You know you have a successful product when your own servers can't handle the traffic. It's good when you catch an issue and present the user something meaningful. However, it would have been beneficial to provide some links to other methods of accessing twitter. I am unsure if all mobile apps are down because of this issue. If not, they could provide links to downloads and tools that a twitter user may be interested in. What's New, Plug-ins, etc. etc.
This is also really bad for their image. Look at how Twitter has been used to help connect people in distraught in the recent Earthquakes. Its importance and value has been overwhelming in a time of need. The fact that this even happens can really create havoc for their brand. Will you stop using it? No. You just might be a little put out.
Using the open source Ogama and Eyetracker (via source code) I was able to capture and analyze eye and mouse movements. I accomplished this using the webcam built into my laptop. I have learned that the calibration is very sensitive and a better IR camera would help immensely. I choose to quickly analyze a Facebook group page of a friend of mine. Once I figure out the best conditions and settings I will let you know.
Heat Map
The heatmap displays fixations in terms of hot and cold. I can see from this heat map that my accuracy was low.
Saliency Map
The saliency can be captured without the camera. It captures the the state or quality by which an object, person or pixel stands out relative to its neighbours.
Attention Map
The attention map draws out the path that my eyes followed and the level of fixation they had a long the way.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been exploring Eye Tracking. I have been doing a lot of research on different software solutions and I have come to the conclusion that there is not one "affordable" out of the box solution that can get you up and running. I was very interested in finding a low cost, easy-to-use, non-obtrusive system to test my software interfaces. Trying to get information from the various companies I have researched has been difficult. Really, all I want to know is can I do eye tracking, mouse tracking, and see the results for a low cost?
So... What is Eye Tracking?
Simply, eye tracking uses cameras that record the movement of the eye(s) and documents the movement in X, Y and Sometimes Z coordinates. It will also track the duration of the gaze along with various other metrics. A test subject will wear a special apparatus or have cameras monitoring their eye movement. Meanwhile, the system will record or capture what the test subject is looking at. It could be a screen, a mobile device, walking through a store or operating a vehicle. The coordinates are then later mapped onto the video. Through analytics, many different types of charts and data can be presented to help make design decisions based on the test subjects experience.
Data can be presented in Heatmaps to see where the eye focus on a design or website.
Data can also map the path of the eye follows and how long the eye fixates on a specific point.
Eye tracking can even be used for operating machinary and vehicles. Here is a video from Tobii where they track the eye fixations of the driver of a motorcycle.
Eye Tracking Product "Leaders"
Tobii Technology is the world leader in eye tracking and eye control. Our products are widely used in various research fields and as a means to communicate. Tobii is divided into different business areas, each of which offers comprehensive solutions. http://www.tobii.com
Noldus Information Technology develops, markets, and supports innovative software, instruments, integrated systems, and services for behavioral research. http://www.noldus.com/
The eye tracking glasses are unobtrusive and robust and designed for a broad range of mobile eye tracking studies, e.g shelf-testing, out-of-home research, usability studies on mobile devices, driving research, visual perception research or analysis of trainings methods in professional sports. http://eyetracking-glasses.com/
Eye tracking has never been this easy. Get setup in minutes. Calibration is simple and steady. The S1 Eye Tracker is portable, handles large data sets, and provides a high degree of accuracy. http://mirametrix.com/
Eye tracking has never been this easy. Get setup in minutes. Calibration is simple and steady. The S1 Eye Tracker is portable, handles large data sets, and provides a high degree of accuracy. http://www.seeingmachines.com/product/facelab/
There are also many Eye Tracking service providers such as http://eyetools.com/ who don't sell product but facilitate the entire end to end usability and eye tracking experience for your product.
Free Eye Tracking
Two tools I had come across which have provided the most success are Gaze Tracker 2.0 and Ogama. These two open source tools claim to do exactly what I require for testing web based applications and software. The Ogama tool has some bugs and kinks, but they have actually posted some fixes for me that I hope to Test this week. The only downside to this product is that you can only track single slides and screens (Stills). However, I hope play with it some more to learn as much as I can.
Ogama - Open Gaze and Mouse Analyzerhttp://www.ogama.net/
Gaze Tracker - he ITU Gaze Tracker is an open-source gaze tracking application that aims to provide a low-cost alternative to commercial gaze tracking systems and to make this technology more accessible. It is being developed by the Gaze Group at the IT University of Copenhagen, supported by the Communication by Gaze Interaction Association (COGAIN). http://www.gazegroup.org/
I just installed the latest version of Synergy. Like many individuals, I work day to day on multiple computers and types of computers. At home, I frequently use my Mac Book Pro and my work PC laptop Simultaneously. The office desk and kitchen table can get cluttered up quickly.
I have always used Synergy at the office for connecting to multiple PCs and sharing a keyboard and mouse, but I never tried it at home. Setup was pretty simple and I was rocking with one mouse across two different laptops.
Setup Instructions
Download Synergy+ to the machines you want to connect to a single keyboard and mouse(you can link as many as you want).
Setup the Server on the machine whose mouse and keyboard you would like to share
Configure the Synergy client to point to the computer(Server) whose keyboard and mouse you would like to share. You just have to enter the computer name or IP
Features and notes
You can create profiles so you can have configurations for multiple locations.
You can configure any combination: left, right, above, below, across and back around again
I have been testing the beta version. It has been a little flaky on keeping the connection, but I am sure they will work it out.
Too often we DO judge a book by its cover. My name is Matthew Campbell and I have been designing user interfaces for over 10 years. This blog is dedicated to providing insights, tools and resources to help make the perception of your products and design a positive reality.
Tobii Technology is the world leader in eye tracking and eye control. Our products are widely used in various research fields and as a means to communicate. Tobii is divided into different business areas, each of which offers comprehensive solutions.
Noldus Information Technology develops, markets, and supports innovative software, instruments, integrated systems, and services for behavioral research.
The eye tracking glasses are unobtrusive and robust and designed for a broad range of mobile eye tracking studies, e.g shelf-testing, out-of-home research, usability studies on mobile devices, driving research, visual perception research or analysis of trainings methods in professional sports.
Eye tracking has never been this easy. Get setup in minutes. Calibration is simple and steady. The S1 Eye Tracker is portable, handles large data sets, and provides a high degree of accuracy.
Eye tracking has never been this easy. Get setup in minutes. Calibration is simple and steady. The S1 Eye Tracker is portable, handles large data sets, and provides a high degree of accuracy.
