Measurement of coordination of eye and head movements by sensor of terrestrial magnetism

Development of a measurement system for head movement and application to children

Abstract

In order to measure eye-head coordination in children, an apparatus for measuring head movements was developed by a sensor of terrestrial magnetism. The sensor on a head detects terrestrial magnetism which relates to the change of direction of head. The sensor was so light weight (100g) that there was no difficulty in installing the sensor on head of a child. The eye movement was recorded by the horizontal electrooculography. Trajectory of gaze was accurately constructed from summation of movements of eye and head. Applying this apparatus to a child of 6 years of age, characteristic pattern of head and eye movement was found during shifts of gaze to targets beyond the oculomotor range. Results indicate that the present apparatus is effective in measuring precisely eye-head coordination of children.