Gaze-based intention estimation: principles, methodologies, and applications in HRI

TL;DR

This paper reviews how gaze-based intention estimation, grounded in psychological principles, can enhance human-robot interaction by providing early, reliable cues for intention recognition, with focus on methodologies, applications, and human factors.

Contribution

It synthesizes psychological insights and technical methods for gaze-based intention recognition, highlighting applications in assistive and teleoperated robotics.

Findings

Gaze movements are highly anticipatory of upcoming actions.

Eye tracking can serve as a reliable early indicator of human intentions.

Current limitations include human factors considerations and system design challenges.

Abstract

Intention prediction has become a relevant field of research in Human-Machine and Human-Robot Interaction. Indeed, any artificial system (co)-operating with and along humans, designed to assist and coordinate its actions with a human partner, would benefit from first inferring the human's current intention. To spare the user the cognitive burden of explicitly uttering their goals, this inference relies mostly on behavioral cues deemed indicative of the current action. It has been long known that eye movements are highly anticipatory of the single steps unfolding during a task, hence they can serve as a very early and reliable behavioural cue for intention recognition. This review aims to draw a line between insights in the psychological literature on visuomotor control and relevant applications of gaze-based intention recognition in technical domains, with a focus on teleoperated and assistive robotic systems. Starting from the cognitive principles underlying the relationship between intentions, eye movements, and action, the use of eye tracking and gaze-based models for intent recognition in Human-Robot Interaction is considered, with prevalent methodologies and their diverse applications. Finally, special consideration is given to relevant human factors issues and current limitations to be factored in when designing such systems.