Explore how people interact with machines
Human-AI interaction

Explore how people interact with machines

Use eye tracking to understand how people visually engage with interfaces, controls, displays, automation, and complex technical systems. 

See what happens before the action

Systems can record button presses, responses, errors, and task outcomes. Eye tracking reveals the visual behavior that happens before them. 

See which controls operators search for, whether critical information receives attention, and how gaze moves between displays, controls, and the surrounding environment. 

See what happens before the action

Benefits

Benefits

Turn human insight into better system design

Turn gaze data into actionable insights that help teams refine interfaces, support operators, and make complex systems easier and safer to use.

  • Create more intuitive interfaces

    Discover where users search, hesitate, or miss information to guide clearer layouts, controls, and displays.

  • Maintain situational awareness

    Identify where attention is directed during complex tasks and whether essential information is noticed when it matters.

  • Ease operator workload

    Spot changes in visual behavior as task complexity increases to identify opportunities to ease operator workload.

  • Build trust in automation

    See how operators monitor systems and when they seek information or intervene to inform more effective automation strategies.

  • Refine designs with evidence

    Compare how people visually navigate different concepts to make more informed design decisions before implementation.

  • Accelerate skill development

    Learn how experienced operators approach complex tasks to uncover strategies that can inform training for novice users.

Applications

Applications

Eye tracking across HMI applications

Apply eye tracking across complex systems to investigate how people use interfaces, monitor automation, and interact with machines in realistic tasks. 

Vehicles and mobility 
Vehicles and mobility 
Vehicles and mobility 
Vehicles and mobility 

Study dashboards, infotainment, driver assistance, automated driving, and transitions between automated and human control. 

Aviation and control environments 
Aviation and control environments 
Aviation and control environments 
Aviation and control environments 

Investigate how operators distribute attention across displays, alerts, controls, and external information in safety-critical environments. 

Industrial systems 
Industrial systems 
Industrial systems 
Industrial systems 

Evaluate interaction with machine interfaces, equipment, control panels, and production systems. 

Simulation 
Simulation 
Simulation 
Simulation 

Investigate HMI under repeatable scenarios while combining gaze with simulator and performance data. 

Medical technology 
Medical technology 
Medical technology 
Medical technology 

Study interaction with device interfaces, displays, alarms, software, and decision-support systems. 

Intelligent and adaptive systems 
Intelligent and adaptive systems 
Intelligent and adaptive systems 
Intelligent and adaptive systems 

Investigate how interaction changes as machines become more automated, adaptive, and AI-enabled. 

Research insights

Research measures

What you can measure 

Turn visual behavior into measurable data to investigate how operators search for information, allocate attention, and respond to changing system demands. 

  • Fixations and dwell time

    Measure which displays, controls, or interface elements receive attention and for how long. 

  • Visual search

    Investigate how operators scan interfaces and environments to find information needed for a task. 

  • Attention distribution 

    Compare how visual attention is allocated across displays, controls, instruments, and the surrounding environment. 

  • Pupil-based measures 

    Where appropriate, use pupil data alongside other measures to investigate changes associated with cognitive demand. 

Data integration

Connect gaze with performance data

Combine eye tracking with system events, task performance results, video, and simulator data to understand how people interact with machines to identify opportunities for improvement.

Link gaze to system events 

Investigate where operators look before, during, and after alerts, mode changes, interventions, or other events. 

Connect attention with performance 

Relate visual behavior to responses, errors, reaction times, task outcomes, and other performance measures. 

Combine multiple data sources 

Bring eye tracking together with simulator data, video, physiological signals, or other research measures for a more complete view of interaction. 

Connect gaze with performance data

Our technology

Our technology

Eye tracking tools for studying interaction with machines

Choose eye tracking glasses or screen-based eye tracking to investigate how people use interfaces, monitor automation, and interact with machines and technical systems.

Not sure which setup fits your research?

Talk to our team about your study design, research environment, and requirements.

Other solutions

Explore more ways people engage with technology

Bring eye tracking into your research

We can help you find the right eye tracking solution to understand how people experience, evaluate, and interact with machines.

Use cases

See how researchers study human-machine interaction

FAQs

Quick answers

Explore human-machine interaction research

Find answers about using eye tracking to study attention, workload, situational awareness, and interaction with machines and technical systems. 

Resources & community

Resources & community

Everything you need to get started

Free training, open-source tools, and direct support, designed to get you from unboxing to publishable results as fast as possible.

  • Tobii Academy

    Free online learning platform with structured courses covering every stage of eye tracking research, from fundamental concepts to advanced analysis techniques.

    → Eye tracking fundamentals and methodology

    → Experiment design best practices

    → Tobii Pro Lab software training

    → Data analysis and interpretation

    → Certification tracks

  • Open-source research tools

    50+ community-curated tools, experiment scripts, and integration libraries across the full eye tracking workflow. PsychoPy, MATLAB, Python, LSL, and more.

    Curated catalogue

    PsychoPy integration

    Tobii GitHub

  • Tobii Connect support portal

    Knowledge base, firmware updates, troubleshooting guides, and direct support from Tobii's technical team. Your first stop for any hardware or software question.

    → Product setup and troubleshooting guides

    → Firmware and software downloads

    → Data quality methodology documentation

    → Direct ticket support for registered products

    → Sample projects and demo recordings