With eye-tracking glasses and special watches, McMaster studying voter reactions during tonight's debate
CBC
Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton are out to "make democracy better" by studying a group of young people as they watch and react to the leaders' debate Thursday evening.
In what they're calling a "Canadian science first," the university's LIVELab and Digital Society Lab are collaborating to monitor eye movements and heart rate of 40 to 50 undecided voters while they watch the English-language debate.
John McAndrews, managing director of the Digital Society Lab, said the project aims to understand "how we can make democracy better in the digital age."
He said the university is using three different types of measurements to "better understand the audience experience of this debate."
The group of eligible voters aged 18 to 34 will wear special watches, coded by the lab's team, to track heart rates as well as eye-tracking glasses. Subjects will also be given surveys to "observe their political views," said McAndrews.
Researchers say they will be able to understand things such as debate moments which may prompt more engagement or when viewers may be distracted or less engaged.
He said the combination of the three measurements is what makes the study unique.
The LIVELab stands for Large Interactive Virtual Environment. It is part of the university's Institute for Music and the Mind.
Lauren Fink, who's part of THE LIVELabs executive team and an assistant professor in the psychology department, said the lab is usually used for studying experiences and reactions during on-stage performances.
"This is really why I'm in academia," she said, adding neither lab could have done the project without the other.
"We've spent all this time using these tools in musical context ... But when John came to us with this idea, it was really cool to think, 'Okay, how can we apply these tools to what's going on in the political world right now?'"
The idea, born just weeks ago when the election was called, had been "bubbling around" McAndrews' mind since his first day at McMaster in 2022, when he had a meeting at the LIVELab.
"I thought, 'wow, they do this for musical performances, could they do it for a political debate?'" he said.
He said they chose this specific group of voters, young and undecided, because of capacity limits, but also because it is the group who "might have the strongest experience in the debate."
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