Detection of vigilance performance with pupillometry

Sustained attention (vigilance) is required for many professions such as air traffic controllers, imagery analysts, airport security screeners, and cyber operators. A lapse in attention in any of these environments can have deadly consequences. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of pupillometry to detect changes in vigilance performance. Each participant performed a 40-minute vigilance task while wearing an eye-tracker on each of four separate days. Pupil diameter, pupil eccentricity, and pupil velocity all changed significantly over time (p<.05) during the task. Significant correlations indicate that all metrics increased as vigilance performance declined except for pupil diameter, which decreased and the pupil became miotic. These results are consistent with other research on attention, fatigue, and arousal levels. Using an eye-tracker to detect changes in pupillometry in an operational environment would allow interventions to be implemented.