Assessing reading habits with eye tracking

Close to eight million people in Germany struggle with reading, and as one of the peak bodies for promoting literacy, Stiftung Lesen (German Reading Foundation) wants to change that. As part of its activities, the organization conducts research into the behaviors and reading habits of young people and adults.

The background

The organization wanted to understand how young adults use written language in their everyday lives, including reading, writing, media usage, and active participation in online media. The aim of this was to be able to explore new methods for research in the field of reading behavior and media consumption. The main questions researchers had been about where, when, and how participants consume written material or communicate themselves in writing, what role media plays in this, as well as what role it has in communication with others.

The method

Stiftung Lesen worked with Tobii's research consultancy division, Tobii Insight, to run a pilot study on the reading/writing behavior and media usage of 18- to 24-year-olds. The participants were asked to wear Tobii eye tracking glasses as much as possible over a two-day period while they continued regular activities such as watching TV, reading, using their smartphones, meeting with friends etc. In total, 28 hours of video was recorded for analysis.

The conclusion

The data was analyzed, and the results sorted into categories like reading, writing, media usage, and active participation in online media. High-level statistics were also extracted to provide an overview of the subjects' attention to different media formats such as phones, tablets, computers, TV, printed materials, as well as outdoor advertisements and street signs.

With this data Tobii and Stiftung Lesen hosted a series of workshops where students interpreted and reflected upon the gaze videos from different angles. Several hypotheses were formulated from these discussions, to be investigated in the future.