A scoping investigation of eye-tracking in Electronic Gambling Machine (EGM) play

The nature of the association between Electronic Gambling Machines (EGMs) and gambling problems remains uncertain. Eye-tracking offers a potentially powerful method to understand how individuals attend to the visual displays and features of machine games as a function of machine experience, use of other commercial gambling products, the degree to which some game features capture players attention and, critically, vulnerability to problematic patterns of machine play. Characterizing machine players' attention to machine games may aid the design of harm-minimization measures such as, but not limited to, pop-up messages and visible clocks; and provide an important ancillary measure for testing their efficacy. Here, we conducted the first study to use eye-tracking to improve our understanding of how machine players attend to EGM displays in local bookmaker offices (LBOs) situated across North West England, as well as North East and North Wales. Through liaison with 4 bookmaker operators, we recruited a sample of 118 LBO customers who, first, completed a small number of questionnaires about their gambling history and other gambling activities and, then, completed a typical machine gambling session with their own money while wearing eye-tracking glasses to capture eye-movement pattern. The protocol captured regions of gaze fixation while playing (B2) roulette or (B3) slots on B category machines (Gambling Commission, 2012). The final dataset consisted of 91 eye-tracking recordings: 59 games of roulette and 57 slots games. Our principle dependent measure was the percentage of fixations of visual features and machine display locations (as areas of interest; AOIs) as an objective indicator of overt visual attention and their importance to machine players. Our data analysis included statistical correction for differences in the relative size (display area) and display duration across AOIs. To summarise, our main findings are as follows: In roulette, 56.3% of LBO machine players fixations were distributed over the chip-placement area while placing bets (in the stationary states of the game), rising to 75.1% while the roulette wheel Eye-tracking & machines Rogers & Leek; main text v2; 24th March 2017 3 spun in the moving states of the games). Machine players looked at their credit balance 7.2% of the time while placing bets, only slightly more frequently than the previous winning number at 6.8%. In slots games, the slot-reels dominated machine players' visual attention: accounting for 53.6% of fixations while placing bets, rising to 91.7% while spinning. Players' fixations of their credit-balances amounted to 14% of the total while placing bets but only 5.1% while the slot-reels spun. Fixations away from the machine were more frequent while placing bets in both roulette and slots games: 13.5% and 13.4% respectively, dropping to 2.4% and 1.1% while the wheel/slot-reels spun. Players' age and years of education were only weakly related to fixation patterns while playing roulette or slots games. Unemployed players allocated fewer fixations over the chip-placement area (both while the roulette wheel was stationary and while it spun) and over the slot-reels while placing bets; they also tended to look away from the machine more while placing bets in roulette. Frequent machine players tended to look at the roulette wheel less frequently than infrequent users while playing roulette games; involvement in other forms of gambling tended to increase attention towards credit balance but was not otherwise linked to particular patterns of fixations. Finally, problems gamblers allocated fewer fixations to the roulette wheel while placing bets and while it spun compared to non-problem gamblers; and tended to look away from the machine more frequently; in slots games, problem gamblers looked more frequently at amount-won messages. These data describe, for the first time, the distributions of machine players overt attention while navigating roulette and slots games in a commercial settings. In general, fixation counts showed the least variability for moving visual features and events that are likely to capture attention automatically, such as spinning Eye-tracking & machines Rogers & Leek; main text v2; 24th March 2017 4 roulette wheels or spinning slot-reels. However, fixations were also concentrated upon visual features and elements with relatively less attentional capture such as the chip-placement-area while placing bets in roulette and looking at credit balances in both games. Associations between patterns of fixation and both frequency of past-month expenditure on B category machines and broader gambling involvement were modest, suggesting that most of the variability in eye-movements and fixations reflects players navigation through the sequenced behaviours of placing bets and monitoring spinning roulette wheels or slot-reels in anticipation of game outcomes. Players with extensive machine experience tended to discount slightly the roulette wheel as a visual feature; while players with broader patterns of gambling activity looked at credit balances frequently, suggesting that such individuals are mindful of available credits. Players with gambling problems allocated fewer fixations over the chip-placement-area while placing bets and while watching the wheel spun compared to non-problem gamblers, suggesting that placing of bets can be accomplished with less attentional focus. These individuals were also more likely to look away from the machine altogether, suggesting that, in roulette play, gambling problems might be associated with a loosened attentional focus to events elsewhere in the shop. However, in slots games, problems gamblers' attended to the reward signals of previous games (amount-won) when placing the next bets. So far as we are aware, these data are the first to show that eye-tracking methodology has some potential to offer insights into machine-player interactions, and to provide a bias-free measure of individual differences in attention to games visual features and events as a function of their experience with gambling machines, gambling background and vulnerability to gambling-related harms. This study offers a methodology for studying and optimizing the timing, placement and content of harm-minimization messaging

How Technology Can Influence Museum Visitor Experience: A Parameter-Mapping Approach to Individual and Group Response Optimisation

Museums, wishing to optimise the experience of various groups of visitors, use feedback surveys to assess opinions of their visitors, including their expectations before hand and considered view post-visit. Amongst key themes reported in these surveys are: the general success of a museum model which is quite comprehensive (including multiple themes and locations); the desirability of engaging visitors emotionally; and, in the case of groups, the importance of shared experience both during the visit and in post-visit digestion of the learning and the impression left by the experience. Technology emerges as an important vehicle to drive all these de-sired positive outcomes, the one currently indicating the most promise being personal mobile technology. In this paper, the authors discuss the issues which need to be considered in developing optimised museum experience for various target visitor groups, based around the application of this technology platform. As the basis for discussing how best to use such technology, the Contextual Learning Model of Falk and Storksdik (2005) is explored, which produces a set of parameters categorized as 'personal, sociocultural and material (physical) contexts'. After explaining the implications of each of these contexts, a detailed example of the implemen-tation of technology for the interpretation of one aspect of heritage is given – that of the interpretation of Chinese history for non-specialist foreign audiences using a comprehensive charting of the ebb and flow of the dynasties, styled by the present authors as DYNAMOST ™. This set of resources includes a range of personal mo-bile technology applications supported by live and recorded lectures and printed material. The authors finally consider the potential to apply this method more generally in order to assess 'How technology can influence museum visitor experience

Eye movement and the visual perception of shape

This thesis reports the results of five novel studies that used eye movement patterns to elucidate the role of shape information content of object shape representation in human visual perception. In Experiments 1, and 2 eye movements were recorded while observers either actively memorised or passively viewed different sets of novel objects, and during a subsequent recognition memory task. ..• -'", ••. Fixation data were contrasted against different models of shape mralyses based on surface curvature bounding vs. internal contour and low level image visual saliency. The results showed a preference for fixation at regions of internal local features (either concave or/and convex) during both active memorisation and passive viewing of object shape. This pattern changed during the recognition phase where there was a fixation preference towards regions containing concave surface curvature minima. It is proposed that the preference of fixation at regions of concavity reflect the operation of a depth-sensitive view interpolation process that is constrained by key points encoding regions of concave curvature minima. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the extent to which fixation-based local shape analysis patterns are influenced by the perceptual expertise of the observer and the level of stimulus classification required by the task. These studies were based on the paradigm developed by Wong, Palmeri & Gauthier (2009) in which observers are extensively trained to categorize sets of novel objects (Ziggerins) at either a basic or subordinate level of classification. The effects of training were measured by comparing performance between a pre- and post-test sequential shape matching task that required either basic- or subordinate-level judgements. In addition, we also recorded fixation patterns during the pre- and post-tests.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Eye movement and the visual perception of shape

This thesis reports the results of five novel studies that used eye movement patterns to elucidate the role of shape information content of object shape representation in human visual perception. In Experiments 1, and 2 eye movements were recorded while observers either actively memorised or passively viewed different sets of novel objects, and during a subsequent recognition memory task. ..• -'", ••. Fixation data were contrasted against different models of shape mralyses based on surface curvature bounding vs. internal contour and low level image visual saliency. The results showed a preference for fixation at regions of internal local features (either concave or/and convex) during both active memorisation and passive viewing of object shape. This pattern changed during the recognition phase where there was a fixation preference towards regions containing concave surface curvature minima. It is proposed that the preference of fixation at regions of concavity reflect the operation of a depth-sensitive view interpolation process that is constrained by key points encoding regions of concave curvature minima. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the extent to which fixation-based local shape analysis patterns are influenced by the perceptual expertise of the observer and the level of stimulus classification required by the task. These studies were based on the paradigm developed by Wong, Palmeri & Gauthier (2009) in which observers are extensively trained to categorize sets of novel objects (Ziggerins) at either a basic or subordinate level of classification. The effects of training were measured by comparing performance between a pre- and post-test sequential shape matching task that required either basic- or subordinate-level judgements. In addition, we also recorded fixation patterns during the pre- and post-tests.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo