SVD-Based Mind-Wandering Prediction from Facial Videos in Online Learning

This paper presents a novel approach to mind-wandering prediction in the context of webcam-based online learning. We implemented a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)-based 1D temporal eye-signal extraction method, which relies solely on eye landmark detection and eliminates the need for gaze tracking or specialized hardware, then extract suitable features from the signals to train the prediction model. Our thorough experimental framework facilitates the evaluation of our approach alongside baseline models, particularly in the analysis of temporal eye signals and the prediction of attentional states. Notably, our SVD-based signal captures both subtle and major eye movements, including changes in the eye boundary and pupil, surpassing the limited capabilities of eye aspect ratio (EAR)-based signals. Our proposed model exhibits a 2% improvement in the overall Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve (AUROC) metric and 7% in the F1-score metric for 'not-focus' prediction, compared to the combination of EAR-based and computationally intensive gaze-based models used in the baseline study These contributions have potential implications for enhancing the field of attentional state prediction in online learning, offering a practical and effective solution to benefit educational experiences.