Eye-tracking data of the 2019 Measuring aesthetics project (NESP TWQ 5.5, Griffith Institute for Tourism Research)

The second stream within the NESP 5.5 project was conducted using eye-tracking technology to examine possible differences between three participant groups in evaluating the aesthetic beauty of GBR underwater sceneries. This research continue the efforts initiated in the previous NESP 3.2.3 project to explore the power of eye-tracking as an objective measure of human aesthetic assessment of GBR underwater sceneries. By employing a sample of three social-cultural groups (non-indigenous Australians, Chinese and First Peoples), this research provides further empirical evidence for the effectiveness of eye-tracking in aesthetic research in a cross-cultural context. Data collected using eye tracking was stored in one Excel file of eye-tracking data exported from Tobii eye-tracking device and 20 heatmaps showing participants’ visual attention to 20 images of underwater GBR sceneries.

Methods:

Following the initial research conducted in the previous NESP 3.2.3 project, 93 participants of various socio-cultural backgrounds (non-indigenous Australians, First People Australians and Chinese) were recruited using convenience sampling in this study. Participants were asked to sit in front of a screen-based eye-tracking equipment (i.e. Tobii T60 eye-tracker) after providing informed consent. Participants were free to look at each picture on screen as long as they wanted during which their eye movements were recorded (similar to lab setting in NESP 3.2.3). They also rated each picture on a 10-point beauty scale (1-Not beautiful at all, 10-Very beautiful). Raw eye-tracking data was then imported to IBM SPSS using SAV. format for data analysis. Raw eye-tracking data was then extracted from Tobii eye-tracking device (i.e. picture beauty, time to first fixation, fixation count, fixation duration and total visit time) in Exel format. Twenty heatmaps in Png format generated from the eye-tracking software to show participants’ visual attention were also included. As an extension of the previous study conducted within the NESP 3.2.3 project, data collected was used to examine the influences of social-cultural differences in aesthetic assessment of GBR underwater sceneries.

Advanced technologies were used in combination with self-reporting measurements for a better understanding of socio-cultural differences and socio-cultural influences on aesthetic assessment among three groups. Eye-tracking provides a measure of visual attention, enabling researchers to explore further potential differences among three groups regarding their interest in viewing and assessing the GBR aesthetics. Previous research (NESP 3.2.3) demonstrated that eye-tracking measures of viewers' visual attention (i.e., fixation duration and fixation count) and aesthetic ratings are correlated, suggesting the usefulness of eye-tracking in aesthetic research. This study verifies the usefulness of eye-tracking in aesthetic research in a cross-cultural context. Participants were exposed to 20 images of underwater GBR scenery in random order which were used in the previous focus groups.

Further information can be found in the following publication:
Le, D., Becken, S., & Whitford, M. (2020) A cross-cultural investigation of the great barrier Reef aesthetics using eye-tracking and face-reader technologies. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. Published online at https://nesptropical.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NESP-TWQ-Project-5.5-Technical-Report-2.pdf

Format:

The eye-tracking folder contains one Excel file containing raw eye-tracking data and 20 heatmaps generated from eye-tracking software in Png format.

Data Dictionary:

- Beauty1: Name of the corresponding GBR underwater picture used in the eye-tracking experiment
- ABeauty1: Aesthetic evaluations of the corresponding picture (e.g., Beauty1)
- EBeauty1: Aesthetic emotion (i.e., pleasant) of the corresponding picture (e.g., Beauty1)
- FD_Beauty1: Fixation duration in the picture Beauty1 (i.e. the average length of all fixations during all recordings in the whole picture). A longer fixation means that the object is more engaging in some way. Measurement unit:
- AOIFD_Beauty1: Fixation duration in the central area of interest (AOI) in picture Beauty1 (i.e. the average length of all fixations during all recordings in the whole picture). A longer fixation means that the object is more engaging in some way.
- FC_Beauty1: Fixation count in the picture Beauty1 (i.e. the average number of fixations in the picture).
- AOIFC_Beauty1: Fixation count in the central area of interest (AOI) in picture Beauty1 (i.e. the average number of fixations in the picture).

Similar labels are used for other pictures, including Beauty 2,3,4; Human 1,3,5,6; Medium 1,2,3,4; Restoration 1,2,3,8 and Ugly 1,2,3,4.

Further information can be found in the following publication:
Le, D., Becken, S., & Whitford, M. (2020) A cross-cultural investigation of the great barrier Reef aesthetics using eye-tracking and face-reader technologies. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. Published online at https://nesptropical.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NESP-TWQ-Project-5.5-Technical-Report-2.pdf

References:

Murray, N., Marchesotti, M. & Perronnin, F (2012). AVA: A Large-Scale Database for Aesthetic Visual Analysis. Available (09/10/17) http://refbase.cvc.uab.es/files/MMP2012a.pdf

Data Location:

This dataset is filed in the eAtlas enduring data repository at: data\custodian\2019-2022-NESP-TWQ-5\5.5_Measuring-aesthetics

NESP 5.5项目的第二个分支采用眼动追踪技术（eye-tracking technology），旨在考察三组参与者在评估大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef，GBR）水下景观审美美感时的潜在差异。本研究延续了此前NESP 3.2.3项目的研究方向，探索将眼动追踪作为人类对GBR水下景观审美评估的客观测量手段的可行性。本研究招募了三类社会文化群体的样本：非原住民澳大利亚人、华人和第一民族（First Peoples），为跨文化语境下眼动追踪在审美研究中的有效性提供了进一步的实证依据。本次研究采集的数据存储于两个文件组中：一是从Tobii眼动仪（Tobii eye-tracking device）导出的眼动数据Excel文件，二是20张展示参与者对20张GBR水下景观图片视觉注意力的热图（heatmaps）。

研究方法：
承接此前NESP 3.2.3项目的初步研究，本研究通过便利抽样（convenience sampling）招募了93名具有不同社会文化背景的参与者，涵盖非原住民澳大利亚人、澳大利亚第一民族以及华人群体。参与者在签署知情同意书（informed consent）后，被安排坐在屏幕式眼动追踪设备（screen-based eye-tracking equipment）前，即Tobii T60眼动仪（Tobii T60 eye-tracker）。实验期间，参与者可自由观看屏幕上的每张图片，时长不限，其眼动轨迹将被记录，该设置与NESP 3.2.3项目的实验室环境一致。此外，参与者需按照10分制美感量表对每张图片进行评分，其中1分代表“完全不美观”，10分代表“极具美感”。随后，原始眼动数据将以SAV格式（SAV format）导入IBM SPSS进行数据分析。从Tobii眼动仪中提取的原始眼动数据以Excel格式存储，包含图片美观度、首次注视时间（time to first fixation）、注视次数（fixation count）、注视时长（fixation duration）以及总浏览时间（total visit time）等指标。此外，本次研究还包含20张由眼动软件生成的PNG格式（PNG format）热图，用于展示参与者的视觉注意力分布。
作为NESP 3.2.3项目研究的延伸，本次采集的数据被用于考察社会文化差异对GBR水下景观审美评估的影响。本研究结合了先进技术与自我报告测量手段，以更深入地理解三类群体间的社会文化差异，以及社会文化因素对审美评估的影响。眼动追踪可提供视觉注意力的量化指标，助力研究者进一步探索三组参与者在观赏与评估GBR景观美学时的潜在兴趣差异。此前NESP 3.2.3项目的研究已证实，观众视觉注意力的眼动追踪指标（如注视时长与注视次数）与审美评分存在相关性，表明眼动追踪在审美研究中的应用价值。本研究则验证了眼动追踪在跨文化语境下的审美研究中的应用有效性。本次实验以随机顺序向参与者展示20张此前焦点小组中使用过的GBR水下景观图片。

更多详细信息可参阅以下出版物：
Le, D., Becken, S., & Whitford, M. (2020) 《采用眼动追踪与面部读取技术开展大堡礁审美跨文化研究》，提交给国家环境科学项目（National Environmental Science Program，NESP）的报告。凯恩斯雨林与珊瑚礁研究中心有限公司，2020年。在线发布于：https://nesptropical.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NESP-TWQ-Project-5.5-Technical-Report-2.pdf

文件夹格式：
眼动追踪文件夹包含1个存储原始眼动数据的Excel文件，以及20张由眼动软件生成的PNG格式热图。

数据字典：
- Beauty1：眼动实验中使用的对应GBR水下图片名称
- ABeauty1：对应图片（如Beauty1）的审美评分
- EBeauty1：对应图片（如Beauty1）的审美情绪（如愉悦感）
- FD_Beauty1：图片Beauty1的注视时长（即整张图片所有记录周期内所有注视行为的平均时长。注视时长越长，说明该对象在某种程度上更具吸引力。测量单位：
- AOIFD_Beauty1：图片Beauty1中央兴趣区（Area of Interest，AOI）的注视时长（即整张图片该区域内所有记录周期内所有注视行为的平均时长。注视时长越长，说明该对象在某种程度上更具吸引力）
- FC_Beauty1：图片Beauty1的注视次数（即该图片内的平均注视数量）
- AOIFC_Beauty1：图片Beauty1中央兴趣区（AOI）的注视次数（即该区域内的平均注视数量）

其他图片采用类似的标签命名规则，包括Beauty 2、3、4；Human 1、3、5、6；Medium 1、2、3、4；Restoration 1、2、3、8以及Ugly 1、2、3、4。

更多详细信息可参阅以下出版物：
Le, D., Becken, S., & Whitford, M. (2020) 《采用眼动追踪与面部读取技术开展大堡礁审美跨文化研究》，提交给国家环境科学项目的报告。凯恩斯雨林与珊瑚礁研究中心有限公司，2020年。在线发布于：https://nesptropical.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NESP-TWQ-Project-5.5-Technical-Report-2.pdf

参考文献：
Murray, N., Marchesotti, M. & Perronnin, F (2012). AVA：用于审美视觉分析的大规模数据库。可获取于(09/10/17) http://refbase.cvc.uab.es/files/MMP2012a.pdf

数据存储位置：
本数据集存储于eAtlas持久化数据仓库中，路径为：datacustodian2019-2022-NESP-TWQ-55.5_Measuring-aesthetics