Seeing is believing for University of Cincinnati psychology graduate students who are using eye-tracking devices to study behavior.
Researcher Mary Jean Amon is using it to figure out how men and women look at one another. She says a minor glance from a stranger can lead women to become vigilant to their own appearance and that is linked to a number of potential psychological problems. Her research is published in the journal, Frontiers in Psychology.
Amon says eye trackers can record up to 360 data points per second, allowing researchers to really look at the structure of a gaze in a way they have never been able to before.
Eye-trackers are going beyond research labs. The BBC quotes the company Tobii as saying 2015 is the year of "consumer eye-tracking." The site also demonstrates how eye-tracking technology is being used in video games.
Another UC researcher, undergraduate Marina Greben, an information-technology major, is studying possible applications with Google Glass.
She envisions professors being able to take attendance in the blink of an eye with Google Glass. "Let’s say you are in a really big classroom or lecture hall with 80-100 students and attendance is mandatory." Instead of a sheet getting passed around that misses people or gets lost, the teacher would wear Google Glass. "It would be a data base of people with pictures.... and it would take a second to mark all the people there."
Greben says the Google Glass Explorer program that she provides feedback has ended. However her research continues.
Google Glass has pushed back its mass rollout to consumers. Some speculate the product will have more success with businesses. One sector singing the praises of Glass is healthcare. Doctors like being able to maintain eye contact with patients while still seeing their medical history.
