2 Examples of eye tracking lab set-ups
Wouldn’t every researcher want to automate certain measurements and save valuable time?
In the 1800s, the study of eye movements for instance was done by means of direct observations! Can you imagine the time investment?
Automated measurements
Fortunately, the process of measuring the point of gaze or the motion of an eye relative to the head is now automated. Eye trackers, mobile or stationary, have proven to be effective and reliable tools to assist researchers in answering questions about for example attention processes. Direct observations are nowadays used to observe the surroundings or specific behaviors of the test participant where necessary. These observations add extra information to the eye tracking data.
Eye trackers integrated in a lab
Eye trackers are often integrated into lab set-ups, for example in a game lab or in a simulator. Remote eye tracking devices and computer-monitor eye trackers are stationary and are also commonly used in an office setting. In both set-ups they can be used to obtain data such as pupil height and width, ocular torsion, pupil position, velocity of eye movement/saccades, and location and duration of eye fixation. Office software, games, or other applications can be evaluated by differentiating between participants with and without previous task-experience. When a participant has previous experience with a website, game, or other application, the scan path of the eyes will most likely have fewer fixations than the scan path of a participant with no previous experience.
Record all data in perfect sync
Using eye tracking in combination with research software The Observer® XT allows researchers to specify subjects and behaviors which can be coded during a test and afterwards played alongside the eye tracking data. Eye trackers usually produce multiple data modalities, such as a video image of the participant’s field of view, hotspots, pupil width, fixations, and areas of interest (AOI). In The Observer XT video coding software you can synchronize all data and analyze it to see exactly what happened in an experiment.
Both SensoMotoric Instruments and Tobii Technology offer a wide range of eye trackers:
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