper i rörlig bild med hjälp av en eye-tracker där syftet var att undersöka relationen mellan fixering av blick på, tidigare kännedom om och hågkomst av logotyper. En studie genomfördes på 12 testpersoner som fick titta på ett filmklipp medan en eye-tracker registrerade deras ögonrörelser. De fick därefter svara på en enkät som handlade om logotyperna som presenterats i klippet. Resultatet visar att personer kommer ihåg logotyper som de har fixerat blicken på och samtidigt har tidigare kännedom om i större utsträckning än logotyper som de inte har någon tidigare kännedom om. En säker relation mellan tidigare kännedom och benägenhet att fixera blick har inte kunnat hittas. Fler studier bör därför göras med fler filmklipp, logotyper och testpersoner för att uppnå ett säkrare resultat. Vid studier av objekt i rörlig bild med eye-tracker, där intresse av att undersöka om objektet uppfattats eller ej finns, bör en studie av den minsta fixeringstid som krävs för att uppfatta objektet först göras. Det bör även göras fler studier på hur graden av hågkomst, tidigare kännedom och egenskaper hos fixeringar påverkar resultatet. / Many studies have been done in the field of marketing with the help of an eye-tracker. The common element in the majority of these studies is that they have been done on static advertising such as advertisements in magazines and web banners. Relatively few studies have been done when the advertisements are integrated in the moving picture. In this report logotypes that are integrated in the moving picture are investigated. The purpose of this report is to investigate the relationship between fixation of gaze on, prior knowledge of and the ability to recall logotypes. A study was done on 12 test subjects. The given task was to watch a film clip while their eye movements were registered with an eye-tracker. After the test they filled out a questionnarie about the presented logotypes in the clip. The result tells us that people are better at remembering logotypes that they have fixated on and simultaneously had prior knowledge of than logotypes that they fixated on but had no prior knowledge of. No certain relation was found between prior knowledge and the tendancy of fixating ones gaze was found. More studies have to be done with more clips, logotypes and test subjects in order to obtain a certain result. When investigating objects in moving picture with the help of an eye-tracker, when you are interested in investigating whether the object are resigistred or not, a study about the shortest required fixation duration for registration of the object should be done in advance. More studies has to be done on how properties of fixations, the degree of recollection and prior knowledge affects the result.

Fluent reading has been described as the ability to read a passage with accuracy, at a steady rate, with minimal hesitancy, and good comprehension (Grabe, 2009; Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2010). Dysfluent reading can affect motivation for reading in English language learners, thereby limiting access to a wealth of language input from written texts (Taguchi, Gorsuch, & Sasamoto, 2006). Extensive research of repeated reading in L1 settings has been shown to increase reading fluency (Samuels, 1979; National Reading Panel, 2000), while comparatively little research has been done on repeated reading in L2 settings (Grabe, 2009). The objective of this eye-tracking study was to accurately document lower-level and higher-level reading processes in an immediate repeated reading exercise to observe how repeated reading affects reading fluency in adult English language learners. In our study, 30 students in an intensive English program in the United States read three short expository texts three times each. Eye-tracking showed significant increases in reading fluency measures in both lower-level and higher-level reading functions. For example, average first fixation duration decreased by 15 ms from the first to the third reading and average late dwell time decreased by 40 ms from the first to third reading. Repeated reading is an exercise that should be considered by educators to help English language learners increase their reading fluency with immediate repeated reading of expository texts.

Second language acquisition (SLA) has been a dominant field in linguistics research over the past several decades. In this field, researchers have investigated what makes learning the grammar of a second language difficult and they have identified many factors that may contribute to this difficulty, including agreement processing. In linguistic terms, agreement refers to the necessary covariation of grammatical features between two of more syntactic constituents. In prior years of agreement processing research, some authors examined how native speakers process varying grammatical features (e.g. number and gender) in agreement relations. In recent years, however, they have turned towards L2 learners and have investigated whether learners can attain native-like levels of processing agreement in a second language.While some researchers have investigated differences between learners and native speakers, others have examined the effect of individual differences on agreement processing. Of particular interest to this thesis is working memory capacity (WMC) and its effect during the different processing stages of agreement. Lastly, features expressed through agreement may affect individuals' processing behavior. Different features (e.g. person, number, gender) are regularly expressed in agreement relations by different manifestations of exponence. Many authors have investigated the effect different features have on processing agreement when those features are expressed by separative exponence. Fewer have examined the effect of cumulative exponence on agreement processing.Eye tracking is a useful psycholinguistic tool to investigate these questions. Using eye tracking, I examine English learners of Spanish and their eye behavior as they processed Spanish verbal agreement and investigate whether they demonstrate sensitivity similar to native Spanish speakers while processing verbal agreement errors. I investigate if individuals demonstrate similar sensitivity when processing three different types of verbal agreement errors—number, person, and tense. Additionally, I examine whether individuals' sensitivity to agreement errors is affected by working memory capacity. Using a linear mixed effects model, I analyze the eye tracking data and share the results of the analyses and their implications for L2 research in agreement processing.

In recent years interest in L2 reading research has focused largely on word frequency, sentence level, word recognition, and several researchers have begun to use eye tracking to better study reading behaviors. Parshina et al. (under review) have found that high proficiency heritage speakers of Russian read faster in terms of gaze duration and total time and had fewer regressions than low proficiency heritage speakers. The current study focuses on the establishment of benchmarks for L2 Russian readers in terms of first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total time when reading a complete passage, and compares these variables among different proficiency levels. Thirty-two students participated in the study with proficiency levels ranging from Novice to Superior. Subjects completed eye tracking and reading comprehension passages with the use on an eye tracker to asses reading abilities. Results show that all participants read L1 significantly faster than L2 in terms of first fixation duration. Additionally, all proficiency levels read Intermediate passages faster than Advanced passages. These results help establish the first benchmarks for eye tracking in Russian as an L2.

La adquisición del género gramatical en una segunda lengua (L2) suele ser frecuentemente problemática, incluso en los niveles de competencia más avanzados (Bruhn de Garavito y White, 2002; White et al., 2004; Keating, 2009; Foucart y Frenck-Mestre, 2011; entre otros). Esta dificultad puede verse influida por el efecto de transferencia, término general que se aplica a la influencia de una lengua adquirida en el aprendizaje de otra (Gass y Selinker, 1983; Odlin, 1989; Jarvis y Pavlenko, 2008; entre otros). Muchos investigadores sugieren que cuando dos lenguas tienen un elemento gramatical en común, la persona que aprende dichas lenguas puede adquirir este elemento en la L2 sin gran dificultad (Sabourin et al., 2006; Ellis, C. et al., 2012; Alhawary, 2005; 2009; entre otros). Las similitudes tipológicas y el nivel de competencia en la L2 se consideran factores influyentes en la transferencia (Ringbom, 2007). Sin embargo, identificar la medida en la que la transferencia y el nivel de competencia influyen en la adquisición de la concordancia de género en español, sigue siendo un desafío metodológico. Con la intención de ampliar el alcance de la investigación sobre la transferencia, se realizó un estudio para examinar la influencia de las propiedades de la L1 y del nivel de competencia en la adquisición de la concordancia de género en adjetivos. Dado que en español la concordancia de género en adjetivos está directamente relacionada con la concordancia en francés, pero no en inglés, este estudio se llevó a cabo con estudiantes post-secundarios francófonos (n= 20) y anglófonos (n= 23). Dichos participantes representaban dos niveles de competencia: intermedio (n= 21) y avanzado (n= 22). Los sujetos debían completar tres experimentos: juicio de gramaticalidad (comprensión offline), elicited oral imitation (producción oral) y eye-tracking (comprensión online). Esta combinación de experimentos, además de poder observar el nivel de adquisición, permitió medir los tipos de conocimientos (explícitos e implícitos) y examinar los posibles efectos de la transferencia en la adquisición de la concordancia de género. A partir de los análisis estadísticos se observaron los siguientes resultados: En primer lugar, el experimento de juicio de gramaticalidad, que medía los conocimientos explícitos, fue completado con un alto nivel de eficacia por todos los grupos. Ahora bien, el análisis de regresión logística reveló una pequeña diferencia entre los participantes en cuanto a los ítems gramaticalmente incorrectos, en el que los sujetos anglófonos mostraron más dificultades que los francófonos. En segundo lugar, los experimentos elicited oral imitation y eye-tracking, que medían los conocimientos implícitos de la concordancia de género, revelaron que las propiedades de la L1 y el nivel de competencia de los sujetos afectan al nivel de adquisición de los participantes. En el primero de dichos experimentos, los sujetos francófonos tendieron a reconstruir los ítems de forma gramatical con más eficacia que los anglófonos y, en el segundo experimento, sólo el grupo francófono de nivel avanzado se mostró sensible a los errores gramaticales. En líneas generales, los análisis sugieren que, aunque hay una pequeña diferencia en cuanto a los ítems gramaticalmente incorrectos, las dos variables relacionadas con los sujetos no parecen influir demasiado en la adquisición de conocimientos explícitos. Sin embargo, en cuanto a los conocimientos implícitos, las propiedades de la L1 y el nivel de competencia influyen de forma significativa. Por lo tanto, la metodología innovadora que se utilizó, es decir, una tarea de comprensión offline, una de producción oral y una de comprensión online, permitió adoptar perspectivas reveladoras sobre la adquisición del género gramatical español.

Context. Eye tracking technology has been applied to video games, mainly, as an offline analysis tool or as an input for game control. Nevertheless, eye tracking systems applied to video games is a topic considered to be on an infant state that requires further development. The following study explore a different approach in how eye tracking systems can be used for video game interaction. Objectives. By implementing a gaze based interaction technique, a gaze aware space shooting game will be developed in order to provide in-game assistance that could improve player's performance. Method. With the help of a Tobii REX eye traking system, a set of 26 volunteers played two video games in a controlled environment. Both of the games had the same mechanics and elements, but only one of them implemented the gaze based interaction technique. The player performance was calculated in terms of the time needed by the players to finish each of the games. A statistic significance analysis was done in order to determine if the testing data provided sufficient evidence to conclude a performance improvement. Results. The results showed a reduction on the time needed to finish the game on the gaze aware prototype, having an average time difference of 74.03 seconds and overcoming a confidence level of 99.9\% when submitting the testing data to a paired t-Test. Also, the majority of the players chose the gaze aware game as the most enjoyable, in terms of their personal preferences. Conclusions. The testing results provided sufficient evidence to conclude that the gaze aware game improved the performance of all of the selected participants. This study provides a starting point for further development of eye tracking systems as a task assisting method on video game interaction.

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