Joyce John M, Campbell Mark J, Hojaji Fazilat, Toth Adam J
Esports Science Research Lab, Lero, The Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Software Research, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland.
Department of Physical Education & Sport Science, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland.
Vision (Basel). 2024 Apr 29;8(2):27. doi: 10.3390/vision8020027.
Simulated (sim) racing is an emerging esport that has garnered much interest in recent years and has been a relatively under-researched field in terms of expertise and performance. When examining expertise, visual attention has been of particular interest to researchers, with eye tracking technology commonly used to assess visual attention. In this study, we examined the overt visual attention allocation of high- and low-skilled sim racers during a time trial task using Tobii 3 glasses. In the study, 104 participants were tested on one occasion, with 88 included in the analysis after exclusions. Participants were allocated to either group according to their fastest lap times. Independent -tests were carried out with sidak corrections to test our hypotheses. Our results indicate that when eye tracking metrics were normalised to the lap time and corner sector time, there was a difference in the relative length of overt attention allocation (fixation behaviour) as lower-skilled racers had significantly greater total fixation durations in laps overall and across corner sectors when normalised ( = 0.013; = 0.018). Interestingly, high- and low-skilled sim racers differed in where they allocated their attention during the task, with high-skilled sim racers allocating significantly less overt attention to the track relative to other areas of the display ( = 0.003). This would allow for higher-skilled racers to obtain relatively more information from heads-up display elements in-game, all whilst driving at faster speeds. This study provides evidence that high-skilled sim racers appear to need significantly less overt attention throughout a fast lap, and that high- and low-skilled sim racers differ in where they allocate their attention while racing.
模拟赛车是一项近年来兴起的电子竞技运动，在专业技能和表现方面一直是一个研究相对较少的领域。在研究专业技能时，视觉注意力一直是研究人员特别感兴趣的方面，眼动追踪技术常用于评估视觉注意力。在本研究中，我们使用Tobii 3眼镜，考察了高水平和低水平模拟赛车手在计时赛任务中的公开视觉注意力分配情况。在该研究中，104名参与者接受了一次测试，排除后88人纳入分析。参与者根据他们的最快单圈时间被分配到相应组。采用Sidak校正进行独立检验以验证我们的假设。我们的结果表明，当将眼动追踪指标按单圈时间和弯道区域时间进行标准化时，公开注意力分配（注视行为）的相对时长存在差异，因为低水平赛车手在单圈整体以及各弯道区域经标准化后的总注视时长显著更长（p = 0.013；p = 0.018）。有趣的是，高水平和低水平模拟赛车手在任务过程中的注意力分配位置不同，相对于显示屏的其他区域，高水平模拟赛车手对赛道分配的公开注意力显著更少（p = 0.003）。这使得高水平赛车手能够在游戏中从平视显示器元素中获取相对更多的信息，同时还能以更快的速度驾驶。本研究提供了证据，表明高水平模拟赛车手在快速单圈过程中似乎明显需要更少的公开注意力，而且高水平和低水平模拟赛车手在比赛时的注意力分配位置存在差异。
