{"id":188,"date":"2024-06-11T10:23:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T10:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/?p=188"},"modified":"2024-06-11T10:23:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T10:23:32","slug":"spyware-deconstructing-3-myths-about-eye-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2024\/06\/11\/spyware-deconstructing-3-myths-about-eye-tracking\/","title":{"rendered":"Spyware? Deconstructing 3 Myths About Eye Tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the rise of the use of eye tracking in fields such as medical and psychological research, marketing research, and human-computer interaction studies, skepticism and conspiracy theories about the study method are unavoidable. So let’s deconstruct some of these myths and theories.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Spyware?
Heatmap from Survey2Persona Landing Page [Source: Metric]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

1. Eye tracking gear does more than track eyes<\/strong>

To dispel this myth, we need to understand the definition of eye tracking. Eye tracking is simply studying and recording eye movements based on visual stimuli. Therefore, eye tracking focuses on nothing else but the movement of the eyes and sometimes pupil dilation. Eye tracking equipment cannot access a participant\u2019s brain activity, body language, heart palpitations, or bradycardia. The most common information extracted from these studies pertains to fixation, gaze point, pupil position, and dilation. This information can either be used to find out more about the participants\u2019 reactions to the stimuli (a study about the users) or to implement changes to the stimuli based on participants\u2019 feedback (product management).

2. Online eye trackers can access all the data on your computer<\/strong>

False. Online eye trackers, such as METRIC<\/a>, are only designed to conduct the study in the browser through which they were accessed. Of course, as a cautious and aware internet user, it is always a good idea to read the terms and conditions and check the cookie settings (if available) of any website you are visiting. It is also a good idea to pay close attention to pop-ups, ads (do they look sketchy), glitches, sites that ask for excessive personal information or permissions to access your computer, and to do some background checks or verification on sites you are unfamiliar with or that feel suspicious to you. Many sites will only have access to the information you provide. Also, remember that not anyone can do eye-tracking studies just because they have access to the equipment or a site, so if you are signing up as a participant, ensure you fully understand the project and the company conducting it.

3. The infrared light will damage your eyes and blind you<\/strong>

It is generally advised to protect your eyes from excessive light. However, the amount of infrared light needed to cause severe or permanent damage to the eyes is far higher than that used in eye tracking. It is also important to know that infrared eye tracking differs from webcam eye tracking. Therefore, if a participant has extreme levels of photosensitivity or a general phobia of damaging their eyes, the latter would be a more suitable option.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try out\u00a0METRIC<\/a>\u00a0now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more research about eye tracking!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azem, J. Y., Salminen, J., Jung, S.G., and\u00a0Jansen, B. J.\u00a0(<\/strong>2023)\u00a0Measuring Engagement Through Remote Interactions of Customers: Introducing METRIC<\/a>, 2023 International Symposium on Networks, Computers and Communications (ISNCC), Doha, Qatar, 2023, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109\/ISNCC58260.2023.10323669.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salminen, J., Nielsen, L., An, J., Jung, S.G., Kwak, H., and\u00a0Jansen, B. J.\u00a0(2018)\u00a0Is More Better?: Impact of Multiple Photos on Perception of Persona Profiles<\/a>. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI2018), Montr\u00e9al, Canada, 21-26 April, Paper No. 317.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the rise of the use of eye tracking in fields such as medical and psychological research, marketing research, and human-computer interaction studies, skepticism and conspiracy theories about the study method are unavoidable. So let’s deconstruct some of these myths and theories. 1. Eye tracking gear does more than track eyes To dispel this myth, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[31,39,33,40,25,4,9],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eye-tracking","tag-eye-tracking","tag-marketing","tag-remote-user-studies","tag-spyware","tag-user-experience","tag-user-study","tag-users"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/05\/eye-tracking-beyond-conventional-uses\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":0},"title":"Eye Tracking Beyond Conventional Uses","date":"July 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Eye tracking is a versatile technology with applications across various fields for its ability to provide detailed insights into visual attention and behavior. With more and more organizations gaining interest in this technology\u2019s abilities, there has been a rise in numerous offline and online eye-tracking tools such as METRIC. User\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "analytics"","img":{"alt_text":"eye-tracking technology for early screening and diagnosis of ASD","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/openart-image_notBvuei_1720099256913_raw.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2023\/02\/08\/pilot-usability-studies-available-for-collaborators-in-qatar\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":1},"title":"Pilot Usability Studies Available for Collaborators in Qatar","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Pilot Usability Studies Available for Collaborators in Qatar In Qatar? Have a need for a usability study? Need to enhance a system interface, a website, or an app? Want better customer engagement? The APG Team of the Qatar Computing Research Institute is here to help! We have a complete mobile\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "analytics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2023\/01\/26\/user-study-capabilities-at-the-qatar-computing-research-institute-qcri\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":2},"title":"User Study Capabilities at the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)","date":"January 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We conducted a user study this week, 22-26 January 2023, collecting eye, mouse, verbal, and survey data -- all within a single system!\u00a0 In case a user study is something that you or others within your organization might be interested in, reach out!\u00a0 If there are research implications, we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "analytics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":274,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/01\/are-you-looking-to-improve-your-research-and-teaching-methods-metric-can-help-you-and-your-students-engage-with-user-studies-at-scale\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":3},"title":"Are you looking to improve your research and teaching methods? METRIC can help you and your students engage with user studies at scale.","date":"July 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Attention Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Educators and Researchers! Are you looking to improve your research and teaching methods? METRIC can help you and your students engage with user studies at scale.Are you looking to improve your research and teaching methods? METRIC can help you and your students engage with user studies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "analytics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/METRIC_Teaching_July_2024.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":206,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2024\/06\/12\/integrated-marketing-courses-with-metric\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":4},"title":"Integrated Marketing Courses with METRIC","date":"June 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you know the global advertising industry is worth over 500 billion US dollars as of 2023? However, not all ads are successful. Not all advertisers implement proper marketing strategies or hire marketing specialists to handle this for them. It is a shame because this would save them more money\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "user study"","img":{"alt_text":"Marketing: Media User Insights, Prefered methods of Media consumption","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Marketing.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":186,"url":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/2024\/06\/09\/choosing-your-study-participants-the-importance-of-segmentation\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":5},"title":"Choosing Your Study Participants: The Importance of Segmentation","date":"June 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Customer\/audience segmentation is one of the most important parts of marketing user studies, but what is the best way to go about this process? A 2022 research study found that researchers frequently do not define their study participants in adequate detail, which is a disconcerting finding. Best practices will advise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "user study"","img":{"alt_text":"Market Segmentation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Segmentation.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metric.qcri.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}