Eye-Tracking-based Wizard-of-Oz Usability Evaluation of an Emotional Display Agent Integrated to a Virtual Environment

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the usability testing of an experimental component of the Virtual Collaboration Arena (VirCA) developed by the Cognitive Informatics Group of the Computer and Automation Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This component is a semi-intelligent agent called the Emotional Display Object. We applied Wizard-of-Oz type high-fidelity early prototype evaluation technique to test the concept. The research focused on basic usability problems, and, in general, the perceptibility of the object as uncovered by eye-tracking and interview data; we analyzed and interpreted the results in correlation with the individual differences identified by a demographic questionnaire and psychological tests: the Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Spatial-Visual Ability Paper Folding Test, and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) – however, the main goal of this paper outreaches beyond the particular issues found and the development of an agent: it shows a case study on how complex concepts in Virtual Reality (VR) can be tested in very early stage of development.