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The clock is ticking for EyeTracKids 2012!
 Don’t miss EyeTracKids 2012! We are excited to host the 5th EyeTracKids Conference focusing on eye tracking methods in developmental psychology on June 6 in Minneapolis. It coincides with the ISIS Conference 2012 June 7-9 in Minneapolis. This year, we will have 7 great speakers and 15 posters in developmental psychology from all over the world. It would be great to have you there! Learn more or Register
We are also hosting the EyeTrackUX 2012 Conference on June 4 in Las Vegas. EyeTrackUX is a premier eye tracking methodology conference in user experience, and it coincides with the UPA 2012 conference June 5-7 in Las Vegas. Learn more
Tobii is pleased to highlight the research conducted by Tobii customer, David S. Rosengrant at Kennesaw State University. The research topic is Professor Tracks Eye Movements to Determine Classroom Focus. We would like to thank David for sharing his excellent research with all of us. Please read more in the Client Research section below.
If you have work that you’d like showcased in a future Tobii newsletter, please contact Tina at tina.kydes@tobii.com.
As always, feel free to forward eyeQ to a colleague or provide us with feedback. I can be reached at barbara.barclay@tobii.com.
Barbara Barclay
General Manager, Tobii North America
Headlines
Tobii Tips and Tricks
Reducing or eliminating blank screen due to image loading
Client Research
The Eyes Have It
Professor tracks eye movements to determine classroom focus
Behavioral Research
"Eye Tremors May Be Early Indicator of Parkinson's"
"Babies Catch Words Early"
"Keeping Older Drivers on the Road"
"Orthographic Versus Semantic Matching in Visual Search for Words Within Lists"
Grant Opportunities
"Cooperative Agreement for a National Research and Training Organization for People with Developmental and Other Disabilities"
"DoD Autism Idea Development Award"
Tobii Tips and Tricks
Reducing or eliminating blank screen due to image loading
When presenting complex or high resolution image stimuli, sometimes you might notice a lag (and associated gap in the timeline) between the end of one image and the beginning of the next. To minimize or eliminate this lag, you can set Tobii Studio to preload images into memory prior to their actual presentation. Simply check the box for “Prepare images in advance” in the Tools>Global Settings>Recording menu. Keep in mind that preloading images takes RAM while not doing so places a heavier demand on your CPU and video subsystem so it’s advisable to experiment to find the optimal setting for your configuration.
Client Research
The Eyes Have It
Professor tracks eye movements to determine classroom focus
Like most professors, David Rosengrant hopes his students will remain focused on the important parts of his lecture topics. Unlike his fellow professors, however, Rosengrant, an assistant professor of physics education at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta, Ga., can track a student’s eye movements and determine exactly where the student has fixed his or her gaze at any given time.
Rosengrant is conducting research using a new eye-tracking device called Tobii Glasses. When a student wears the glasses whatever he or she focuses on is automatically recorded. “It shows during a normal lecture what diverts attention away from being on task and what keeps a subject on task,” said Rosengrant.
His most recent research, which has concentrated on students taking physical science lectures, has disproved the notion that attention span is highest during the first 15 minutes of class.
Rosengrant said that “eye-tracking has been widely used for research purposes in fields such as linguistics and marketing. However, there are many possibilities of how eye-trackers could be used in other disciplines like physics.” To help fill in the knowledge gap, he created a new technique called gaze scribing where subjects wear a head-mounted eye-tracker while solving electrical circuit problems on a graphics monitor.
In his latest research, Rosengrant has moved into the classroom and outfitted his subjects with Tobii Glasses, which means “the students don’t have to wear or carry around a backpack-sized recording device,” he said. They wear the glasses for the entire lecture. The portable glasses record 70 minutes of data, combining audio and video with a dot representing where they are focusing.
Rosengrant found that his student subjects tended not to focus on the instructor for most parts of the lecture but rather the information, particularly new information presented on PowerPoint slides.
To learn more about this research, please contact David at drosengr@kennesaw.edu.
Behavioral Research
Eye Tremors May Be Early Indicator of Parkinson's
Medscape (04/11/12) Brooks, Megan
Eye-tracking technology detected ocular fixation instability, or eye tremors, in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but not in patients who did not have PD, according to a recent study. In the study, 112 patients with PD all showed eye tremors, while only two of the 60 age-matched control subjects had eye tremors. Of those two, one patient demonstrated signs of PD at a two-year follow-up. The eye-tracking technology that enabled the precise oculomotor testing "could provide clinicians with a simple means to accurately diagnose Parkinson's disease, with accuracy well exceeding that of clinical assessments," says study author Mark S. Baron. Although previous studies note oculomotor changes in patients with Parkinson's, this is the first study to systematically quantify the pervasiveness of the inability to fixate on an object among these patients. "Patients with PD often present to ophthalmologists with complaints of poor vision," Baron says. "They however are not tested for fine ocular instability and so are routinely erroneously told that there is not a clear problem to account for their complaints." Although the technology used in the study was sophisticated and sensitive enough to pick up very subtle abnormalities, the study authors say it would not be expensive or complicated to use the technology for early diagnosis and screening of potential PD cases.
Babies Catch Words Early
Science News (03/24/12) Vol. 181, No. 6, P. 12 Bower, Bruce
Six-month-old babies understand several commonly used nouns, according to a new University of Pennsylvania study. Contrary to the belief that word recognition does not start until nine months of age, the study found that infants not only recognize words, but also can discern words spoken in sentences and match sound patterns to objects. The study used an eye-tracking device to follow the eye movements of six-month-old infants' gaze on a computer screen as their mothers named items that appeared with other objects. The infants gazed longer at foods and body parts after the mother named those items. For example, if the mother said, "look at the hair," the baby would look longer at the image of hair than the image of a banana that also appeared on the screen. The study also found that by 14 months infants' recognition of nouns for foods and body parts increased substantially.
Keeping Older Drivers on the Road
Newcastle University (04/23/12)
Researchers on Newcastle University's Intelligent Transport team have developed a sophisticated driving simulator that monitors a driver's concentration, stress level, and driving habits. As older participants use the driving simulator, it collects information using tracking systems, eye trackers, and bio-monitors. The researchers are able to collect data on eye movement, speed, reaction time, lane position, acceleration, braking, and driving efficiency. The researchers say they can use the data to better understand and develop technologies that address the challenges older drivers face, such as night-vision systems, navigation tools, and intelligent speed adaptations that can help older drivers to continue driving safely later in life. “For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30 mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined," says lead researcher Amy Guo. “We’re looking at the benefits of systems which control your speed as a way of preventing that.” Being able to continue to drive helps many older adults, especially those living in rural areas, maintain their independence.
Orthographic Versus Semantic Matching in Visual Search for Words Within Lists
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology (Spring 2012) Vol. 66, No. 1, P. 32 Leger, Laure; Rouet, Jean-Francois; Ros, Christine; et al.
Both orthographic and semantic distractor words affected the amount of time it took participants to search for target words in lists, according to a recent study. The study used eye-tracking technology to determine whether orthographic distractors, words that had the same first and last letter as the target words, or semantic distractors, words related to the target word, increased the time participants took to search a list for the target word. Participants were given the task of both a literal search, in which the target word such as "raven" was shown to participants first, and a categorical search, in which the target word was defined by its semantic category, such as "bird." The study found that both kinds of distractors affected the search time and the eye movement patterns of the participants. Orthographic distractors significantly increased search times, and participants' gaze focused on these words longer than other words on the list. Semantic words related to the target also increased search time, suggesting automatic semantic processing by participants. Although orthographic distractors had more impact on search times, semantic distractors resulted in more target selection errors. The results suggest visual characteristics of words in lists have a strong impact on the efficiency of both literal and categorical search tasks.
Grant Opportunities
Cooperative Agreement for a National Research and Training Organization for People with Developmental and Other Disabilities
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (05/02/12)
The purpose of the program is to advance research on National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities strategic priorities related to birth defects, developmental and other disabilities, and reducing health disparities associated with disabilities, and enhance its impact on persons with disabilities and their families. Additional information on eligibility is available from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD).
DoD Autism Idea Development Award
Department of the Army (05/02/12)
The ARP Idea Development Award supports the development of innovative, high-impact ideas that advance the understanding of ASD and that ultimately will lead to improved outcomes for individuals with autism. Through the Idea Development Award, the ARP seeks to promote multidisciplinary collaborations (e.g., special education, biomedical science, preclinical research); to develop and validate biologically relevant animal models of autism (with appropriate justification for its relevance to a given subgroup); to investigate the implications of immunological response and ASD; and to leverage existing biological samples, clinical populations, and databases to provide power to test ideas. The original closing date for applications is Sept. 20, 2012.
Abstract News © Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC.
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