On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks

Drift represents a common distortion that affects the position of fixations in eye tracking data. While manual correction is considered very accurate, it is considered subjective and time-consuming. On the other hand, automated correction is fast, objective, and considered less accurate. An objectiv...

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Main Author: Naser Al Madi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of Eye Movement Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1995-8692/18/3/17
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author Naser Al Madi
author_facet Naser Al Madi
author_sort Naser Al Madi
collection DOAJ
description Drift represents a common distortion that affects the position of fixations in eye tracking data. While manual correction is considered very accurate, it is considered subjective and time-consuming. On the other hand, automated correction is fast, objective, and considered less accurate. An objective comparison of the accuracy of manual and automated correction has not been conducted before, and the extent of subjectivity in manual correction is not entirely quantified. In this paper, we compare the accuracy of manual and automated correction of eye tracking data in reading tasks through a novel approach that relies on synthetic data with known ground truth. Moreover, we quantify the subjectivity in manual human correction with real eye tracking data. Our results show that expert human correction is significantly more accurate than automated algorithms, yet novice human correctors are on par with the best automated algorithms. In addition, we found that human correctors show excellent agreement in their correction, challenging the notion that manual correction is “highly subjective”. Our findings provide unique insights, quantifying the benefits of manual and automated correction.
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spelling doaj-art-af7c654481cc47d0b4cff679edd184fb2025-08-20T03:24:42ZengMDPI AGJournal of Eye Movement Research1995-86922025-05-011831710.3390/jemr18030017On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading TasksNaser Al Madi0Department of Computer Science, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901, USADrift represents a common distortion that affects the position of fixations in eye tracking data. While manual correction is considered very accurate, it is considered subjective and time-consuming. On the other hand, automated correction is fast, objective, and considered less accurate. An objective comparison of the accuracy of manual and automated correction has not been conducted before, and the extent of subjectivity in manual correction is not entirely quantified. In this paper, we compare the accuracy of manual and automated correction of eye tracking data in reading tasks through a novel approach that relies on synthetic data with known ground truth. Moreover, we quantify the subjectivity in manual human correction with real eye tracking data. Our results show that expert human correction is significantly more accurate than automated algorithms, yet novice human correctors are on par with the best automated algorithms. In addition, we found that human correctors show excellent agreement in their correction, challenging the notion that manual correction is “highly subjective”. Our findings provide unique insights, quantifying the benefits of manual and automated correction.https://www.mdpi.com/1995-8692/18/3/17eye trackingreadingcorrectiondriftautomated-algorithmsdistortion
spellingShingle Naser Al Madi
On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
Journal of Eye Movement Research
eye tracking
reading
correction
drift
automated-algorithms
distortion
title On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
title_full On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
title_fullStr On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
title_full_unstemmed On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
title_short On the Validity and Benefit of Manual and Automated Drift Correction in Reading Tasks
title_sort on the validity and benefit of manual and automated drift correction in reading tasks
topic eye tracking
reading
correction
drift
automated-algorithms
distortion
url https://www.mdpi.com/1995-8692/18/3/17
work_keys_str_mv AT naseralmadi onthevalidityandbenefitofmanualandautomateddriftcorrectioninreadingtasks