The present study explored novel methods in visual field tests that actively induce the gaze of the examinee to the fixation target in the center vision and compared their effectiveness.

Four gaze induction methods (dot-on, dot-off, number-on, and number-off) were prepared by combining 2 types of fixation targets (dot and number) and 2 conditions of sound presence (on and off). The gaze induction methods were implemented to a PC-based visual field testing system and the 24-2 visual field testing protocol was administered to 14 participants without glaucoma. The performance of the gaze induction method was evaluated in terms of fixation error rate, target detection rate, and subjective satisfaction (7-point scale, 1 for least satisfied and 7 for most satisfied).

The fixation error rates of dot-on (5.7%) and number-on (6.4%) were relatively lower than the other methods; the target detection rates of the induction methods were very high (95-96%) without significant differences, and the subjective satisfaction levels of dot-on (5.7) and number-on (5.4) were significantly higher than the other methods.

In the present study we determined number-on as the preferred effective gaze induction method compared to the conventional dot-off method when fixation error rates and subjective satisfaction were considered.