On the use of eye tracking in software traceability

Abstract

The paper advocates for the induction of eye tracking technology in software traceability and takes a position that the use of eye tracking metrics can contribute to several software traceability tasks. The authors posit that the role of eye tracking is not simply restricted to an instrument for empirical studies, but also could extend to providing a foundation of a new software traceability methodology. Several scenarios where eye-tracking metrics could be meaningful are presented. The specific research directions include conducting empirical studies with eye-tracking metrics and replicating previously reported empirical studies, eye-tracking enabled traceability link recovery and management methodology, and visualization support.