Isn't it annoying when you think of a great idea but you cannot execute it due to a national lockdown? Well, that was the initial thoughts for my colleague and I. We were interested in exploring how individuals view responsible gambling information online. In particular, where they search and fixate on websites with their eyes. Given that the eye-tracking lab was a bust we decided to look elsewhere. After a search on the web, my colleague came across an amazing piece of software called RealEye.
RealEye is a distributed online platform for web-cam based eye-tracking. It is easy to use (for both participants and researchers) and has great accuracy. While it does incur a cost (a monthly plan for a University is around $250), this fee is a small price to pay when you get to carry out a traditionally lab-based experiment during Covid-19. For more information about RealEye click here.
Setting up the study was relatively easy. First, a study was created with website links (we used several UK gambling websites) and some survey questions (i.e., what can you recall viewing on the website? Did you experience any issues?). Next, we tested the platform a few times to see what it was like for the participant (this was rather fun!). We then explored the practice data (you get to view gaze recordings, mouse movements, eye-tracking heat maps, and even entertainment valence) and were relatively impressed.
RealEye offers the potential to recruit participants without geographical restriction and adds ecological validity to a study. We are recruiting gamblers (and non-gamblers) to take part in this fun study. We are hoping to investigate whether individuals can find responsible gambling information on websites effectively and efficiently. From here, hopefully our results will inform industry practice to promote responsible and safer online gambling.
