Research project Gaze in conversation
Eye contact is very important in conversation. We make and break eye contact with our interlocutors. According to observations, we seek the other person's gaze when we want to pass the word or have confirmation, but there are often no statistics on how common such behaviors are and when they occur.
In Gaze in conversation, we map the gaze and examine what effects it has during conversations. We record spontaneous three-way conversations of 30 minutes where the participants talk about what they feel like doing. We record the eye movements of the participants at the same time as we record the conversations. Based on the recordings, we determine when the participants are talking and when they are silent, find places where someone else takes the floor, give short confirmations, and more. We then compare these registrations and determine, for example, when eye contact occurs in relation to when someone begins an utterance. The project provides basic research benefit in the form of scientific descriptions that lay the foundation for investigations of how significant these phenomena are in conversations. The observations previously based on manual labeling can be verified in automatically labeled, operationalized models. Further methodological insights regarding the recording of eye movements in spontaneous conversations. Databases of this type do not exist today, and the one collected will be a unique resource for future research. Finally, the state of research in speech technology is moved forward through a contribution to the development of more human-like artificial interlocutors.
Project members
Project managers
Jens Edlund
Associate professor
Members
Mattias Heldner
Professor, Head of Department
Marcin Wlodarczak
Senior lecturer
