Universität Bielefeld - Sonderforschungsbereich 360
Communicationg Attention: Gaze Position Transfer in Computer Supported
Cooperative Problem Solving
Boris M. Velichkovsky
Abstract
Results of two experiments on the solving of constructive tasks of the
puzzle type are reported. The tasks were to be solved by two partners
who shared the same visual environment but whose knowledge about the
situtation and ability to change it on the way to solution were separated.
One of the partners - the "expert" - knew the solution in detail but had
no means to act on the situation. Another partner - the "novice" - could
acct and must achieve the goal, but without knowing (much) about the solution.
The partners were free to communicate verbally. In one third of the trials
of the first experiment, in addition to verbal communication, the eye
fixations of the expert were projected into the working space of the
novice. In another condition the expert could use a mouse to show to the
novice relevant parts of the task configuration. Both ways of facilitationg
the 'joint attention' state of the partners improved the performance. The
nature of the dialogues as well as parameters of the eye movements
themselves also changed. In the second experiment the direction of the
gaze-position data transfer was reversed, from the novice to the expert.
This also leads to a significant sign in the efficiency of the
distributed problem solving.
Anke Weinberger, 1994-08-10