Detecting ambient/focal visual attention in professional airline pilots with a modified Coefficient K: a full flight simulator study

Flight instruments, from which a pilot monitors an aircraft, usually serve as areas-of-interest (AOI) that help to investigate the dynamics of the visual behavior of pilots. Consequently, several meta-metrics have been proposed to provide more information than common variables such as the number of fixations and saccades, the fixation durations, the saccade amplitude, and the standard dwell time. Researchers are however still searching for the best metrics for better insights into eye movements during scene exploration or inspection. In this work, we propose extending the formerly well established κ-coefficient metric defined by Krejtz et al. [2016] that allows discerning ambient and focal attention. Using AOI and transitions between them, we have derived a new measure that enables assessment of the distribution of visual attention (via eye-tracking data). Professional pilots’ eye movements were recorded while they were performing a flight scenario with full automation, including phases of flight (take-off, cruise, landing). Our analysis suggests that the take-off, cruise, and landing phases call for checking of specific areas, evidenced by the number of fixations and their durations. Furthermore, we compare our metric to the standard κ-coefficient and validate our approach using data collected during an experiment with 11 certified aircraft pilots. Here, we were able to show that the derived metric can be an interesting alternative for visual behavior investigation. The modified κ-coefficient can be used as a metric to investigate visual attention distribution, with application in cockpit monitoring assessment during training sessions or potentially during real flights.