CognitIDE: An IDE Plugin for Mapping Physiological Measurements to Source Code

We present CognitIDE, a tool for collecting physiological measurements, mapping them to source code, and visualizing them directly within IntelliJ-based Integrated Development Environments (IDE)s. CognitIDE facilitates the setup and conduction of empirical studies evaluating the relationships between software artifacts and physiological parameters. Corresponding measurements enable researchers to evaluate, for example, the cognitive load software developers are experiencing. Our tool lets study participants use IDEs in a natural way while eye gaze, further body sensor data, and interactions with the IDE are collected. Furthermore, CognitIDE enables highlighting code positions according to the physiological values collected while corresponding positions were looked at. This facilitates the identification of poorly maintainable code and provides a direct way for study participants to reflect on whether the measurements mirror their perception. Moreover, the plugin has additional features for facilitating studies, such as interrupting participants and letting them answer predefined questions. Our tool supports recording measurements with the wide variety of devices supported by the Lab Streaming Layer. Video: https://youtu.be/9yLV5AdTiJw