Tobii Eye Tracker 4C blinking problem

[Marco]

Hi everyone,
I’ve just bought yesterday an Eye Tracker 4c, everything seems to work fine, except the fact that when I blink, the gaze trace gets somewhat “mad” and for the time of blinking moves a lot (usually 3-4 cm down or diagonally down-left) and then returns on original position (position where I was/am staring).
Is this the normal beahaviour of the tracker when blinking or there’s something wrong? On YouTube videos I don’t see something like that, but also people posting video seem to never have to blink their eyes…
Thanks

[Grant [Tobii]]

Hi @truccker, thanks for your query. Blinking recovery should indeed be within a few milliseconds. Have you tried selecting the option to ‘improve calibration’ as found within the Tobii System Tray Icon under user settings? This may help deal with any possibly issue of trackability.

Please also ensure there are no strong sources of IR light nearby the eye tracker including an open window facing the screen (if possible).

May also be worth checking if the issue persists in another room or environment to eliminate the role of local conditions. Thanks for the your patience whilst we try to resolve this issue for you.

[Marco]

Thank you for the reply, but for sure It’s not due to the lights, it’s absolutely due to my blinking and specifically, after some tests I can say that it must be due to the fact that keeping the eyes half opened the bubble-gaze goes mad and moves wildly around the screen (and this might cause the blinking problem: I presume that I blink too slowly and in this way my eyes stay for too long half-opened).
Now I’m asking you or everyone else of the forum if you could do me a favour and try to keep your eyes half opened in order to tell me how your bubble-gaze moves on screen: does it stay still or does it move everywhere by itself?
Thanks.

[Grant [Tobii]]

Hi @truccker, tried it myself.. and for me at least it is quite stable. Is there a chance to test your setup on another user?

[Marco]

In two days comes my brother to visit me, so I will use him as a test subject 🙂

I also tried the new drivers 2.16 but nothing changed…well in fact something changed but it has nothing to do with the blinking problem: I noticed that now in the Device Manager under “Human Interface Device” the “Tobii device” and the “Tobi Eye Tracker HID” aren’t listed anymore (I really don’t understand how the Eye tracker 4c can work without beeing detected by the device manager but whatever)

[Grant [Tobii]]

Hi @truccker, okay great let us know how it goes! Indeed, the change in Device detection is nothing to worry about and certainly shouldn’t affect the ability of the tracker to work properly. I also wanted to ask if you have tested the device in another room or environment if possible? Worth a shot to see if the blinking issue persists.

[Marco]

Finally I’ve tested the device on my brother and he couldn’t reproduce the blinking problem, so at least now I know that the tracker is not faulty, instead the problem should have something to do with my eyes…
Thanks.

[Grant [Tobii]]

Hi @truccker, okay thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear we are no further forward however.. Still might be worth trying a different environment to test it’s impact on trackability for you.. also, please try checking the ‘improve calibration’ option in the Tobii System Tray Icon.
If you wear particularly thick glasses or certain contact this may also cause interference.

[Author]

Posts