[solved] Integrating tobii - eyetrackers into open sesame

refuzee

Hi everybody,

I need to find a solution for integrating the tobii t60 eyetracker into open sesame. For that i would like to use the provided tobii SDK (python). Obviously a timestamped log file (.csv) would be the desired outcome. For now processing won't be of main interest, but simple raw data should be included. As I am new to open sesame and to python, it would be nice if anyone had some starting points or hints to help me do this. Accuracy concerning time will be of the essence. Does somebody have any knowledge with timelogging events and timestamped tracing in open sesame ?

Thanks a lot in advance,
Daniel

sebastiaan

Hi Daniel,

Tobii devices should be supported in principle, because Tobii provides Python bindings. However, you may have to do some figuring out on your own, as I don't know of anyone using OpenSesame with a Tobii at the moment. This forum post may be a good starting point:

• http://forum.cogsci.nl/index.php?p=/discussion/comment/1878#Comment_1878

Note that all advice for interfacing Tobii with Python is directly applicable to OpenSesame. So you will probably be able to get help from the Tobii support desk, even if they don't know OpenSesame.

Cheers,
Sebastiaan

refuzee

Hi Sebastian,

thanks for your comment. As i am quite new to python and OpenSesame developement is a bit slow. As far as i understood the OpenSesame concept, to integrate tobii modules i would require to start OpenSesame from source to import modules provided by the sdk. Do you think writing a plugin is the more easy / accessible way or isn't it possible ?

Daniel

sebastiaan

As far as i understood the OpenSesame concept, to integrate tobii modules i would require to start OpenSesame from source to import modules provided by the sdk.

Probably, yes. There's also a chance that you can simply copy the Tobii SDK from the python Lib\site-packages folder to the opensesame folder. Whether this will work depends on how the SDK works internally, but it's worth a try.

Do you think writing a plugin is the more easy / accessible way or isn't it possible ?

For re-use and sharing with others, writing a plug-in would certainly be best. But you don't need to start with that right away. I would start with getting the Tobii to work with OpenSesame using Python inline script. The Tobii guys will probably have some example Python code to get you started. Once this works, you will be able to use this code quite easily as the basis for one or more Tobii plug-ins. You can see a plug-in as a nicely packaged piece of Python inline script.

Cheers!
Sebastiaan

refuzee

Hi Sebastian,

thanks for the great info. This will help me to get started and structured a bit more.
I'll keep you posted when things grow...

Greetz,
Daniel

Edwin

Hi Daniel,

Please keep us posted on your efforts and don't hesitate to ask about any problem you might run into. I'm very interested in your progress, since we're currently trying to produce a more general plug-in to communicate with different brands of eye-trackers by simple selecting a different one from within the OpenSesame GUI. Tobii support would be awesome!

If you manage to figure out the SDK a bit, I'd love to help you integrate your code within a plug-in. Of course I'd like to help you with figuring our the SDK too, but I do not have direct access to a Tobii setup, so testing would be a bit of a bother.

Maybe looking at how SDK's for other brands have been used might give you some direction: OpenSesame Eyelink plugins or SMI support in PyGaze (works in a similar way; soon to be integrated into an OpenSesame plugin).

refuzee

Hi Edwin,

thanks for your reply. I got the SDK working locally with some python examples given by tobii. So the next step would be the integration. If you download the SDK there are some python examples which I would start to integrate, but you can have a look at the code yourself if you are interested. Unfortunately I can not invest all my available time so it might take me some weeks to complete the task.

Cheers,
Daniel

PS: for now im working on 32bit version of the sdk with python 2.7

Edwin

Hi Daniel,

Completely forgot about this thread, until I saw the (somewhat related) EyeTribe thread. The new PyGaze plug-ins also support Tobii eyetrackers (but not the Tobii EyeX that works with a renewed SDK).

Cheers,

Edwin

refuzee

Hi Edwin,

superb. Thanx very much. I kind of gave up on this due to the other 2341 ideas to follow.

I think I will try both, eyetribe and tobii. My problem is always that I need a "clickable" solution for our students, making the experiment as well as analysis...

Best,
Daniel