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In recent years, the increased sophistication and accessibility of eye tracking technologies have generated a great deal of interest in the commercial sector. Applications include web usability, advertising, sponsorship, package design and automotive engineering. In general, commercial eye tracking studies function by presenting a target stimulus (commercial, website, magazine ad, etc) to a sample of consumers while an eye tracker is used to record the activity of the eye. The resulting data can be statistically analyzed and graphically rendered to provide evidence of specific visual patterns. By examining fixations, saccades, pupil dilation, blinks and a variety of other behaviors researchers can determine a great deal about the effectiveness of a given medium or product. While some companies complete this type of research internally, there are many private companies that offer eye tracking services and analysis.
Specific Fields
The most prominent field of commercial eye tracking research is web usability. While traditional usability techniques are often quite powerful in providing information on clicking and scrolling patterns, eye tracking offers the ability to analyze user interaction between the clicks. This provides valuable insight into which features are the most eye-catching, which features cause confusion and which ones are ignored altogether. Specifically, eye tracking can be used to assess search efficiency, branding, online advertisements, navigation usability, overall design and many other site components. Analyses may target a prototype or competitor site in addition to the main client site.
Eye tracking is commonly used in a variety of different advertising media. Commercials, print ads, online ads and sponsored programs are all conducive to analysis with current eye tracking technology. Analyses focus on visibility of a target product or logo in the context of a magazine, newspaper, website, or televised event. This allows researchers to assess in great detail how often a sample of consumers fixates on the target logo, product or ad. In this way, an advertiser can quantify the success of a given campaign in terms of actual visual attention.
Eye tracking provides package designers with the opportunity to examine the visual behavior of a consumer while interacting with a target package. This may be used to analyze distinctiveness, attractiveness and the tendency of the package to be chosen for purchase. Eye tracking is often utilized while the target product is in the prototype stage. Prototypes are tested against each other and competitors to examine which specific elements are associated with high visibility and appeal.
One of the most promising applications of eye tracking research is in the field of automotive design. Research is currently underway to integrate eye tracking cameras into automobiles. The goal of this endeavor is to provide the vehicle with the capacity to assess in real-time the visual behavior of the driver. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that drowsiness is the primary causal factor in 100,000 police-reported accidents per year. Another NHTSA study suggests that 80% of collisions occur within three seconds of a distraction. By equipping automobiles with the ability to monitor drowsiness, inattention, and cognitive engagement driving safety could be dramatically enhanced.
Commercial Technology
These are both based mainly on the amount of visual attention given to specific elements. Statistical analyses generally sum the number of eye data observations that fall in a particular region. Figure 1 provides an example of a GazeStat™ showing the percentage of visual attention that a sample of participants allocated to each feature while viewing a website. This allows for a broad analysis of which site elements received attention and which ones were ignored. Other behaviors such as blinks, saccades and cognitive engagement may also be scrutinized. Statistical comparisons can be made to test competitors, prototypes or subtle changes to a web design. They are also used to compare participants in different demographic groups. The statistical analysis component of an eye tracking study provides objective, quantifiable results that are grounded in systematic experimentation.
In addition to statistical analysis, it is often useful to provide visual depictions of eye tracking results. The simplest method is to create a video of an eye tracking testing session with the gaze of a participant superimposed upon it. This allows one to effectively see through the eyes of the consumer during interaction with a target medium. Examples of such videos can be found in the external links section. Another method graphically depicts the scanpath of a single participant during a given time interval. GazeTrace2 Example.png The GazeTrace™ in figure 2 shows each fixation and eye movement of a participant during a search on a virtual shelf display of breakfast cereals. Each color represents one second of viewing time, allowing the client to determine the order in which products are seen. Graphics such as these are used as evidence of specific trends in visual behavior. A similar method sums the eye data of multiple participants during a given time interval as a heat map. The GazeSpot™ in figure 3 represents the visual tendencies of several participants, superimposed over a magazine cover. Red and orange spots represent areas of high visual attention. This allows the client to examine which regions in general attract the focus of the consumer. All of these methods are often used in conjunction and incorporated with traditional marketing research measures to produce a comprehensive investigation of commercial value.
Examples of Target Stimuli
•Websites
•Television programs
•Sporting Events
•Films
•Commercials
•Magazines
•Newspapers
•Packages
•Shelf Displays
•Consumer Systems (ATMs, checkout systems, kiosks)
•Software
References
Chandon, Pierre, J. Wesley Hutchinson, and Scott H. Young (2001), Measuring Value of Point-of-Purchase Marketing with Commercial Eye-Tracking Data. http://ged.insead.edu/fichiersti/inseadwp2001/2001-19.pdf
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (n.d.) Retrieved July 9th, 2006, from http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-13/newDriverDistraction.html
External Links
- Introduction to Eyetracking: Seeing Through Your Users' Eyes Introduction to eye tracking basics + usability studies and natural interaction
"Commercial eye tracking"