The Visual Experience Dataset: Over 200 Recorded Hours of Integrated Eye Movement, Odometry, and Egocentric Video

TL;DR

The Visual Experience Dataset (VEDB) offers over 240 hours of egocentric video combined with gaze and head-tracking data, enabling advanced research in visual perception, gaze tracking, and scene understanding in naturalistic environments.

Contribution

This paper introduces the VEDB, a large-scale, diverse dataset of egocentric videos with integrated eye and head tracking, along with protocols for data collection, processing, and ethical considerations.

Findings

Provides extensive real-world visual data for research

Facilitates improvements in gaze tracking and scene recognition

Supports development of deep learning models for visual perception

Abstract

We introduce the Visual Experience Dataset (VEDB), a compilation of over 240 hours of egocentric video combined with gaze- and head-tracking data that offers an unprecedented view of the visual world as experienced by human observers. The dataset consists of 717 sessions, recorded by 58 observers ranging from 6-49 years old. This paper outlines the data collection, processing, and labeling protocols undertaken to ensure a representative sample and discusses the potential sources of error or bias within the dataset. The VEDB's potential applications are vast, including improving gaze tracking methodologies, assessing spatiotemporal image statistics, and refining deep neural networks for scene and activity recognition. The VEDB is accessible through established open science platforms and is intended to be a living dataset with plans for expansion and community contributions. It is released with an emphasis on ethical considerations, such as participant privacy and the mitigation of potential biases. By providing a dataset grounded in real-world experiences and accompanied by extensive metadata and supporting code, the authors invite the research community to utilize and contribute to the VEDB, facilitating a richer understanding of visual perception and behavior in naturalistic settings.