Mobile eye tracking versus tracking on the screen

Is mobile eye tracking better than tracking from a computer monitor?  There’s debate.

Most mobile eye tracking solutions provide analog output in real time.  In other words, researchers and observers can “see what the respondent is seeing” in the moment.  That’s great for qualitative insight, but what kind of precision or quantitative reliability does it provide?

Not much.

On the other hand, eye tracking from a computer monitor in virtual reality provides real coordinate data, precise time coding, and in some cases fixations on special areas of interest, like a brand name on a label.  So far so good.  Is there any downside to eye tracking from a computer monitor?

Some people claim the virtualizations are clumsy and unreal.  But with each new year that critique fades, as the virtual reality simulations are approaching the real world much better.  The odds seem to be in favor of tracking the eye from a monitor.

Maybe there’s somebody out there who sees it differently?