Normal Gaze Patterns of the Face in Lateral View.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Psychology
• Facial Recognition Studies

Background:

• Current research on facial distraction primarily examines frontal views.
• Societal perception and fixation patterns of faces in lateral view are not well understood.
• No prior studies have characterized gaze patterns for lateral facial views.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and characterize fixation and gaze patterns when viewing faces in profile.
• To quantify attentional distribution across different facial features in lateral view.

Main Methods:

• Prospective randomized controlled trial involving 80 participants.
• Infrared eye-tracking technology recorded real-time eye movements.
• Participants viewed 11 lateral facial images for 10 seconds each.

Main Results:

• Average gaze duration on face and neck was 6.0 seconds.
• The eye received the most attention (49.8%), followed by the nose (16.4%) and cheek (12.0%).
• Significantly more attention was directed to the eye-nose-cheek area (79.5%) compared to the eye-nose-mouth area (71.2%).

Conclusions:

• Casual observers prioritize the eye, nose, and cheek when perceiving faces in lateral view.
• These findings suggest a distinct set of features are used to construct a mental schema of the sagittal face.
• This may complement existing models of facial perception and contribute to a 3D understanding of the human face.