Learn how to use RealEye.io - Online Research Platform with Webcam Eye-Tracking

Beata Lewandowska
Written by Beata Lewandowska

Webcam Eye-tracking Hardware and Software Requirements

Find out what kind of equipment you need to use webcam eye-tracking.


TLDR;

PC/Laptop/Mac(Book) with a webcam and Chrome/Edge/Firefox.

RealEye System Requirements

Recommended Setup

This kind of setup provides the best eye-tracking data:

  • The eye-tracking sampling rate of at least 30 Hz, up to 60 Hz.
  • The best accuracy and precision thanks to fast face landmark detection.

Recommended Participant Hardware and Software:

  1. 1080p @ 30FPS or 720p @ 60 FPS webcam, with good quality image.
  2. Updated Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser. Firefox is NOT recommended.
  3. Updated Windows 10 or macOS X.
  4. 4-core Intel processor, 3 GHz or faster, 5th gen. or later.
  5. If using a laptop, then it MUST be plugged into the power cord.
  6. 8 GB of RAM with at least 4 GB of memory available (not used).
  7. DirectX 12 graphics card with updated drivers. Integrated Intel Graphics (gen. 5 or later) is fast enough.
  8. Internet connection speed 20 Mbps | 5 Mbps (for live Screen Recording especially, it can be less for image/video testing).

See also:

Minimum Setup

This kind of setup lets collect eye-tracking data but:

  • The eye-tracking sampling rate may be below 20 Hz, so RealEye Dashboard will not provide any data for fixations.
  • Accuracy and precision may be significantly lower because of slow face landmark detection.

Minimal Hardware and Software Requirements

  1. 640x480p @ 15 FPS webcam, with a poor-quality image.
  2. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or Safari.
  3. Windows 7/10, macOS X, Linux (i.e., Ubuntu).
  4. At least 0.5 GB of RAM memory is available.
  5. Min. resolution 1024x600 px.
  6. Internet connection speed min. 5 Mbps | 1 Mbps (for Screen Recording tests especially, can be less for image/video testing).

Additional Notes

  1. It's recommended to ensure other software does not consume CPU or RAM.
  2. Live websites and hosted sessions usually require a faster CPU than images or video-type studies.
  3. Firefox is highly NOT recommended because it does not support hardware acceleration.


For smartphones:

  • iPhone: at least 6/SE (1gen),
  • Android: at least Android 8 with a minimum of 2 GB RAM.
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