State-of-the-Art of Visualization for Eye Tracking Data

Abstract

Eye tracking technology is becoming easier and cheaper to use, resulting in its increasing application to numerous fields of research. The data collected during an eye tracking experiment can be analyzed by statistical methods and/or with visualization techniques. Visualizations can reveal characteristics of fixations, saccades, and scanpath structures. In this survey, we present an overview of visualization techniques for eye tracking data and describe their functionality. We classify the visualization techniques using nine categories. The categories are based on properties of eye tracking data, including aspects of the stimuli and the viewer, and on properties of the visualization techniques. The classification of about 90 publications including technical as well as application papers with modifications of common visualization techniques are described in more detail. We finally present possible directions for further research in the field of eye tracking data visualization.