Low-cost eye tracker
Thomas J. Bradford · University of Southern Queensland ePrints (University of Southern Queensland) · 2014
Eye trackers have useful applications in numerous industries and fields of research. However, while commercial eye trackers currently exist for these applications, they are exceedingly expensive, limiting their application to high-end speciality products and thus making them unsuitable as a low-cost solution. For this reason, a low-cost eye tracker utilising open-source software would greatly increase the accessibility of eye trackers to those who would benefit from the technology. Modern technology advancements have enabled off-the-shelf video hardware such as computer webcams and consumer video cameras to be suitable for use in an eye tracking hardware configuration while still maintaining their low cost and high accessibility. Furthermore, the development of open-source eye tracking software to operate in conjunction with this hardware has significantly facilitated the implementation of such hardware in the eye tracking system. With the increasing dependence on computers and technology in everyday life, it is of increasing importance to study software usability testing and human-computer interaction to enhance the user experience. This dissertation details the development of a low-cost eye tracker using off-the-shelf hardware and open-source software to analyse how learning tools are used by students. Throughout this process, a low-cost head-mounted eye tracking hardware configuration was designed and developed. Implementation of the hardware was achieved using the ITU Gaze Tracker software, developed by the ITU University of Copenhagen (San Agustin, Skovsgaard, Mollenbach, Barret, Tall, Hansen & Hansen 2010). The Gaze Analyser software was also developed to analyse and visualise fixations identified in the raw eye tracking data.