title: An eye movement study for identification of suitable font characters for presentation on a computer screen.
abstract: We are experiencing a shifting of media: from the printed paper to the computer screen. This transition is modifying the process of how we read and understand a text. It is very difficult to conclude on suitability of font characters based upon subjective evaluation method only. Present study evaluates the effect of font type on human cognitive workload during perception of individual alphabets on a computer screen. Twenty six young subjects volunteered for this study. Here, subjects have been shown individual characters of different font types and their eye movements have been recorded. A binocular eye movement recorder was used for eye movement recording. The results showed that different eye movement parameters such as pupil diameter, number of fixations, fixation duration were less for font type Verdana. The present study recommends the use of font type Verdana for presentation of individual alphabets on various electronic displays in order to reduce cognitive workload.
authors.affiliation: Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi-1 10054, India. JAYITA_79@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Jayeeta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.forename: Dhurjati
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Majumdar
authors.forename: Deepti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Majumdar
authors.forename: Madhu Sudan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016288:Computer Terminals; D003626:Data Display; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011601:Psychophysics; D011932:Reading