The Eye-Tracking Butterfly: Morphing the SMI REDpt Eye-Tracking Camera into an Interactive Device. James Cunningham & James D. Miles California State University, Long Beach The Eye-Tracking Butterfly: Morphing the SMI REDpt Eye-Tracking Camera into an Interactive Device. James Cunningham & James D. Miles California State University, Long Beach Introduction Collecting and Using Eye Tracking Data References We evaluated alternative uses for gaze information from eye- tracking systems as real-time input Novel uses for real-time eye-gaze information: Research: using gaze data to control interface components, basic perceptual research, HCI evaluative research on embedded eye-tracking systems, i.e. Tobii’s iBeam tablet. Commercial: HCI opportunities; monitoring time spent looking at ads in real time, visual feedback information. Tracking eye-gaze by using infrared light Measure the movement of the pupil center; darkest part of eye… Measure its pupil center relation to the corneal reflex; brightest part of eye. Tracking eye-gaze to collect the scan path Scan path - The combination of saccades, fixations, and blinks. Allows eye tracking as another source of data and analysis in technology and research. Setup The Eyetracker: REDpt by SMI Portable, light-weight, infrared-light emitting camera Rotates in the X and Y axis letting it continue eye-tracking through small movements of the head. Connected to any serial capable host computer for communication of commands and captured gaze data. Uses an s-video connection to send captured video to Falcon video-grabber PCI card. Easy Networking A dedicated secondary computer was connected serially to the host computer and set-up to control the camera through E-Prime, a programming language for developing research tools. Summary Calibrated REDpt tracking eye-gaze (pink cursor) Real-time communication of the two computers and the REDpt camera allows E-Prime to control a host of new functions Manipulating camera position Calibration of the REDpt Formatting the data stream to show different variables Pupil position Corneal reflex position Gaze position Timestamps of eye-gaze events SensoMotoric Instruments, Inc (August 2011). iView X System Manual Version 2.8. Retrieved from Psychology Software Tools, Inc. (2013). E-Prime Knowledge Base. Retrieved from We have made the SMI REDpt eye-tracking camera emulate a control device by making the gaze data available as online, real-time variables. The small size of the camera and the ease of networking allow the eye-tracking system to become portable and easily integrated into different settings EXAMPLE: When the REDpt is used in conjunction with a projector, the scan path of a subject’s run through a driving simulator can be parsed into their fixations, saccades, and blinks. The real-time data from the camera can be used future research design and new technologies Moving a cursor in real-time using a person's gaze Obscuring a person's vision to focus their attention on their periphery Using a person's gaze to create targeted visual feedback on a display The real-time stream of data from the camera can be modified into real-time variables and used to control object’s in E-Prime. Networking allows the secondary computer to be used as the main computer for all testing functions Experiments are run through one computer E-Prime is the “central executive” for setup and running of experiments The REDpt can be calibrated through E-Prime Data is saved to a single location Data computing is split between computers.