Eye tracking

Eye tracking has been used for many years as a method to examine attention and perception in babies. The method makes it possible for us to register where the baby looks on the screen.

The eye tracker looks exactly like a normal computer screen, but have a pair of diodes built in. The diodes send out an infrared light similar to the light a camera sends out to avoid red eyes on pictures. The used light-intensity is therefore very low and completely harmless.

When your baby is sitting on your lap, about 60 cm from the screen, we start the “calibration” of the eye tracker. This means that we play some animations that move around on the screen and when your baby looks at these animations, we start the recording. This process will tell the machine the distance between your baby’s eyes (which can vary from baby to baby). Sometimes we need to calibrate a couple of times if your baby changes position or if your baby did not attend to one of the calibrating points on the screen.

When we have an accurate calibration, we are ready to start the test. We will then show pictures or movies until the test is over or until your baby is bored or uncomfortable. You can of course at any time ask for a break or for the test to stop.

You are very welcome to ask questions at any time doing the procedure.

A child using the eye tracker and an example of materials used. The blue dot shows where the child is focusing on the screen at a given moment.