Effects of Exhibit Text Presentation Types on Visual Attention Patterns and Cognitive Load in Digital Museums: An Eye-Tracking Study

Exhibit texts are commonly presented as labels or information panels near artworks to provide visitors with direct access to key exhibit information. Digital museums offer flexible and diverse ways to present artworks and communicate their cultural meanings. They also allow exhibit texts to be displayed in different formats, which may shape users’ reading behavior and cognitive experience. This study used a repeated-measures, within-subject design (N = 38) to compare three types of exhibit text presentation: environment-based, object-based, and user-based. Eye tracking, the NASA Task Load Index, and semi-structured interviews were used to examine the users’ visual attention patterns and cognitive load. The results showed significant differences in cognitive load across presentation conditions (p < 0.05), with the object-based layout associated with relatively higher cognitive load and more active visual behavior. These findings provide empirical evidence on how exhibit text presentation affects visitors’ experience in digital museums and offer design implications for textual information in digital reading environments.