RealEye - Webcam-based eye tracking for user research and marketing

What Is RealEye and Why It Matters

Imagine you could understand exactly where users look when they browse your website, watch your advertisement, or evaluate your product packaging—without investing in expensive laboratory equipment or requiring participants to visit a physical research facility. This is precisely the challenge that has historically limited eye-tracking research to well-funded academic institutions and large corporations with substantial research budgets.

Traditional eye-tracking solutions require specialized hardware costing tens of thousands of dollars, dedicated laboratory space, and trained technicians to operate. For market researchers, UX professionals, and academic researchers working with limited resources, these barriers have made meaningful eye-tracking studies nearly impossible to conduct at scale.

RealEye removes these barriers entirely. As a cloud-based eye-tracking solution that works entirely through an ordinary webcam, RealEye enables you to conduct professional-grade eye-tracking research directly in the browser—no installations, no hardware purchases, and no specialized expertise required.

The platform leverages advanced AI deep neural networks to analyze眼球运动 in real-time, delivering approximately 110px accuracy—precise enough to analyze interactions with individual buttons and UI elements on a webpage. With sampling rates reaching 60Hz, you capture smooth, detailed gaze data that reveals how users actually process visual information.

What sets RealEye apart is its commitment to privacy-first research. All processing happens directly in the browser using WebAssembly technology—your participants' images and audio never leave their devices. Only AI-predicted text data (timestamps and coordinates) are stored, ensuring full GDPR compliance while still delivering the insights you need.

Trusted by organizations including Stanford University, IPSOS, Behaviorally, and numerous other research institutions, RealEye has democratized eye-tracking research for teams of all sizes.

What RealEye Can Do for You

RealEye provides a comprehensive suite of tools designed to answer the questions that matter most to your research—whether you're optimizing a website, testing advertising effectiveness, or understanding how users emotionally respond to content.

Eye-Tracking Module

The core of the RealEye platform uses deep neural network AI to predict gaze points in real-time. You can test virtually any visual stimulus: images, videos, live websites, embedded content, or screen recordings. The 110px accuracy means you can confidently analyze whether users notice specific buttons, calls-to-action, or design elements on your pages. With 60Hz sampling, you capture the natural flow of visual attention without gaps or missed data points.

Facial Coding Module

Understanding where users look tells you what they see—but understanding how they feel tells you what resonates. RealEye's facial coding module tracks participant expressions in real-time, detecting three key emotions: Neutral, Happy, and Surprised. This is particularly powerful for neuromarketing research, where you can correlate gaze patterns with emotional responses to understand not just attention, but attraction and engagement.

Surveys Module

Eye-tracking data becomes even more valuable when you can understand the "why" behind the observations. The surveys module lets you embed questions after each stimulus, gathering both quantitative gaze data and qualitative participant feedback in a single study. Whether you need single-participant analysis or aggregated insights across your sample, the platform handles it seamlessly.

Heatmaps and AOI Analysis

Transform raw gaze data into visual insights with customizable heatmaps that show you exactly where attention concentrates. The AOI (Area of Interest) analysis provides quantitative metrics including fixation counts, time to first fixation, average fixation duration, and viewer percentages—everything you need to make data-driven design decisions.

Online Analytics Dashboard

Access your results the moment studies complete. The dashboard provides real-time updates as data comes in, with filtering capabilities by gender, age, and custom tags. Review eye-tracking data alongside mouse movement and click analytics, emotional response timelines, and survey results—all in one unified interface.

Data Export

When you need to take analysis further, export raw eye-tracking data, processed metrics, AOI data, heatmap images (PNG), and recording videos (MP4) in standard CSV formats. Custom plan subscribers also get API access for automated data retrieval in JSON format.

Who Uses RealEye

RealEye serves researchers across industries, from Fortune 500 market research teams to individual graduate students. Here's how different teams put the platform to work.

Website UX Testing

If you're optimizing a website, understanding where users look is fundamental to improving conversion. RealEye enables remote website eye-tracking studies that reveal exactly how visitors navigate your pages. With 110px precision, you can analyze whether users notice your call-to-action buttons, navigation elements, or key content blocks. The real-time heatmaps show attention distribution instantly, while AOI metrics quantify exactly how many users see specific elements and for how long.

Neuromarketing and Advertising Research

For advertising agencies and brands, understanding emotional response is as important as measuring attention. RealEye's combination of eye-tracking and facial coding lets you understand not just what users see, but how they feel about what they see. Test video advertisements and analyze both gaze trajectories and emotional reactions simultaneously. This combination reveals whether your advertising is not only seen but actually connecting with viewers.

Mobile Interface Testing

With smartphone usage dominating digital interactions, understanding mobile user behavior is essential. RealEye's smartphone testing feature runs directly in mobile browsers—no app installation needed. Capture how users scroll through mobile pages, where their attention lands on app interfaces, and how they interact with mobile-specific elements.

Academic Research

For researchers working within educational institutions, budget constraints shouldn't limit research quality. RealEye offers dedicated academic pricing starting at just $49 per month for students, with university plans at $600 per month. This makes professional eye-tracking accessible for dissertation research, faculty studies, and classroom projects without requiring expensive lab equipment.

Packaging and Social Media Testing

Expand your research beyond digital interfaces. Test physical product packaging through virtual shelf tests that simulate retail environments. Evaluate social media advertising effectiveness with Instagram mockups that replicate actual feed experiences. These capabilities extend the platform's value beyond traditional web research into comprehensive visual attention studies.

Getting Started with RealEye

One of RealEye's greatest strengths is how quickly you can go from signup to actionable insights. Here's what the process looks like.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Visit realeye.io and register for a free 7-day trial—no credit card required. The signup process takes under two minutes, and you get full access to platform features during your trial period.

Step 2: Build Your Study

Once logged in, create a new study and select your stimulus type: images, videos, websites, or specialized formats like Instagram mockups or shelf tests. Upload your creative materials or enter URLs for live website testing. Configure study parameters including duration limits, participant instructions, and any embedded surveys you want to include.

Step 3: Recruit Participants

You have two options for participant recruitment. First, you can invite your own participants by sharing a study link—participants simply click through and grant webcam access in their browser. Alternatively, you can rent participants from RealEye's panel at $10-15 per person, depending on your plan. RealEye's panel primarily covers the UK and US, with 100% quality-verified results delivered within one business day.

Step 4: Run Your Study

Studies run entirely in participants' browsers. They simply click your link, grant webcam permission, complete a brief calibration, and the study begins automatically. All processing happens locally on their device—nothing uploads to servers during recording.

Step 5: Analyze Results

As data comes in, your analytics dashboard updates in real-time. View heatmaps, explore AOI metrics, examine emotional response timelines, and review survey answers. Export any data format you need for deeper analysis or client reporting.

Pricing Plans That Fit Your Needs

RealEye offers transparent pricing for both commercial and academic users. Here's the complete breakdown.

Commercial Plans

Additional Costs:

• Additional participants: $1.5/person (Standard), $1.2/person (Custom)
• Additional team members: $30/person/month (Standard), $15/person/month (University)
• RealEye Panel participants: $15/person (Standard), $10/person (Basic)

Academic Plans

Academic plans are strictly for non-commercial research purposes.

RealEye Panel Pricing

When you need participants quickly, rent from RealEye's verified panel:

• Standard plan access: $15/participant
• Basic plan access: $10/participant
• All recordings manually reviewed for quality
• Minimum accuracy requirement: <175px
• Minimum sampling rate: ≥20Hz
• Guaranteed 100% qualified results delivered within 1 business day

All plans include a 7-day free trial so you can validate the platform meets your research needs before committing. You can cancel your subscription at any time—you'll retain access through the end of your current billing period.

Frequently Asked Questions