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OpenET Working Group Charter (Draft v0.1)

1. Mission

The OpenET Working Group aims to develop and maintain open, interoperable specifications for eye-tracking device interfaces and data exchange. The group operates under a community-driven, consensus-based model to ensure that OpenET remains relevant, inclusive, and broadly adoptable across research, industry, and hardware ecosystems.

The mission is to enable researchers, developers, and device manufacturers to collaboratively define shared specifications, schemas, and tools that support interoperability, reproducibility, and scalability in eye-tracking systems.

2. Scope

The scope of the OpenET Working Group includes:

  • Defining data models and schemas for eye-tracking systems
  • Standardizing interfaces for real-time and on-demand data access
  • Supporting interoperable communication protocols across devices and platforms
  • Developing reference implementations and conformance test suites
  • Producing technical reports and best practices for public outreach

Out of scope:

  • Proprietary or vendor-specific extensions that are not generalizable
  • Certification or compliance enforcement mechanisms

4. Deliverables

The OpenET Working Group is expected to produce:

  • OpenET Specifications
  • Technical Reports
  • Reference Implementations
  • Documentation

All deliverables will be publicly accessible and maintained under the Apachev2.0 license.

4. Governance and Decision-Making

The OpenET Working Group follows a consensus-based decision-making model, prioritizing transparency, fairness, and inclusivity.

  • Decisions are made through open discussion and documented consensus
  • When consensus cannot be reached, the steering team facilitates resolution
  • All major decisions, proposals, and discussions are recorded and publicly accessible

The governance model is institution-neutral, ensuring that no single organization controls the direction of the standard.

5. Participation and Roles

Participation in the OpenET Working Group is open to all interested individuals and organizations.

Roles

  • Public Reviewers

  • Provide feedback on drafts

  • Suggest improvements and identify issues

  • Contributors

  • Submit proposals and pull requests

  • Develop documentation and reference implementations

  • Participate in discussions and issue tracking

  • Maintainers

  • Review and integrate contributions

  • Manage versioning and releases

  • Ensure consistency and quality across deliverables

  • Steering Team

  • Coordinate group activities and discussions

  • Organize meetings and communication channels
  • Facilitate consensus and resolve conflicts
  • Provide technical leadership without centralized control

6. Process

The working group operates through an open and iterative development process:

  1. Proposal Submission (issues, design docs, or pull requests)
  2. Public Discussion and Review
  3. Iterative Refinement
  4. Consensus Building
  5. Integration and Release

All contributions are tracked through this public repository and discussion platforms. Future expansion of repository and processes should be discussed in working group meetings and updated in the charter accordingly.

7. Level of Confidentiality

Access to W3C information, where relevant, should be defined in three principal levels of public, Member-only, and Team-only.

  • All discussions, decisions, and artifacts are public
  • Regular updates and releases are communicated through community channels
  • Working Group Meetings will be team-only, however, will be documented with public notes

The group encourages asynchronous participation to support global contributors.

8. Licensing

All OpenET specifications and associated deliverables are released under the Apache License 2.0, an OSI-approved permissive license.

Contributors must agree that their contributions will be licensed under the same terms.

9. Timeline and Milestones

  • OpenET v0.2: Public review phase marked by the initial release at HCII Conference on July 26th 2026.
  • Working Group Formation: Initiated alongside v0.2
  • First Working Group Meeting: End of the year 2026, exact dates TBD following alignment with members' availability.
  • OpenET v1.0: Transition to full working group governance following the first meeting.
  • Adopted Governance Charter: To be finalized at the first meeting as well.

10. External Collaboration and Standardization

The OpenET Working Group may explore formal alignment with established standards organizations, including:

  • Registration as a formal working group within broader standards bodies
  • Collaboration with academic and industry consortia
  • Engagement with existing open-source and standards communities

These pathways will be evaluated based on community interest, maturity, and adoption.

11. Values and Principles

The OpenET Working Group is guided by the following principles:

  • Openness – Open participation and transparent processes
  • Fairness – Equal opportunity for contribution and influence
  • Neutrality – Independence from institutional control
  • Quality – Emphasis on robust, well-documented standards
  • Practicality – Focus on real-world usability and adoption

12. Duration

The current draft is a part of the public review release of OpenET and will stay valid until the first Working Group meeting where members will update and sign-off the final adopted version.

Last update: March 20, 2026