THE USE OF EYE-TRACKING FOR THE EVALUATION OF VARIOUS CARTOGRAPHIC TASKS

References: 14th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2014, www.sgem.org, SGEM2014 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7105-12-4 / ISSN 1314-2704, June 19-25, 2014, Book 2, Vol. 3, 981-988 pp

ABSTRACT
To express spatial information there are lots of methods of cartographic visualization. Using these various methods differ primarily in connection with the main purpose and objective of visualizations. To select appropriate methods of cartographic visualization and appropriate parameters of each method, it is necessary to perform user testing through the use of various cartographic tasks. Statistical evaluation of correctness and time performance of these cartographic tasks subsequently lead to the evaluation of each parameter of particular methods of cartographic visualization. When dealing with the cartographic tasks it is needed to define all aspects related to cartographic processing in a particular case. To evaluate the individual aspects of cartographic tasks it is possible to use a modern technological approach in the form of eye-tracking. The paper describes the use of eye-tracking technology in solving various cartographic tasks. It is a combination of outputs of a comprehensive set of eye-tracking experiments that address different areas of cartographic visualization with focus on the nontechnological aspects. All the evaluated aspects are related to the efficiency of information transfer from the map to the user, which is presented as the information perception. Individual experiments are focused on specific aspects of cartographic visualization - the use of text labels and fonts, use of colours, the map content (information vs. graphic), various methods of cartographic visualization, etc. The resulting comparison enables comprehensive view of the issue. The uniqueness of the study lies in the assembly and comparison of multiple experiments, not from the perspective of the individual research questions, but in the form of evaluation of different cartographic tasks solved by individual respondents.

Keywords: methods of cartographic visualization, eye-tracking, cartographic tasks