We are experiencing continued problems with SBTrack (aka reading.exe), the software developed by Matt Crocker and his group in Saarbruecken. The software seems to crash during experiments with a generic Windows error message and data loss. This happens randomly and infrequently (approximately every 10-12 subjects). The problems concerns both the reading mode and the visual world mode of SBTrack.

I have so far failed to identify the problem. Things I've tried include rolling back Windows updates (especially Service Pack 2), upgrading drivers (sound and graphics drivers), and disabling background processes (virus scanner etc.). I've also obtained the source code of the software and tried to recompile it. None of this seems to fix the error.

I have therefore switched to EyeTrack, the UMass Eyetracking Software, which has essentially the same functionality, but doesn't seem to crash. I've installed it on the JEL host PCs, so anyone can use it. For details, please consult the documentation, or the UMass web pages. Also note that that the EyeTrack comes with EyeDoctor, which is a nice graphical tool for post-processing eyetracking data.

I have writen a perls script that converts SBTrack experimental scripts to EyeTrack scripts, which are attached to this page.

-- FrankKeller - 10 Nov 2005

• eyetrack_converter.tar.gz: This file contains scripts for converting SBTrack scripts to EyeTrack scripts