SMI Eye Tracking in Lund`s Digital Classroom

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov. 8, 2012 - The renowned eye tracking cluster at the Humanities Lab of Lund University in Sweden, in cooperation with international researchers such as University of Tübingen/Germany, decided to take a groundbreaking approach to educational research using SMI eye tracking technology (http://www.smivision.com/). They installed 25 portable remote eye tracking systems (http://www.smivision.com/redm) by SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) to build the prototype of a digital classroom with integrated eye tracking work stations. The new visual perception lab is officially inaugurated today within the workshop "The use of visualizations and technologies in the digital classroom”. At the two day event at the Pufendorf Institute in Lund, international researchers discuss new forms of using the digital classroom for educational research.  
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The SMI RED-m by SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), which was used to build the classroom, is a fully portable, high-performance remote eye tracking device which allows researchers to study visual perception in virtually any location and environment. The device runs via a single USB port of a desktop, laptop or tablet computer and needs no additional power supply. Combined with the SMI Experiment Suite 360° software for experimental design and analysis, the system is a ready to go portable eye tracking lab solution – ideal for settings with numerous eye tracking devices installed. Associated professor Jana Holsanova from Lund University (http://www.humlab.lu.se/) is leading an interdisciplinary team at Pufendorf institute to explore how technology in the classroom will promote student learning.  

Kenneth Holmqvist, Director of the Eye Tracking Group at Lund University: “Future students will use more electronic media than paper books and research in the new lab is expected to lead to new materials tailored to each child`s ability and interest. In this new visual perception lab, we will use eye tracking as a standard research tool to analyze how children learn things in a classroom situation. In a formal purchasing process, we evaluated the eye tracking hardware of several manufacturers. We finally decided for the SMI RED-m solution due to its superior technical specifications and the robust and advanced eye tracking algorithms derived from other SMI scientific grade eye trackers.”

Christian Villwock, Director of SMI’s Eye and Gaze Tracking Systems business unit : “The SMI RED-m eye tracker comes in the ideal form-factor for this lab in class. Its robust, scientific grade data quality allows for large scale testing of new learning methods and technologies in a real-world educational setting.”