CN-121979394-A - Eye tracking enabled wearable device

Abstract

A device (1300) adapted to be worn by a user is disclosed, the device comprising an optical element, a light source and a sensor. The optical element is adapted to be arranged in front of an eye (1312) of the user and is formed of a light transmissive material allowing the user to see through the optical element, wherein the light source is arranged on the optical element and adapted to illuminate at least a part of the eye of the user. Further, the sensor is adapted to capture light that has been emitted from the light source and reflected on the eye. A system is also disclosed, comprising such a device and a processor adapted to determine a gaze direction of a user based on light captured by the sensor.

Inventors

• RICHARD HEINZ
• JONAS ANDERSON

Assignees

• 托比股份公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20161230

Priority Date

20160429

Claims (19)

1. 1. A device (1300) adapted to be worn by a user, the device comprising: an optical element (1320) adapted to be arranged in front of an eye (1312) of the user when the device is worn, the optical element being formed of a light transmissive material allowing the user to see through the optical element, wherein the optical element is a lens, and A light source (1330) arranged on the optical element and arranged to face the eye of the user when the device is worn, wherein the light source is adapted to illuminate at least a portion of the eye of the user, and A sensor (1340) adapted to capture light that has been emitted from the light source and reflected on the eye, and A display (1390) viewable by the user through the optical element, and Wherein the sensor is arranged between the display and the optical element and the sensor is arranged to view the eye through the optical element; characterized in that the device further comprises: A light reflecting material (1380) arranged to direct at least a portion of light emitted by the light source, wherein the light reflecting material is arranged in a layer between the light source and the optical element.
2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source is mounted on a substrate (1350) disposed on a surface of the optical element.
3. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the substrate is optically transparent.
4. 4. A device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the substrate is formed from a flexible film.
5. 5. The apparatus of claims 2 to 4, wherein the substrate is arranged to cover a major portion of the surface of the optical element.
6. 6. The apparatus of claims 2 to 5, wherein the substrate comprises a conductive track (1352) for supplying the light source with electrical power.
7. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the conductive track is optically transmissive.
8. 8. The device of claims 2 to 7, further comprising a protective layer (1360) arranged on the substrate and at least partly surrounding the light source.
9. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the protective layer is formed from a flexible film.
10. 10. The device of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a cover layer (1370) arranged to at least partially cover the optical element.
11. 11. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the optical element is a fresnel lens.
12. 12. The apparatus of claims 1-11, wherein the reflective material is more reflective to infrared or near infrared light than to visible light.
13. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the light reflective material is adapted to transmit visible light.
14. 14. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode, LED.
15. 15. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light source is adapted to emit infrared light or near infrared light.
16. 16. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the light source is arranged at a periphery (1322) of the optical element.
17. 17. The apparatus of any of the above claims, comprising a plurality of spaced apart light sources that allow the user to see through portions (1324) of the optical element, the portions being arranged between adjacent light sources.
18. 18. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, which is a pair of glasses or a helmet.
19. 19. A system for determining a gaze direction of a user, the system comprising: An optical element adapted to be disposed in front of an eye of the user, the optical element formed of a light transmissive material allowing the user to see through the optical element, wherein the optical element is a lens, and A light source arranged on the optical element and arranged to face the eye of the user, wherein the light source is adapted to illuminate the eye of the user; A sensor adapted to capture light that has been emitted from the light source and reflected on the eye, and A display (1390) viewable by the user through the optical element, and Wherein the sensor is arranged between the display and the optical element and the sensor is arranged to view the eye through the optical element, and A light reflecting material (1380) arranged to direct at least a portion of the light emitted by the light source, wherein the light reflecting material is arranged in a layer between the light source and the optical element; A processor adapted to determine a gaze direction of the user based on the light captured by the sensor.

Description

Eye tracking enabled wearable device The application is a divisional application of Chinese application patent application with the application date of 2016, 12-30, the international application number of PCT/EP2016/082946, the national application number of 201680087040.1 and the name of 'wearable equipment capable of enabling eye tracking'. Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/329,719 entitled "WEARABLE DEVICE COMPRISING ADISPLAY AND IMAGE SENSOR (wearable device including display and image SENSOR)" filed on month 4, 29 of 2016 and from international application No. PCT/US16/53783 entitled "EYE-TRACKING ENABLED WEARALBEDEVICES (wearable device enabling EYE tracking"), filed on month 9, 26 of 2016, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties as if fully set forth herein. Disclosure of Invention In one embodiment, a method for panning content on a display of a wearable device is provided. The method may include determining, by the eye tracking device, a gaze direction of the user. The method may further include determining, by the movement detection system, a head direction of the user. The method may further include causing panning of content displayed on a display of the wearable device in a particular direction based at least in part on both the gaze direction and the head direction being coincident with the particular direction. The method may additionally include determining, by the eye tracking device, that the gaze direction of the user has returned to a neutral position during panning of the content. The method may further include causing a stop of panning content displayed on the display based at least in part on the user's gaze direction returning to the neutral position. In another embodiment, a non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for panning content on a display of a wearable device is provided. The instructions may be executable to perform a method. The method may include determining, by the eye tracking device, a gaze direction of a user of the wearable device. The method may further include determining, by the movement detection system, a head direction of a user of the wearable device. The method may further include causing panning of content displayed on a display of the wearable device in a particular direction based at least in part on both the gaze direction and the head direction being coincident with the particular direction. The method may additionally include determining, by the eye tracking device, that the gaze direction of the user has returned to a neutral position during panning of the content. The method may further include causing a stop of panning content displayed on a display of the wearable device based at least in part on the user's gaze direction returning to the neutral position. In another embodiment, a system for panning content on a display of a wearable device is provided. The system may include an eye tracking device, a movement detection system, and one or more processors. The eye tracking device may be used to determine a gaze direction of a user of the wearable device. The movement detection system may be used to determine a head direction of a user of the wearable device. The one or more processors may be configured to cause panning of content displayed on a display of the wearable device in a particular direction based at least in part on both the gaze direction and the head direction being coincident with the particular direction. The processor(s) may also be configured to determine, by the eye tracking device, that the gaze direction of the user has returned to a neutral position during panning of the content. The processor(s) may be further configured to cause a stop of panning content displayed on a display of the wearable device based at least in part on the user's gaze direction returning to the neutral position. Drawings The invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wearable device of the present invention having a display device and an eye tracking device; FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary profile sensor output of various embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 3A illustrates horizontal and vertical pixel binning used in various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 3B shows one possible method embodiment of the present invention for determining gaze direction; FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the invention with a cold mirror applied to a lens of a head-mounted device; FIG. 5 illustrates one possible method embodiment of the present invention for panning a virtual reality display; FIG. 6 illustrates one possible method embodiment of the present invention for mapping an input device to a virtual object; FIG. 7A illustrates one system embodiment of the sensor/illuminator array of the present invention disposed on and/or in