Towards pupil-assisted target selection in natural settings: Introducing an on-screen keyboard

Abstract

Preliminary reports have shown the possibility to assist input commands in HCI via pupil dilation. Applicability of these findings is however subject to further investigations, since the specificity of changes in diameter is low, e.g. through variations in brightness. Investigating employability and shape of pupil size dynamics outside a strictly controllccced laboratory, we implemented the emulation of selection via an integrated mechanism of pupil dilation and constriction that could speed up a dwell time of 1.5 s. During the operation of an on-screen keyboard, 21 subjects were able to type via this mechanism, needing 1 s on average per keystroke and producing only slightly more than 1% false positive selections. Hereby, pupil dynamics were assessed. More than 90% of keystrokes could be accelerated under assistance of pupil variations. As suggested from basic research, pupil dilated when fixating later selected keys and constricted shortly afterwards. This finding was consistent between all subjects, however, pupil dynamics were shifted in regard to temporal occurrence and amplitude of diameter changes. Pupil-Assisted Target Selection shows potential in non-strictly controlled environments for computer input and may be further improved on the basis of this data. This might culminate in an integrated gaze-based object selection mechanism that could go beyond the benchmarking dwell time performance.