SPP 2481:  Understanding Gaze

• Subject Area: Social and Behavioural Sciences ; Humanities ; Geosciences ; Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Medicine
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 540857726

Eyes, metaphorically the windows to our souls, have been a subject of eye tracking research in the last century. This research has identified various gaze measures pivotal for perceptual and cognitive processing. In cognitive psychology, efforts have been directed towards understanding underlying factors of fixations, saccades, or pupillary motion, giving rise to comprehensive models of human perception and action. In Human Computer Interaction (HCI), the amalgamation of gaze-based interaction with machine learning has paved the way for more intuitive interactions. But so far, various parameters (e.g., fixations, pupil dilation) are typically examined in isolation. Moreover, eye movement research has mainly been a field of studying a single person in front of a screen. Applying the knowledge in presence of other people, is thus challenging: Since gaze not only serves attentive and perceptive, but also signaling functions, gaze behavior in the wild changes due to explicit and implicit interaction; mutual gaze exchange is vital for building trust. Furthermore, simultaneous gazing at objects can unify groups, often referred to as joint attention. To harness this in video-conferencing or augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), it is essential to understand gaze exchange. Recent advancements in computational capabilities and hardware miniaturization now enable multi-user research, with discrete mobile eye trackers nearly indistinguishable from conventional glasses. We have identified three key development areas for aligned and coordinated research: (I) Gaze Expression: The conditions that make us feel observed, with particular focus on how gaze measures are interpreted, are still under-researched. Understanding the watching gaze requires researching eye tracking with a view to the emotional connotation and its social embedding. (II) Gaze Sharing: Various gaze interactions, including joint viewing and mutual gaze, have mechanisms and effects that still remain unclear. Analyzing these interactions is crucial for comprehending the signaling and the perceptual functions of gaze. Such insights must be systematically consolidated within (III) Gaze Interaction in multi-user Scenarios: Using gaze can enhance new interaction technologies. Also, in gaze-based interaction applications, single user scenarios dominate the field. However, in a lot of settings like public displays or video conferencing tools, gaze-based interfaces can enable fast and remote interaction. Understanding the signaling and the perceptual functions of gaze is an emerging focus in eye tracking research across cognitive psychology and HCI. It requires integrating various gaze parameters and examining interaction among users to grasp their collective dynamics, which is enabled by current technological advances. The research domains mutually benefit from shared advancements and technology, which facilitates deeper insights into multi-user gaze interactions.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: Austria, France, Italy, Netherlands

Projects

• AEyeCoL: Advanced Understanding of Eye Gaze in Co-Located Collaborative Learning (Applicants Bühler, Babette ;  Fütterer, TIm ;  Kasneci, Enkelejda ;  Trautwein, Ulrich )
• Confidential Interaction using Eye-Contact (CUE) (Applicants Grice, Martine ;  Jording, Mathis )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Huckauf, Anke )
• CrowdGaze: A Dual Approach to Studying Gaze Interactions in Stationary and Moving Crowds Using Eye Tracking in Real and Virtual Environments. (Applicants Kuhlen, Torsten Wolfgang ;  Sieben, Anna )
• Decoding the semantics of basic gaze patterns: Towards an unbiased extraction of meaning and its dependency on situational demands (Applicants Böckler-Raettig, Anne ;  Huestegge, Lynn )
• Gaze Signaling in Interactive and Collaborative Small- and Large-Scale Actions (GazeACT) (Applicants Cañal Bruland, Rouwen ;  Fiehler, Katja )
• How do primates interpret and respond to others' intentions by observing their gazes? (Applicant Shahidi, Neda )
• Impact of social anxiety on gaze perception and dynamics in interactive settings (Applicants Gamer, Matthias ;  Gromer, Daniel )
• Mutual eye contact and blink synchronization as predictors for successful cooperation (Applicant Hoffmann, Alexandra )
• Playing Eyes: Understanding the Communicative Power of Gaze Expressions when Bluffing and Being Confident in Winning (Applicants Huckauf, Anke ;  Rukzio, Enrico )
• Understanding Gaze in Incidental Encounters (Applicant Einhäuser-Treyer, Wolfgang )
• WeGaze: Large-Space Gaze Analysis via Multi-camera System for Social Interactions (Applicant Polikovsky, Ph.D., Senya )

• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Anke Huckauf