What Lab Eye Tracking Tells us about Wayfinding: A Comparison of Stationary and Mobile Eye Tracking in a Large Building Scenario

Eye tracking has become a common method for addressing different topics in the domain of spatial cognition. However, most studies use stationary eye tracking devices to get insights into the cognitive processes of spatial Navigation and wayfinding. We argue that these studies may miss important factors, because body movement and orientation as well as the complexity of real-world perceptions have a strong influence on the processing of environmental Information and on spatial decision making. We propose conducting lab and field studies using stationary and mobile eye tracking devices to investigate the degree of comparability of these accounts and to ensure the ecological validity of lab-based eye tracking studies in spatial navigation tasks. We aim to identify the criteria for designing insightful lab-based eye tracking studies in the spatial domain.