The EyeTracking Blog EyeWorks™: Multi-Display Data Collection

Multi-display data collection

There’s a lot to like about EyeWorks™. Its unique brand of flexible efficacy makes it an ideal software solution for eye tracking professionals in a variety of academic, applied and marketing fields. To put it simply, EyeWorks™ IS the collective expertise of EyeTracking, Inc., refined and packaged for researchers everywhere. In the coming months we will highlight a few unique features of EyeWorks™ in the EyeTracking Blog.

Multi-Display Data Collection

A typical eye tracking study takes place within the borders of a single display, be it a monitor, projection, television or scene camera view. EyeWorks, however, is far from typical. In addition to managing standard data collection, our software offers the opportunity to collect data across multiple displays simultaneously. This innovative feature is fully integrated into all components of the EyeWorks research model, from study design through data analysis.

There is a wide variety of applications for which multi-display testing is essential. To name just a few, it is possible to collect data on users of/in:

  • Multi-screen software interfaces
  • Command & control workstations
  • Driving, flight and other vehicle simulators
  • Competing media (e.g. using iPad while watching TV)
  • Digital display + environment (e.g. taking notes on a computer while viewing a live lecture)
  • 360 degree environments (e.g. multiple scene cameras)
EyeWorks is the only eye tracking software capable of collecting data and recording video in these scenarios. Up to five independent displays are supported, but as computer processing speed increases that number will grow. Regarding hardware, the multi-display feature is currently available only for researchers using a faceLAB eye tracker from Seeing Machines.

The video (above) demonstrates multi-display data collection and introduces another component that we haven’t yet mentioned – your displays can record more than just eye data. You may wish to use one display to record the foot on the gas pedal of a driver in a simulator. You may be interested in capture the face of a system operator to make sure they are alert. Any video stream may be recorded in synchrony with your eye tracking data.

The example provided here shows a participant interacting with three different media simultaneously (top). We have collected multi-display eye tracking data capturing (bottom left) his eyes viewing a print brochure Multi-Display, (bottom center) his eyes exploring CNN.com on a computer monitor and (bottom right) his eyes interacting with an iPad2. You can watch the user in the scene camera view and follow his point of gaze as it moves across each of the displays.

Our eyes are rarely, if ever, confined to a single visual plane, so why should our eye data be treated in such a way? Contact our sales team if you are interested in learning more about EyeWorks Multi-Display or any of our other products and services.