The influence of gaze direction on food preferences

Using subjective emotion, facial expression, and gaze direction to evaluate user affective experience and predict preference when playing single-player games

The affective experience generated when users play computer games can influence their attitude and preference towards the game. Existing evaluation means mainly depend on subjective scales and physiological signals. However, some limitations should not be ignored (e.g. subjective scales are not objective, and physiological signals are complicated). In this paper, we 1) propose a novel method to assess user affective experience when playing single-player games based on pleasure-arousal-dominance (PAD) emotions, facial expressions, and gaze directions, and 2) build an artificial intelligence model to identify user preference. Fifty-four subjects participated in a basketball experiment with three difficulty levels. Their expressions, gaze directions, and subjective PAD emotions were collected and analysed. Experimental results showed that the expression intensities of angry, sad, and neutral, yaw angle degrees of gaze direction, and PAD emotions varied significantly under different difficulties. Besides, the proposed model achieved better performance than other machine-learning algorithms on the collected dataset.

Gaze-Triggered Communicative Intention Compresses Perceived Temporal Duration

Eye gaze communicates a person's attentional state and intentions toward objects. Here we demonstrate that this important social signal has the potential to distort time perception of gazed-at objects (N = 70 adults). By using a novel gaze-associated learning paradigm combined with the time-discrimination task, we showed that objects previously associated with others' eye gaze were perceived as significantly shorter in duration than the nonassociated counterparts. The time-compression effect cannot be attributed to general attention allocation because it disappeared when objects were associated with nonsocial attention cues (i.e., arrows). Critically, this effect correlated with observers' autistic traits and vanished when the gazing agent's line of sight was blocked by barriers, reflecting the key role of intention processing triggered by gaze in modulating time perception. Our findings support the existence of a special mechanism tuned to social cues, which can shape our perception of the outer world in time domains.

EEG alpha and theta signatures of socially and non-socially cued working memory in virtual reality

In this preregistered study (https://osf.io/s4rm9) we investigated the behavioural and neurological [electroencephalography; alpha (attention) and theta (effort)] effects of dynamic non-predictive social and non-social cues on working memory. In a virtual environment realistic human-avatars dynamically looked to the left or right side of a table. A moving stick served as a non-social control cue. Kitchen items were presented in the valid cued or invalid un-cued location for encoding. Behavioural findings showed a similar influence of the cues on working memory performance. Alpha power changes were equivalent for the cues during cueing and encoding, reflecting similar attentional processing. However, theta power changes revealed different patterns for the cues. Theta power increased more strongly for the non-social cue compared to the social cue during initial cueing. Furthermore, while for the non-social cue there was a significantly larger increase in theta power for valid compared to invalid conditions during encoding, this was reversed for the social cue, with a significantly larger increase in theta power for the invalid compared to valid conditions, indicating differences in the cues' effects on cognitive effort. Therefore, while social and non-social attention cues impact working memory performance in a similar fashion, the underlying neural mechanisms appear to differ.

Determinants and modulators of human social decisions

Social decision making is a highly complex process that involves diverse cognitive mechanisms, and it is driven by the precise processing of information from both the environment and from the internal state. On the one hand, successful social decisions require close monitoring of others' behavior, in order to track their intentions; this can guide not only decisions involving other people, but also one's own choices and preferences. On the other hand, internal states such as own reward or changes in hormonal and neurotransmitter states shape social decisions and their underlying neural function. Here, we review the current literature on modulators and determinants of human social decisions.

Neurogastronomy as a Tool for Evaluating Emotions and Visual Preferences of Selected Food Served in Different Ways

The appearance of food provides certain expectations regarding the harmonization of taste, delicacy, and overall quality, which subsequently affects not only the intake itself but also many other features of the behavior of customers of catering facilities. The main goal of this article is to find out what effect the visual design of food (waffles) prepared from the same ingredients and served in three different ways-a stone plate, street food style, and a white classic plate-has on the consumer's preferences. In addition to the classic tablet assistance personal interview (TAPI) tools, biometric methods such as eye tracking and face reading were used in order to obtain unconscious feedback. During testing, air quality in the room by means of the Extech device and the influence of the visual design of food on the perception of its smell were checked. At the end of the paper, we point out the importance of using classical feedback collection techniques (TAPI) and their extension in measuring subconscious reactions based on monitoring the eye movements and facial expressions of the respondents, which provides a whole new perspective on the perception of visual design and serving food as well as more effective targeting and use of corporate resources.

Effect of the model eye gaze direction on consumer information processing: a consideration of gender differences

Purpose

The purpose of this paper aims to investigate the effect of a model's eye gaze direction on the information processing behavior of consumers varying based on their gender.

Design/methodology/approach

An eye-tracking experiment and a memory test are conducted to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

Compared to an averted gaze, a model with a direct gaze attracts more attention to the model's face among male consumers, leading to deeper processing. However, the findings show that when a model displays a direct gaze rather than an averted gaze, female consumers pay more attention to the brand name, thus leading to deeper processing.

Originality/value

This study contributes to not only the existing eye gaze direction literature by integrating the facilitative effect of direct gaze and considering the moderating role of consumer gender on consumer information processing but also the literature concerning the selectivity hypothesis by providing evidence of gender differences in information processing. Moreover, this study offers practical insights to practitioners regarding how to design appealing webpages to satisfy consumers of different genders.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2020-0025

Incidental learning of group trust: Predictive gaze cue matters

Human gaze is a subtle cue to deliver information and helps impression formation in social interactions. People automatically follow the gaze direction of others and shift their attention accordingly, as well as determine the trustworthiness of others based on the predictable validity of their gaze behavior, yet it remains unclear how this works at the collective level. Therefore, the current study is the first to explore the incidental learning of trust from a group’s gaze behavior. To simulate different patterns of perceiving collective information in real life, two ways of presenting group member gazes were used in the object categorization task, the simultaneous way in Experiment 1 and the sequential way in Experiment 3, and a sampling strategy was ruled out in Experiment 2. Converging findings in experiments demonstrated a typical gaze-cueing effect, and more importantly, the Predictive-valid group obtained more trust compared to the Predictive-invalid group. To enrich and expand the applicability of the incidental trust learning effect from gazes, the current study provides supportive evidence at the collective level, confirming that humans have an efficient capability to process gaze information of groups.