Saccadic eye movements estimate prolonged time awake

This study describes for the first time that the length of overall time awake of a person can be estimated by analysing eye movements that have been measured with electro-oculography in a saccade task repeatedly up till 54 hours. Fatigue and fluctuation of vigilance is one of the main causes of accidents and human errors in traffic, at work places and in everyday life. Our research paves the way to developing a system to be used in everyday life to provide biofeedback on vigilance and the development of fatigue. This will alert people to take a pause and rest period.