GazePlotter v1.10.5, Nov 2026
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Transition Matrix

A transition matrix shows how often gaze moves from one Area of Interest (AOI) to another. Each row is the AOI gaze leaves, each column the AOI it arrives at, and each cell is shaded by the selected transition metric, by default the number of fixation-to-fixation transitions. Read it to see which AOIs lead to which, which pairs are never connected, and which AOIs act as hubs.

Transition Matrix card in the workspace: counts of gaze transitions between AOIs on the Yarbus Remember clothes stimulus.

ScopeOne stimulus, any participant selection
InputFixations with their AOI hits, within the time range
Metric LibraryOne metric with the aoi-pair-matrix output shape (a value for each FROM and TO AOI pair), calculated across the selected time range as a single aggregate (windowing forbidden). Default: Transitions, fixation-based

When to Use It

  • Identify scanpath patterns: Discover common gaze movement sequences between specific AOIs.
  • Compare transition frequencies: See which AOI pairs attract the most visual transitions.
  • Analyze attention flow: Understand visual search hierarchies and navigation order.
  • Detect visual hierarchies: Identify which AOIs serve as hubs (attracting and distributing attention).

Reading the Plot

  • Rows (From AOI): where gaze typically goes FROM each AOI.
  • Columns (To AOI): where gaze typically comes TO each AOI.
  • Diagonal values: transitions within the same AOI (re-fixations, dwell consistency).
  • Empty cells: transitions that rarely or never occur.
  • Cells: shaded by the metric value and labeled with it. The color bar under the matrix names the metric and its range; values outside the range take the Out of bounds colors.

Add a Transition Matrix

  1. Load your data: drop the files anywhere on the page, or use Import. See Uploading Data for the supported formats.
  2. In the rail on the left, click Add Visualization, then Inter-AOI > Transition Matrix. When another plot is selected, the new one opens on its stimulus and participants.
  3. The pane on the right opens with the plot’s settings. Pick the Stimulus first.

To move, resize, duplicate, or remove the card, see Plot Manipulation.

Settings

Select the card to open its settings in the Pane (a bottom sheet on mobile). The sections, in pane order:

Stimulus

Choose the stimulus to analyze. Each stimulus contains its own set of Areas of Interest (AOIs) which form the rows and columns of the matrix.

  • Edit stimuli & selections: Opens the Stimuli Library to manage stimulus files and build stimulus selections.

Participants

Filter the eye-tracking data by a participant selection.

  • Participant selection: All or a saved participant selection. Hide participants without data leaves out those with no recording on the stimulus.
  • Edit participants & selections: Opens the Participant Library to rename, merge, and build participant selections.

Metric

Configure the quantitative transition metric displayed in the matrix cells. For transitions, Markov probability models (P^k), and visit collapsing, see AOI Transitions & Markov Metrics.

  • Select metric: A dropdown of all metric instances in the library that satisfy the aoi-pair-matrix shape contract. Standard metrics include:
    • Transitions, fixation-based (transitionCount-fix): Raw number of transitions between AOI pairs based on individual fixations (see Transitions).
    • Transitions, visit-based (transitionCount-visit): Raw transitions based on distinct visits (consecutive fixations) (see Transitions).
    • Transition probability (transitionProbability-fix): Conditional probability of transitioning TO an AOI given you are coming FROM a specific AOI (see Transitions).
    • Mean transition dwell time, fixation-based (transitionDwellMean-fix): Average fixation duration in the “FROM” AOI before a transition (see Transitions).
    • Mean transition dwell time, visit-based (transitionDwellMean-visit): Average total duration of consecutive fixations in the “FROM” AOI before transitioning (see Transitions).
    • Transition relative frequency (transitionRelativeFrequency-fix): Each AOI pair’s share of the participant’s transitions, in % (see Transitions).
  • Edit metric library: Opens the Metric Library modal where you can customize transition calculation parameters or define custom transition/matrix metrics.

Visualization

Configure cell scaling, colors, and outlier rendering.

  • Color scale: Customizes cell shading mapping.
    • Min: Set value mapped to the minimum color intensity.
    • Max (0 = Auto): Set value mapped to the maximum color intensity or leave at 0 for automatic maximum scaling.
  • Color scale picker: Interactive color picker to select the start, middle, and end colors for the matrix gradient.
  • Out of bounds: Custom color settings for values that fall outside the range set above. Each color also appears as an end cap on the color bar legend, and hovering the cap names the values it stands for. Each row is offered only while its end of the range is set.
    • Below min: Choose color (default is gray) and toggle Show text labels for cell values below minimum. Shown while Min is above 0.
    • Above max: Choose color (default is gray) and toggle Show text labels for cell values above maximum. Shown while Max is set (not 0/Auto).

Time range

Filter the temporal range from which transitions are calculated.

  • Start / ms: Limit the minimum time boundary.
  • End / ms (0 = Auto): Limit the maximum time boundary, or leave at 0 for automatic duration matching.

Areas of Interest

Filters which Areas of Interest (AOIs) are rendered as rows and columns in the matrix.

  • AOI selection: A dropdown containing All and saved AOI selections; AOIs outside the picked selection count as no-AOI in this plot.
  • Hide No AOI data: Drops the No AOI row and column, so only transitions between named AOIs are shown.
  • Edit AOIs & selections: Opens the AOI Library to customize names, colors, merges, and selections.

Export

Located at the bottom of the Pane:

  • Download plot: Opens the Figure Export dialog to save the transition matrix as a PNG or JPG.
  • Download data: Opens the Metric Data export preset to this plot’s metrics, stimulus, participant selection, time range, AOI selection and Hide No AOI data setting.

Interactivity

  • Cell details: Hovering a cell shows a tooltip with its From AOI, To AOI, and Value. A value that cannot be computed reads Undefined, not zero.
  • Shared color scale: Transition matrices with the same metric, color scale, and card size share one color range while they keep the default range, so their colors compare directly.