Comparing eye tracking technology in reading performance assessment with conventional method

Background: Reading is one of the most essential kills for academic and social development. It greatly affects one’s quality of life, making the assessment of reading performance essential and should be considered in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to compare the reading speed recorded using eye tracking technology (Tobii Pro Fusion 120-Hzeye tracker and Tobii Pro Lab software) with the reading speed measured using conventional evaluation method. The number of fixations and total fixation duration acquired from the eye tracking data were analysed as potential indicators for reading performance. Methods: Seventeen healthy participants (aged 21 to 38) with optimum vision were recruited in this study. All participants were instructed to read aloud from two different reading materials, which were selected in random sequences. During the reading task, the eye tracker automatically captured and computed the reading duration, number of fixations and total fixation duration. As for the conventional evaluation method, the time taken to complete the reading task was manually measured for each participant using a stopwatch. Reading speed was quantified as words per minute (wpm). Results: The paired t-test revealed no significant difference in reading speed measurement between conventional evaluation method and eye tracking recording(p=0.986). The Bland-Altman plot demonstrated good agreement between the reading speed measured using the two methods. Regarding the analysis of fixation data, the Pearson correlation showed a negative correlation between reading speed and both total fixation duration (r=-0.515, p=0.035) and number of fixations (r=-0.585, p=0.014), suggesting that participants with lower reading speed (slow reader) tended to have higher number of fixations and longer total fixation duration. These findings imply that fixation data may be a useful measure for assessing reading performance. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of Tobii Pro Fusion 120-Hz eye tracker as a valuable tool for enhancing the assessment of reading performance as it offers a more precise and dynamic approach to assess reading performance compared to conventional methods.