Evaluating Product Perception Using Eye-tracking and Semantic Scales: Comparing Real and Virtual Representations

The use of 3D virtual representations is a common approach in the modern process of new product development. This work presents a preliminary study with 14 participants about com- paring a real and a virtual representation of a product in order to then conduct a perception evaluation analysis. The evaluation is carried out by applying a semantic scale based on four axes: novelty, resolution, style and emotion. Also eye-tracking technology is used to analyze what design features attract participants’ gaze. Preliminary results show that both virtual and real objects get similar evaluation from participants using semantic scales. However, eye-track- ing results indicate that there are some small differences between gaze patterns.