System and method for analyzing eyetracker data

• US 6,601,021 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2000
• Issued: 07/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Reeder, Robert W., Pirolli, Peter L. T., Card, Stuart K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoff, Marc S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Desta, Elias
• Application Number:
  US09/731,783
• Publication Number:
  US 20020103625A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 702/19, 702/108, 702/182, 702/183, 702/186-188, 702/FOR.103, 702/104, 702/131, 702/135, 702/170, 702/171, 351/203, 351/204, 351/208-211, 351/246, 707/1, 707/3-7, 707/101, 707/102, 707/104, 707/104.1, 707/500, 707/502, 707/513, 707/516, 707/517, 707/520, 707/521, 707/523, 707/526, 600/400, 600/404, 600/405, 600/408, 600/558, 600/921
• US Class Current: 702/187
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation

Abstract

Methods and Systems for analyzing data of a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages through a browser including monitoring and storing location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze as eyetracker data, processing the eyetracker data into fixation data, monitoring and storing content of the displayed pages into a memory, restoring the displayed pages from the memory, mapping the fixations data onto the restored pages to thereby identify elements-of-regard, and storing the identified elements-of-regard in an elements-of-regard database.

Claims

1. A system for analyzing eyetracker data comprising:

an eyetracker that monitors location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and stores eyetracker data of the location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze;

a logging tool that monitors the displayed pages and stores content of the displayed pages into a memory, the logging tool monitoring and storing into an event log events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages; and

a mapping tool that receives the eyetracker data, processes the eyetracker data into fixation data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest, and restores the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data;

wherein the mapping tool maps the fixations data onto the restored pages to thereby identify elements-of-regard upon which the user fixated and locations thereof, and stores the identified elements-of-regard and the locations thereof.

2. The system for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 1, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

3. The system for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 1, wherein the eyetracker data is collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages through a browser having an object model interface, and the mapping tool accesses the object model interface of the browser to identify elements of the restored pages and stores the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

20. The system for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 1, wherein the mapping tool time synchronizes the fixation data to the events data.

4. A method for analyzing eyetracker data collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages, the method comprising:

monitoring location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and storing the location and time as eyetracker data;

processing the eyetracker data into fixation data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest;

monitoring content of the displayed pages and storing content of the displayed pages into a memory;

monitoring events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages;

storing into an event log the events and corresponding time data that cause the change in the displayed pages;

restoring the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data;

mapping the fixations data onto the restored pages to thereby identify elements-of-regard upon which the user fixated upon and locations thereof; and

storing the identified elements-of-regard and the locations thereof in an elements-of-regard database.

5. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 4, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

6. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 4, wherein the dynamic hypermedia pages is viewed through a browser having an object model interface, further comprising accessing the object model interface of the browser to identify elements of the restored pages, and storing the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

7. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 4, further comprising time synchronizing the fixation data to the events data.

8. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 4, further comprising calibrating a coordinate system of the eyetracker data to a screen coordinate system used in viewing the display of dynamic hypermedia pages.

9. An information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages comprising:

information that monitors location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and stores eyetracker data of the location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze in an eyetracker data file;

information that monitors the displayed pages and stores content of the displayed pages into a memory;

information that monitors events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages;

information that stores into an event log the events and corresponding time data that cause the change in the displayed pages;

information that receives the eyetracker data from the eyetracker data file;

information that processes the eyetracker data into fixation data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest;

information that restores the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data; and

information that maps the fixations data onto the restored pages to thereby identify elements-of-regard upon which the user fixated and locations thereof, and stores the identified elements-of-regard and the locations thereof in an elements-of-regard database.

10. The information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 9, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

11. The information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 9, further comprising information that accesses an object model interface of a browser used to view the dynamic hypermedia pages to identify elements of the restored pages and store the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

21. The information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 9, further comprising information that time synchronizes the fixation data to the events data.

12. A system for analyzing eyetracker data collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages through a browser having an object model interface comprising:

an eyetracker that monitors location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and stores eyetracker data of the location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze in an eyetracker data file;

a logging tool that monitors the displayed pages and stores content of the displayed pages into a memory, the logging tool monitoring and storing into an event log events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages; and

a mapping tool that receives the eyetracker data from the eyetracker data file, processes the eyetracker data into fixation data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest, restores the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data, and maps the fixations data onto the restored pages;

wherein the mapping tool accesses the object model interface of the browser to identify elements of the restored pages and stores the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

13. The system for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 12, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

22. The system for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 12, wherein the mapping tool time synchronizes the fixation data to the events data.

14. A method for analyzing data collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages through a browser having an object model interface comprising:

monitoring location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and storing the location and time as eyetracker data;

processing the eyetracker data into fixations data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest;

monitoring content of the displayed pages and storing content of the displayed pages into a memory;

monitoring events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages;

storing into an event log the events and corresponding time data that cause the change in the displayed pages;

restoring the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data;

mapping the fixations data onto the restored pages;

accessing the object model interface of the browser to identify elements of the restored pages; and

storing the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

15. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 14, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

16. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 14, further comprising time synchronizing the fixation data to the events data.

17. The method for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 14, further comprising calibrating a coordinate system of the eyetracker data to a screen coordinate system used in viewing the display of dynamic hypermedia pages.

18. An information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data collected from a user viewing a display of dynamic hypermedia pages through a browser having an object model interface comprising:

information that monitors location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze, and stores eyetracker data of the location and time of the user'"'"'s gaze in an eyetracker data file;

information that processes the eyetracker data into fixation data indicative of the user'"'"'s interest;

information that monitors the displayed pages and stores content of the displayed pages into a memory;

information that monitors events and time data of the events that cause a change in the displayed pages;

information that stores into an event log the events and corresponding time data that cause the change in the displayed pages;

information that restores the displayed pages from the memory and the events data in the event log by reenacting the events of the event data, maps the fixation data onto the restored pages;

information that accesses the object model interface of the browser to identify elements of the restored pages; and

information that stores the identified elements of the restored pages in an elements database.

19. The information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 18, wherein the fixation data is at least one of information regarding fixation points at which the user'"'"'s gaze becomes fixated, information regarding an area proximate to a fixation point that is contained within a bounding box, and information regarding a transition which is a cluster of fixation points related to one another by a predetermined algorithm.

23. The information storage media for analyzing eyetracker data of claim 18, further comprising information that time synchronizes the fixation data to the events data.