Eye Tracking Feedback to Enhance Visual Search Training
(Room S320A)
28 Nov 17
2:30 PM
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3:00 PM
Law enforcement officers (LEOs) need to develop the visual search skills necessary to compare facial features of individuals to identification document (ID) photos and determine whether or not the individual is an imposter. This task presents a challenge, as individuals may differ in age and appearance compared to the provided ID photo. Training LEOs to effectively gain these visual search skills is typically accomplished through instructor-led presentations in a classroom setting, with instructors describing the techniques and highlighting the critical visual cues (e.g., facial features) needed to perform the task. However, trainees do not currently have a means to visualize performance during the task, and obtain objective feedback of how well they visually interrogated critical cues or if they followed the recommended process or procedure in the sequence or execution of the task. Eye tracking technology provides the capability to visualize search patterns and associate those to critical visual cues, thereby providing individualized feedback on objectively measured performance that allows trainees to see their strengths and areas for improvement. The current investigation was a feasibility study to determine if presenting eye tracking feedback to trainees learning the imposter detection task enhanced learning. A total of 95 new-hire LEO trainees viewed image pairs to detect imposters. After each trial, trainees were able to view eye tracking overlays of scan patterns to visualize critical cues that were and were not attended. Trainees participated in three sessions of seven minutes each, with the first session used to acclimate to the task and training system and accommodate any learning curve. Limitations of the study included a lack of a control group and time available to train. Despite these limitations, instructors and trainees reported significant value of training with objective feedback, and demonstrated improved performance from second to third training s