抄録
With the aid of a “Talk Eye” device, we investigated the eye movements of dental students in the clinic, The participants in this study were a total of 30 undergraduates who had never visited our clinic previously. The measurement of their eye movements was started when the subjects came within a distance of 1 m from the reception desk, and continued until they walked a distance of about 9 m along the central aisle to reach a dental chair (goal) on the right at the end of the passage. The measurements taken during their walk from 0m to 7m points were analyzed. The results were as follows:
1) The initial points of fixation were found in the upper left direction among the largest group (40.0%) of the subjects, followed by the lower left in 30.0%, the upper right with 26.7% and the lower right with 3.3%.
2) Before the eyes rested on the intial point of fixation, 36.7% of the subjects shifted their eyes from the lower left to point O, and 26.6%, from the upper left to point O. Though there were no ocular movements from the upper right or lower right to point O movements toward the Z axis were observed in 36.7% of the examinees.
3) The resting time on a fixation point was 44.5 ms on the average. At the 1 m point, the students' eyes rested on a point in the lower right part of the dental chair for the longest, 77.0 ms. The next longest resting time was on the left side of the goal, 73.1 ms at the 6 m point, followed by 63.5 ms at the 1 m point and 62.4 ms at the starting point. This was probably because the subjects' attention was drawn to what they thought stood in their way.
4) A check of the distribution of all the points of fixation showed that 25.1% were in the upper right; 10.8%, the lower right; 35.3%, the upper left; and 28.8%, the lower left.
5) The saccadic movements of eyes simultaneously in changing the point of fixation within the angle of visual field were smallest at the 0 m point in the lower right, but became larger as they got closer to the goal.
6) In subjects who walked quickly, the points of fixation were concentrated in the area around point O.
7) No significant difference was observed in the distribution of fixation points between the subjects who wore glasses and those who did not.
From the above, we concluded that the students have a tendency to look to the goal and the direction in which they walk while giving heed to things along the way.
