3D Attention Volumes for usability studies in virtual reality

The time course and the distribution of visual attention are powerful measures for the evaluation of the usability of products. Eye tracking is thus an established method for evaluating websites, software ergonomy or modern cockpits for cars or airplanes. In most cases, however, the point of regard is measured on 2D products. This article presents work that uses an approach to measure the point of regard in 3D to generate 3D Attention Volumes as a qualitative 3D visualization of the distribution of visual attention. This visualization can be used to evaluate the design of virtual products in an immersive 3D setting, similar as heatmaps are used to assess the design of websites.