September 10, 2010

Using Eye Tracking & Mouse Movements to Analyze Search Behavior

Using Eye Tracking & Mouse Movements to Analyze Search Behavior

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

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 Research Measures Your Problem Solving Skills

Minolta DSC

An interesting study was done in collaboration with Stanford University and Columbia Teachers College focusing on the degree of pupil dilation in visual tasks and aural ones. Until now, pupil dilation has been shown to be a reliable way to measure cognitive load, but scientists at the institutions say the effect of aural versus visual task presentation on pupil dilation is still unknown, and so they set out to measure it.Examining three tasks utilizing a range of cognitive activities, the researchers … [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 Studies Suggest Google is Making Us Stupid

IS Google 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?

Supermarket Aisle

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

Testing Camouflage Effectiveness with Eye Tracking

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

Exercise 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...]

Eye Tracking Questions Usefulness of Real Time Search Results

Google Search Results

A few eye tracking studies have shown that users tend to ignore “real time” results in searches. There is quite a lot of eye tracking research that goes into the usability and effectiveness of one of the most popular websites, Google. But if new research is showing ineffective trends for real time results, it can’t be good news for Twitter, who recently made deals with both Google and Bing to allow them to index its content and display it within the search results.Over a decade ago, a group … [Read more...]

Eye Tracking Research on Banner Ad Blindness

iStock_000002720385XSmall

Humans adapt in mysterious ways. Sometimes they adapt in more obvious ones though. When you’re browsing through webpages, you’re continuously bombarded with advertisements, flashing colors, expanding boxes, and catchy text. But in all honesty, if I surf the web for 15 minutes, I won't recall any particulars about the ads I’ve seen, let alone notice that I’ve seen any in the first place. This can be attributed to what was once called “banner blindness,” an aversion that people have to … [Read more...]