| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080284980 | Eye Tracker Having an Extended Span of Operating Distances - The present invention relates to automatic registration and tracking of the eyes of at least one subject. An optical system, including a lens structure, a mask and an image sensor, receives incoming light from a scene containing the subject and directs at least a portion of this light towards the image sensor, which registers spatially distributed light and thus produces primary data. The mask is adapted to alter a basic optical transfer function of the lens structure and the image sensor into an enhanced optical transfer function, which is substantially less sensitive to variations of an unknown distance between the optical system and the subject than the basic optical transfer function. The processing unit is adapted to receive the primary data and process this data to produce resulting eye-tracking data representing a position estimate of the at least one eye and/or a gaze direction for the at least one eye. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20090315827 | GENERATION OF GRAPHICAL FEEDBACK IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - The present invention relates to control of a computer system, which includes a data processing unit, a display and an eye tracker adapted to register a user's gaze point with respect to the display. The data processing unit is adapted to present graphical information on the display, which includes feedback data reflecting the user's commands entered into the unit. The data processing unit is adapted to present the feedback data such that during an initial phase, the feedback data is generated based on an absolute position of the gaze point. An imaging device of the system is also adapted to register image data representing movements of a body part of the user, and to forward a representation of the image data to the data processing unit. Hence, during a phase subsequent to the initial phase, the data is instead generated based on the image data. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100328444 | ADAPTIVE CAMERA AND ILLUMINATOR EYETRACKER - An eye tracker includes at least one illuminator for illuminating an eye, at least two cameras for imaging the eye, and a controller. The configuration of the reference illuminator(s) and cameras is such that, at least one camera is coaxial with a reference illuminator and at least one camera is non-coaxial with a reference illuminator. The controller is adapted to select one of the cameras to be active to maximize an image quality metric and avoid obscuring objects. The eye tracker is operable in a dual-camera mode to improve accuracy. A method and computer-program product for selecting a combination of an active reference illuminator from a number of reference illuminators, and an active camera from a plurality of cameras are provided. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110013007 | EYE DETECTION UNIT USING SEQUENTIAL DATA FLOW - The invention generally relates to systems and methods for eye detection for use in, for example, installations and systems for tracking eyes and gaze angle/directions. The system includes a plurality of eye detection units connected to an image sensor. The eye detection units are adapted to receive regions of picture elements of a digital image frame substantially in parallel and wherein the eye detection units are adapted to operate substantially in parallel, each eye detection unit being adapted to receive a specified region of the picture elements of at least one digital image frame and including an eye feature extraction module adapted to perform a eye feature extraction process on the received picture elements to identify predetermined eye features. An eye data generating module is adapted to receive information of potential identified eye features including picture element coordinates for the identified eye features, and the received region of picture elements, and generate eye data based on the information of potential eye features, wherein the eye data is generated if identified eye features fulfil predetermined conditions, and transfer generated eye data and the received regions of picture elements to a processing module, and wherein a data flow of the eye data and the region of picture elements of a digital image frame is substantially parallel. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110069277 | VISUAL DISPLAY WITH ILLUMINATORS FOR GAZE TRACKING - A visual display characterized by hidden reference illuminators is adapted to emit invisible light for generating corneo-scleral reflections on an eye watching a screen surface of the display. The tracking of such reflections and the pupil center provides input for gaze tracking. A method for equipping and an LCD with a reference illuminator are also provided. A system and method for determining a gaze point of an eye watching a visual display comprising reference illuminators are further provided. The determination of the gaze point may be based on an ellipsoidal cornea model. | 03-24-2011 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090315827 | GENERATION OF GRAPHICAL FEEDBACK IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - The present invention relates to control of a computer system, which includes a data processing unit, a display and an eye tracker adapted to register a user's gaze point with respect to the display. The data processing unit is adapted to present graphical information on the display, which includes feedback data reflecting the user's commands entered into the unit. The data processing unit is adapted to present the feedback data such that during an initial phase, the feedback data is generated based on an absolute position of the gaze point. An imaging device of the system is also adapted to register image data representing movements of a body part of the user, and to forward a representation of the image data to the data processing unit. Hence, during a phase subsequent to the initial phase, the data is instead generated based on the image data. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100328444 | ADAPTIVE CAMERA AND ILLUMINATOR EYETRACKER - An eye tracker includes at least one illuminator for illuminating an eye, at least two cameras for imaging the eye, and a controller. The configuration of the reference illuminator(s) and cameras is such that, at least one camera is coaxial with a reference illuminator and at least one camera is non-coaxial with a reference illuminator. The controller is adapted to select one of the cameras to be active to maximize an image quality metric and avoid obscuring objects. The eye tracker is operable in a dual-camera mode to improve accuracy. A method and computer-program product for selecting a combination of an active reference illuminator from a number of reference illuminators, and an active camera from a plurality of cameras are provided. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110013007 | EYE DETECTION UNIT USING SEQUENTIAL DATA FLOW - The invention generally relates to systems and methods for eye detection for use in, for example, installations and systems for tracking eyes and gaze angle/directions. The system includes a plurality of eye detection units connected to an image sensor. The eye detection units are adapted to receive regions of picture elements of a digital image frame substantially in parallel and wherein the eye detection units are adapted to operate substantially in parallel, each eye detection unit being adapted to receive a specified region of the picture elements of at least one digital image frame and including an eye feature extraction module adapted to perform a eye feature extraction process on the received picture elements to identify predetermined eye features. An eye data generating module is adapted to receive information of potential identified eye features including picture element coordinates for the identified eye features, and the received region of picture elements, and generate eye data based on the information of potential eye features, wherein the eye data is generated if identified eye features fulfil predetermined conditions, and transfer generated eye data and the received regions of picture elements to a processing module, and wherein a data flow of the eye data and the region of picture elements of a digital image frame is substantially parallel. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110069277 | VISUAL DISPLAY WITH ILLUMINATORS FOR GAZE TRACKING - A visual display characterized by hidden reference illuminators is adapted to emit invisible light for generating corneo-scleral reflections on an eye watching a screen surface of the display. The tracking of such reflections and the pupil center provides input for gaze tracking. A method for equipping and an LCD with a reference illuminator are also provided. A system and method for determining a gaze point of an eye watching a visual display comprising reference illuminators are further provided. The determination of the gaze point may be based on an ellipsoidal cornea model. | 03-24-2011 |
