Training the eye for steel work

Tobii is currently involved in a three-year eye tracking study which aims to reduce the skills gap and labor shortage affecting the Swedish metal industry. The project is called ‘Få ett öga för stålarbete (FÖSA)’ which means ‘Get an eye for steel work.’

Project overview

The project examines multiple areas of the steel industry in a bid to improve education, training, and certification. The initiative emerged due to an industry-wide skills shortage which put increased pressure on companies to quickly train staff while retaining valuable knowledge held by experienced workers preparing to exit the workforce. There was also a need to overcome language barriers associated with hiring newly migrated workers. In this project, we used eye tracking to document and analyze tacit knowledge in work procedures to create better visual learning materials for efficient training and onboarding.

Who is involved?

Nine stakeholders, including Tobii, are part of the project. This includes companies, educational institutes, and unions. The initiative is being funded by a grant from Vinnova, Sweden’s government agency for innovation, and contributions from participating companies and organizations.

Participating parties:

• Bufab Lann

• Teknikföretagen

• Gnosjö automatsvarvning

• IF Metall

• Skärteknikcentrum Sverige - SKTC

• Swerea - Swecast

• Uddeholm

• Industriarbetsgivarna

• Tobii

Funding from:

• Vinnova

• Metalliska Material

• Gjuteriföreningen

• Jernkontoret

• Svenskt Aluminium

• Energimyndigheten

• Formas

• Strategiska Innovationsprogram

Learning materials for faster training and onboarding

Tobii is collecting eye tracking data from workers at several steel companies to tap into subconscious behaviors and harness tacit knowledge relating to key skills. Employees in various roles will be fitted with eye tracking glasses while they complete regular workplace activities. The glasses will record their surrounding environment and gather data on where their visual attention is focused. Data will be collected from staff with different levels of experience and abilities.

Activities that require a high level of skill can often be difficult to articulate. Much of the knowledge needed to do these activities well is acquired over time and becomes implicit, meaning it’s almost impossible to explain. Eye tracking helps capture this information in a way that is easy to transfer. Eye tracking glasses allow us to tap into the visual attention of a worker and see things from their perspective. It captures their visual attention and elements of their behavior that are instinctive or subconscious. This information can be used to identify methods of best practice and create visual learning material for new staff. Because it’s not language-dependent, it overcomes many of the barriers attached to verbal or written instructions.

Project phases

The project will be carried out in three phases.

Phase 1: We will use eye tracking to examine expert and novice performance while completing the same tasks and gather data for analysis.

Phase 2: We will develop training materials based on methods of best practice obtained from the experts, helping workers acquire new skills more efficiently. We will also develop methods of skills assessment to check if workers have the necessary skill levels.

Phase 3: We will assess how the new training methods were perceived by real learners compared to the current training offered.