Eye tracking involves using a tracker that can accurately measure eye movement.
This has two variations: either measuring the motion of the eye compared to the rest of the head or just measuring the point of gaze. Studying the gaze is much more difficult to do, but it also provides more accurate information since it reveals exactly what elements in someone’s field of view attract that person’s attention.
Research into this field has been going on for a long time and it started in the late 19th century. Back then all of the measurements were done through direct observation of the subject’s eye movement during activities such as reading. The very early studies showed that people do not read in a continuous fashion. Rather they have a lot of short pauses on certain sections, which were later known as fixations. Researchers were very keen to find out what made people focus their attention on some words more than others. As a result, further studies were conducted using various pieces of equipment that could measure the eye movement more accurately.
The tools used for measurements became more advanced and also less intrusive and by the 1960s technology using reflecting beams of light allowed for very precise readings that revealed exactly what areas of something the test subject saw were fixated on and for how long. These studies showed that there is a strong link between fixations and interest. The parts of an image or text were of interest to the test subject caused fixations, while other areas were quickly skimmed through, although the tests revealed that the subject retained the information in the entire text or image, nonetheless. From such studies researchers were able to start deducing a subject’s train of thought simply by monitoring his eye movements.
The idea that you can determine what someone’s interests are through research appealed to a wide section of the public. Since the initial studies were all performed using reading material, newspapers were among the first to take advantage of these new discoveries. Writers knew what styles attracted people the most and they adapted to them. Nowadays, the most obvious sign of this can be found in tabloids which often use words such as “sex”, “shocking”, “horror” etc. in their headlines because they know that these words will cause people to fixate on them, thus attracting attention to the articles.
However, the commercial sector was not the only one interested in these studies. Psychology has made use of these findings, as well. Such research is still being conducted to this day. Fixating our gaze on something or, quite the opposite, avoiding our gaze from something can be strong indicators used in non-verbal communication. Studies involving eye movement are often paired up with research involving subtle non-verbal movements and introspective protocols which together allow for a much better picture regarding the kind of internal cognitive processes a subject goes through in any given situation.
More info about eye tracking research
Research into this field has been going on for a long time and it started in the late 19th century. Back then all of the measurements were done through direct observation of the subject’s eye movement during activities such as reading. The very early studies showed that people do not read in a continuous fashion. Rather they have a lot of short pauses on certain sections, which were later known as fixations. Researchers were very keen to find out what made people focus their attention on some words more than others. As a result, further studies were conducted using various pieces of equipment that could measure the eye movement more accurately.
The tools used for measurements became more advanced and also less intrusive and by the 1960s technology using reflecting beams of light allowed for very precise readings that revealed exactly what areas of something the test subject saw were fixated on and for how long. These studies showed that there is a strong link between fixations and interest. The parts of an image or text were of interest to the test subject caused fixations, while other areas were quickly skimmed through, although the tests revealed that the subject retained the information in the entire text or image, nonetheless. From such studies researchers were able to start deducing a subject’s train of thought simply by monitoring his eye movements.
The idea that you can determine what someone’s interests are through research appealed to a wide section of the public. Since the initial studies were all performed using reading material, newspapers were among the first to take advantage of these new discoveries. Writers knew what styles attracted people the most and they adapted to them. Nowadays, the most obvious sign of this can be found in tabloids which often use words such as “sex”, “shocking”, “horror” etc. in their headlines because they know that these words will cause people to fixate on them, thus attracting attention to the articles.
However, the commercial sector was not the only one interested in these studies. Psychology has made use of these findings, as well. Such research is still being conducted to this day. Fixating our gaze on something or, quite the opposite, avoiding our gaze from something can be strong indicators used in non-verbal communication. Studies involving eye movement are often paired up with research involving subtle non-verbal movements and introspective protocols which together allow for a much better picture regarding the kind of internal cognitive processes a subject goes through in any given situation.
More info about eye tracking research
