Chiasm vs OpenGazer

Chiasm captures gaze data through participants’ webcams for remote online studies and research. It processes webcam frames in real time and produces timestamped gaze coordinates linked to study events, together with session metadata. Researchers can connect it to Qualtrics, jsPsych, or custom web studies through a JavaScript library. Chiasm says studies can include hundreds of participants at once. Researchers can download gaze data from Chiasm or stream it to their own server; when used with platforms such as Qualtrics, data is held on Chiasm’s servers for later export. Webcam video is not stored by default, though limited calibration or validation recordings may be retained with explicit opt-in consent. The service supports Google Chrome on laptops and desktop computers with webcams. Flex has no monthly minimum and costs €0.25 per minute. Starter is €199 per month with 900 participant-minutes included, and Pro is €499 per month with 3,000 participant-minutes included. A 7-day trial is listed.

OpenGazer is a Linux application that uses an ordinary webcam to estimate gaze direction and send it to other programs. It also tracks head position and rotation, and displays the estimated gaze point, head-rotation lines, and calibration target. Setup calls for a camera at 640×480, placed centrally below the monitor. Users calibrate by looking at indicated screen points while keeping their head still, then choose facial tracking points; the project calls for at least four and recommends seven or eight. Gaze estimates appear on screen, print to standard output, and are sent through a local UDP socket on port 20230. Dasher is an example of software that can use the gaze direction for writing with the eyes. OpenGazer is free under GPLv2 and uses the X Window System interface. It is marked Alpha, with a last update listed as 2013-04-24. Building it requires VXL, OpenCV, gtkmm, cairomm, and Boost.