openEyes Eye Tracking System

Researchers at Iowa State University, Dongheng Li, Jason Babcock, and Derrick J. Parkhurst, have developed a low cost eye tracking system called openEyes. It is both open source software and open hardware, allowing for public use without the requirements of licensing or royalties.

The hardware components are composed of easily obtainable, off-the-shelf parts that anyone can pick up at a local hardware, computer, or electronics store.

To capture the user’s eye gaze, the software requires a full version of Matlab, an interactive scientific program used to perform computationally intensive programming tasks. However, Matlab has a hefty $2000 price tag, which could make the “free” and open source nature of openEyes less appealing. Even if an organization can afford Matlab, the open source software is written for Linux and Unix, making wide adoption within a business environment more challenging.

There is, however, a Windows version of the open source software compiled by Joel Clemens, another eye tracking enthusiast. This version also requires a fully functioning copy of Matlab. The software requires a video recording of the eyes’ gaze for analysis and therefore does not appear to support real-time eye tracking.

With today’s fast-paced development, including supplemental technology like augmented reality, public adoption of a modern eye tracking system will require real-time analysis and interoperability, with a wide array of hardware and software.

The most recent research paper on the openEyes system was published in 2006, and there hasn’t been any further documented development on the software or hardware implementations since then. Either way, the openEyes system is certainly a step forward, bringing eye tracking technology to a much wider audience.