Knowledge Base

Import AOI data into The Observer XT 9 Import AOI data into The Observer XT

Aim

To import Area of Interest data into The Observer XT.

Prerequisites

You defined Areas of Interest in the Tobii Pro software. You have Tobii Pro Lab 1.98 or Tobii Pro Studio 3.4. Contact the Noldus help desk if you have another version of Tobii Pro software.

You have the file Tobii Studio File Converter 3.0 Setup.exe provided

by Noldus Information Technology.

Procedure

Carry out the following steps. 1. Export the eye tracking data from Tobii Pro Lab (page 26) or Tobii Pro Studio (page 36). For AOI data, it is not needed to export all

columns, as long as all columns described in variables to export -

tobii pro studio on page 38 are exported. 2. Convert the export file, see page 39. 3. Import the converted file into The Observer XT, see page 43.

Variables To Export - Tobii Pro Lab

Under General Project name: The name of the project in Tobii Pro Lab. Recording name: The ID of the recording. Import AOI data into The Observer XT Recording Date: The start date of the recording. Recording Start time. The start time of the recording.

Recording Timestamp: The time stamp of a sample point from the

start of the recording (set to zero).

Under Gaze events:

Gaze Event Duration: The duration of a fixation. AOI hit: The name of the Area of Interest.

Variables To Export - Tobii Pro Studio

Under General data:

StudioProjectName: The name of the project in Tobii Pro Studio. RecordingName: The ID of the recording. RecordingDate: The start date of the recording.

Under Timestamp data:

RecordingTimestamp: The time stamp of a sample point from the

start of the recording (set to zero). LocalTimeStamp: The local time stamp of a sample point.

Under Gaze event data and AOI activity information:

GazeEventDuration: The duration of a fixation. AOI[Name of AOI]Hit: The name of the Area of Interest.

Tips

In Tobii Pro Studio, it is possible to save the current selection of variables as "AOI data", so you can quickly open the same selection

when necessary (Load Settings). To do so, click the Save Settings

button. Import AOI data into The Observer XT To use the same data file also to import non-AOI data, for Tobii Pro Lab select all variables, or for Tobii Pro Studio select all variables

except [Variable Name]Value. You can use that file in the

procedures on page 26.

Structure of the export file

In the export file, each area of interest is represented by a column (see the last column in the example below). For each sample point, the cell contains 1 (fixation in that AOI) or 0 (no fixation).

Convert The Aoi Data

Why convert AOI data?

To be able to import the AIO data into The Observer XT, the export file must be converted into a format that can be read by The Observer XT.

note

To import non-AOI data, such as fixations, mouse clicks, key presses and stimulus data, see page 26. Import AOI data into The Observer XT

Install Noldus Tobii Studio File Converter

1. Close Tobii Pro Lab or Tobii Pro Studio.
2. Copy the file Tobii Studio File Converter 3.0 Setup.exe to the PC where you have stored the Tobii Pro export files.
3. Double-click Tobii Studio File Converter 3.0 Setup.exe and follow the instructions on the screen.
4. When installation is completed, click Close. By default, the Tobii Studio File Converter is installed on C:\Program Files (x86)\Noldus\Noldus Tobii Studio File Converter.

Convert AOI data into The Observer XT format

1. In the Apps screen, under Noldus click Noldus Tobii Studio File Converter.
2. Next to Tobii Studio source file, click Browse, select one or more files exported from the Tobii Pro software and click Open.

To select multiple TSV files, click Browse, click the TSV file names

while holding the Ctrl key down, and click Open. A message

confirms that multiple files are selected. 3. Next to The Observer XT destination folder, click Browse and select the folder where you want to store your converted files. Import AOI data into The Observer XT 4. Click Convert. 5. A message appears in the window "Conversion is ready". Click Exit to close the window.

The converted export file

To check the contents of the converted export file (*.txt), right-click it

and select Open with Notepad. Do not open it in a word processor such

as Microsoft Word. The file should look like this.

The first line contains the value of the variable RecordingDate and the

first value of Recording Start time (Tobii Pro Lab) or LocalTimeStamp

(Tobii Pro Studio) in the recording. If the variables are not in the original

export file, they do not appear in this line. The second line contains 0

(zero). This line is added automatically by Noldus Tobii Studio File Converter. The columns contain the following information: Time from the recording start time (in ms). Import AOI data into The Observer XT Name of the area of interest. Event type (start/stop). File name of the stimulus (optional). To import the file into The Observer XT, see page 43.

Notes

The name of the converted file is Observer-[StudioProjectName]

[RecordingDate] [RecordingName].txt.

If Studio Project Name and Recording Date are not exported from

the Tobii Pro software, the converted file name is Observer- [Recording Name].txt. If the Tobii Pro export file contains more recordings, each recording is converted to a separate text file. If the Tobii export file does not contain one of the required columns, when trying to convert this file the message appears:

Click Yes to continue converting (if you have selected multiple files),

otherwise click No. Re-export the file with the correct columns and

convert it again. The Tobii export files may also contain other columns like ParticipantName or GazeEventType, but they will not be converted. The converted file ends when the last AOI hit ends. The length of the converted file may therefore be shorter than the original recording. Import AOI data into The Observer XT

Import Aoi Data Into The Observer Xt

IMPORTANT Make sure that you have converted the export files with

Noldus Tobii Studio File Converter (page 39).

To import the data into The Observer XT

1. In The Observer XT, in the Project Explorer, open the observation in

which you want to import the eye tracking data. Click the Import

data button on the toolbar. 2. Select Import observational data. 3. In the Import Observational Data window, from the Files of type list, select Tobii 3.x AOI Data (*.txt). 4. Browse to the location where you stored the converted files. Select the appropriate file and click Open.

Notes

To import multiple recording files in the same observation, click each converted file name while holding the Ctrl key down. Import AOI data into The Observer XT The files are imported as separate event logs in the same observation. When visualizing multiple recordings, they appear in separate charts, one for each recording. If this is the first file you import into the project, you will be asked whether you want to import new coding scheme elements. Click Yes.

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Source: The Observer XT 17 - Technical Note - Tobii Pro Eye trackers