I need to buy an eye tracking device to use in an experiment in which I will have to track saccades between a text segment and the part of the diagram referred by this text segment.
Hey Nelson, There are some similar questions on RG which already contain some good answers to the general "What eye tracker should I buy?" problem.
- https://www.researchgate.net/post/Any_advice_on_a_portable_eye-tracker_for_AOI_experiments_in_the_field_within_10_000_dollars
- https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_eyetracker_is_recommended_SMI_or_Tobii
- https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_there_cheaper_alternative_to_usability_testing_with_Tobii_eye_tracking
- https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_eye_tracking_device_under_400_dollars
- https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_the_sample_rate_of_100hz_good_enough_for_an_eye-tracking_device_to_be_used_in_conducting_basic_researches_in_Applied_Linguitics
Generally, you should no approach the question purely from the budget (as from my experience, you will be able to acquired some money for devices if required). I would first try to figure out what type of tracking you want to do:
- Technique: EOG, IROG/Limbus, VOG, DPI, Coil (ordered by coarsely increasing accuracy)
- Subject mobility: stationary (head-fixed or remote?) vs. mobile/head-mounted (outdoors/wireless or indoors/wired)
- Binocular vs. Monocular
- 1D vs. 2D
- Subjects: Easy (young healthy/students) vs. hard (children/babies, elderly)
- Environment: In-lab vs. out-of-lab (e.g. in schools, mals, etc.)
- Customizability: How much do you want to do yourself vs. need the eye tracking software to do for you (e.g. access tor raw data, signal preprocessing, event detection, etc.)
- Intended use cases: Full saccade analyses need at least 240, but better 500Hz. Simply fixation analyses (e.g. scanpaths) can be done even with 30Hz. If you want to reuse the eye tracker (e.g. use it for the department) I'd recommend spending more to not get stuck in the future (can tell you from own experience).
It is not entirely clear from your question what you want to do. If you have answered these questions, for yourself, the possible set of eye trackers will be reduced. Afterwards, check the manufactures for the available options. We have recently published an article where we listed a large set of available eye trackers on the market (pre Apples SMI purchase). To save money, it is often a trade-off between do-it-yourself and having a full analysis environment available (as the software often cost a LOT).
Hope that helps, Greetings, David
You're so welcome. I have both the Gazepoint GP3 and the Tobii Pro X3-120. Though the Tobii Pro X3-120 is more expensive, it is quite amazing! Let me know if you're interested in the Gazepoint GP3, I have one rarely used.
All the best,
Hi Nelson Souza , Gazepoint is probably your best bet if you want to keep the price under $1200 and be able to publish. My understanding is that the hardware of the Tobii EyeX or 4C is cheap, but that to purchase the SDK to actually save the data comes at an extra cost (see this thread: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Recommendation_for_inexpensive_eye-tracking_hardware?isAnswerFieldFocused=true). The Tobii X3-120 certainly costs significantly more than $1200. There's an overview of prices for eye trackers from various companies here: https://imotions.com/blog/eye-tracker-prices/ that might help you.
One problem with buying an inexpensive eye tracker is that you eventually need to buy many add-ons, which the manufacturers are happy to sell at high prices. This is a frustrating process for most researchers as the add-ons often lack synchronization with the rest of the components, which lead to expensive trips back to the company. The best approach is to buy an eye tracker that you know works in your specific situation. I always ask the manufacturer to visit me and collect data in the tasks I work in. If they won't do that, I make an appointment and visit them, which is often an eye opener. If you want a productive research career you will need to spend a fair amount for your first eye tracker, but it is well worth the effort of writing grants to secure one. Also, if you are just starting out, most universities and other organizations are happy to help fund a system, as they are investing a lot in you as a member of their faculty or research group.
I am not capable to recommend any ETG hardware but I want to make it clear that not even the most expensive device will be able to record the very many and complex perception processes you need within the execution of a motoric action. The explanatory model of all motoric movement actions shows crystal clear that within an overarching phenomenon an actual image compellingly needs to be linked to a perceptual image. In for example the motoric movement action writing the explanatory model shows that this mutual relationship needs to be observed between 1. the actual to be perceived position of the tip of the pen and 2. the perceptual image of the past as well as the (near) future positions of the tip of the pen which will always shape an action trajectory with a manifest and a latent part. In which the explanatory model shows that the observation of just one sole component hardly has any function. ETG is indeed able to show the actual component but is definitely not capable of showing the perceptual side within the occurring perception processes and therefor completely will fail to show the relationship between the two and what exactly is going on.
Remark:
1. Till now I don’t regard reading as a motoric movement (!) action. But it has definite relations with the definite motoric movement actions of writing and talking which are explained within my research.
2. The explanatory model shows crystal clear that TQE is a definitely occurring phenomenon within all imaginable motoric movement actions but also makes it crystal clear that it is the definite effect of the aforementioned very complex and active perception processes we need in every motoric action and definitely not the cause!
- Badges
- Science topic