Eyesthetics: making sense of the aesthetics of playing with gaze

Gaze interaction has been growing fast as a compelling tool for control and immersion for gameplay. Here, we present a conceptual framework focusing on the aesthetic player experience and the potential interpretation (meaning) players could give to playing with gaze interaction capabilities. The framework is illustrated by a survey of state of the art research-based and commercial games. We complement existing frameworks by reflecting on gaze interaction in games as the attention relationship between the player (the subject) and the game (the object) with four dimensions: Identity; Mapping; Attention; and Direction. The framework serves as a design and inquiry toolbox to analyse and communicate gaze mechanics in games, reflect on the complexity of gaze interaction, and formulate new research questions. We visualise the resulting design space, highlighting future opportunities for gaze interaction design and HCI gaze research through the framework's lens. We deem, this novel approach advocates for the design of gaze-based interactions revealing the richness of gaze input in future meaningful game experiences.