September 3, 2010

Framework for Eye Tracking Patterns and Usability Problems: Part 1

Framework for Eye Tracking Patterns and Usability

When you are trying a new product, you want it to work, right? If a company makes a good product, people use it. If it’s a bad product, people will not – it’s quite simple. Of course there are several factors like strategy, marketing, money, connections, production, and even a little luck involved in making a successful product but in essence, what it really comes down to is whether the product is a good one or not.The onslaught of the World Wide Web in the last decade has certainly … [Read more...]

Is Nokia Making an Eye Tracking Controlled Mobile Phone?

Is Nokia Making a GazeControlled Mobile Phone

With all the buzz about iPhones, other cell phone manufactures get overlooked. But some of them are developing some pretty cool new technology of their own. Nokia, the Finnish mobile technology giant, is announcing that they have been working on a new phone that is controlled with gaze through eye tracking. If you stare at a message or a video icon on the phone, you can open it with your eyes.“We are working on a mobile that operates with the gaze of an eye,” Jyri Huopaniemi, director of … [Read more...]

Eye Tracking: How Experience is Key in Becoming an Expert

Eye Tracking Landscapes Novice Vs Expert

By now you’ve probably noticed that much of what we write about here at Eye Tracking Update has to do with usability testing. The fact of the matter is, eye tracking is effective and popular when it comes to usability testing, and many studies published that utilize this technology have to do with web design, click rates, and layout. As interesting and relevant as usability testing is to the eye tracking industry, we enjoy seeing eye tracking technology used in other innovative ways. We’ve written … [Read more...]

Eye Tracking Usability Studies and Self-Reported Measures

When it comes to usability studies, a standardized procedure is verbal communication between the study participant and the researcher. Typically, the participant puts into words what they think, what they are doing as they navigate through a website or page, describing how it makes them feel, why they are clicking on certain buttons, and what may or may not grab their attention. Ease of use is often self-reported by a study participant, yet subjective measures don’t always accurately reflect performance … [Read more...]

Speech Recognition and Eye Tracking Combined

speech recognition and eye tracking

It makes sense that speech is one of the faster ways to enter text. It is not as remote or removed from our thought process as, say, typing or writing is. Speech comes at the pace of our thoughts, and we can say what we think in real time, without having to transcribe and keep up with our stream of consciousness. Humans have been measured dictating to a computer at 102 words a minute – far more efficient than writing and typing. At Eye Tracking Update, we often touch on new devices that use eye … [Read more...]

Watch Where You Step: Eye Tracking and Pedestrian Flow

watch where you step

A friend once used an analogy that traffic tends to move through streets as water moves down a stream, speeding up in certain areas, stopping in others, building at forks until the oncoming pressure pushes it in a pattern of various directions. Whether true or not, it’s an entertaining concept, and one that doesn’t seem too complex to study.In fact, with progressing trends of sustainable development and urban planning, transport studies have become a topic of importance and interest within … [Read more...]

Tracking Bias, Biometrically

tracking bias

A article popped up recently regarding the differences in reactions to marketing campaigns between an average consumer and an “industry pro,” or rather, someone who works within the media industry and whose job is to create or market content and products to regular consumers. Generally, it’s assumed (by industry pros) that they know what the average public wants and needs (though this is often based on what the public demands instead). But do industry professionals react to media differently … [Read more...]

Old News But Relevant News: Apple and Eye Tracking

old news but relevant news

This is old news by now, but considering that the January article deals with news from a few years ago, it’s sort of a moot point.Continuing with our regular Apple and iPhone updates, especially considering recent news of Apple’s new patents for biometric and cardio sensors in their iPhone, we thought we’d note that The Apple Insider posted an article a while back focusing on eye tracking patents Apple originally filed all the way back in 2007.Apple was apparently researching what they … [Read more...]

Eye Tracking on the Cheap: Making MacGyver Proud

eye tracking on the cheap

One of the more fun aspects of writing for Eye Tracking Update is when a new, do-it-yourself eye tracking device shows up online. With so many formal reports (these are also great, of course!) involving medical diagnostics and web usability studies, it’s refreshing and enjoyable to see when tinkerers start innovating on their own, on the cheap, and for no other reason than to have fun doing it.A post that falls under all of these categories was brought to our attention, and it features a video … [Read more...]

Iris Recognition is Advancing. Could It Help Eye Tracking?

iris recognition technology is advancing... could it help for eye tracking

We’ve written several Eye Tracking Update posts about iris recognition lately because it is a technology that has recently experienced some pretty impressive advancements. If you think about it, it is pretty closely related to eye tracking technology - so much so that breakthroughs in one field may lead to progress in another. For example, Sarnoff Corporation recently won the “Best New Product Award” at the Security Industry Association New Product Showcase for its Iris on the Move (IOM) system.This … [Read more...]