Virtual reality (VR) is one of the key areas of research at the Laboratory of Interactive Technologies (LIT) at the National Information Processing Institute (OPI PIB). In collaboration with their partners, experts at the laboratory are currently analysing the effectiveness of cinematic language in VR. They have developed new technologies that enable eye-tracking analysis (examination of eye movements) using R language scripts. The research is being conducted as part of New narration forms and technologies, a project implemented by OPI PIB alongside the vnLab Visual Narratives Laboratory at the Lodz Film School, the Institute of Psychology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology, and the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz.
Eye movement in VR
Although it is not yet widely available on the market, virtual reality is growing in popularity. Scientists are becoming more interested in the technology, and its applications continue to enable entirely new experiences. The subject has been analysed by LIT experts for several years. One of the laboratory’s current projects focuses on the effectiveness of cinematic language in VR. The LIT team has developed a new research tool to facilitate this work.
‘I am glad that we have managed to join forces with four other scientific units to conduct research on VR; it is an extremely interesting field that has not yet been fully explored. The ultimate goal of our collaboration is to develop a research methodology on the effectiveness of the narration and language used in cinematic and interactive VR experiences. Scientists at OPI PIB are responsible for studying 3D eye-tracking methods and body movement analysis. Their original R language analytical scripts have been created for that particular purpose,’ says Dr Jarosław Protasiewicz, Head of the National Information Processing Institute.
Analysing the effectiveness of cinematic language in VR was an ambitious challenge for the researchers at OPI PIB. They had to develop new theoretical indicators, adapt their research methodology, analyse and visualise eye-tracking data gathered from VR experiences, and develop an original analytical R language tool.
‘Scientific research on human-computer interaction in VR, including eye tracking, requires solutions to many technical and methodological problems for which recommended methodologies and tools have not yet been developed. We had to decide how to classify eye movements—into fixations and other movements—on the basis of a raw signal recorded by our original software,’ says Dr Paweł Kobyliński, an expert at OPI PIB, who is responsible for implementing the New narration forms and technologies project.
For their analyses, scientists at OPI PIB are using HTC VR Vive ProEye headsets with built-in eye trackers. Their current research has recently reached its final stage. The project is funded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science.