einstein (São Paulo). 28/Mar/2025;23:eAO0911.
Assessing webcam-based eye-tracking during comic reading in the classroom: a feasibility study
DOI: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2025AO0911
Highlights
■ Webcam-based eye tracking demonstrated feasibility for monitoring reading behavior in classrooms.
■ Webcam-based eye tracking captured fixation times, showing differing reading speeds across comic sections.
■ Webcam-based eye tracking showed accuracy comparable to infrared-based systems, despite lower precision.
■ Limitations resulting in data loss underscore the need for methodological improvements.
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of webcam-based eye tracking for monitoring comic books reading behavior in a real-world classroom setting.
Methods:
We tested the feasibility of using the webcam-based eye tracking in a children’s classroom experiment (n=22), observing reading patterns as students engaged with a comic strip. Qualitative quality control was implemented to exclude low-quality data. Fixation dwell time was measured to determine whether specific areas of the image received more attention. Additionally, a validation test was conducted (n=3) to assess the accuracy and precision of webcam-based eye tracking compared with an infrared-based eye-tracking system. The accuracy and precision were evaluated, with lower values indicating better performance.
Results:
During the comic reading task, webcam-based eye tracking effectively captured fixation dwell time, showing that students read the left side significantly faster (2.916 words/s, SD=0.705) compared to the right side (1.962 words/s, SD=0.450, p≤0.001). The validation test showed that webcam-based eye tracking had an average accuracy of 11.581% and a precision of 3.058%, whereas the infrared-based system recorded an accuracy of 11.290% and a precision of 1.264%. Although webcam-based eye tracking demonstrated a slightly lower precision (bias=-1.794, 95%CI=-3.055 to -0.532), no significant difference was observed in accuracy between the two systems.
Conclusion:
Despite significant data loss due to low-quality recordings, webcam-based eye tracking proved to be a feasible tool for monitoring comics reading behavior in real-world classroom settings, providing accuracy comparable to that of IR-based systems and valuable insights into students’ reading patterns.
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