There are three pieces together: the monitor and its glasses, and two instructions manuals.
The monitor is a metal box that has the controls for the system. On its front are a number of plastic knobs and metal switches that allow the researcher to change settings for the printing of data and for what they want to monitor using the glasses. There are switches to turn the machine on and off and to turn the photodiodes in the glasses on and off. There is a power cord attached at the back of the monitor for charging the battery contained within the monitor. There is also a cord that attaches to the right side of the glasses the participant wears. The glasses are made to sit on the participant’s nose and ears and there is a strip of stretchy elastic material that spans from one glasses stem to the other. Attached at the front of each side of the glasses is a metal bar attached by a piece of plastic to the frame. These metal bars hold the small photodiodes, which are centered in the front of each eye. This is the most important piece that actually monitors where the eye is moving and relays the information back to the monitor.
The first instructions manual contains information about the monitor and how to use it. It explains how to hook up the various parts of the monitor and how to change the settings to obtain different information.
The second monitor contains more of the technical specifications of the monitor. It contains circuits and other information that might assist more if the monitor were to be taken apart.
Accession Number: 2014.ep.10
Alternative Name:
Metal, Plastic, Paper, Wiring, Rubber, Synthetic Fabric
On the Operators Manuals and on the Monitor
Biometrics Inc.
A NARCO Medical Company
Model 200 Eye Movement Monitor
Operators Manual
August 1973
243 Binney Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142
(617) 864 9877
Monitor: length: 31cm width:25cm height: 12cm. Glasses: length: 20cm width: 15cm. Instructions Manuals: length: 29cm width: 22.5cm.
The Model 200 was used to monitor eye movement as a participant scanned something in their surroundings. It may have been used to monitor the eye movements of participants as they read something, as this was a common research topic in the 1970s. It may also have been used to monitor participants’ field of vision.
The monitor itself is generally in good condition. It has a small amount of fading, scratching and dirt on it from general use. The glasses are mostly undamaged except at the front of the right side, where the plastic holding the photodiode to the frame of the glasses is broken. Some of that plastic has snapped off so the metal bar that holds the photodiode is hanging loose. According to the manuals there should be a stand for the glasses but it is missing.
The first operating manual is in medium condition, with severe yellowing of the plastic cover. The plastic is also very brittle, and has completely broken off near the edge, though the piece of plastic is still with the manual. The paper is somewhat yellowed and brittle but is still in reasonably good condition.
The second operating manual is also in medium condition. The plastic cover is significantly yellowed and very brittle. There are small pieces of the plastic that have fallen off around the edges and there is a crack in the plastic at the bottom. The paper is also somewhat yellowed and brittle but in reasonably good condition.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Biometrics Inc
Date of Manufacture: 1973
Donated by Dr. Paul Milgram, Engineering Psychology at U of T in October 2012.
Additional Information and References:
There are several patents held by Biometrics Inc. and Narco Scientific Industries, its parent company, in the area of eye tracking monitors. These are links that functioned as of March 9th 2014 that may offer further information:
http://www.google.com/patents/US3679295
http://www.google.com/patents/US3951527
Biometrics Inc. and Narco Scientific Industries no longer exist, and were bought out by University Health Services Inc. in 2001.
Themes:
- Donated to UTSIC