Tobii Technology announces its annual EyeTrackAwards winner for 2010

**The awards recognise research and projects that have generated new insights using eye tracking technology

The winner of the EyeTrackAwards 2010 has been announced by Tobii Technology as Stefanie I. Becker, from the University of Queensland, for her research project ‘The role of target-distractor relationships in guiding attention and the eyes in visual search’.

Tommy Strandwall, chairman of the judges says: “The winning research paper had the best explanation of how eye tracking data was collected, processed and interpreted. Additionally Becker’s research findings regarding what factors guide visual attention are very relevant to many other research fields. Altogether the research paper was thoroughly written and it reflects that Becker is a skillful researcher with an excellent understanding of eye tracking as a research methodology.”

Becker’s research won with a unanimous decision from the judges, beating 30 other papers to win the 5,000 EUR prize. The competition was open to everyone, regardless of research field, country, eye tracking equipment or affiliation and each application was judged based on contribution, quality and uniqueness by a panel of judges.

Tom Englund, VP Analysis Solutions at Tobii Technology comments, “We want to promote and recognize scientific work where eye tracking is used. By publicising the submissions we hope to inspire more researchers to use eye tracking in an advanced way and use it to its full potential. We have received many fantastic submissions from across the world, but as always there can only be one winner. Becker’s research project excelled at this year’s awards. She used eye tracking technology to discover her findings in a sophisticated way which was a step ahead of the competition.”

Becker comments, “I am overwhelmed that my research project has won the Tobii Eye Tracker Award. Competing against 30 other research submissions to win this prestigious accolade is a fantastic acknowledgment, especially from such a credible leader in eye tracking.”

The EyeTrackAwards ceremony will take place at the International Eye Tracking Behaviour Conference in Frankfurt, Germany in October 2011 where Becker will also present her winning research.

Applications for the 2011 EyeTrackAwards are now open to all. Findings from eligible projects must have been published in writing (in English) between October 1st 2010 and September 30th 2011 in a scientific journal, book, as a conference paper, or equivalent. Each application will be judged by a panel of experts. To apply please visit www.eyetrackawards.com

For further information contact:

Louise Mapp/Danielle Mumford
Ascent PR
Phone: 0118 988 0501
Email: Louise.mapp@ascentpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

Winner 2010

The Role of Target-Distractor Relationships in Guiding Attention and the Eyes in Visual Search.

By: Stefanie I. Becker, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Post-doctoral research fellow (PhD in 2007). Homepage: http://www.sibecker.de

Finalists 2010

What visual information do children and adults consider while switching between tasks? Eye-tracking investigation of cognitive flexibility development

By: Nicolas Chevalier, Agnès Blaye, Stéphane Dufau and Joanna Lucenet, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

Infants’ understanding of everyday social interactions: A dual process account

By: Gustaf Gredebäck, Uppsala University, Sweden

Influence of environmental statistics on inhibition of saccadic return

By: Simon, Farrell, Casimir J. H. Ludwig, Lucy A. Ellis, and Iain D. Gilchrist, University of Bristol, UK