DeToX

Keywords

DeToX, eye-tracking, Tobii, PsychoPy, infant studies, calibration, gaze data, eye tracker, research, Python

This package was created out of the need to run eye-tracking experiments using tobii_research. The Tobii SDK provides a powerful way to interact with Tobii eye trackers in Python, offering many advanced features. However, certain aspects of its implementation can be complex and unintuitive for routine research tasks. Since we often run experiments using PsychoPy, we developed this lightweight wrapper around PsychoPy and tobii_research to simplify the process. The goal is to make it easy to run infant-friendly eye-tracking studies while handling the more technical aspects of eye tracker integration behind the scenes.

The beauty of DeToX lies in its simplicity - if you already have PsychoPy installed, you only need to add DeToX and you’re ready to go. No additional dependencies, no complex setup procedures. It’s just a clean, intuitive wrapper that makes eye-tracking accessible.

This project didn’t start from scratch—it builds upon an existing repository that we have used in the past: psychopy_tobii_infant

While this repository provided solid solutions for integrating Tobii eye trackers with PsychoPy, we added features and improvements that we found useful for running infant-friendly eye-tracking studies. Our goal was to simplify some of the more technical aspects while keeping the flexibility needed for research.

Why to use DeToX

Simplicity

While the eye-tracking landscape offers many exc llent tools—from PsychoPy’s built-in Tobii integration to comprehensive packages like Titta—DeToX carves out its own niche through thoughtful simplicity. We’ve prioritized clarity and ease-of-use without sacrificing the flexibility researchers need. When your codebase is straightforward and well-documented, it becomes a platform for innovation rather than an obstacle to overcome.

Documentation

We believe that good software is only as valuable as its documentation. Too often, researchers encounter powerful packages that become frustrating to use due to unclear or incomplete documentation. When you’re left wondering what a function does or how to modify basic settings, the package becomes more of a hindrance than a help. A package should empower users, not confuse them. That’s why we’ve prioritized creating clear, comprehensive documentation with practical examples and step-by-step tutorials. Our goal is documentation that helps you understand not just what to do, but why—so you can confidently adapt the code to your specific experimental needs.

Vignettes

Our vignettes offer hands-on explanations of DeToX’s settings and features through practical examples. Each vignette focuses on specific functionality, walking you through the implementation details and configuration options you’ll need to effectively integrate these features into your research workflow.

Tutorial

While vignettes dive deep into individual features, our tutorial take a different approach - it demonstrate a complete working experiment from start to finish. Rather than explaining every parameter in detail it shows you how all the pieces fit together in real research scenarios.

Questions?

While we tried to have a thotoug documentation with lots of examples you may have question or suggestions.

If you find something not working or that could be done better please feel free to raise an issue on github:

Github
Are you not confident with writing code or with github?? Or do you want to spark a more general discussion?? Come join the DevStart forum!!

Devstart.freeflarum.com

Disclaimer

While we are tring to do our best to create a reliable and user-friendly package, this is our first attempt at developing a comprehensive eye-tracking wrapper. We encourage you to thoroughly test DeToX with your specific experimental setup and requirements before relying on it for critical research. This package is provided without warranties of any kind, and users should verify that all functionality works as expected in their particular research context. We welcome feedback and bug reports to help improve the package, but please use appropriate caution and validation procedures when implementing DeToX in your studies.

--- title: "DeToX" keywords: [DeToX, eye-tracking, Tobii, PsychoPy, infant studies, calibration, gaze data, eye tracker, research, Python] format: html: page-layout: full toc: false --- ```{=html} <img src="resources/Logosvg.png" alt="Logo" style="float: left; width: 200px; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" /> ``` This package was created out of the need to run eye-tracking experiments using `tobii_research`. The [Tobii SDK](https://developer.tobiipro.com/python/python-getting-started.html) provides a powerful way to interact with Tobii eye trackers in Python, offering many advanced features. However, certain aspects of its implementation can be complex and unintuitive for routine research tasks. Since we often run experiments using PsychoPy, we developed this lightweight wrapper around PsychoPy and `tobii_research` to simplify the process. The goal is to make it easy to run infant-friendly eye-tracking studies while handling the more technical aspects of eye tracker integration behind the scenes. The beauty of DeToX lies in its simplicity - if you already have PsychoPy installed, you only need to add DeToX and you're ready to go. No additional dependencies, no complex setup procedures. It's just a clean, intuitive wrapper that makes eye-tracking accessible. This project didn't start from scratch—it builds upon an existing repository that we have used in the past: [**psychopy_tobii_infant**](https://github.com/yh-luo/psychopy_tobii_infant) While this repository provided solid solutions for integrating Tobii eye trackers with PsychoPy, we added features and improvements that we found useful for running **infant-friendly eye-tracking studies**. Our goal was to simplify some of the more technical aspects while keeping the flexibility needed for research. # Why to use DeToX ## Simplicity While the eye-tracking landscape offers many exc llent tools—from [PsychoPy](https://psychopy.org/hardware/eyeTracking.html)'s built-in Tobii integration to comprehensive packages like [Titta](https://github.com/marcus-nystrom/Titta)—DeToX carves out its own niche through thoughtful simplicity. We've prioritized clarity and ease-of-use without sacrificing the flexibility researchers need. When your codebase is straightforward and well-documented, it becomes a platform for innovation rather than an obstacle to overcome. ## Documentation We believe that good software is only as valuable as its documentation. Too often, researchers encounter powerful packages that become frustrating to use due to unclear or incomplete documentation. When you're left wondering what a function does or how to modify basic settings, the package becomes more of a hindrance than a help. A package should empower users, not confuse them. That's why we've prioritized creating clear, comprehensive documentation with practical examples and step-by-step tutorials. Our goal is documentation that helps you understand not just **what** to do, but **why**—so you can confidently adapt the code to your specific experimental needs. ### Vignettes Our vignettes offer hands-on explanations of DeToX's settings and features through practical examples. Each vignette focuses on specific functionality, walking you through the implementation details and configuration options you'll need to effectively integrate these features into your research workflow. ### Tutorial While vignettes dive deep into individual features, our tutorial take a different approach - it demonstrate a complete working experiment from start to finish. Rather than explaining every parameter in detail it shows you how all the pieces fit together in real research scenarios.    # Questions? While we tried to have a thotoug documentation with lots of examples you may have question or suggestions. - If you find something not working or that could be done better please feel free to raise an issue on github: [Github](https://github.com/DevStart-Hub/DeToX) - Are you not confident with writing code or with github?? Or do you want to spark a more general discussion?? Come join the DevStart forum!! [Devstart.freeflarum.com](https://devstart.freeflarum.com/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ::: callout-caution ## Disclaimer While we are tring to do our best to create a reliable and user-friendly package, this is our first attempt at developing a comprehensive eye-tracking wrapper. We encourage you to thoroughly test DeToX with your specific experimental setup and requirements before relying on it for critical research. This package is provided without warranties of any kind, and users should verify that all functionality works as expected in their particular research context. We welcome feedback and bug reports to help improve the package, but please use appropriate caution and validation procedures when implementing DeToX in your studies. :::