For those in the business, it must be a pretty nice thing to see usability studies come of age. We’ve touched on recent debates regarding the relationship between what a user is looking at versus what they’re thinking about (Is it the same thing or is it something entirely different?), and it’s exciting to see further research into the details of eye tracking and usability. Data is easy to come by if you have the right equipment, but making sense of that data, analyzing it for usable information … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Research Exploring Assistive Possibilities
Many of our posts revolve around the ever expanding industry of usabilty testing with eye tracking technology. So it’s a pleasure to see more use of eye tracking for humanitarian purposes, such as aiding in communication or transportation for those with ability limitations.In a recent paper published at the University of Southern California – Los Angeles (USC), researchers are using eye tracking to aid with communication, facilitating disabled individuals in their everyday lives. They’ve … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking: How Experience is Key in Becoming an 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 Studies Suggest Google is Making Us Stupid
After reading the article about Nicholas Carr that posted recently on Eye Tracking Update about how eye tracking studies have identified a change in reading behavior online, you might be interested in seeing some of the points raised. There’s a giant wiki page on Carr’s original essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in which he questions the long-term physical and psychological effects the Internet has had/is having on our brains. The article isn’t pointing a finger specifically at Google; … [Read more...]
Tobii’s Wearable Eye Tracker: Revolutionary or Marketing Hype?
Big news for the eye tracking industry was released yesterday. Tobii Technology announced the launch of their new product, Tobii Glasses™. Positioned as a cost effective tool for consumer behavior research, the wearable system consists of a pair of glasses, a data recording box, and IR markers for designating the Area of Analysis on a store shelf. The press release and the product brochure are packed with sparkly marketing expressions like “revolutionary,” “powerful,” and “state-of-the-art,” … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Improves Camouflage Effectiveness
At Eye Tracking Update we talk a lot about what you can see. But what about what you can’t see?Dr. Timothy O’Neill is a camouflage consultant and a retired Army officer who founded the Engineering Psychology program at West Point years ago. He also created the basis of the camouflage pattern on the Army Combat Uniform, beginning his work prior to grad school. He was the one responsible for creating the “digital” camouflage design that we see now. It’s sort of a squared pattern that … [Read more...]
Eye Tracking Supports Belief that Exercising Helps Smokers Quit
Are you a smoker? Are you trying to quit? A recent study by the University of Exeter shows that even small amounts of exercising can assist a person in kicking the habit. Anyone who has tried to quit before can attest to how difficult the whole ordeal can be, but now there is evidence of an additional weapon in the battle to quit smoking. Researchers employed an eye tracking system to observe and compare how subjects reacted to smoking and nonsmoking images after physical and after sedentary … [Read more...]