Monday, February 28, 2005
2:30 pm, Science 2-065

Marc Pomplun

University of Massachusetts Boston

Mathematical Challenges in Eye-Movement Research

Abstract: The investigation of human eye movements has important implications for our understanding of the human visual system and for the development of advanced human-computer interfaces. In the Visual Attention Lab at UMass Boston, two questions are of central importance: (1) Which scene properties guide eye movements? (2) How can we utilize gaze information to improve computer usability for both healthy and physically challenged users? The analysis and modeling of eye movements as well as the development of control algorithms for human-computer interfaces often contain intricate mathematical problems. Many of these problems are tackled using "engineering" methods, although a mathematical analysis could provide a deeper insight into the underlying cognitive processes. The present talk will point out a number of such problems, suggesting a few promising joint projects for mathematicians and eye-movement researchers.