Judging Qualification, Gender, and Age of the Observer Based on Gaze Patterns When Looking at Faces

The research aimed to compare eye movement patterns of people looking at faces with different but subtle teeth imperfections. Both non-specialists and dental experts took part in the experiment. The research outcome includes the analysis of eye movement patterns depending on the specialization, gender, age, face gender, and level of teeth deformation. The study was performed using a novel, not widely explored features of eye movements, derived from recurrence plots and Gaze Self Similarity Plots. It occurred that most features are significantly different for laypeople and specialists. Significant differences were also found for gender and age among the observers. There were no differences found when comparing the gender of the face being observed and levels of imperfection. Interestingly, it was possible to define which features are sensitive to gender and which to qualification.