Lux, B., Schmidl, D., Eibl, M., Hinterleitner, B., Böhm, P., & Isemann, D. (2018, July). Efficiency and User Experience of Gaze Interaction in an Automotive Environment. In International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics (pp. 429-444). Springer, Cham.
Over the last years the number and quality of information and entertainment systems in automobiles has been rising constantly. This presents the challenge to provide safe and user-friendly interaction techniques, the implementation of which can lead to a higher level of efficiency, safety and user experience. One novel and promising approach is to use the drivers gaze as input for interaction with infotainment systems. We implemented a virtual car interior model to test the efficiency and user experience of gaze interaction with automotive infotainment systems. In a user study with 20 participants we compared a gaze-based interaction style to a haptic interaction technique. The usability of both techniques turned out to be very similar, while the user experience and the efficiency varied in parts. We used an eye-tracking device to investigate gaze behavior, but due to some technical problems with the device our quantitative findings are not as reliable and robust as we would have hoped for and have to be interpreted with care. Our qualitative data indicated a preference for gaze interaction.