VI.2. Eye tracking in sports

The human eyes usually move very rapidly to a specific location, where they rest 1/2-1/10 seconds while the brain processes the information. The eye tracking marks the places where the eyes rest while looking at the screen. The system uses the software developed jointly by the Swedish Tobii Technology and the Silicon Valley’s Eyetools .

As early as the 1800s, studies were carried out to test eye movements.

In 1879 in Paris Louis Emile Javal observed that during reading the eyes don’t continuously and evenly follow the text, as it was previously thought, but keeping short breaks (so-called lock) and with rapid eye movement. This observation raised questions, which were answered in the 1900s: at which words the eyes stop, for how long and when they jump back to the already seen words.

The eye-tracking technology is used in several areas.

For example, they studied the portraits monitored by women and men. In one study they showed a series of randomly selected images of faces on a screen to the participants. Each face was also assigned a name and the participants were asked to remember them.

Summing up the results of the experiment, they found, that women observe the facial features more, notice more characteristics on them than men, therefore they remember them better.

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These data are used for marketing purposes as well; with the help of the eye tracking technology, they can determine how the consumer responds to online advertising, the interactive content and other characteristics, as well as it facilitates the usability testing.

The game console developers also use this technology, but it can also be found in cell phones, tablets and there are plans to use it in cameras as well.

With this technology the user enjoys a new kind of experience, and it also raises life’s other aspects to a new level.

This technology also helps motorist, truck drivers, since there are warning systems that prevent them from falling asleep at the wheel.

The eye tracker monitors the driver’s eye movements and if the eyelids are closed too long, it gives a warning signal. The device calculates the direction of the gaze directly in the camera by analyzing two hundred images per second, and then transfers the data to the computer onboard.

Another application can be for example the area of medicine, since it can help with complicated surgeries and more difficult interventions.

The Dublin UCD Innovation Academy has been using it for more than a decade to differentiate between the pro and novice athletes. With this technology they can follow what is on the athletes’ mind during a practice or game. The eye tracker gives a sample of the key elements the eyes see.

The essence of this is realized through analysis, when the psychological characteristics of the examined points are under consideration which established that the substance of sports actually takes place in the mind.

Software already exists that distinguishes the beginner and pro athletes on the basis of what plays out in their brains, whether it’s golf, tennis or anything else.

The eye tracking is such a tool in the scientific exploration of sports, which optimizes the performance of the athlete through observing the shortcomings and mistakes which are related to their focus. Such are the trajectory mapping, visual search strategies or the hand –eye coordination.

In sport psychology, the eye tracking technology examines the difference in brain processes of the experienced and novice athletes.

This technology has been used in a number of sports research institutions for a long time. Some use it as a standard procedure in order to understand the technical shortcomings that are observed in the hand-eye coordination and to optimize the performance of the visual search techniques.

It is used and researched in the following sports today:

• Soccer
• Tennis
• Basketball
• Table tennis
• Hockey
• Football
• Fencing

The Department of Psychology at the University of California has launched a research project to understand the brain processes that distinguish the professional tennis and golf players from the beginners. This research is an important contribution to the work of coaches, as they can teach and prepare the next generation of tennis and golf players in a more targeted way.

Sport research has shown huge differences in monitoring techniques between beginner and advanced athletes.

For example in soccer, the goalie must first gather information about the possible direction of the ball during a penalty kick; the difference between the direction of the focus and the length is quite large. The professional goalie observes the balance of the non-kicking leg (support leg); therefore he gathers better information than the beginners who tend to watch the hip and upper body movement. Among other things, it was also found that the observed visual information of the beginners is twice as big, mainly due to lack of experience.

Since the eye movements directly influence the sport performance, testing the athlete’s strong inborn ability to monitor, focus on the trajectory calculation play a primary role in the discovery of talents.

These summarized studies immediately reveal the techniques and strategies or perhaps more importantly the lack of these in athlete searches.

The eye tracking can highlight the differences in the one-way focus during practices as opposed to the more stressful, competitive environment. By identifying the errors, the coach can recognize and after that correct them more easily with continuous practice.

The key to success in a sport can be understood by how the participants perceive their environment, their changes, especially in team sports.

The concept is actually quite simple; the eye movement as an involuntary human movement is solely based on reaction, and it is also a direct link to the conscience (that is, pure thoughts based on the mix of memory, learning and perception).

The eye tracking ability means the cognitive mind mapping as well. 

During monitoring the cognitive processes of the eye movements of the winners, we can recognize the eye movements that demonstrate success, help in effective training or find revealing deviations from success.

The study below provides a comprehensive view of the application of a method in case of the dysfunction of learning skills or methods. As the development of motor skills affects the development of intellectual abilities, I thought it was exciting to introduce the topic and points of interest of educational psychology.