THE QUIET EYE- ITS ROLE IN SQUASH

Three areas about the role of vision in hitting a squash ball were investigated- the fixation timings (early or late), the fixation location (ball centre, not the centre of the ball) and the area the ball landed.Intermediate and semi professional squash athletes were asked to wear an eye tracking device and hit a straight drive on either side as close to the sidewall as they could, while someone was repeatedly feeding them the ball. Three succeeding Quiet Eye periods were observed- racket preparation (when the athlete moved his racket in preparation of the shot), racket extension (when the athlete swung his racket to hit the ball) and ball hit (once the athlete hit the shot till it touched the wall).

Characteristics of fixation patterns and their relationship with visual function of patients with idiopathic macular holes after vitrectomy

To analyze the relationships between the fixation location and the visual function of idiopathic macular hole (IMH) patients with macular integrity assessment (MAIA) examination preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. This was a retrospective case analysis. Forty-three eyes of 43 patients diagnosed with IMH were included in this study. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessments, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and MAIA examinations were performed before surgery and 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. The relationships between MAIA parameters and visual acuity were assessed by correlation analysis. Grouping by fixation location with the foveola (2°) as the centre, the locations could be divided into five groups, including foveolar, temporal, nasal, inferior and superior fixation. The mean macular sensitivity (MMS) of the macular area was correlated with the BCVA in the IMH patients before and 3 months after surgery (before surgery P = 0.00, after surgery P = 0.00). The MMS could be used as a good indicator for evaluating visual function in IMH patients. There was a significant difference in fixation location before and after the operation (P = 0.01). The preoperative fixation location of IMH patients was mainly in the superior area, while postoperatively moved to the foveola and nasal areas. Paying attention to the changes of fixation locations in IMH patients may provide new clues for further improving postoperative visual function.

Gaze Behavior of Attacking Karate Athletes In-situ

Previous studies have analyzed the gaze behavior of defending karate athletes using video-based attacks. The results show that karate athletes use a gaze anchor around the opponent’s head and chest. An analysis of gaze behavior of a karate athlete performing an attack in-situ has not been realized, yet. The aim of this study is, therefore, to analyze the gaze behavior of 11 karate athletes immediately before they perform an attack in-situ. The number of fixations, fixation duration, and fixation location were analyzed over the last 2000 ms before the athletes executed one of four instructed attacks. The results show no significant differ-ences in gaze parameters with respect to the type of attack. The main finding revealed a gaze anchor around the opponent’s head, chest, and leading arm, confirming previous studies of defending karate athletes whileviewing video-based attacks.

The More-or-Less Morphing Face Illusion Revisited: Perceiving Natural Transient Changes in Faces Despite Fast Saccades

van Lier and Koning introduced the more-or-less morphing face illusion: The detection of changes in a constantly morphing face-sequence is strongly suppressed by fast eye saccades triggered by a moving fixation dot. Modulators of this intriguing effect were investigated with systematically varied facial stimuli (e.g., human faces from varying morphological groups, emotional states) and fixation location. Results replicated the overall pattern of moving fixations substantially reducing the sensitivity to detect transitions. Importantly, a deviation from real to perceived changes could only be detected when faces were altered in a way not happening in real world—by changing identity. When emotional states of faces were changed, people were capable of perceiving these changes: A situation very similar to everyday life where we might quickly inspect a face by executing fast eye saccades but where we are still aware of transient changes of the emotional state of the very same person.

Gaze Behavior of Professional and Non-Professional eSports Players in FIFA 19

In traditional sports like soccer or tennis, experts benefit from better anticipation abilities compared to novices through a more efficient gaze behavior. For electronic sports (eSports), this area is rather unexplored, although quick decision making, which is linked to gaze behavior, is considered fundamental in eSports. In this study, the gaze behavior of professional and non-professional eSports players (n=21, 23.4 ± 3.3 years) was recorded via eye-tracking in the sports simulation FIFA 19. Number, duration, and location of fixations were compared over an entire match and in offensive play situations. Except for fixation location, no significant differences were found. The players mainly fixated the same objectives regarding fixation number and duration, but professionals had significantly more fixations using the in-game radar and fixated off-ball teammates significantly shorter. Due to the limited results, gaze behavior does not seem to be a decisive factor for excellent performance in FIFA 19.

Alternating-color words facilitate reading and eye movements among second-language learners of Chinese

The present study investigated whether word-boundary information, provided by alternating colors (consistent or inconsistent with word-boundary information) in a Chinese sentence would facilitate the reading of second-language (L2) learners. Thirty-three Korean students were recruited in the eye-movement experiment. Relative to a baseline (i.e., mono-colors) condition, incorrect word segmentation produced closer fixation location toward the beginning of words, longer fixation duration, higher refixation rate, and slower reading speed. In contrast, word segmentation with alternating colors produced further fixation location toward the center of words, shorter fixation duration, lower refixation rate, and faster reading speed. These results indicate that L2 readers are capable of making use of word-boundary knowledge for saccade generation, which can result in a facilitation of reading efficiency.