Using an Eye Tracker to Compare Active versus Passive Navigational Aids in a Virtual Desktop Environment

Virtual environment navigation can be improved through the use of a navigational aid. In this study two different navigational aids, one active aid and one passive aid, were tested. An eye-tracking apparatus was used to collect fixation data on each navigational aid, in addition to task performance data and user preference data. It was hypothesized that participants using the passive navigational aid would perform better than the active navigational aid and that there would be significant differences in the amount of fixations on the passive and active aids. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in the amount of fixations on passive and active aids. However, participants with the passive navigational aid completed the task significantly quicker. Of the three hypotheses of this study, the results showed evidence of only the first hypothesis. This study could be replicated with more participants to determine if there is further evidence for the other two hypotheses.