Reading and Language

Reading and Language Eye-Tracking Solutions

Language researchers have long been pioneers and innovators in eye-tracking, and for decades EyeLink systems have been the eye tracker of choice in this field. As well as providing important insights into the reading process, gaze data can be used to understand spoken language comprehension.

If you would like to find out how our eye-tracking hardware and software can help your reading or language research, get in touch, and we will get back to you!

Hardware Solutions

The EyeLink 1000 Plus, EyeLink Portable Duo, and EyeLink 3 have outstanding levels of accuracy and precision, making them the perfect tools for language and reading research. The EyeLink 1000 Plus is a highly flexible eye-tracking solution with a range of mounting options. The EyeLink Portable Duo is ideal for taking language research out of the lab and into settings such as schools and libraries. The EyeLink 3 is perfect for researchers looking into eye-head integration in language and reading.

The EyeLink 1000 Plus and EyeLink Portable Duo systems have the following features:

• Outstanding Spatial Accuracy: Average accuracy across the calibrated area of the screen is between 0.25-0.5 degrees, which minimizes ambiguity in word- and letter-level reading tasks.
• High Sampling Rates: Combined with exceptionally low noise levels, high sampling rates allow very precise fixation durations to be determined, ensuring that even the smallest differences in dwell times across conditions are detected.
• Fast Real-Time Access to Eye Position: The combination of very rapid access to eye position (< 2ms at 1000 Hz) and a fast monitor ensures that display changes occur quickly in gaze-contingent boundary-crossing / moving window tasks.
• Head-Free and Head-Fixed Modes: Both systems can be used with or without a chin-rest.

Software Solutions

Stimulus Presentation

SR Research Experiment Builder is a powerful but easy-to-use software tool for creating EyeLink eye-tracking and non-eye-tracking experiments. Experiment Builder delivers complex visual and auditory stimuli and registers responses with extremely high levels of timing precision. 

Experiment Builder has many features that simplify the process of creating experimental tasks for reading and language research:

• Multi-Language Text Presentation: Full control of text properties (e.g., font, size, color, etc.), including sophisticated formatting using HTML markup for all languages, including right-to-left scripts.
• Automatic Text Segmentation: Implement automatic word-, sentence- / phrase-, or even character–level interest area segmentation, with complete control over boundary placement.
• Templates: Use a wide range of Experiment Builder templates to implement common language tasks, including sentence reading, page reading, Visual World, Boundary Crossing, Moving Window and many more.

EyeLink eye trackers also interface with a wide range of popular stimulus presentation software packages and programming languages.

Data Analysis

EyeLink Data Viewer is a powerful data analysis software package used to process eye gaze data recorded with EyeLink eye trackers.

Data Viewer makes the data analysis process very straightforward for reading and language research.

• Reading Measures: Quickly calculate and output many standard reading measures, including first fixation duration, regression path duration and many others.
• Data Cleaning: Use a sophisticated 4-stage data cleaning for cross-study data equivalence.
• Sophisticated Output Reports: Output detailed reports at the fixation, interest area, and even sample levels, as well as Time Series (Binning) reports for analyzing Visual World data.

You can also import EyeLink Data Files directly into MATLAB or R, or convert them to ASCII for import into other software packages for analysis.