Reading subtitles across devices : A study into the differences in reading patterns of people watching subtitled videos on smartphone, tablet and computer screen
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The study investigates reading patterns of subtitles across three devices: smartphone, tablet, and computer monitor, focusing on comprehension and reading experiences. Results indicate that the iPhone was the least effective device for watching subtitled videos, showing lower comprehension and longer fixation durations compared to other devices. Overall, comprehension did not significantly differ across devices, but user preferences and cognitive load varied with screen size and language.
Reading subtitles across devices : A study into the differences in reading patterns of people watching subtitled videos on smartphone, tablet and computer screen
- 1. Reading subtitles across devices: A study into the differences in reading patterns of people watching subtitled videos on smartphone, tablet and computer screen Agnieszka Szarkowska1, Monika Laskowska1, Andreu Oliver3, Olga Pilipczuk1 1 University of Warsaw 3 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ICEAL Warsaw, September 2015
- 2. About the study Reading across devices – part of the HBBTV4ALL project (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Reading subtitles on three devices: – Monitor (22-inch LCD, 1920x1200) – iPad Air – iPhone (4S) http://www.hbb4all.eu/
- 3. Previous eyetracking studies on mobile devices (Al-Showarah et al. 2014) Influence of age on use of mobile devices – the elderly have difficulties with processing information and browsing smartphone interfaces across all screen sizes Influence of screen size of mobile devices – the smaller the screen – the worse the performance, irrespectively of age
- 4. Study design 3x2 design – 3 devices: • iPhone • iPad • monitor – 2 languages: • English • Norwegian Subtitle watching experience – Comprehension – Reading patterns – Preferences
- 5. Study material English film – “Joining the dots”, dir. Pablo Romero Fresco (2012) – 3 x 3 min. video Norwegian film – “Headhunters”, dir. Morten Tyldum (2011) – 3 x 3 min. videos Polish interlingual subtitles displayed at 15 cps
- 6. Eyetracking SMI Red (250 Hz) – Monitor Tobii X2 (30Hz) – iPhone – iPad Eyetracking measures – Number of fixations – Fixation duration Fixation threshold: 80 ms
- 7. Procedure Informed consent Videos in counterbalanced order – Calibration before each clip – 10 multiple choice comprehension questions after each clip • 5 on subtitle content (text only) • 5 on visual aspects Demographic and preference survey Total duration: ca. 45 minutes
- 8. Participants 33 people aged 20-35 – Mean age: 24 (SD=3,4) – 8 men, 25 women Declared proficiency on 1-10 scale (1 – no knowledge, 10 – proficiency) – English: 8.79 (SD=1.19) – Norwegian: 1.36 (SD=0.55)
- 9. 55% 6% 39% How often do you watch foreign films with subtitles? always sometimes rarely Participants’ background 12% 21% 67% PhD BA MA Education
- 11. Comprehension – textual 4,14 4,32 4,24 1 2 3 4 5 Subtitle comprehension No.ofcorrectanswers phone tablet monitor two-way ANOVA (variables: device & language) device: p=0.4471
- 12. Comprehension – visual 3,55 3,74 3,74 0 1 2 3 4 5 Visual comprehension No.ofcorrectanswers phone tablet monitor two-way ANOVA (Variables: device & language) Device: p=0.4917
- 14. Areas of interest on each subtitle
- 15. Fixation count per device No. of fixations per subtitle SD iPhone 5.28 1.95 iPad 6.13 2.26 monitor 5.65 1.94 two-way ANOVA (variables: device & language) Device: p=.0647 Bonferroni correction The only significant difference: between iPhone and iPad (p=.0592)
- 16. Mean fixation duration per device Fixation duration SD iPhone 250 ms 43.14 iPad 183 ms 20.73 monitor 172 ms 44.59 two-way ANOVA (Variables: device & language) Device: p=.000 Bonferroni correction: iPhone vs. iPad & iPhone vs. monitor (p=.000) iPad and monitor (p=.1173)
- 17. Mean fixation duration by device and language 177 188 250 167 178 240 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 monitor iPad iPhone milliseconds Norwegian English two-way ANOVA (Variables: device & language) Device: p=.0256
- 18. Preferences
- 19. How often do you watch subtitled videos on these devices? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% always sometimes rarely never monitor tablet phone
- 20. The comfort of watching subtitled videos by device 0 20 40 60 80 100 1 2 3 4 5 Percentage of answers 1-verybad,5-verygood monitor tablet phone
- 21. Conclusions iPhone – the worst device to watch subtitled videos – Lowest comprehension results – Longest mean fixation duration – Fewest fixations – less reading – Nobody’s preferred device Habits inform preferences – other participants? Longer mean fixation duration in English than in Norwegian clips – Parallel processing of visual and audio content – Higher cognitive effort, but more rewarding (higher comprehension scores in English) Testing across eyetrackers…
- 22. So what…? HBBTV (hybrid broadcast broadband) = digital broadcasting + Internet + mobile devices Smartphones – secondary devices only with subtitles?