Seeing into things: eye tracking the moving image

We chose Seeing into Things: Eye Tracking the Moving Image as the title of this special edition to foreground the importance of reaching beyond – and beneath – the surface of the screen and the worlds that it creates and envisions. Through the empirical data that eye tracking affords us we are able to evidence and account for the depth in perception and sensibility that accompanies or anchors viewing. Seeing into Things is also recognition of the layers – or epidermi – of technological vision: depth cues, focal length, camera movement, and the delicious qualities of mise-en-scene all invite or demand that the image is looked into. There is much to observe across the textures and texturality of the screen. Eye tracking technology sees into the eyes of the viewer who peers – pierces – into the immersive world of the screen, factual or fictional. We see beauty in this alignment between the eye tracker, the viewer, and the screen. As this special edition finds, Seeing into Things is an enriching and intoxicating way of (re)discovering the complexities of viewing the moving image.