Integrated E-prime / The Observer project available

Wednesday, 12th June 2013

A free example project is available linking E-prime to The Observer 11 using the new Noldus E-prime plug-in. The Observer acts as a hub allowing the analysis of data from E-prime with behavioural data, collected live as the E-prime experiment runs, or post-hoc from video.

The project shows images in a random order and records the subjects response via the keyboard. The subject can also be filmed via The Observer and their facial expressions analysed using FaceReader. The Observer can be used to analyse all the data streams - eyetracking, key strokes, emotions (all automatically collected) and behaviour.

If you'd like a copy of the project please contact us. We'll also be happy to help if you'd like advice about changing it to suit your research.

EthoVision 9.0 released

Wednesday, 5th December 2012

The latest version of Noldus's market leading video tracking system EthoVision 9.0 is out! With a host of new features including;

• Activity detection - distiguish between sitting and freezing for fear conditioning and operant work
• Batch acquistion - track from video files overnight and view your analysis results in the morning
• Hardware event detection as an analysis parameter; e.g. activity while a light was on or off
• External commands - trigger physiological recording when EthoVision starts tracking
• Additional smoothing filters, multiple arena manipulation tools and support for firewire and GigE camera

Contact us for more details or to arrange a demo

EEG-eyetracker integration with Emotiv Toolkit

Tuesday, 13th November 2012

We are delighted to announce a new module for SMIs Experiment Suite 360 - the Emotiv Toolkit, allowing;

• synchronised measurement of Emotiv and eyetracking data streams
• live view of eyetracking and raw EEG data
• create eyetracking visualisations and heatmaps with EEG emotion states

More information can be found here. Contact us for pricing and a demonstration.

Data Recorder for SMIs Eye Tracking Glasses Released

Thursday, 13th September 2012

SMIs revolutionary Eye Tracking Glasseshave become even more mobile with the release of their new Data Recording Unit, featuring;

• Quick and easy set-up
• A powerful, lightweight recorder running Windows.
• Fast and simple downloading, so you can start working on your recordings while you continue to collect new material.

An overview is available here.

Contact us for more information or to request a demo. 

Big Brother features the Eye Tracking Glasses!

Friday, 22nd June 2012

SimpleUsability recently worked with Big Brother on a task featured here.

''We were the first UK company to use eye tracking glasses in a real-world environment, and, while this task was just a bit of fun, it does illustrate how unobtrusive the technology has become and the accuracy for the latest generation of glasses.”

Guy Redwood. Director of SimpleUsability

RED-m released

Sunday, 25th March 2012

Announcing the latest addition to SMIs eyetracking systems - the RED-m. Small and portable for use with laptops, tablets and monitors. A complete solution; from design to analysis.

Eyetracking Glasses Tour 2012

Sunday, 1st January 2012

In response to great interest in the new SMI Eye Tracking Glasses, we are running a UK & Ireland Tour in 2012. This will allow potential users of the glasses to use them and see the workflow from set up to results!

We'll also be chatting to people about integrating the glasses with other measurement systems such as Emotiv, EEG and behaviours.

If you would like to see the glasses on Tour contact us

First Eyetracking Glasses in use

Thursday, 15th December 2011

Our first glasses customers are already working with their new systems and collecting data. Dr Gary Burnett at Nottingham University is using his Eye Tracking Glasses (ETG) in a driving simulator.

Meanwhile Manchester Metropolitan University are planning to use the ETG for a variety of projects including Usability Testing and Market Research.

Head of Digital Media and Entertainment Technology Dr Atif Waraich comments;

'Along with our SMI remote eyetracking system and behavioural observation suite, we think the ETG will have a huge impact on the research and services we can offer'

Online Learning Lab bears fruit

Friday, 2nd December 2011

The National e-Learning Laboratory (NELL) is a usability laboratory especially designed for the observation and analysis of on-line learning and interactive systems. It provides an environment where learners and teachers are studied interacting with on-line resources and tools to accurately measure the learning experience.

Equipped with an SMI Remote Eyetracker and The Observer XT and FaceReader by Noldus, NELL has participated in a number of research projects and also offers commercial services.

'The expertise and support we received from Tracksys was pivotal to the success of the lab'

Dr Stephan Weibelzahl

FaceReader 4.0 released

Wednesday, 20th July 2011

FaceReader 4.0 has been released with a host of new features including;

• Increased accuracy using new 3D modelling algorithms
• Massive increase in facial tracking points from 55 to 491
• Quick analysis of multiple videos using the new batch option
• API that allows other programs to react instantly to emotions

Contact us for more details

Eye Tracking Glasses (ETG)

Thursday, 16th June 2011

A new era in mobile eyetracking! SMIs Eye Tracking Glasses (ETG) are a binocular system that is simple to use and includes automatic analysis. It can also be integrated with other technologies and sensors - e.g. EEG or GPS. 

YouTube video link here

RED 250 expands research opportunities at the Open University

Wednesday, 26th January 2011

A new RED 250 system has been installed at the Open University to support a range of exciting projects;

Dr Nicola Brace is using eye-tracking to examine the process of facial composite construction using EFIT-V - one of a new generation of facial composite systems. To explore whether witnesses are able to make best use of the software, they were shown either an average or a distinctive face, and their eye movements were recorded. Two days later they were asked to create a facial composite of the face using EFIT-V. Results considered the relationship between their eye movements during the encoding phase and their interaction with the composite construction software.

Sue Hunter and Graham Pike are investigating eye movement patterns in video identification parades (VIPER). The standard eyewitness identification procedure in the UK is to use a video parade which is shown to the witness twice before they are asked to make a decision. The current study used eye-tracking analysis to determine whether participant-witnesses view the second presentation of the video parade differently to the first presentation and also whether viewing behaviour is affected by the presence or absence of the target.

Launch of Manchester Metropolitans Usability Lab.

Thursday, 25th November 2010

The new MMU Usability Lab. was launched to a mixture of academic and business clients on the 24th November. Tracksys supported the event with a presentation about what the lab. can deliver.

Facility Director Dr Atif Waraich outlined the range of services that the lab. can provide. More details can be found here

500Hz Remote eyetracking has arrived!

Sunday, 21st November 2010

Announcing the arrival of the latest addition to SMIs Remote Eyetracking family. At 500Hz the new system gives unrivalled remote eyetracking. More details can be found here 

If you would like to see the new system please contact us.

Batsmen assessed with iView-X Mobile system

Wednesday, 1st September 2010

Researchers at Southampton Solent University have used the iView-X mobile eyetracker to assess visual attention in batsmen. Differences were found between top- and lower-order batsmen for both where and also how long they looked at particular cues. Full story here.

BeGaze 2.4 is released

Tuesday, 9th March 2010

New features include; Gaze replay for retrospective think aloud, new focus and heat maps, questionnaires, gridded areas of interest, enhanced statistics and the External Video Package (ideal for video games)

Digital Recording and Analysis system for Duck Welfare Research

Wednesday, 13th January 2010

Dr Keelin O'Driscoll of the The Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, needed a flexible digital video recording system. She is working on a research project looking at how to provide water for bathing to commercially farmed ducks to improve their welfare.

High-quality recordings were required from multiple cameras overlooking pens not local to Cambridge. There are many digital security systems available, but they are all built for that market. They are often unsuited to producing long video recordings in a format for analysis e.g. a 24 hour recording as one file that can be opened in The Observer XT software. Tracksys listened to her requirements and supplied her department with a flexible system with cameras, wiring and recording systems that can be put up at field sites quickly and easily. They can then be left recording video and just after midnight each night they export video files of the length and time recorded (e.g. 4 hours, from 10.00 a.m.) onto an external hard drive. At every visit to the field site all that is required is to swap over the hard drive, and all the recordings can then be viewed in Cambridge using Windows Media Player, or The Observer XT.

Keelin comments 'We are very pleased with the ease of operation of the system - when we visit the sites we have a lot of direct measurements to take from the birds, and to be able to pick up the video recordings without having to run any export or transfer process has been excellent'

Audio Add-on to Zebrafish tower

Friday, 6th November 2009

An audio stimulus option has been added to the Tower Filming System to enable startle stimuli (audio and light) to be delivered to a 96 well plate with zebrafish larvae in.

Previous work at DanioLabs using acoustic stimuli only (Best et al, 2008), showed that zebrafish larvae (7 days post fertilization) exhibit iterative reduction in a startle response to a series of acoustic stimuli.

The new option delivers an audio signal with a frequency in the range of 100 Hz to 800Hz from speakers positioned alongside the wellplate, with / without white light (at approx. 70 lux or 350 lux) as a visual stimuli.

New 250Hz Remote Eyetracker

Thursday, 27th August 2009

Announcing the worlds first 250Hz remote eyetracker, giving you;

• * Precise measurement of saccades as well as fixations
• * A simple and easy to use interface
• * Minimum latency - faster lock-on and reaction
• * An All-in-One eyetracking lab. - with an award winning design 
• * Heat and attention maps and detailed statistics from webpages and video
• * Add-on modules for Face Recording and Reading

Contact us for more details or to arrange a demonstration.

Observation Package added to the RED

Monday, 3rd August 2009

Audio and video recording can now be made during eyetracking. Using a synchronised face camera, you can integrate your subjects expessions, action and comments with their gaze data.

Here's an example

Remote Eyetracking in Child Linguistics study

Wednesday, 15th July 2009

Dr Caroline Floccia and colleagues at the University of Plymouth are using the iView Remote Eyetracker to investigate how exposure to linguistic variability shapes children's perceptual abilities for the sounds of language.

Recent data has shown that bilingual children are slightly delayed in their learning of the sounds used in their two languages. This could be due to the fact that they are exposed to a greater range of possible sounds as compared to monolinguals. If this is correct, one could expect bidialectal children (e.g. a child with a Scottish Mum and a Plymothian Dad) to behave similarly.

Three populations are being tested: monolingual monodialectals, bidialectals and bilinguals in a task of word recognition, at 14 and 20 months. Children are presented with pairs of pictures depicting familiar objects, for example a cat and a dog, and hear a voice saying "Look! Cat!".

'We measure their fixations on a series of pictures, before and after naming. The RED is the perfect tool for this study as it is easy to use and tracks the children reliably.'

This project is funded by the Nuffield Foundation (2008-2010). For more information on the project click here.

Key Performance Indicators added to the Remote Eyetracker

Sunday, 5th July 2009

Key Performance Indicators make your aggregate quantitive results visible in a simple summary. Quickly and easily assess the distribution of eye movements across the stimulus image, webpage or video.

Eyetracking helps pilot training at Thomson

Saturday, 10th January 2009

Thomson Airways Pilot Training is the first airline to use Eye Tracking Technology in their flight simulators to develop the pilot’s skills in instrument flying and monitoring of auto-flight systems. It also helps the all important safety role of the pilot not flying the aircraft to actively watch the flight path of the aircraft whilst reading checklists in emergency situations. This is at the leading edge of pilot training and allows them to understand what the expert pilots are actually looking at. The information they are discovering is useful in determining the training programmes to develop the skill level of all the pilots.

We expect it to be used to assist retraining of pilots who have been identified with performance issues during recruitment. It will also ensure we get the highest calibre new pilots and to identify trends in pilot performance that enable us to tailor our training programmes and establish the common performance indicators of expert pilots.  However, I believe the most significant outcome will be to develop the skills of the pilot who is not flying the aircraft – in his role of monitoring.  Currently we only know when someone isn’t good at this when the pilot flying makes mistakes that aren’t spotted… but now we will know exactly what he is looking at and for the first time be able to teach these skills.

Combi Eyetracker for the University of Plymouth

Monday, 20th October 2008

Dr Matt Roser, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, heads a large group of researchers who will be using a head-mounted and remote 'combi' eyetracker on a variety of projects. Much of the work will focus on eyetracking toddlers and young children. More details can be found here. 

E-Learning and Teaching Usability suite at NCI Dublin

Tuesday, 8th April 2008

Designed to assess e-learning, teaching, and usability, the new suite at the National College of Ireland is our most comprehensive installation to date. Features include multiple audio and video streams and automatic screen, mouse and keyboard capture. The system also allows automatic emotion detection via FaceReader and eyetracking.

Headed by Dr Leo Casey and Dr Stephan Weibelzahl, more details on the project can be found here. 

Observation Suite at QMC, Nottingham

Friday, 4th April 2008

The School of Nursing at Queens Medical Centre now has a bespoke observaton suite for usability and a range of communication projects. Headed by Dr Heather Wharrad, the new suite will allow users to record a range of behaviours using The Observer XT, with automatic logging of keyboard and mouse use.

Experiment Centre now available for the iView-X RED eyetracker

Wednesday, 2nd April 2008

The new Experiment Centre has been released for use with the iView-X remote eyetracker. Featuring a range of new functions including; screen capture (gaze-cursor overlaid in a freestanding movie), webpage logging and dynamic and still image presentation. Each project can be built in a few seconds and is then run automatically by the software. Output can be opened automatically in BeGaze for analysis.

Contact us for more details.

New Mobile Head-Mounted Eyetracker

Monday, 6th August 2007

Announcing the new head-mounted eyetracker from SMI. Fitted to a helmet or lightweight cap the system offers complete portability for research in sports, ergonomic, usability and a variety of other disciplines. Contact us for more details.

New Remote Eyetracker

Monday, 6th August 2007

Announcing the new Remote Eyetracker from SMI featuring a completely re-designed interface tolerant to the subject moving, advanced automatic analysis and portability. Use the RED with a PC screen or a data projector.

Installation of cameras, wiring and hard-disk recording systems at the University of Cambridge

Tuesday, 13th March 2007

Announcing a new flexible filming system for work in indoor and outdoor aviarys at the University of Cambridge. Currently there are 46 indoor cameras and a range of cameras for outdoor aviaries, including a remote controlled PTZ (Pan, Tilt & Zoom). Some cameras are permanently mounted on walls and ceilings to provide remote viewing of birds. Video feeds from these cameras can also be recorded to computer hard-drive. Other cameras are mounted on movable cages and are easily connected to the video system by robust interconnect leads. Other portable cameras can be quickly installed in a range of positions. Wiring has already been installed in anticipation of the further expansion of the facility. Full article.

Observation Suite at Manchester University

Monday, 22nd January 2007

Announcing a new observation suite at The Department of Psychology, Manchester University. The suite will be run by Dr Judith Holler to look at gesture use when talking. 

Observation Suite at Newcastle University

Thursday, 18th January 2007

Announcing a new observation suite for parent-child interaction studies at Newcastle University under Prof. Stephanie Stokes. Remote-control dome cameras and sensitive microphones will produce excellent video footage for analysis with The Observer.

iView-X fMRI system installed at CUBRIC

Friday, 12th January 2007

Announcing a second eyetracking installation at the CUBRIC facility, Cardiff University. Following the successful delivery of an iView-X system for MEG use, Prof. Krish Singh now has a companion system based on same iView-X platform for use in the fMRI scanner. Full article.

EthoVision XT released

Wednesday, 3rd January 2007

 We are delighted to announce the release of EthoVision XT. This is a sister product to the existing EthoVision system and includes several new features;

Remote support and demonstrations now available

Wednesday, 3rd January 2007

Tracksys is pleased to announce our new remote support and demonstration service using the GoToMeeting package. If you would like a free online demonstration of any of our systems please contact us to arrange a session.

Tracksys Catalogue Released

Saturday, 30th December 2006

Announcing the latest version of the Tracksys catalogue; containing information on all our systems and products.

You can download the Tracksys Catalogue [1Mb PDF] or contact us to request a copy.

New Motion Analysis System at Gateshead International Stadium

Tuesday, 1st August 2006

Tracksys is delighted to annouce the installation of a Simi motion analysis system at the new Gateshead International Stadium. A firewire network allows coaches and researchers to analyse the performance of athletes anywhere in the 90m-long hall. Visual feedback is available instantly via plasma display screens. Contact us if you are considering something similar for your facilities.

New Product. Tower filming system.

Friday, 10th March 2006

Provides a robust, reliable view of large numbers of small animals for observation and /or video tracking.

Download the tower filming system information sheet [PDF 150kb].

The Observer XT now supports a range of handheld devices

Friday, 11th November 2005

The Observer XT now supports a range of handheld devices including PDAs and the Psion Workabout-Pro (pictured).