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What is Eye Tracking
A General Introduction to Eye Tracking Research
Reading time: 5 min | By Ergoneers
What is Eye Tracking?
Eye tracking is an advanced technology that captures and analyzes how and where individuals direct their visual attention. At its core, eye tracking measures either the point of gaze (where someone is looking) or the movement of the eye relative to the head. Using a combination of infrared sensors and sophisticated algorithms, eye trackers monitor eye movements, providing valuable insights into cognitive processes, visual attention, and even behavioral intentions. Whether it’s for advancing academic research or enhancing consumer products and services, eye tracking stands at the cutting edge of human cognition and digital technology, unlocking a deeper understanding of how we interact with the world around us—often without even realizing it.
© Tobii
How Does Eye Tracking Work?
The technical background
Eye tracking technology typically works by directing light from infrared cameras toward the pupil. This causes reflections in both the pupil and the cornea, known as pupil center corneal reflections (PCCR). These reflections offer precise data on the direction of gaze and the movement of the eyes.
In academic research, eye movement data is used to analyze attentional processes, compare group behavior, assess visual responses to stimuli, and even understand cognitive workload. The precision of modern eye trackers, particularly those utilizing near-infrared light, allows for highly accurate measurements, making them invaluable tools in various domains.
Many leading consumer brands also leverage eye tracking to improve user experience and optimize product offerings. For example, eye trackers help analyze consumer responses to advertisements, branding, package designs, and other visual elements that are key to marketing success.
Eye tracking technology comes in various forms catering to different use cases and applicationsBelow, we’ll explore three primary types of eye tracking technologies, highlighting their specific applications and how they work.
Different Types of Eye Trackers
1. Screen-Based Eye Trackers
Screen-based eye trackers are perhaps the most common and widely used form of eye tracking. These devices measure the gaze behavior of an individual as they interact with a digital screen, whether it’s a computer monitor, a smartphone, or a kiosk display.
Key Features and Applications:
- Research: Screen-based trackers are instrumental in academic and behavioral research. They allow researchers to study how people process visual information, make decisions, and allocate their attention across different elements on a screen. Researchers can measure where participants focus their gaze, the duration of each fixation, and how often they shift their attention between different areas of the screen.
- Consumer Insights: Businesses use screen-based eye tracking to optimize marketing strategies. By analyzing eye movement data, companies can understand how customers engage with their advertisements, websites, and digital content. For instance, they can determine which sections of a webpage or ad capture the most attention, allowing for targeted design improvements and enhanced customer engagement.
- User Experience (UX): For designers and developers, screen-based eye tracking provides valuable data on the usability of digital interfaces. By tracking where users look, how they navigate, and where they experience frustration (often evidenced by erratic eye movements), developers can refine the design of websites, apps, and digital products. The goal is to enhance usability, engagement, and accessibility for the end user.
2. Eye Tracking Glasses or 'Head Mounted Eye Trackers'
Eye tracking glasses are wearable devices equipped with miniature sensors that track eye movements in real-world environments
Unlike screen-based trackers, which are confined to digital displays, eye tracking glasses allow researchers to track gaze behavior in natural settings, such as while a person is walking, interacting with objects, or participating in a dynamic, non-laboratory environment.
Key Features and Applications:
- Field Research: These glasses are particularly useful in fields like psychology, neuroscience, and market research, where studying natural behavior is essential. For instance, in retail environments, eye tracking glasses can reveal how customers visually engage with different products on store shelves or display stands.
- Sports and Performance: Eye tracking glasses are also used in sports science and training. Coaches can use this data to understand how athletes focus their attention during performance or training, which can inform techniques for enhancing concentration and decision-making.
- Human-Computer Interaction: In some applications, eye tracking glasses are used to control devices or interact with virtual environments, offering hands-free ways to interact with technology.The key strength in daily usage is that unlike screen based eye trackers, head-mounted eye-trackers are not biased by head rotation and general movement. Using a field camera as reference, once calibrated to the eye movement the gaze-path is based on the pupil coordinates steered by eye-muscle contraction.
3. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
Eye trackers can integrate Gaze tracking capabilities directly into immersive environments.
By combining eye tracking with VR and AR technologies, this application allows for a deeper understanding of user interactions within virtual spaces, enhancing realism and user experience.
Key Features and Applications:
- Immersive Experience Design: In VR and AR applications, eye tracking can enhance user interaction by adapting virtual environments based on where users are looking. For example, a VR game could adjust its narrative or visuals depending on the user’s gaze, creating a more personalized experience.
- Training and Simulation: VR/AR eye tracking is useful for training in complex or hazardous environments. By tracking how individuals react to visual stimuli in these simulations, trainers can adjust the environment to improve performance or learning outcomes.
- Healthcare: In therapeutic settings, eye tracking in VR/AR can aid in rehabilitation, helping patients with neurological conditions or vision impairments improve their gaze control and cognitive functions through targeted exercises.
Conclusion
Eye tracking is a powerful and versatile technology that provides profound insights into human behavior, cognition, and attention.
Whether you’re conducting research, enhancing user experience, or optimizing marketing efforts, eye tracking can uncover valuable data that would otherwise remain hidden.
With applications spanning from screen-based trackers to cutting-edge VR/AR experiences, companies like Ergoneers are at the forefront of making these insights actionable. Ergoneers offers state-of-the-art eye tracking solutions designed to meet the needs of researchers, designers, marketers, and other professionals looking to deepen their understanding of human interaction with audio-visual stimuli. By continuing to develop and refine these tools, they help unlock new dimensions of user experience, performance analysis, and scientific exploration.
As eye tracking technology continues to evolve, we can expect it to play an even more significant role in shaping our understanding of human cognition and behavior, both in the digital world and beyond.
The Crucial Role of Prophea.X
Multi Subject Synchronisation + Multi Modal Integration
As with any hardware, Eye-tracking relies on the design and functionalities of Software to unleash its full potential. In the past researchers often relied on several applications to collect, synchronize, and finally analyse and report their findings. Using additional Sensors and Data Input such as Cameras, Motion Capture Systems, EEGs, ECG, GPS or Skin Viscosity Sensors turned recording and analysis of even smaller sample sizes to marathon-like projects.
These days are luckily over.
Due to its unique software architecture, a vaste landscape of Sensor Partners and latest Simultaneous Multi Subject Capabilities, Prophea.x is turning these complex processes into one streamlined, team-friendly workflow from recording to reporting. But this is just a fraction of all the groundbreaking capabilities Prophea.X has to offer. To explore more, do not hesitate to contact our implementation team.
