Luo Yekui, Chen Yonghuan, Cho Jinho, Yan Changliang, Seo JaeChul
School of TCM and Pharmacology Health and Early Childhood Care, NingBo College of Health Sciences, Ningbo, China.
Department of Marine Sports, Pukyong National University, Busan, South Korea.
Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 16;15(1):30185. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12101-8.
eSports is an emerging digital sport that has attracted widespread attention. As an activity that heavily relies on visual information, investigating the differences in eye movement characteristics between eSports players of varying skill levels is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying improvements in gaming performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the differences in the characteristics of eye movements between expert and non-expert eSports players by integrating existing studies through a systematic review and meta-analysis approach. A systematic search was conducted across the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, with the search cutoff date set to July 20, 2024. A total of seven studies, involving 165 participants, were ultimately included in the analysis. The aggregated results show that expert eSports players have a significantly shorter average fixation duration compared to non-expert players, with a moderate amount of effect size (SMD = -0.66; 95% CI: -1.01, -0.30; P < 0.05). There is no significant difference in the average number of fixations between expert and non-expert eSports players (SMD = -0.22; 95% CI: -0.55, -0.99; P = 0.58). Regarding eye tracking characteristics within areas of interest, expert players exhibit more targeted visual strategies and devote greater visual attention to key elements of the game. These findings provide a scientific basis for eSports training and contribute to developing more effective training methods and strategies, thereby improving players' competitive performance. Future research could further investigate the relationship between eye movement characteristics and eSports performance and develop personalized training programs based on eye movement data.
电子竞技是一项新兴的数字体育项目，已引起广泛关注。作为一项严重依赖视觉信息的活动，研究不同技能水平的电子竞技玩家之间眼动特征的差异，对于理解游戏表现提升的潜在机制至关重要。因此，本研究的目的是通过系统评价和荟萃分析方法整合现有研究，系统且全面地评估专家级和非专家级电子竞技玩家眼动特征的差异。在PubMed、Scopus和Web of Science数据库中进行了系统检索，检索截止日期设定为2024年7月20日。最终共有7项研究、165名参与者纳入分析。汇总结果显示，与非专家级玩家相比，专家级电子竞技玩家的平均注视持续时间显著更短，效应量适中（标准化均数差 = -0.66；95%可信区间：-1.01，-0.30；P < 0.05）。专家级和非专家级电子竞技玩家的平均注视次数无显著差异（标准化均数差 = -0.22；95%可信区间：-0.55，-0.99；P = 0.58）。在感兴趣区域的眼动追踪特征方面，专家级玩家表现出更具针对性的视觉策略，并将更多视觉注意力投入到游戏的关键元素上。这些发现为电子竞技训练提供了科学依据，有助于开发更有效的训练方法和策略，从而提高玩家的竞技表现。未来的研究可以进一步探究眼动特征与电子竞技表现之间的关系，并基于眼动数据制定个性化训练计划。
