EVALUATING HURRICANE ADVISORIES USING EYE-TRACKING AND BIOMETRIC DATA

Abstract

The cartography of hurricane advisories is challenged with communicating complex information regarding hazards and spatio-temporal uncertainty. This research presents an exploratory geovisualization study assessing how hurricane advisory maps are perceived. In an experimental laboratory setting, study compared student responses to official National Hurricane Center advisory maps and alternative test map products. Research measured human behavioral response and environmental perception using eye-tracking, electroencephalograms (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), electromyography (EMG), and a survey questionnaire to support analysis of participants' objective and expressed responses to competing geovisualization products. This approach allows the investigation of biometric responses with digital precision in order to infer cartographic design effects on individual map readers.