Putting the eye in advertising

A device that measures eye movements could provide an affordable way to track the effectiveness of advertisements by measuring how many people look at advertising hoardings and screens.

Called eyebox2, the portable device was developed at Queen’s University, Canada. It uses a camera that monitors eye movements in real time and automatically detects when a person is looking at it from up to 10m away, without calibration. Until now, such eye-trackers have been ineffective beyond 60cm as they required people to remain stationary, needed personalised calibration to function, and cost more than $25,000. The new walk-up-and-use eye is available at a fraction of that cost.