The eye tracking price-quality tradeoff

After reviewing our Eye Tracking Update stats for the last six months, it appears that there is significant interest in articles related to the price of eye tracking. This doesn’t really come as a surprise, as the cost of eye tracking is notoriously high and there are many inventors who are seeking to develop low cost, do-it-yourself versions. As someone close to the pulse of the eye tracking industry, I can assure you that cost is an issue that many eye tracking companies are seeking to manage, but the challenge comes from balancing quality and price.

Eye tracking technology is research and development intensive, and although the market is gaining momentum, demand is still relatively low, forcing eye tracking companies to charge higher prices to keep up with costs. We have written about several do-it-yourself, garage projects such as this one on How to Make an Eye Tracker for Under Fifty Bucks, but what you make up for in price, you may lose in accuracy.

What it really comes down to is your specific eye tracking needs. If you are conducting highly sensitive oculometric data research, like we discuss in Eye tracking biometrics for medical diagnosis, you will require an eye tracking system that can cost anywhere from $8000-$40,000. If you are only looking at scan paths or simple gaze tracking and can afford accuracy rates upwards of +/- 1 inch, a cheaper system may work just fine.

What factor is most important to you? Select the option below that is your top priority when shopping for an eye tracking device: