Real World Case Studies
Locarna eye tracking can be applied wherever there is a need to improve efficiency or safety by observing a person’s physical behaviors. For example, validate whether a new beverage packaging catches a target customer’s visual attention on a grocery shelf, or perform memory research of what a person with Alzheimer’s disease remembers while walking down a street.
Locarna eye trackers are well suited for real world eye tracking for marketing analytics, security & training, and scientific research applications.
More Visible Grocery Signs
Background: Informed Decision Group (IDG) is a comprehensive research consulting firm based in Ohio, USA. IDG uses their consumer psychology expertise to inform market research designs for clients such as Procter & Gamble and Newell-Rubbermaid.
Problem: A large grocery client needed to change their signage for particular products and shelves. Designers presented three possible signage alternatives to IDG for consumer testing. The results were needed to choose the best new signage for stores across the nation.
Solution: Colin Valdiserri’s IDG team set up their Locarna PT Mini eye tracker in the front of a sample client grocery store, recruited 30 participants, and asked each participant to conduct their shopping visit while wearing a Locarna eye tracker. The results showed that participants paid almost no visual attention to the new signs, and the new signs had minimal impact on purchasing behaviors. These results saved the client from implementing a costly, ineffective signage campaign, and provided valuable suggestions for future improved signage campaigns.
Safer & Faster Surgical Training
Background: The CESEI medical facility trains over 2000 medical staff annually. Its goal is to utilize the most advanced technologies to reduce training times, improve patient safety, and eliminate the use of animals and human subjects. Researchers Prof. Stella Atkins and Geoff Tien of Simon Fraser University’s Dept. of Computer Science, and Dr. Bin Zheng of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine, conduct on-going research initiatives that meet these surgical training needs.
Problem: Researchers hypothesized that studying surgeons’ eye movements would help assess skill and situational awareness.
Solution: Prof. Atkins recently purchased a Locarna portable eye tracking system to compare eye movement strategies between expert and novice surgeons performing gall bladder removal on a dummy patient in an operating room environment. Surgeons wore Locarna’s PT Mini eye tracker while interacting with a virtual patient simulator. Preliminary results suggest that novices barely noticed vital signs compared to expert surgeons. Measuring visual attention on tools versus attention on the patient appears to be a promising way to quantitatively evaluate a novice surgeon’s performance.
More Transparent Accounting
Background: Simon Fraser University’s School of Business has over 100 Faculty, and has achieved international accreditations from both the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). Fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide have achieved these quality accreditations. Prof. Yasheng Chen leads a research program specializing in International Financial Reporting Standards, International Tax Management, and Performance Measurement.
Problem: New accounting transparency rules require changes to the layout and presentation of financial information. These changes to accounting documents often lead to reader confusion and very costly financial oversights.
Solution: Prof. Chen’s team recently used their Locarna portable eye tracking system to compare visual attention on several new proposed accounting reports that present critical financial information. Financial workers wore a Locarna eye tracker while viewing financial reports. Results of this work include accounting financial reports that are easier to read. Specifically, readers are able to glean key financial information faster, and with greater accuracy – saving time, money, and ensuring adherence to accounting regulations.
Improved Pharmaceutical Packaging
Background: Evoke uses Video Vignette® qualitative research techniques to find decision making deal-breakers for its clients such as ATB Financial, BC Hydro, and Carma Developers LP. Evoke helps its clients gain insights into how complex human behaviors and feelings influence purchasing.
Problem: A large pharmaceutical company needed Evoke to better understand how customer feelings and preconceptions upon entering a pharmacy aisle influenced their final purchasing.
Solution: Keith Dundas’ Evoke team set up their Locarna PT Mini eye tracker in a sample pharmacy, and asked certain shoppers to wear a Locarna eye tracker while shopping. Evoke then used Locarna’s proprietary Annotator tagging tool to visually identify and classify complex temporal visual interactions between competing package designs. Evoke cross-referenced these eye tracking results with written survey data to suggest which packaging features most influenced purchasing decisions.