Visual perception of international traffic signs: Influence of e-learning and culture on eye movements

Various eye movement metrics were recorded during the visual perception of international traffic signs embedded within an e-learning course designed to familiarize participants with foreign signage. Goals of the were to gauge differences in task types, sign origin, and ethnicity (American, Chinese, and Austrian) as well as effectiveness of the e-learning teaching materials in terms of prior preparation. Results, in contrast to other studies, suggest that teaching materials had no overall effect on either eye movement metrics nor on task success rates. Instead, sign origin had the strongest effect on gaze, as foreign signs in mixed presentation with domestic signs, elicited a larger number of fixations with longer mean fixation durations, highest regression rates, and lower performance scores. Possible effects of ethnicity were also noted: Americans showed lower mean fixation durations over the entire experiment, independent of test conditions, with Chinese participants fixating faster on (correct) road signs than the other ethnic groups.