A Device for Zero-Eye-Movement Reading

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. BME-32; no. 1; pp. 86 - 89
• Main Authors: Hannaford, Blake, Krischer, Christof C., Stark, Lawrence
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.01.1985
• Subjects: Biomedical Engineering; Cathode ray tubes; Computer displays; Digital recording; Eye Movements; Eyes; Humans; Microcomputers; NASA; Programming; Reading; Retina; Text processing; Timing
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.1985.325637

A portable personal computer has been programmed as a flexible and economical text display device capable of delivering single and multiple words or symbols flashed in the center of the screen with a wide range of repetition times and duty cycles (fraction of stimulus on/off time). All aspects of a computer-controlled experiment are controlled by a command file which can be created by workers with basic word processing skills and no knowledge of computer programming. Digital output is provided for recording stimulus timing on a chart recorder or computer for comparison to eye movements or other externally recorded variables. The system is ideal for zero-eye-movement reading experiments in which sentences are flashed a word or group of words at a time in the center of a CRT screen. If the subject is then asked to repeat the sentence aloud, the percentage of words correctly recalled is a measure of "reading comprehension." Results with nine subjects match previous data [1] obtained cinematographically.