Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality

This chapter explores the current state of the art in eye tracking within 3D virtual environments. It begins with the motivation for eye tracking in Virtual Reality (VR) in psychological research, followed by descriptions of the hardware and software used for presenting virtual environments as well as for tracking eye and head movements in VR. This is followed by a detailed description of an example project on eye and head tracking while observers look at 360° panoramic scenes. The example is illustrated with descriptions of the user interface and program excerpts to show the measurement of eye and head movements in VR. The chapter continues with fundamentals of data analysis, in particular methods for the determination of fixations and saccades when viewing spherical displays. We then extend these methodological considerations to determining the spatial and temporal coordination of the eyes and head in VR perception. The chapter concludes with a discussion of outstanding problems and future directions for conducting eye- and head-tracking research in VR. We hope that this chapter will serve as a primer for those intending to implement VR eye tracking in their own research.