Detecting uncertain input using physiological sensing and behavioral measurements

Interactive systems, such as online search interfaces, require appropriate input if they are to produce accurate information. Without this, they can be inaccurate if the user is uncertain about the keywords. Current systems do not have the means to detect uncertainty, which may lead to a negative user experience. We explore physiological and behavioral measurements as tools to implicitly detect users' uncertainty, and provide a method to integrate input variability in interactive systems. We conducted a laboratory study where participants answered questions of varying difficulty, recording physiological data via a key logger, an eye tracker, and a heart rate sensor. Our results show that participants spent significantly more time on difficult questions and looked longer at their answers before submitting them. Based on our results, we provide initial insights on how data from physiological sensors and logged user behavior can be utilized to enrich interactive systems and evaluate a user's uncertainty level.