Webcam Eye Tracking: Study Conduction and Acceptance of Remote Tests with Gaze Analysis

TL;DR

This study evaluates the feasibility and acceptance of using standard webcams for remote eye tracking in user studies, highlighting its potential and limitations for data collection.

Contribution

It demonstrates that commercially available webcams can produce usable gaze data remotely, with high participant acceptance despite technical limitations.

Findings

Usable gaze data can be obtained remotely with webcams.

High drop-off rate requires 150% over-recruitment.

Participants show high acceptance of webcam eye tracking.

Abstract

Webcam eye tracking for the collection of gaze data in the context of user studies is convenient - it can be used in remote tests where participants do not need special hardware. The approach has strong limitations, especially regarding the motion-free nature of the test persons during data recording and the quality of the gaze data obtained. Our study with 52 participants shows that usable eye tracking data can be obtained with commercially available webcams in a remote setting. However, a high drop off rate must be considered, which is why we recommend a high over-recruitment of 150%. We also show that the acceptance of the approach by the study participants is high despite the given limitations.