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Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science

Eye-Tracking Laboratories

Eyelink II LaboratoryEye-movements and cognitive science

As we go about our daily lives, our eyes are continually moving around, sampling the information that is available in the visual environment. For instance, if we want to know how somebody is feeling, we will fixate in turn on the different features of their face. When reading a story, our eyes will move from word to word, lingering on words that are more difficult to read, and backtracking when we realise that something doesn’t quite make sense. And when we hear somebody talking, our eyes tend to be drawn to objects in the visual scene that we expect the speaker to mention next. By monitoring people’s eye-movements, it is possible to gain important insights into the underlying cognitive processes involved in completing these tasks.

Eye-tracking facilities at MACCS

Our Eye Tracking Laboratory (C5C 447) hosts an EyeLink II; and an EyeLink 1000 desktop-mounted tracker. In addition, the ERP-FRP lab hosts an EyeLink 1000 tower-mounted tracker. Each of these systems has different strengths, enabling a wide-range of applications.

EyeLink II head-mounted eye-tracker

The system uses three cameras: two high speed cameras allow for binocular (or dominant-eye monocular) recording of eye movements; the third camera tracks four infrared markers mounted on the display screen, allowing the EyeLink software to automatically compensate for small head movements by tracking the position of the subject's head in relation to these markers on the screen. This means that a chin rest, or head restraint, is not required. Pupil measurements are recorded at a rate of 500 Hz (one sample every 2 milliseconds). The head-mounted tracker is currently the only system at MACCS that enables binocular recording. It is particularly suitable for research that involves interaction with a touch-screen. In principle, it could be upgraded (at cost) to allow eye-tracking of interactions with 3-dimensional objects.

EyeLink 1000 remote eyetracker

Eyelink 1000 remote calibrationThe remote eyetracking system incorporates a small camera and infra-red illuminator mounted on the desktop in front of the display screen. Participants wear a small circular sticker on their forehead, which enables the system to track their head position as they move around freely (around 20cm in any direction). This makes the system particularly suitable for testing children and other special populations. The remote system operates at 500Hz, but can record at 1000 Hz and with higher spatial resolution if the participant’s head is stabilized using a chin-rest.

 

EyeLink 1000 tower-mounted system

The tower-mounted EyeLink 1000 system provides the greatest spatial and temporal resolution. To achieve this, the participant's head must be stabilized on a chin-rest. The camera is positioned above the chinrest and monitors their eye-movements via a mirror placed between the participant and the computer screen. The mirror reflects infra-red light but visible light passes through, so the participant’s view of the computer screen is not affected. Our tower-mounted eye-tracker is integrated with a Neuroscan EEG system, allowing brain responses to be time-locked to fixation on particular areas of interest on the screen (see ERP-FRP lab for more details).

Portability

Lunchbox computerOur EyeLink II and EyeLink 1000 desktop/remote systems are both semi-portable, incorporating a 'lunch-box' computer which hosts the EyeLink operating system. This is essentially a small desktop computer with an inbuilt monitor, keyboard, mouse and handles for easy movement. Each system can be packed into two padded wheeled containers for easy and safe transportation. However, setting up the system in a new location can take some time, so it is recommended that researchers conduct testing at MACCS if at all possible. The tower-mounted EyeLink 1000 cannot be moved from the ERP-FRP lab.

MACCS Eye-tracking executive committee

Information for Lab users

The Eyelink lab is located in C5C447.

Room Booking

To use an eyetracker, Data Viewer or Experiment builder key you must book them out using the MACCS room booking system. The sofware keys are under "Equipment" and the Eyelink systems are under "Eyetracking Lab". A booking for either system constitutes a booking for the whole room. If you are making an offsite booking mention this in the booking "Brief Description" so that other people know the lab is free for booking the other system.

Note : All off-site bookings must approved in advance by the "Eye-tracking Executive Committee".

Do not book the lab for more time than you need. All day bookings are to be avoided. In the case of the Data Viewer Key it must remain on campus and when not in use returned to the Eyelink Lab.

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