Overt attention in natural scenes: objects dominate features.

Whether overt attention in natural scenes is guided by object content or by low-level stimulus features has become a matter of intense debate. Experimental evidence seemed to indicate that once object locations in a scene are known, salience models provide little extra explanatory power. This approach has recently been criticized for using inadequate models of early salience; and indeed, state-of-the-art salience models outperform trivial object-based models that assume a uniform distribution of fixations on objects.

How to become a mentalist: reading decisions from a competitor's pupil can be achieved without training but requires instruction.

Pupil dilation is implicated as a marker of decision-making as well as of cognitive and emotional processes. Here we tested whether individuals can exploit another's pupil to their advantage. We first recorded the eyes of 3 "opponents", while they were playing a modified version of the "rock-paper-scissors" childhood game.

Pupil responses allow communication in locked-in syndrome patients.

For patients with severe motor disabilities, a robust means of communication is a crucial factor for their well-being [1]. We report here that pupil size measured by a bedside camera can be used to communicate with patients with locked-in syndrome. With the same protocol we demonstrate command-following for a patient in a minimally conscious state, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic tool for patients whose state of consciousness is in question.

Validation of mobile eye-tracking as novel and efficient means for differentiating progressive supranuclear palsy from Parkinson's disease.

Background: The decreased ability to carry out vertical saccades is a key symptom of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). Objective measurement devices can help to reliably detect subtle eye movement disturbances to improve sensitivity and specificity of the clinical diagnosis. The present study aims at transferring findings from restricted stationary video-oculography (VOG) to a wearable head-mounted device, which can be readily applied in clinical practice.

Mobile three dimensional gaze tracking.

Mobile eyetracking is a recent method enabling research on attention during real-life behavior. With the EyeSeeCam, we have recently presented a mobile eye-tracking device, whose camera-motion device (gazecam) records movies orientated in user's direction of gaze. Here we show that the EyeSeeCam can extract a reliable vergence signal, to measure the fixation distance.