Comparing In-ear EOG for Eye-Movement Estimation With Eye-Tracking: Accuracy, Calibration, and Speech Comprehension

This presentation details and evaluates a method for estimating the attended speaker during a two-person conversation by means of in-ear electro-oculography (EOG). Twenty-five hearing-impaired participants were fitted with molds equipped with EOG electrodes (in-ear EOG) and wore eye-tracking glasses while watching a video of two life-size people in a dialog solving a Diapix task. The dialogue was directionally presented and together with background noise in the frontal hemisphere at 60 dB SPL. During three conditions of steering (none, in-ear EOG, conventional eye-tracking), participants' comprehension was periodically measured using multiple-choice questions. Based on eye movement detection by in-ear EOG or conventional eye-tracking, the estimated attended speaker was amplified by 6 dB. In the in-ear EOG condition, the estimate was based on one selected channel pair of electrodes out of 36 possible electrodes. A novel calibration procedure introducing three different metrics was used to select the measurement channel. The in-ear EOG attended speaker estimates were compared to those of the eye-tracker. Across participants, the mean accuracy of in-ear EOG estimation of the attended speaker was 68%, ranging from 50 to 89%. Based on offline simulation, it was established that higher scoring metrics obtained for a channel with the calibration procedure were significantly associated with better data quality. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in comprehension of about 10% in both steering conditions relative to the no-steering condition. Comprehension in the two steering conditions was not significantly different. Further, better comprehension obtained under the in-ear EOG condition was significantly correlated with more accurate estimation of the attended speaker. In conclusion, this study shows promising results in the use of in-ear EOG for visual attention estimation with potential for applicability in hearing assistive devices.