Extensive Hardware Integration Solutions
Researchers are increasingly combining eye tracking with other neurophysiological recording equipment. EyeLink eye trackers integrate with a wide range of devices, allowing recordings to be precisely synchronized.
EEG, fNIRS, & GSR
EyeLink eye trackers integrate with a wide number of EEG and fNIRS equipment. We have detailed integration solutions for the following manufacturers:
Click on individual manufacturers below for more detailed information:
Integrating Biosemi hardware with EyeLink systems is achieved via TTL signaling to mark critical trial events and to perform basic control operations such as starting and stopping the EEG recording.
- During task performance, the stimulus presentation software (e.g. E-Prime, Presentation, PsychToolBox, etc.) running on the Stimulus PC simultaneously sends TTL signals to the BioSemi equipment and messages into the Eye Tracking data via the ethernet link.
- The TTL signaling is typically achieved using the BioSemi USB Trigger Interface Cable.
- TTL signals can also be sent from the parallel port of the Display PC or Host PC. If neither computer has a parallel port then we can provide a USB to TTL device with excellent timing properties. Please contact sales@sr-research.com for details.
- The TTLs / Messages mark key trial events (such as stimulus onset / participant response etc), in both the EEG data and the eye-tracking data, enabling synchronization of the two data streams at the analysis stage.
- Basic control of the BioSemi hardware can also be achieved, by configuring specific TTL values to start / stop recording.
Integrating Brain Products hardware with EyeLink systems is achieved via a combination of TCP/IP communication to configure and control BrainVision Recorder and TTL signaling to mark critical trial events.
- During task performance, the stimulus presentation software (e.g., E-Prime, Presentation, PsychToolBox, etc.) simultaneously sends TTLs signals to the Brain Products equipment via a parallel port cable and messages to the EyeLink Host PC via an ethernet link.
- The TTLs / Messages mark key trial events (such as stimulus onset / participant response etc), allowing data to be co-registered at the analysis stage.
- The TTL signals can either be sent from the parallel port of the Display PC or Host PC. If neither computer has a parallel port then we can provide a USB to TTL device with excellent timing properties. Please contact sales@sr-research.com for details.
- If Experiment Builder is used, control of the BrainVision Recorder PC is possible via an ethernet link.
Compumedics NeuroScan EEG hardware with EyeLink systems is achieved via standard TTL signaling, typically via a parallel port on the Display PC (although the parallel port of the EyeLink Host PC can also be used). The only other component required is a Trigger Cable (supplied by Neuroscan).
- During task performance, the stimulus presentation software (e.g., Experiment Builder, E-Prime, Presentation, PsychToolBox, etc.) simultaneously sends TTLs signals to the NeuroScan equipment via a parallel port cable, and messages to the EyeLink Host PC via an ethernet link.
- The TTLs / Messages mark key trial events (such as stimulus onset / participant response etc), allowing the two data streams to be synchronized at the analysis stage.
- If neither the Display PC or Host PC has a parallel port, then we can provide a USB to TTL device with excellent timing properties. Please contact sales@sr-research.com for details.
The EyeLink and g.EYEtracking integration is also described on the g.tec site. The g.EYEtracking Interface for Simulink allows you to acquire eye gaze and x-, y-coordinates of the eye from an EyeLink 1000 Plus together with biosignal data such as EEG, ECG, EMG, and more in real-time. The signals can be visualized, stored, and analyzed in real-time in Simulink and offline in MATLAB. It provides a block to read gaze data from the eye-tracker simultaneously with other biosignal data coming from g.USBamp, g.HIamp or g.Nautilus wireless EEG system with dry or wet electrodes.
We have worked closely with Magstim-EGI engineers to bring very high levels of integration between EyeLink systems and Net Station.
- Integration via Experiment Builder, E-Prime and Matlab can be achieved via the EGI Experiment Control Interface (ECI) which uses TCP/IP to control Net Station recording operations and to send event information to Net Station.
- All three computers are connected to a network switch and timing is synchronized using the NTP timing protocol.
- For researchers who use other stimulus presentation software (such as NBS Presentation / PsychoPy etc) EGI systems can be integrated with EyeLink systems using Standard TTL signaling and a trigger cable supplied by Magstim-EGI.
- The TTL signals can either be sent from the parallel port of the Display PC or Host PC. If neither computer has a parallel port then a device such as the USB2TTL8 can be used.
Integrating with NIRX hardware with EyeLink systems is very straightforward, and tests conducted at NIRx headquarters confirm that, unlike some other infrared eye trackers, EyeLink systems do not create any interference with the NIRS signal. Integration is achieved via standard TTL signaling, typically via a parallel port on the Display PC (although the parallel port of the EyeLink Host PC can also be used). The only other component required is a Trigger Cable (supplied by NIRx).
- During task performance, the stimulus presentation software (e.g., Experiment Builder, E-Prime, Presentation, PsychToolBox, etc.) simultaneously sends TTLs signals to the NIRx equipment via a parallel port cable and messages to the EyeLink Host PC via an ethernet link.
- If your stimulus PC does not have a parallel port, commands can be sent over the ethernet connection to the Host PC, so its parallel port can be used instead.
- The TTLs / Messages mark key trial events (such as stimulus onset / participant response etc), allowing data to be co-registered at the analysis stage.
We can integrate with many other EEG devices, including:
MRI & MEG
The EyeLink 1000 Plus and long-range optics can integrate with a wide range of MRI and MEG systems. For more information, see our fMRI and MEG system solutions.
And more….
EyeLink eye-tracking systems can also be integrated and synchronized with a wide range of other hardware and software products, including:
We have highlighted just some of the many devices that can be integrated with EyeLink systems – if you have any questions concerning hardware integration, or if you would like to find out more, please email info@sr-research.com.