Gaze-aware support for security surveillance: a user-centered field study

Security surveillance is characterised by substantial cognitive challenges to operators. Scantracker is a mixed-reality gaze-aware support tool that alerts surveillance operators to neglected cameras, attentional tunnelling, and vigilance decrements. Initial research efforts were conducted in simulated environments to examine the effects of Scantracker on surveillance performance; however, this tool has yet to be deployed and tested in a real-world operational environment. In the current study, we tested Scantracker in an airport operations centre to assess the feasibility of its integration and to collect expert feedback regarding its operational relevance. Operators used Scantracker voluntarily during their work shift, while gaze data enabled system notifications. They provided ratings on perceived utility, workload and ergonomic quality along with qualitative feedback on their experience. The pattern of results highlights the potential of Scantracker to support surveillance operators and demonstrates the value of user-centred field testing for developing intelligent monitoring assistants.