Testing a calibration-free eye tracker prototype at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna

Eye tracking research in art viewership is often conducted in a laboratory setting where reproductions must be used in place of original art works and the viewing environment is less natural than in a museum. Recent technological developments have made museum studies possible but head-mounted eye tracking gear and interruptions by researchers still influence the experience of the viewer. In order to find a more ecologically valid way of recording eye movements while viewing artworks, we employed a prototype of a calibration-free remote eye tracker hidden below selected paintings at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Museum visitors were unaware of the study and informed post hoc that we had registered their viewing behavior and asked to give consent for the use of their data. This article presents the study design as well as results from over 800 participants. While the data quality from the eye tracker prototype was not sufficient to conduct the intended analysis on within-painting gaze movements, this study might serve as a step towards an unobtrusive examination of the art viewing experience. It was possible to analyze time spent viewing paintings and those results show that certain paintings consistently drew significantly more prolonged attention from viewers

Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures

Within art literature, there is a centuries-old assumption that the eye follows the lines set out by the composition of a painting. However, recent empirical findings suggest that this may not be true. This study investigates beholders’ saccadic eye movements while looking at fourteen paintings representing the scene of the Last Supper, and their perception of the compositions of those paintings. The experiment included three parts: 1) recording the eye movements of the participants looking at the paintings; 2) asking participants to draw the composition of the paintings; and 3) asking them to rate the amount of depth in the paintings. We developed a novel coefficient of similarity in order to quantify 1) the similarity between the saccades of different observers; 2) the similarity between the compositional drawings of different observers; and 3) the similarity between saccades and compositional drawings. For all of the tested paintings, we found a high, above-chance similarity between the saccades and between the compositional drawings. Additionally, for most of the paintings, we also found a high, above-chance similarity between compositional lines and saccades, both on a collective and on an individual level. Ultimately, our findings suggest that composition does influence visual perception.&nbsp

The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement

There is increasing awareness that the perception of art is affected by the way it is presented. In 2018, the Austrian Gallery Belvedere redisplayed its permanent collection. Our multi-disciplinary team seized this opportunity to investigate the viewing behavior of specific artworks both before and after the museum’s rearrangement. In contrast to previous mobile eye tracking (MET) studies in museums, this study benefits from the comparison of two realistic display conditions (without any research interference), an unconstrained study design (working with regular museum visitors), and a large data sample (comprising 259 participants). We employed a mixed-method approach that combined mobile eye tracking, subjective mapping (a drawing task in conjunction with an open interview), and a questionnaire in order to relate gaze patterns to processes of meaning-making. Our results show that the new display made a difference in that it 1) generally increased the viewing times of the artworks; 2) clearly extended the reading times of labels; and 3) deepened visitors’ engagement with the artworks in their exhibition reflections. In contrast, interest in specific artworks and art form preferences proved to be robust and independent of presentation modes

Locating the viewer of digital art: A case study of Ian Cheng's 'Emissaries' (2015-2017)

The digital is ubiquitous in contemporary Western societies. Art viewers are also users of technology, so what happens when the art they see embraces the digital medium but denies the habitual user relationship? This thesis seeks to understand the viewer of contemporary digital art. To do so, it examine American artist Ian Cheng's series of three digital simulations titled Emissaries (2015-2017). The works are digital but not participatory. The artist refers to them as "video games that play themselves," but through their structure and context, they address our relationship with technology. By removing direct engagement, the Emissaries allow us to consider the nature of digital mediality and our relationship with it.Le numérique est omniprésent dans les sociétés occidentales contemporaines. Les spectateurs sont aussi des utilisateurs de technologies, alors que se passe-t-il lorsque l'art qu'ils voient embrasse le médium numérique, mais nie la relation habituelle de l'utilisateur. Cette thèse vise à mieux comprendre le spectateur de l'art numérique contemporain. Pour ce faire, elle examine la série de trois simulations numériques de l'artiste américain Ian Cheng intitulée Emissaries (2015- 2017). Les œuvres sont numériques mais non participatives. L'artiste les qualifie de « jeux vidéo qui se jouent eux-mêmes », mais à travers leur structure et leur contexte, elles abordent notre relation à la technologie. En supprimant l'engagement direct, les Emissaries nous permettent de considérer les propriétés de la médialité numérique et notre relation avec elle