Gaze position determination device, gaze position determination method, and training method

Abstract

To provide a line-of-sight position determination device, a line-of-sight position determination system, a line-of-sight position determination method, a training system, an evaluation method, a training method, a treatment method, a diagnosis method, and a program capable of reproducing a communication environment by a line of sight close to a real society.SOLUTION: A gaze position determination device 10 includes a gaze position input unit 11 to which a gaze position of a user is input, a determination region setting unit 15 that sets a determination region, a determination unit 12 that determines whether or not the gaze position input by the gaze position input unit is in the determination region, and an output unit 13 that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit determines that the gaze position is in the determination region.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a gaze position determination device, a gaze position determination system, a gaze position determination method, a training system, an evaluation method, a training method, a monitoring method, a treatment method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, cognitive behavioral therapy, such as that disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, is being implemented as one of the effective treatment options for neuropsychiatric disorders. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] Yoshinaga et al., Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 2016, 85(4), p.208-217. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there is a shortage of medical professionals who can carry out the treatment method described in Non-Patent Document 1, so there are cases where people who want to receive treatment cannot do so.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide an eye gaze position determination device capable of reproducing an eye gaze communication environment similar to that of real society, an eye gaze position determination system equipped with an eye gaze position determination device, an eye gaze position determination method capable of reproducing an eye gaze communication environment similar to that of real society, a method for treating psychiatric and neurological disorders using the eye gaze position determination method, a training system equipped with an eye gaze position determination device or an eye gaze position determination system, a method for evaluating eye gaze communication ability using the eye gaze position determination method, a training method using the eye gaze position determination method, a monitoring method using the eye gaze position determination method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the eye gaze position determination method or the training method. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An eye gaze position determination device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a gaze position input unit for inputting the gaze position of a user; a determination area setting unit that sets a determination area; a determination unit that determines whether the gaze position input by the gaze position input unit is within a determination area; an output unit that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit determines that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area; Equipped with.

[0007] A gaze position determination system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination device of the above aspect, a gaze position acquisition unit that acquires the gaze position of the user and outputs it to the gaze position input unit; Equipped with.

[0008] A gaze position determination method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: Detects the user's gaze position, Set the judgment area, determining whether the detected gaze position is within a determination area; If it is determined that the position of the line of sight is within the determination area, feedback is output to the user.

[0009] A training system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: The present invention includes the gaze position determination device or the gaze position determination system according to the above aspect.

[0010] An evaluation method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0011] A training method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0012] A monitoring method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0013] The method of treatment of one aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The training method described above was used.

[0014] A program according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: The eye gaze position determination method or training method according to the above aspect is executed by a computer. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the gaze position determination device of the above aspect, for example, by setting a determination area to include a social object to be gazed at, and performing gaze match determination and feedback, it is possible to reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is similar to that of real society.

[0016] According to the gaze position determination system of the above aspect, the gaze position determination device can realize a gaze position determination system that can reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is close to that of real society.

[0017] According to the gaze position determination method and program of the above aspect, for example, by setting a determination area to include the social object to which the gaze is directed, and performing gaze match determination and feedback, it is possible to reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is similar to that of real society.

[0018] According to the treatment method, training method, and program of the above aspects, the gaze position determination method recreates a gaze-based communication environment similar to that of real society, enabling highly effective treatment and training. Furthermore, treatment and training can be implemented even when the practitioner (e.g., a doctor, psychologist, counselor, therapist) is in a remote location or is absent.

[0019] According to the training system of the above aspect, the gaze position determination device or the gaze position determination system and the gaze position determination method can reproduce a gaze-based communication environment similar to that of real society, thereby realizing a system with high training effectiveness. Furthermore, a training system can be realized that can be implemented even when the trainee is in a remote location or is absent.

[0020] According to the evaluation method and monitoring method of the above aspect, the gaze position determination method makes it possible to realize a standardized evaluation method and monitoring method regardless of the expertise or skill level of the implementer, or even when the implementer is remote or absent. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an eye gaze position determination system including an eye gaze position determination device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an eye gaze position determination system including an eye gaze position determination device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a first modified example of the gaze position determination system of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second modified example of the gaze position determination system of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an eye gaze position determination system including an eye gaze position determination device according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 2 is a first diagram for explaining a target position and a determination area in the gaze position determination device of FIG. 1; [Figure 7] 2 is a second diagram for explaining the target position and the determination area in the gaze position determination device of FIG. 1; [Figure 8] 1. FIG. 4 is a third diagram for explaining the target position and the determination area in the gaze position determination device of FIG. [Figure 9] 1. FIG. 4 is a fourth diagram for explaining a target position and a determination area in the gaze position determination device of FIG. [Figure 10]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an eye gaze position determination system including an eye gaze position determination device according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 4 is a flowchart for explaining the gaze determination process in the gaze position determination device of FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a third modified example of the gaze position determination system of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] An example of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] (First embodiment) 1, a gaze position determination system 1 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure includes a gaze position determination device 10 and a gaze position acquisition unit 20. The gaze position acquisition unit 20 acquires the position of the gaze of a user and outputs it to the gaze position determination device 10.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the gaze position determination device 10 includes a gaze position input unit 11, a determination area setting unit 15, a determination unit 12, and an output unit 13, and its functions are realized by a CPU executing a predetermined program.

[0025] The gaze position input unit 11 receives the gaze position of the user output from the gaze position acquisition unit 20 and outputs the input gaze position of the user to the determination unit 12.

[0026] The determination area setting unit 15 sets a determination area P2 (see FIG. 6) so as to include a target position P1, which is the position of the user's gaze target, and outputs information about the determination area P2 to the determination unit 12. The determination area P2 is used as an allowable range of gaze position in eye contact determination. For example, by setting the determination area P2 so as to include the eyeball of a person or animal that is the gaze target, it can be determined whether the user can make eye contact.

[0027] For example, when a plurality of target positions P1 are set, the determination area setting unit 15 can set the union of the determination areas P2 set for each target position P1 as the final determination area.

[0028] The target position P1 can be communicated to the user not only by an image but also by audio. Therefore, the target position P1 and the determination area P2 may not be displayed in the image displayed in the user's field of vision (hereinafter referred to as the field of vision image). The target position P1 is set to the social object toward which the user is looking, and is set, for example, by pre-assigning time-dependent changes in the X and Y coordinates to the image presented to the user (hereinafter referred to as the presented image). The social object may include, for example, parts of a person's or animal's face, such as the eyes, nose, eyebrows, or mouth; parts of a person's or animal's body, such as the hair, ears, neck, shoulders, or hands; the entire body of a person or animal; and all or part of an item worn on the body, including clothing such as a tie or scarf.

[0029] For example, when a presentation image is presented to a user, the determination area setting unit 15 can set a determination area P2 based on the size of the target image 100 based on the distance L between the centers of the left and right eyeballs (hereinafter referred to as eyeball positions P3 and P4, respectively) in the field of view image 40 shown in Fig. 6. Specifically, the size of the determination area P2 is defined based on the size of the face, and the distance L between the centers of the left and right eyeballs is referenced as a factor for determining the size of the face.

[0030] Here, a lower limit can be set for the size of the determination area P2. This is because if the target image 100 in the field of view image 40 is too small because the target image 100 in the presented image is too small or the screen on which the presented image is presented is too far from the user, it becomes difficult to accurately capture the position of the user's gaze due to the influence of fixational eye movement and detection noise of the gaze sensor.

[0031] The lower limit of the determination area P2 may be a predetermined value regardless of the user, or may be a value that can be set during use. Furthermore, the lower limit of the determination area P2 may be a value determined based on gaze position fluctuation data when the user gazes at a single point. For example, the lower limit of the determination area P2 may be a circular area with a radius twice the standard deviation (2 SD) of the gaze position fluctuation data. The range may be expanded to three or four times the standard deviation (3 SD) depending on the training stage. The lower limit of the determination area P2 may be determined for each user or based on the average value of multiple users. However, considering the variability of fixational eye movements between individuals, it is preferable to determine the lower limit of the determination area P2 for each user. The average value of multiple healthy subjects may also be set as a default value for the gaze position determination device 10. The gaze position fluctuation data refers to a plot of gaze position fluctuation over time.

[0032] When a lower limit is set for the determination area P2, the determination area P2 is set so as not to fall below the lower limit. For example, the size of the determination area P2 is calculated based on the distance L between the left and right eyeball positions P3 and P4 in the field of view image 40, and if this size is smaller than the lower limit, the lower limit is set as the size of the determination area P2. More specifically, for example, if the size of the determination area P2 shown in FIG. 8 is the lower limit and the field of view image 40 is FIG. 9, in which the target image 100 is smaller than that in FIG. 8, the determination area P2 is set to the same size as in FIG. 8. This makes it possible to accurately determine eye contact without being affected by the size of the target image in the field of view image.

[0033] The determination unit 12 determines whether the position of the user's gaze output from the gaze position input unit 11 is within the determination area P2 (hereinafter referred to as gaze match determination). The determination area P2 may be set in advance in a presentation image to be presented to the user at the time of gaze match determination. The presentation image in which the determination area P2 is set may be stored in a storage device (not shown) of the gaze position determination device 10. Whether the position of the user's gaze is within the determination area P2 is determined, for example, as follows.

[0034] First, the determination unit 12 determines whether the position of the user's gaze is located in the determination area P2. Then, the determination unit 12 determines whether the time (hereinafter referred to as the first time) that has elapsed since the position of the user's gaze was located in the determination area P2 and that the position of the user's gaze remains in the determination area P2 has reached a preset maintenance time (the time that the position of the user's gaze should be maintained in the determination area P2; hereinafter referred to as the set maintenance time). If it is determined that the first time has reached the set maintenance time, the determination unit 12 determines that the position of the user's gaze is located in the determination area P2 (in other words, the gazes have aligned). Note that the first time may be the cumulative time that the user's gaze has remained in the determination area P2 since it was first located in the determination area P2.

[0035] The first time period is measured, for example, by the measurement unit 16 of the gaze position determination device 10. The measurement unit 16 can further measure one or more of the following indices for determining social gaze control ability. For example, by further providing a memory unit 52 (see FIG. 12) that stores the user's gaze position during training as a time transition of XY coordinates, the relationship between the user's gaze position and the target position P1 or determination area P2 can be calculated in XY coordinates, and various indices of social gaze control ability can be measured. Indices for determining social gaze control ability can be tallied for each task or for the entire training. Examples of indices of social gaze control ability are shown below. Whether the user's line of sight is located in the judgment area P2 Analysis value of the first time period (for example, the average or maximum value of the first time period and the percentage of the first time period (in other words, the percentage of time spent in the determination region P2)) The time elapsed from when the user's gaze position is first input to the gaze position input unit until it is determined that the gaze position is in the determination area P2 (hereinafter referred to as the second time). The average value of the distance between the target position P1 and the gaze position during the determination time (hereinafter referred to as the gaze distance). Number of times gaze contact was determined

[0036] The output unit 13 outputs feedback to the user depending on whether the determination unit 12 determines that the gaze position is in the determination area P2. The feedback is provided to the user and / or a person facing the user through a sense selected from vision, hearing, and touch. The feedback is, for example, selected from images including letters, symbols, and pictures, sounds including voice, and vibration, and is output (e.g., in real time) via a display and / or a speaker (neither of which is shown) after the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area P2. Feedback may be output not only after the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area P2, but also before that. For example, first-stage feedback may be output when the gaze position is in the determination area P2, and second-stage feedback may be output when the first time reaches a set maintenance time. Furthermore, the output unit 13 can output feedback even when the gaze position is not in the determination area P2. For example, the output unit 13 can output feedback that guides the gaze toward the determination area P2. Outputting feedback in multiple stages in this manner can enhance the effectiveness of training or treatment. Furthermore, after the training is completed, the output unit 13 can output feedback on the analysis results of the social gaze control ability index (for example, the current result, a comparison of the current result with past results, or a comparison of the current result with the average value of other users) to the user, medical professionals, the person they are interacting with, etc. The feedback on the analysis results may be output as multiple social gaze control ability indexes individually, or as a comprehensive score combining multiple social gaze control ability indexes. Note that a separate device for feedback output may be provided, and the feedback may be output via this device. This device may or may not constitute a part of the gaze position determination device 10.

[0037] Each unit constituting the gaze position determination device 10 may be provided in, for example, an external device (e.g., a server). For example, if the determination unit 12 is provided in the external device, the gaze position determination device 10 further includes a communication device connected to the external device wirelessly or via a wire. The gaze position input unit 11 outputs the input position of the user's gaze to the determination unit 12 of the external device via the communication device. Furthermore, the output unit 13 acquires the determination result of the determination unit 12 via the communication device.

[0038] The gaze position determining device 10 can also be configured as follows.

[0039] The gaze position determination device 10 may further include a difficulty setting unit 50 (see FIG. 12 ), which may be configured to change and set the difficulty of the training (in other words, the training load). By incorporating the difficulty setting unit 50 into the gaze position determination device 10, training with a load suited to the user can be provided. The difficulty of the training includes at least one of the difficulty of the gaze match determination and the difficulty of the task. Parameters for the difficulty of the gaze match determination include, for example, the size of the determination area P2 and the set maintenance time. Multiple levels are prepared for each parameter, and the difficulty can be set by using any level of parameters alone or in combination. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , if gazes match in a setting where the determination area P2 is large enough to include the entire face and the set maintenance time is 2 seconds, the difficulty of the gaze match determination can be increased by shrinking the determination area P2, as shown in FIG. 7 . Furthermore, if gazes match in the determination area P2 shown in FIG. 7 , the difficulty of the gaze match determination can be further increased by further shrinking the determination area P2 and / or increasing the set maintenance time (e.g., to 3 seconds).

[0040] The difficulty setting unit 50 can be configured to set the difficulty of the training based on the results of the determination by the determination unit 12. For example, if the first time measured by the measurement unit 16 reaches a predetermined maintenance time, and the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area, the difficulty setting unit 50 sets the training load by setting the size of the determination area and / or the length of the maintenance time. Specifically, if the determination unit 12 determines that the gazes are not aligned, the difficulty setting unit 50 can reduce the difficulty of the gaze alignment determination by expanding the determination area P2 and / or shortening the maintenance time. By configuring the difficulty setting unit 50 to adjust the difficulty of the training to a level appropriate for the user without visualizing the determination area P2, treatment or training can be performed without increasing the user's sense of difficulty or psychological burden, thereby improving the effectiveness and continuity of the treatment or training. The gaze position determination device 10 may also be provided with an operation unit 51 (see FIG. 12) that can accept a difficulty change operation to change the difficulty of the training. The difficulty level setting unit 50 may be configured to set the difficulty level of the training in response to a difficulty level change operation received by the operation unit 51, or the difficulty level setting unit 50 may be configured to set the difficulty level of the training in response to an index for determining social gaze control ability and / or social gaze control ability. In FIG. 12 , the operation unit 51 is provided separately from the gaze position determination device 10, but this is not limiting and the operation unit 51 may be provided integrally with the gaze position determination device 10.

[0041] The gaze position determination device 10 may be provided with a memory unit 52 (see FIG. 12) that stores the measured index of social gaze control ability. In this case, the difficulty level setting unit 50 increases the training load, for example, when the index of social gaze control ability measured by the measurement unit 16 is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured by the measurement unit 16 and stored in the memory unit 52 before the measured index of social gaze control ability.

[0042] The gaze position determination device 10 may be provided with a control ability acquisition unit 53 (see FIG. 12 ) that acquires an index of the social gaze control ability of another user. In this case, the difficulty level setting unit 50, for example, compares the deviation of each task from the average value of the index of the user's social gaze control ability measured by the measurement unit 16 with the deviation of each task from the average value of the index of the social gaze control ability of another user acquired by the control ability acquisition unit 53 to estimate the tasks that the user is weak at, and sets the training load based on the estimated tasks that the user is weak at. This can improve the effectiveness of the training. The index of the social gaze control ability of another user may, for example, be measured in advance by the measurement unit 16 and stored in the memory unit 52, or may be stored in an external device (e.g., a server). In this case, the control ability acquisition unit 53 acquires the index of the social gaze control ability of another user stored in the memory unit 52 or the external device via wireless or wired communication. Furthermore, the index of the social gaze control ability of the other user may be measured by the measurement unit 16 of the other gaze position determination device 10, or may be measured by a device other than the gaze position determination device 10. The estimation of the task that the user is weak at may be configured to be performed not by the difficulty level setting unit 50 but by another component (for example, the control ability acquisition unit 53). In this case, the difficulty level setting unit 50 may be omitted, and the gaze position determination device 10 may not set the training load.

[0043] The eye gaze position determining device 10 may be provided with a maintenance time setting unit 54 (see FIG. 12) so that the maintenance time setting unit sets the set maintenance time.

[0044] The gaze position determining system 1 of the first embodiment can be implemented, for example, in the manner shown in FIG. 3 or FIG.

[0045] In the gaze position determination system 1 of FIG. 3, for example, a head-mounted display (HMD) 31 is provided with a gaze position acquisition unit 20 (e.g., an infrared gaze tracking sensor), and feedback output from the gaze position determination device 10 is output via a screen 33 of the HMD 31, a speaker (not shown), etc. Furthermore, a presented image is presented to the user via the screen 33 of the HMD 31, and the presented image is considered to be a field of view image. The determination area P2 is set, for example, based on information about a target position P1 that is pre-assigned to the presented image. In the gaze position determination system 1 of FIG. 3, by using an HMD, unnecessary external stimuli (disturbances) can be eliminated and a high sense of immersion can be achieved. Note that the HMD 31 is provided with a presented image acquisition unit 34 that acquires the presented image. The presented image acquisition unit 34 may acquire the presented image from an external device connected wirelessly or via a wire, or may acquire the presented image from a storage device (not shown) of the gaze position determination device 10. In addition, in the gaze position determination system 1 of Figure 3, the gaze position determination device 10 and the gaze position acquisition unit 20 can be built into the HMD 31, or the gaze position determination device 10 and the gaze position acquisition unit 20 can be installed side by side in the HMD 31.

[0046] In the gaze position determination system 1 of FIG. 4, for example, the gaze position determination device 10, gaze position acquisition unit 20 (e.g., a gaze sensor), and presentation image acquisition unit 34 are provided separately from the display 32, and feedback is output via the screen 33 of the display 32, a speaker (not shown), etc. The presentation image acquired by the presentation image acquisition unit 34 is presented to the user via the screen 33 of the display 32, and the presentation image is considered to be a field of view image. The determination area P2 is set, for example, based on information regarding the target position P1 that is pre-assigned to the presentation image. The gaze position determination system 1 of FIG. 4 does not require any equipment to be worn on the body, thereby reducing the burden on the user. Note that in the gaze position determination system 1 of FIG. 4, the gaze position acquisition unit 20 and presentation image acquisition unit 34 can also be provided on the display 32.

[0047] The gaze position determination system 1 may further include a display for the implementer (not shown) for displaying the presented image being presented to the user to the operator (executor). The implementer's display displays the presented image to the operator via a screen (not shown). The gaze position determination system 1 may be configured to display a field of view image and gaze position in addition to the presented image on the implementer's display. The gaze position determination system 1 may also be configured to present feedback output from the gaze position determination device 10 via a screen or speaker (not shown), etc. The operator can grasp the results of the gaze position determination or the progress of the training by looking at the display. This allows the operator to change the difficulty level of the training or pause the training via the operation unit 51 during training.

[0048] The gaze position determination device 10 may include one or more or all of a measurement unit 16, a difficulty level setting unit 50, an operation unit 51, a memory unit 52, a control ability acquisition unit 53, and a maintenance time setting unit .

[0049] (Second embodiment) 2, the gaze position determination system 1 of the second embodiment of the present disclosure differs from the first embodiment in that the gaze position determination device 10 includes a target position setting unit 14. In the second embodiment, the same parts as in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted.

[0050] The target position setting unit 14 sets a target position P1 (see FIG. 6) to which the user of the gaze position determining device 10 will focus their gaze. The target position P1 is the position of the gaze target, and at least one target position P1 is set manually or automatically at an arbitrary position of a target image (hereinafter referred to as target image) in a presented image that includes an image of a person or animal to be gazed at. As a method for setting the target position, for example, face recognition software and / or an object detection algorithm may be used.

[0051] An arbitrary position set as the target position P1 may be, for example, the position of an eyeball, but is not limited thereto. For example, the target position P1 may be a part of the face such as the nose, eyebrows, or mouth, a part of the body such as hair, ears, neck, shoulders, or hands, the target position P1 may be the target image 100 itself (the entire body of a person or animal), or a part of an article worn on the body, including clothing such as a tie or scarf. The target position setting unit 14 may acquire the presentation image from a storage device (not shown) of the gaze position determination device 10, or may acquire the presentation image from an external device such as a server connected via a wired or wireless connection.

[0052] (Third embodiment) 5, the gaze position determination system 1 of the third embodiment of the present disclosure differs from the first embodiment in the following points: In the third embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The gaze position determining device 10 further includes a marker generating unit 17. The gaze position input unit 11 includes a display position detection unit 111 and a gaze position conversion unit 112. The gaze position acquisition unit 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a gaze direction acquisition unit 22.

[0053] In the third embodiment, for example, the gaze position determining device 10 makes a determination based on information from a wearable terminal 35 having a gaze position acquiring unit 20, and outputs feedback via the screen 33 of the display 32 or the like.

[0054] The marker generation unit 17 generates a marker image that displays a marker (for example, a QR code (registered trademark) and / or an AR marker) at each of the four corners of the screen 33. The generated marker image is output to the display position detection unit 111 of the gaze position input unit 11 and to the screen 33. The marker image is generated, for example, the first time the gaze position determination system 1 is used, and thereafter, the initially generated marker image can be used. The initially generated marker image may be stored, for example, in a storage device of the gaze position determination device 10, or may be stored in a server connected via a communication device.

[0055] The display position detection unit 111 receives the field of view image output from the imaging unit 21 of the gaze position acquisition unit 20 and the marker image generated by the marker generation unit 17. The display position detection unit 111 detects the position of the marker image in the field of view image, calculates a coordinate transformation matrix (for example, using a homography transformation matrix), and outputs the matrix information to the gaze position conversion unit 112.

[0056] The gaze position conversion unit 112 converts the gaze position of the user in the coordinate system of the field of view image into a gaze position in the coordinate system of the presentation image based on the gaze vector output from the gaze direction acquisition unit 22 of the gaze position acquisition unit 20 and the matrix information output from the display position detection unit 111. The converted gaze position of the user is output to the determination unit 12.

[0057] The imaging unit 21 is an example of a field of view image acquisition unit, and captures and acquires a field of view image of the user. The acquired field of view image is output to the display position detection unit 111. The gaze direction acquisition unit 22 detects the gaze direction of the user (in other words, a gaze vector). The detected gaze vector is output to the gaze position conversion unit 112.

[0058] The gaze position determination system 1 of the third embodiment uses a wearable terminal having the gaze position acquisition unit 20, and therefore can achieve highly accurate gaze detection regardless of the type of display 32. In addition, it can also store gaze trends outside the screen 33 and the movement of the user's head.

[0059] The gaze position determining system 1 of the third embodiment may be provided with the target position setting unit 14 of the second embodiment.

[0060] The marker generation unit 17 can be omitted. In this case, for example, a marker image (hereinafter, a generated marker image) is generated outside the gaze position determination system 1 and stored in an external device such as a server. The generated marker image is output from the external device via a communication device and input to the display position detection unit 111.

[0061] (Fourth embodiment) 10, the gaze position determination system 1 of the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure differs from the second embodiment in the following points: In the fourth embodiment, the same parts as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The gaze position acquisition unit 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a gaze direction acquisition unit 22.

[0062] In the fourth embodiment, a gaze position acquisition unit 20 is provided in a wearable terminal 35, and feedback output from a gaze position determination device 10 provided separately from the wearable terminal 35 is output as audio feedback via a speaker 36. In the fourth embodiment, a field of view image captured by an imaging unit 21 is output to a target position setting unit 14. After a target position P1 is set by the target position setting unit 14, a determination area P2 is set based on information about the target position P1. A gaze direction acquisition unit 22 detects the gaze direction (gaze vector) of the user, and the detected gaze vector is output to a gaze position input unit 11.

[0063] In the gaze position determination system 1 of the fourth embodiment, the determination area P2 can be set to include a person facing the user, allowing the user to experience realistic person-to-person communication. The feedback output from the gaze position determination device 10 to the user is not limited to audio feedback, and may be output via a screen (not shown). The screen may be built into the wearable terminal 35, or may be provided separately from the wearable terminal 35.

[0064] Next, we will explain a gaze position determination method (hereinafter referred to as the gaze position determination method of the present disclosure) using the gaze position determination device 10. For example, there is the gaze position determination method shown in Fig. 11. This gaze position determination method is implemented by, for example, causing the CPU of the gaze position determination device 10 to execute a predetermined program, and can also be applied to treatment and training for neuropsychiatric disorders.

[0065] When the gaze position determination method is started, a target position P1 and a determination area P2 are set, and the difficulty level of training is set in the gaze position determination device 10 (for example, the gaze position determination device 10 of the second and fourth embodiments) equipped with a target position setting unit 14. Note that setting the difficulty level of training and the duration of training can be omitted if they have been set in advance.

[0066] 11, the position of the user's gaze is input to gaze position input unit 11 (step S1), and determination unit 12 determines whether the position of the user's gaze is located in determination area P2 (step S2). If it is not determined that the position of the gaze is located in determination area P2, determination unit 12 determines that the gazes do not match (gaze mismatch) (step S7).

[0067] If it is determined that the gaze position is located in the determination area P2, the determination unit 12 determines whether the time that has elapsed while the gaze remained in the determination area P2 has reached a preset maintenance time (set maintenance time) (step S3). If it is not determined that the time that has elapsed while the gaze remained in the determination area P2 has reached the set maintenance time, the determination unit 12 determines that the gazes did not meet (step S7).

[0068] If it is determined that the time elapsed while the user remained in the determination area P2 has reached the set maintenance time, the determination unit 12 determines that the gazes have met (step S4), and the output unit 13 outputs feedback to the user in real time (step S5). Note that real time includes a predetermined time lag (e.g., a time lag caused by technical reasons). Thereafter, the gaze position determination device 10 determines whether to end the gaze match determination, in other words, whether to perform the gaze match determination continuously (step S6). If it is not determined that the gaze match determination should be ended, in other words, if the gaze match determination should be performed continuously, the process returns to step S1, and the position of the user's gaze is input. If it is determined in step S6 that the gaze match determination should be ended, the gaze position determination device 10 ends the gaze match determination. Note that if it is determined in step S7 that the gaze match determination is not established (i.e., the gaze match is not established), it is possible to lower the difficulty level of the training, return to step S1, and perform the gaze match determination again. If the eye gaze match determination is not established a predetermined number of times in succession, or if a predetermined time has passed in a state of eye gaze mismatch, the eye gaze position determination device 10 determines to end the eye gaze match determination in step S6.

[0069] The gaze position determination method using the gaze position determination device 10 can be applied to, for example, the diagnosis, severity classification, treatment, training, and / or monitoring of psychiatric and neurological disorders. In the present disclosure, psychiatric and neurological disorders include psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative disorders.

[0070] Mental disorders to which the present disclosure can be applied include, but are not limited to, neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, trauma- and stress-related disorders, and neurocognitive disorders, as defined by the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Also included are disorders in which impaired eye contact ability is observed due to a mental illness. Mental disorders are not particularly limited, but are preferably neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and trauma- and stress-related disorders, and more preferably neurodevelopmental disorders and anxiety disorders.

[0071] Neurodevelopmental disorders include, but are not limited to, intellectual disability, global developmental delay, language disorders, speech disorders, childhood-onset dysfluency disorders, social (pragmatic) communication disorder, not otherwise specified communication disorder, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disorder, developmental coordination disorder, stereotypic movement disorder, Tourette's syndrome, persistent (chronic) motor or vocal tic disorder, provisional tic disorder, other specified tic disorder, tic disorder not otherwise specified, other specified neurodevelopmental disorder, not otherwise specified neurodevelopmental disorder, etc. Preferred are language disorders, speech disorders, childhood-onset dysphasia, social (pragmatic) communication disorder, unspecified communication disorder, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disorder, stereotypic movement disorder, Tourette's syndrome, persistent (chronic) motor or vocal tic disorder, provisional tic disorder, other specified tic disorder, tic disorder unspecified, other specified neurodevelopmental disorder, and unspecified neurodevelopmental disorder, and more preferred are childhood-onset dysphasia and autism spectrum disorder.

[0072] Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders include, but are not limited to, schizotypal personality disorder, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, substance- or medication-induced psychotic disorder, psychotic disorder due to other medical illness, catatonia associated with other mental illness, catatonic disorder due to other medical illness, catatonia not otherwise specified, other specified schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders not otherwise specified, attenuated psychotic syndrome (quasi-psychotic syndrome), etc. Preferred are schizotypal personality disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder.

[0073] Examples of disorders in the anxiety disorder group include, but are not limited to, separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism (selective mutism), specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized phobia, substance- or medication-induced anxiety disorder, anxiety disorder caused by other medical illnesses, other specified anxiety disorders, etc. Preferred are separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism (selective mutism), specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalized phobia, and more preferred is social anxiety disorder.

[0074] The disorders in the obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders group and trauma- and stressor-related disorder group are not particularly limited, but include, for example, obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, trichotillomania, excoriation disorder, substance- or medication-induced obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders due to other medical illnesses, other specified obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders, unspecified obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders, etc. Preferred are obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, and excoriation disorder, and particularly preferred is body dysmorphic disorder.

[0075] Examples of disorders in the trauma- and stress-related disorder group include, but are not limited to, reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited interpersonal disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, other specified trauma- and stress-related disorder, and unspecified trauma- and stress-related disorder.

[0076] Diseases in the neurocognitive disorder group are not particularly limited, but include, for example, delirium, dementia, and mild cognitive impairment, preferably dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

[0077] Neurodegenerative diseases include, but are not limited to, Parkinson's disease, cranial nerve disorders, and / or other diseases in which impaired eye communication ability is observed.

[0078] The gaze position determination method of the present disclosure can also be applied to training people who have not been diagnosed with a neuropsychiatric disorder but whose gaze communication skills tend to decline, or who may be at risk of experiencing difficulties in their social lives due to a decline in gaze communication skills. This allows training to begin at an early stage, preventing the neuropsychiatric disorder from becoming more severe and difficult to treat.

[0079] Training using the gaze position determination method of the present disclosure (hereinafter referred to as training of the present disclosure) is carried out in a training system equipped with the gaze position determination device 10 or the gaze position determination system 1, and can reproduce an environment for gaze-based communication similar to that of real society, with the goal of improving and enhancing gaze communication skills, for example. For example, based on the concept of cognitive behavioral therapy, various types of gaze communication skill training can be carried out by setting the determination area P2 so as to include social objects.

[0080] Gaze communication ability is an indicator of the ability to communicate through gaze in interpersonal relationships in the real world. Gaze communication ability is composed of social gaze control ability (the ability to control and use gaze as a signal), social gaze understanding ability (the ability to understand gaze as a signal), social gaze transmission ability (the ability to transmit gaze as a signal in an appropriate context), and social gaze response ability (the ability to respond to gaze as a signal in an appropriate context). Examples of social gaze control ability include social gaze matching ability, social gaze shifting ability, and joint attention ability. These can be measured through the training disclosed herein (see Table 1). Gaze communication ability can be comprehensively evaluated during a medical examination by examining correlations with clinical scores such as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Social Phobia Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, but it can also be evaluated based on one or a combination of indicators for assessing social gaze control ability (i.e., whether or not gaze contact is achieved, the analysis value of the first time, the second time, the gaze distance, and the number of times gaze contact occurs). For example, gaze communication ability can be comprehensively evaluated during a medical examination by combining clinical scores with indicators for assessing social gaze control ability. [Table 1] In Table 1, the analysis value of the first time is the average or maximum value of the time elapsed from when the user's gaze position is located in the judgment area P2 while remaining in the judgment area P2, or the proportion of the first time (the proportion of time remaining in the judgment area P2), the second time is the time elapsed from when the user's gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the judgment area P2, and the gaze distance is the average value of the distance between the target position P1 and the gaze position within the judgment time.

[0081] Social gaze control ability can be trained, for example, by setting the determination area P2 to include a social object to which gaze is directed. Social gaze matching ability can be trained, for example, by setting the determination area P2 to include a social object that is the gaze target. As an example, eye contact can be trained by setting the determination area P2 to include the eyeball position. Social gaze shift ability can be trained, for example, by setting the determination area P2 to include a social object that is the target of gaze shift. Joint attention ability can be trained, for example, by setting the determination area P2 to include a social object that is designated by another person as a shared object.

[0082] As described above, social gaze control ability is determined based on one or a combination of the following: whether or not gaze contact is made, the first time, the second time, the gaze distance, and the number of times gaze contact occurs. For example, when different users are working on the same task, a user who is able to make gaze contact is determined to have higher social gaze control ability than a user who is not able to make gaze contact. Furthermore, a longer or larger analysis value of the first time, a shorter second time, a shorter gaze distance, a greater number of times gaze contact occurs, etc., indicate higher social gaze control ability.

[0083] By recording social gaze control ability over time, the effectiveness of treatment or training can also be monitored. For example, by repeating training, the same user can confirm that their social gaze control ability has improved by being able to make eye contact in the same task, which they were previously unable to do, extending or increasing the analysis value of the first time, shortening the second time, shortening the gaze distance, increasing the number of eye contacts, etc. Training aimed at improving social gaze control ability can be expected to improve and enhance gaze communication ability.

[0084] Examples of social gaze transmission abilities include "Power Gazing," which indicates that one is confident in one's interactions, "Social Gazing," which indicates a desire to interact, and "Intimate Gazing," which indicates a desire to become closer.

[0085] The training of this disclosure consists of any task in which one instruction is given to direct gaze to a social object.

[0086] The tasks can be determined based on the gaze communication ability that one wants to improve. There are no particular limitations on the tasks, as long as they are designed to improve and enhance the ability in question, but it is preferable to incorporate the perspective of cognitive behavioral therapy. By correcting cognitively and behaviorally biased patterns using cognitive behavioral therapy, one can not only acquire social gaze control skills, but also obtain the benefits of attention shift training, which is part of cognitive behavioral therapy.

[0087] For example, patients with social anxiety disorder develop a bias in their attention to themselves (internal), and are unable to flexibly shift this bias. Therefore, by adding instructions to focus attention on the facial expressions and emotional perceptions of others (for example, "Look at the other person's entire face. What kind of expression is it?" or "Look at the other person's entire face. What are they feeling?"), it becomes easier to shift social gaze to the outside (other people, etc.) in training the ability to shift social gaze.

[0088] For example, patients with autism spectrum disorder are said to have difficulty with the cognitive tasks of "set shifting (cognitive flexibility)" and "central coherence (global integration)." Therefore, by combining tasks that involve looking at specific parts, such as "look at both eyes," with instructions that involve looking at the whole, such as "look at the entire face," training in social gaze shifting ability can be effective in improving not only "set shifting (cognitive flexibility)" but also "central coherence (global integration)."

[0089] Furthermore, by including tasks that include instructions that show confidence in the interaction (e.g., "Alternately look at the other person's forehead and eyes"), or instructions that show a desire to interact (e.g., "Alternately look at the other person's eyes and mouth"), or instructions that show a desire to become closer (e.g., "Alternately look at the other person's eyes and chest"), it is possible to acquire the ability to send out social gaze.

[0090] Conventionally, cognitive behavioral therapy has formulated an auditory attention shift training method called the "Attention Training Technique (ATT)" for distinguishing between multiple sounds. The training disclosed herein is highly useful in that it can embody visual attention shift training by combining eye contact assessment performed by the training system disclosed herein with tasks modified in a cognitive behavioral therapy-like manner.

[0091] That is, the training may include a first task in which the judgment area P2 is set to include a component part (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, etc.) of the social object to be gazed at, and a second task in which the judgment area P2 is set to include a component unit that encompasses the component part (e.g., if the eye is a component part, the face, the entire body, etc. would be the component unit).The training may also include a third task in which the judgment area P2 is set to include the component part and the component unit alternately, and a fourth task to infer the facial expression and / or emotion of the social object in which the judgment area P2 is set.

[0092] Training is performed by the user by performing one or more tasks. For example, training may be performed by performing multiple tasks presented consecutively, and multiple training sessions may be performed as a series of training sessions spaced apart by days or time. The results of the training may be calculated as an evaluation for each task or an overall evaluation of multiple tasks. Note that a task is a unit in which eye contact determination is performed consecutively for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 20 or 30 seconds), and is configured so that the result of the eye contact determination is obtained at least once.

[0093] The difficulty of the training can be determined arbitrarily, for example, based on the results of training that has already been performed, and may be determined so as to increase in stages.

[0094] The difficulty of the training can be set based on the difficulty of the eye contact determination and / or the difficulty of the task.

[0095] As described above, the difficulty of eye contact determination can be set by the determination area P2 and / or the maintenance time. For example, the difficulty of eye contact determination can be changed by enlarging or reducing the determination area P2 and / or increasing or decreasing the maintenance time.

[0096] The difficulty of a task is determined, for example, by the user's subjective and / or objective assessment. The user's subjective and / or objective assessment may include, for example, the user's subjective and / or objective stress indices. The user's subjective stress refers to the stress experienced by the user, and examples of such stress indices include self-reported levels of anxiety or difficulty regarding the training. The user's objective stress refers to stress assessed by a party other than the user, and examples of such stress indices include social gaze control ability assessed during the training, heart rate and heart rate variability indices during the training, pupil dilation during the training, number of blinks during the training, and changes therein. Heart rate variability indices include low-frequency components (LF), high-frequency components (HF), and / or their ratio (LF / HF). The stress experienced by the user may be determined based on the generally expected susceptibility to stress. For example, a task consisting of asking a scary-looking person for directions may be considered more stressful for the user than a task consisting of asking a kind-looking person for directions.

[0097] The difficulty of a task can be changed, for example, by changing the elements that make up the task, such as instructions to direct gaze toward social objects, as shown in Table 2. [Table 2]

[0098] In addition, there are several ways to present tasks to users: through video content (video and / or still images), in a VR space, or in the real world; and the difficulty of the tasks can be changed depending on the presentation method selected.

[0099] Furthermore, when presenting using images, the difficulty of the task can be changed depending on the type of image (video, still image) or the type of image (illustration, animation, photograph).

[0100] As described above, the training disclosed herein allows tasks to be determined and changed, making it possible to create a menu customized for each user, for example.

[0101] When the training disclosed herein is used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders, the duration, frequency, and duration of each training session are not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily by the user and / or the trainer. Preferably, training is performed for 1 to 240 minutes per session, once every 90 days to 12 times per day, over a period ranging from one day to one year. Even training for just 1 minute once every 90 days can be effective in treating the patient by helping them realize the significance of eye contact and / or gaze alignment with social objects. Intensive training for 10 minutes per day for 12 sessions can also be effective. A slower pace of 20 minutes per 90 days over a year can also be effective. While the duration of each training session can be set arbitrarily, sessions shorter than 1 minute may be too short and reduce the therapeutic effect, while sessions longer than 240 minutes may place too much strain on the user and reduce the therapeutic effect. The frequency of training can also be set as desired, but if training is performed less frequently than once every 90 days (for example, once every 120 days), the interval between training sessions may be too long and the effectiveness of the treatment may be reduced. Also, if training is performed more frequently than 12 times a day (for example, 20 times a day), the burden on the user may be too great and the effectiveness of the treatment may be reduced.

[0102] For example, when treatment is performed by visiting a medical institution, the duration, frequency, and duration of training per session are not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily by the user and / or trainer. Preferably, training is performed 8 to 16 times, with 10 to 40 minutes per session, once or twice a week. This is because, considering that visits to a medical institution are common, assuming, for example, that 20 minutes of training is performed once a week, it is thought that it would take about 8 weeks to form a habit. On the other hand, when treatment or training is performed outside a medical institution, for example, at home, the duration, frequency, and duration of training per session are not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily by the user. Preferably, training is performed once a day to once a week, with 10 to 40 minutes per session. There is no particular limit to the total number of training sessions, but it is preferable that it be performed 8 to 30 times. Outpatient treatment at a medical institution and home treatment may be combined.

[0103] The training disclosed herein can be used not only by people diagnosed with neuropsychiatric disorders, but also by people whose gaze communication skills tend to decline or whose decline in gaze communication skills may cause problems in their social lives. In this case, the duration, frequency, and duration of the training session are not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily by the user and / or trainer. While there are no particular limitations on the duration or frequency, training is preferably conducted for 10 to 40 minutes per session, once daily to once weekly.

[0104] The gaze position determining device 10 of the present disclosure can achieve the following effects.

[0105] The gaze position determination device 10 of the present disclosure includes a determination unit 12 that determines whether the user's gaze position input to the gaze position input unit 11 is within a determination area P2, a determination area setting unit 15 that sets the determination area P2, and an output unit 13 that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit 12 determines that the gaze position is within the determination area P2. For example, by setting the determination area P2 to include the eyeball position of the person facing the user, a communication environment based on eye contact similar to that in real life can be reproduced. Furthermore, the gaze position determination device 10 of the first embodiment outputs feedback to the user when the user's gaze position is determined to be within the determination area. Therefore, for example, when the gaze position determination device 10 is used for treatment or training of a psychiatric disorder, it can increase the user's motivation for treatment or training. For example, by setting the determination area P2 based on the concept of cognitive behavioral therapy, various types of gaze communication ability training can be implemented.

[0106] The determination unit 12 determines that the position of the gaze is in the determination area P2 when the time (first time) that has elapsed since the position of the gaze of the user was positioned in the determination area P2 and the gaze remains in the determination area P2 reaches a preset maintenance time. With this configuration, the gaze match determination can be performed more accurately.

[0107] The measurement unit 16 measures an index of the social gaze control ability. For example, the measurement unit 16 measures at least one of the following as an index of the social gaze control ability: an analysis value of the first time; a second time elapsed from when the gaze position is first input to the gaze position input unit 11 until it is determined that the gaze position is in the determination area P2; the distance between the user's gaze position and the determination area P2; and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area P2. The measured index can be used to determine the user's social gaze control ability. For example, by recording the measured social gaze control ability over time, it is possible to diagnose neuropsychiatric disorders that make gaze control difficult, or to monitor the effectiveness of treatment or training for neuropsychiatric disorders.

[0108] The output unit 13 outputs feedback to the user in real time. With this configuration, it is possible to recreate a communication environment based on eye contact that is closer to the real world.

[0109] The gaze position determination device 10 further includes a target position setting unit 14 that sets a target position P1 at which the user will make eye contact. With this configuration, even if the person facing the user is moving, for example, the eyeball positions P3 and P4 can be set to the target position P1 in real time, thereby recreating a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to that of real society.

[0110] The determination area setting unit 15 can set the determination area P2 to include, for example, one selected from the entire body of the person facing the user, a part of the body of the person facing the user, the entire face of the person facing the user, a part of the face of the person facing the user, the eyes of the person facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the person facing the user. With this configuration, it is possible to reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to the real world.

[0111] The determination area setting unit 15 can set the determination area P2 as the target position P1 so as to include one selected from the entire body of an animal, a part of the body of an animal, the entire face of an animal, a part of the face of an animal, the eye of an animal, and the position of an eyeball of an animal in an image of an animal including a person displayed on a display facing the user. With this configuration, it is possible to reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to that of real society.

[0112] The determination area setting unit 15 can set the determination area P2 to include, for example, the eyeball position of an animal in an image of a person facing the user or an animal including a person displayed on a display facing the user. This configuration makes it possible to reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to the real world.

[0113] The judgment area setting unit 15 can set the size of the judgment area P2 based on, for example, the distance L between the left and right eye positions P3, P4 of a person facing the user or of a person displayed on a display facing the user. With this simple configuration, the size of the target image as seen by the user can be calculated, and this can be used, for example, as an index of the difficulty of the task or to standardize the size of the judgment area P2 between tasks.

[0114] A lower limit is set for the size of the determination area P2. With this configuration, the position of the user's line of sight can be accurately captured, and line of sight matching can be determined more accurately.

[0115] The gaze position determining device 10 further includes a difficulty setting section 50 that sets the difficulty of determination by the determination section 12. With this configuration, it is possible to set multiple levels of difficulty for the gaze match determination.

[0116] The difficulty level setting unit 50 sets the difficulty level of the eye-gaze match determination by setting the size of the determination area P2 and / or the duration of the determination. With this configuration, it is possible to easily set multiple levels of difficulty for the eye-gaze match determination.

[0117] The feedback is provided through one or more senses selected from the visual, auditory, and tactile senses. With this configuration, for example, when the gaze position determination device 10 is used for treatment or training for a neuropsychiatric disorder, the user's motivation for the treatment or training can be further increased.

[0118] The gaze position determination system 1 of the present disclosure includes a gaze position determination device 10 and a gaze position acquisition unit 20 that acquires the gaze position of a user and outputs it to a gaze position input unit 11. The gaze position determination device 10 makes it possible to realize the gaze position determination system 1 that can reproduce a gaze-based communication environment that is close to that of real society.

[0119] The gaze position determination method of the present disclosure detects the gaze position of a user, determines whether the detected gaze position is within a determination area P2, and outputs feedback to the user if it is determined that the gaze position is within the determination area P2. The program of the present disclosure also causes a computer to execute the gaze position determination method of the present disclosure. With this configuration, for example, by setting the determination area P2 to include a social object toward which the gaze is directed and performing gaze match determination and feedback, it is possible to recreate a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to that of real society. The gaze position determination method of the present disclosure can also be applied to a method for diagnosing and supporting the diagnosis of psychiatric and neurological disorders.

[0120] A plurality of images, each with a set judgment area P2, are presented to the user in succession. With this configuration, for example, by presenting the user with images in order of task difficulty, it is possible to recreate a staged gaze-based communication environment, from gaze-based communication in an unreal world to gaze-based communication that is closer to that of the real world.

[0121] The treatment method, training method, evaluation method, and monitoring method disclosed herein use the gaze position determination method disclosed herein. According to the treatment method and training method disclosed herein, the gaze position determination method easily and uniformly reproduces a gaze-based communication environment that is closer to real-world conditions and outputs feedback, thereby achieving highly sustainable and effective treatment and training methods. The treatment effect of the treatment method disclosed herein and the training effect of the training method disclosed herein indicate that improvement can be expected in at least one of the following: eye contact anxiety, eye contact enjoyment, eye contact pleasure, ... The treatment and training methods disclosed herein allow users to adjust the difficulty of tasks and assessments, thereby reducing anxiety and stress. Furthermore, the treatment and training methods disclosed herein can provide standardized treatment and training, regardless of the expertise and proficiency of the practitioner (e.g., doctor, psychologist, counselor, therapist), even when the practitioner is in a remote location or absent. This reduces fluctuations in scores for gaze communication ability and social gaze control ability from day to day, allowing these scores to be used as quantitative indicators. In other words, the evaluation and monitoring methods disclosed herein can realize evaluation and monitoring methods capable of quantitatively evaluating gaze communication ability using a gaze position determination method. The treatment methods disclosed herein also include treatment support methods.

[0122] The training system of the present disclosure includes an eye gaze position determination device 10 or an eye gaze position determination system 1, and is configured to be able to carry out training using an eye gaze position determination method. The eye gaze position determination device 10 or the eye gaze position determination system 1 and the eye gaze position determination method reproduce a communication environment that is closer to the real world, thereby realizing a highly effective training system.

[0123] Various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings. Finally, various aspects of the present disclosure will be described.

[0124] The gaze position determination device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes: a gaze position input unit for inputting the gaze position of a user; a determination area setting unit that sets a determination area; a determination unit that determines whether the gaze position input by the gaze position input unit is within the determination area; an output unit that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit determines that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area; Equipped with.

[0125] The gaze position determination device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit When the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a preset maintenance time, it is determined that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area.

[0126] A gaze position determination device according to a third aspect of the present disclosure includes: The output unit The feedback is output to the user in real time.

[0127] A gaze position determination device according to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The apparatus further includes a target position setting unit that sets a target position at which the user will focus their gaze.

[0128] A gaze position determination device according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal including the person facing the user, a part of the body of the animal facing the user, the entire face of the animal facing the user, a part of the face of the animal facing the user, the eye of the animal facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the animal facing the user.

[0129] A gaze position determination device according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of the animal including a person displayed on the display facing the user.

[0130] A gaze position determination device according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The determination region is set so as to include the eyeball position of the animal.

[0131] An eye gaze position determination device according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a human, in an image of the animal included in the user's field of view image.

[0132] A gaze position determination device according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure includes: A lower limit is set for the size of the determination region.

[0133] A gaze position determination device according to a tenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The animal is a human.

[0134] An eye gaze position determination device according to an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure includes: A measurement unit measures a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the judgment area from the time the gaze position is located in the judgment area, and measures an index of the user's social gaze control ability in addition to the first time period during which the gaze position remains in the judgment area from the time the gaze position is located in the judgment area.

[0135] A gaze position determination device according to a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time that has elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the judgment area.

[0136] A gaze position determination device according to a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: By comparing the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the index of the social gaze control ability of other users, it is possible to estimate which of the multiple tasks in a training session that is composed of multiple tasks the user is weak at.

[0137] A gaze position determination device according to a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: a difficulty setting unit that sets the load of training consisting of a plurality of tasks; The difficulty setting unit sets the training load based on the measured index of the social gaze control ability.

[0138] A gaze position determination device according to a 14-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The device further includes a difficulty level setting unit that sets the load of training consisting of a plurality of tasks.

[0139] A gaze position determination device according to a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level setting unit sets the training load based on the result of the determination by the determination unit.

[0140] A gaze position determination device according to a sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty setting unit increases the training load when the measured index of social gaze control ability is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured before the measured index of social gaze control ability.

[0141] A gaze position determination device according to a 16-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit When the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined maintenance time, it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area; The difficulty level setting unit The training load is set by setting the size of the judgment region and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0142] A gaze position determination device according to a seventeenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty setting unit estimates the tasks that the user is weak at by comparing the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the index of the other users' social gaze control ability, and sets the training load based on the estimated tasks.

[0143] A gaze position determination device according to a 17-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The measurement unit measures an index of the user's social gaze control ability in addition to the first time period.

[0144] An eye gaze position determination device according to an eighteenth aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit When the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined maintenance time, it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area; The difficulty level setting unit The training load is set by setting the size of the judgment region and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0145] A gaze position determination device according to an 18-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time that has elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the judgment area.

[0146] A gaze position determination device according to a 19th aspect of the present disclosure includes: an operation unit capable of accepting a difficulty level change operation for changing the load of the training; The difficulty level setting unit sets the difficulty level of the training according to the difficulty level change operation received by the operation unit.

[0147] A gaze position determination device according to a 19-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty setting unit increases the training load when the measured index of social gaze control ability is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured before the measured index of social gaze control ability.

[0148] A gaze position determination device according to a twentieth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The feedback is provided through one or more senses selected from vision, hearing and touch.

[0149] The gaze position determination device according to the 20-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty setting unit estimates the tasks that the user is weak at by comparing the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the index of the social gaze control ability of other users, and sets the training load based on the estimated tasks.

[0150] A gaze position determination device according to a twenty-first aspect of the present disclosure includes: It may be used in the diagnosis, stratification of severity, treatment, training, and / or monitoring of neuropsychiatric disorders, or to improve eye gaze communication skills.

[0151] A gaze position determination device according to a 21-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: an operation unit capable of accepting a difficulty level change operation for changing the load of the training; The difficulty level setting unit sets the difficulty level of the training according to the difficulty level change operation received by the operation unit.

[0152] A gaze position determination device according to a twenty-second aspect of the present disclosure includes: The neuropsychiatric disorder is an anxiety disorder or a neurodevelopmental disorder.

[0153] A gaze position determination system according to a twenty-third aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination device of the above aspect, a gaze position acquisition unit that includes a gaze direction acquisition unit that detects the gaze direction of the user and outputs the gaze direction of the user detected by the gaze direction acquisition unit to the gaze position input unit; Equipped with.

[0154] A gaze position determination system according to a 24th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position acquisition unit, Further, a visual field image acquisition unit for acquiring a visual field image of the user is provided, The position of the user's line of sight is acquired based on the field of view image.

[0155] A gaze position determination system according to a 25th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position input unit a display position detection unit that detects the position of a presentation image presented to the user in the field of view image acquired by the field of view image acquisition unit; a gaze position conversion unit that converts the position of the user's gaze in the coordinate system of the field of view image into the position of the user's gaze in the coordinate system of the presentation image based on the detected position of the presentation image; It further has:

[0156] A gaze position determination method according to a 26th aspect of the present disclosure includes: Enter the user's gaze position, Set the judgment area, determining whether the input gaze position is within a determination area; If it is determined that the position of the line of sight is within the determination area, feedback is output to the user.

[0157] A gaze position determination method according to a 27th aspect of the present disclosure includes: measuring a first time period that has elapsed since the gaze position was positioned in the determination area while the gaze position remained in the determination area; When the measured first time period reaches a predetermined maintenance time period, it is determined that the position of the line of sight is within the determination area.

[0158] A gaze position determination method according to a 28th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The feedback is output to the user in real time.

[0159] A gaze position determination method according to a 29th aspect of the present disclosure includes: setting a target position at which the user will focus their gaze; The determination region that includes the target position is set.

[0160] A gaze position determination method according to a 30th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal including the person facing the user, a part of the body of the animal facing the user, the entire face of the animal facing the user, a part of the face of the animal facing the user, the eye of the animal facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the animal facing the user.

[0161] A gaze position determination method according to a 31st aspect of the present disclosure includes: The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of the animal including a person displayed on the display facing the user.

[0162] A gaze position determination method according to a 32nd aspect of the present disclosure includes: The size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a human, facing the user.

[0163] A gaze position determination method according to a 33rd aspect of the present disclosure includes: A lower limit is set for the size of the determination region.

[0164] A gaze position determination method according to a 34th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The lower limit value is determined based on gaze position change data that indicates the gaze position that changes over time when the user gazes at an arbitrary point.

[0165] A gaze position determination method according to a 35th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The animal is a human.

[0166] A training system according to a thirty-sixth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The present invention includes the gaze position determination device or the gaze position determination system according to the above aspect.

[0167] The evaluation method of the 37th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0168] The evaluation method of the 38th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze communication ability is a social gaze control ability or a social gaze sending ability.

[0169] The evaluation method of the 39th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The social gaze control ability is a social gaze matching ability, a social gaze shifting ability, or a joint attention ability.

[0170] A training method according to a 40th aspect of the present disclosure includes: Training is carried out using the gaze position determination method of the above aspect.

[0171] A training method according to a 41st aspect of the present disclosure includes: the training is comprised of a plurality of tasks configured to obtain a determination result as to whether or not the position of the gaze is in the determination area at least once, and the plurality of tasks are performed consecutively; The task includes directing the gaze to one of the plurality of judgment areas in accordance with instructions.

[0172] A training method according to a 42nd aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: A first task in which the judgment area is set to include a component part of a social object to which the gaze is directed; A second problem in which the judgment region is set to include a structural unit that encompasses the structural portion. Includes:

[0173] A training method according to a 43rd aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: A third task is included in which the judgment region is set so as to alternately include the constituent parts and the constituent units.

[0174] A training method according to a 44th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: In addition to directing gaze into the judgment area, a fourth task is included, which is to guess the facial expression and / or emotion of the social object in which the judgment area is set.

[0175] A training method according to a 45th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load is set according to the difficulty of the task.

[0176] A training method according to a 46th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load is set based on an index including a subjective or objective evaluation by the user.

[0177] A training method according to a 47th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The subjective evaluation by the user includes a self-reported evaluation by the user of the difficulty experienced when performing the training.

[0178] A training method according to a 47-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load is set based on the determination result of whether the gaze position is within the determination area.

[0179] A training method according to a 48th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The objective evaluation of the user includes at least one of the results of the training, changes in the user's heart rate and / or heart rate variability index during the training, the degree of pupil dilation of the user, and changes in the user's blink rate.

[0180] A training method according to a 48-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: When a first time period elapsed since the position of the gaze was positioned in the determination area while the position of the gaze remained in the determination area reaches a predetermined maintenance time period, and it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area, The training load is set by setting the size of the judgment area and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0181] A training method according to a 49th aspect of the present disclosure includes: We measure an index of social gaze control ability, which is the ability to control and use gaze as a signal.

[0182] A training method according to a 50th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the first time that has elapsed since the gaze position was positioned in the judgment area while remaining in the judgment area, the second time that has elapsed since the gaze position was first input until it was determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position was determined to be in the judgment area.

[0183] A training method according to a fifty-first aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load is set according to an index of the measured social gaze control ability of the user.

[0184] A training method according to a fifty-second aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load is set based on the result of the determination as to whether or not the gaze position is within the set determination area.

[0185] A training method according to a fifty-third aspect of the present disclosure includes: When the first time reaches a predetermined maintenance time and it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area, The training load is set by setting the size of the judgment area and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0186] A training method according to a 53-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: A first time period elapsed from when the gaze position is positioned in the judgment area while the gaze remains in the judgment area, and an index of social gaze control ability, which is the ability to control and use gaze as a signal, are measured.

[0187] A training method according to a fifty-fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training is configured to present the user with a series of tasks in order of increasing difficulty from among a plurality of tasks configured to obtain at least one determination result as to whether the gaze position is in the determination area.

[0188] A training method according to a 54-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time elapsed from when the gaze position was first input until it was determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position was determined to be in the judgment area.

[0189] A training method according to a 55-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: If the measured index of social gaze control ability is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured before the measured index of social gaze control ability, the training load is increased.

[0190] A training method according to a 56-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: By comparing the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the index of the social gaze control ability of other users, the tasks that the user is weak at are estimated, and the training load is set based on the estimated tasks.

[0191] A training method according to a 57-2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level of the training is set by a difficulty level change operation that changes the load of the training.

[0192] The monitoring method of the 55th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0193] The method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder according to a fifty-sixth aspect of the present disclosure includes: Training is carried out using the training method of the above aspect.

[0194] The method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder according to a fifty-seventh aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training is performed for a period of 1 day to 1 year, with a duration of 1 minute to 240 minutes per session, from 1 time per 90 days to 12 times per day.

[0195] The method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder according to a 58th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The training load increases stepwise.

[0196] The method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder according to a fifty-ninth aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty of the training is changed to suit the user.

[0197] The method for diagnosing a neuropsychiatric disorder according to a 60th aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0198] The program according to the 61st aspect of the present disclosure includes: The method for determining the gaze position according to the above aspect is executed by a computer.

[0199] The program according to the 62nd aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The training method of the above aspect is executed by a computer.

[0200] The gaze position determination device of the A1 aspect of the present disclosure includes: a gaze position input unit for inputting the gaze position of a user; a determination area setting unit that sets a determination area; a determination unit that determines whether the gaze position input by the gaze position input unit is within the determination area; an output unit that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit determines that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area; Equipped with.

[0201] The gaze position determination device according to the A2 aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit When the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a preset maintenance time, it is determined that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area.

[0202] The gaze position determination device according to the A3 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The measurement unit measures an index of social gaze control ability in addition to the first time period.

[0203] The gaze position determination device of the A4 aspect of the present disclosure is The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time that has elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the judgment area.

[0204] The gaze position determination device according to the A5 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The output unit The feedback is output to the user in real time.

[0205] The gaze position determination device according to the A6 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The apparatus further includes a target position setting unit that sets a target position at which the user will focus their gaze.

[0206] The gaze position determination device according to the A7 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal including the person facing the user, a part of the body of the animal facing the user, the entire face of the animal facing the user, a part of the face of the animal facing the user, the eye of the animal facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the animal facing the user.

[0207] The gaze position determination device according to the A8 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of the animal including a person displayed on the display facing the user.

[0208] The gaze position determination device according to the A9 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The determination region is set so as to include the eyeball position of the animal.

[0209] The gaze position determination device according to the A10 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination area setting unit The size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a human, in an image of the animal included in the user's field of view image.

[0210] The gaze position determination device according to the A11 aspect of the present disclosure includes: A lower limit is set for the size of the determination region.

[0211] The gaze position determination device according to the A12 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The animal is a human.

[0212] The gaze position determination device according to the A13 aspect of the present disclosure includes: A difficulty setting unit is further provided to set the difficulty level of the training consisting of a plurality of tasks, The difficulty level of the training is set depending on the difficulty level of the task and / or the difficulty level of the eye-gaze match determination, which is a determination of whether the inputted eye-gaze position is within the determination area.

[0213] The gaze position determination device according to the A14 aspect of the present disclosure includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit When the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined maintenance time, it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area; The difficulty level setting unit The difficulty of the eye-gaze match determination is set by setting the size of the determination area and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0214] The gaze position determination device according to the A15 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level setting unit sets the difficulty level of the training based on the result of the determination by the determination unit.

[0215] The gaze position determination device according to the A16 aspect of the present disclosure includes: further comprising an operation unit capable of accepting a difficulty level change operation for changing the difficulty level of the training; The difficulty level setting unit sets the difficulty level of the training according to the difficulty level change operation received by the operation unit.

[0216] The gaze position determination device according to the A17 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The feedback is provided through one or more senses selected from vision, hearing and touch.

[0217] The gaze position determination device according to the A18 aspect of the present disclosure includes: It may be used for the diagnosis, severity classification, treatment, training, and / or monitoring of neuropsychiatric disorders, or for improving gaze communication skills and / or social gaze control skills.

[0218] The gaze position determination device according to the A19 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The neuropsychiatric disorder is an anxiety disorder or a neurodevelopmental disorder.

[0219] The gaze position determination system of the A20 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination device of the above aspect, a gaze direction acquisition unit that detects the gaze direction of the user, a gaze position acquisition unit that outputs the gaze direction of the user detected by the gaze direction acquisition unit to the gaze position input unit; Equipped with.

[0220] The gaze position determination system of the A21 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position acquisition unit, Further, a visual field image acquisition unit for acquiring a visual field image of the user is provided, The position of the user's line of sight is acquired based on the field of view image.

[0221] The gaze position determination system of the A22 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position input unit a display position detection unit that detects the position of a presentation image presented to the user in the field of view image acquired by the field of view image acquisition unit; a gaze position conversion unit that converts a coordinate system of the field of view image into a coordinate system of the presentation image based on the detected position of the presentation image; It further has:

[0222] The gaze position determination method of the A23 aspect of the present disclosure includes: Enter the user's gaze position, Set the judgment area, determining whether the input gaze position is within a determination area; If it is determined that the position of the line of sight is within the determination area, feedback is output to the user.

[0223] The gaze position determination method of the A24 aspect of the present disclosure includes: measuring a first time period that has elapsed since the gaze position was positioned in the determination area while the gaze position remained in the determination area; When the measured first time period reaches a predetermined maintenance time period, it is determined that the position of the line of sight is within the determination area.

[0224] The gaze position determination method of the A25 aspect of the present disclosure includes: In addition to the first time period, an index of social gaze control ability is measured.

[0225] The gaze position determination method of the A26 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The indicator of the social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time that has elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the judgment area.

[0226] The gaze position determination method of the A27 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The feedback is output to the user in real time.

[0227] The gaze position determination method of the A28 aspect of the present disclosure includes: setting a target position at which the user will focus their gaze; The determination region that includes the target position is set.

[0228] The gaze position determination method of the A29 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the person facing the user, a part of the body of the person facing the user, the entire face of the person facing the user, a part of the face of the person facing the user, the eye area of ​​the person facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the person facing the user.

[0229] The gaze position determination method of the A30 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The judgment area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of the animal including a person displayed on the display facing the user.

[0230] The gaze position determination method of the A31 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a human, facing the user.

[0231] The gaze position determination method of the A32 aspect of the present disclosure includes: A lower limit is set for the size of the determination region.

[0232] The gaze position determination method of the A33 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The animal is a human.

[0233] The gaze position determination method of the A34 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The determination of whether the inputted gaze position is within the set determination area is made based on the set difficulty level of the training consisting of a plurality of tasks.

[0234] The gaze position determination method of the A35 aspect of the present disclosure includes: When a first time period elapsed while the gaze position remains in the judgment area since the gaze position was positioned in the judgment area reaches a predetermined maintenance time period, and it is determined that the gaze position is in the judgment area, The difficulty of the training is set by setting the size of the judgment area and / or the length of the maintenance time.

[0235] The gaze position determination method of the A36 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level of the training is set based on the result of the determination as to whether or not the position of the line of sight is within the set determination area.

[0236] The gaze position determination method of the A37 aspect of the present disclosure includes: A plurality of images in which the determination regions are respectively set are presented to the user in succession.

[0237] The training system of the A38 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The present invention includes the gaze position determination device or the gaze position determination system according to the above aspect.

[0238] The method for evaluating eye gaze communication ability according to the A39 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0239] The method for evaluating eye gaze communication ability according to the A40 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The gaze communication ability is a social gaze control ability or a social gaze sending ability.

[0240] The method for evaluating eye gaze communication ability according to the A41 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The social gaze control ability is a social gaze matching ability, a social gaze shifting ability, or a joint attention ability.

[0241] The training method of the A42 aspect of the present disclosure includes: Training is carried out using the gaze position determination method of the above aspect.

[0242] The training method of the A43 aspect of the present disclosure includes: the training is comprised of a plurality of tasks configured to obtain a determination result of whether or not the position of the gaze is in the determination area at least once, the plurality of tasks being performed consecutively, The task includes directing the gaze to one of a plurality of judgment areas of different sizes according to instructions.

[0243] The training method of the A44 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: A first task in which the judgment area is set to include a component part of a social object to which the gaze is directed; A second problem in which the judgment region is set to include a structural unit that encompasses the structural portion. Includes:

[0244] The training method of the A45 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: A third task is included in which the judgment region is set so as to alternately include the constituent parts and the constituent units.

[0245] The training method of the A46 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The above-mentioned problems include: In addition to directing gaze into the judgment area, a fourth task is included, which is to guess the facial expression and / or emotion of the social object in which the judgment area is set.

[0246] The training method of the A47 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty of the training is set according to the difficulty of the task.

[0247] The training method of the A48 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level of the training is set based on an index including a subjective or objective evaluation by the user.

[0248] The training method of the A49 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The subjective evaluation by the user includes a self-reported evaluation by the user of the difficulty experienced when performing the training.

[0249] The training method of the A50 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The objective evaluation of the user includes at least one of the results of the training, changes in the user's heart rate during the training, and changes in the degree of pupil dilation of the user.

[0250] The training method of the A51 aspect of the present disclosure includes: The difficulty level of the training is set depending on the difficulty level of the eye-gaze match determination, which is a determination as to whether or not the inputted eye-gaze position is within the determination area.

[0251] The training method of the A52 aspect of the present disclosure includes: An index of the user's social gaze control ability is measured, and the difficulty of judging eye contact is set based on the index.

[0252] The monitoring method of the A53 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The gaze position determination method of the above aspect was used.

[0253] The method for treating a mental disorder according to the A54 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: Training is carried out using the training method of the above aspect.

[0254] The method for treating a mental disorder according to the A55 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The training is performed for a period of 1 day to 1 year, with a duration of 1 minute to 240 minutes per session, from 1 time per 90 days to 12 times per day.

[0255] The method for treating a mental disorder according to the A56 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The difficulty of the training increases stepwise.

[0256] The method for treating a mental disorder according to the A57 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The difficulty of the training is changed to suit the user.

[0257] The program of the A58 aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The method for determining the gaze position according to the above aspect is executed by a computer.

[0258] The program of the A59th aspect of the present disclosure comprises: The training method of the above aspect is executed by a computer.

[0259] Any of the various embodiments or modifications described above can be combined appropriately to achieve the effects of each. In addition, combinations of embodiments, combinations of examples, or combinations of embodiments and examples are possible, and combinations of features from different embodiments or examples are also possible. [Explanation of symbols]

[0260] 1. Gaze position detection system 10 Gaze position determination device 11. Eye gaze position input unit 111 Display position detection unit 112 Gaze position conversion unit 12 Judgment section 13 Output section 14 Target position setting section 15 Judgment area setting section 16 Measurement section 17 Marker generation unit 20 Gaze position acquisition unit 21 Imaging unit 22 Gaze direction acquisition unit 31 Head-mounted display 32 Display 33 screens 34 Presentation image acquisition unit 35 Wearable devices 36 Speaker 40 Field of View Images 50 Difficulty Settings 51 Operation section 52 Storage section 53 Control Capability Acquisition Unit 54 Maintenance time setting section 100 Object Image P1 target position P2 judgment area

Claims

1. a gaze position input unit for inputting the gaze position of a user; a determination area setting unit that sets a determination area; a determination unit that determines whether the gaze position input by the gaze position input unit is within the determination area; an output unit that outputs feedback to the user when the determination unit determines that the position of the line of sight is in the determination area; A gaze position determination device comprising:

2. a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit 2. The gaze position determination device according to claim 1, wherein the gaze position determination unit determines that the gaze position is in the determination region when the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined maintenance time.

3. The output unit 3. The gaze position determining device according to claim 1, wherein the feedback is output to the user in real time.

4. The eye gaze position determining device according to claim 1 , further comprising a target position setting unit that sets a target position at which the user will focus their gaze.

5. The determination area setting unit 5. The gaze position determination device of claim 1, wherein the determination area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, including a person, facing the user, a part of the body of the animal facing the user, the entire face of the animal facing the user, a part of the face of the animal facing the user, the eye of the animal facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the animal facing the user.

6. The determination area setting unit 6. The gaze position determination device of claim 1, wherein the determination area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of an animal including a person displayed on a display facing the user.

7. The determination area setting unit 7. The gaze position determining device according to claim 5, wherein the determination area is set so as to include the eyeball position of the animal.

8. The determination area setting unit 8. The gaze position determination device according to claim 1, wherein the size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a person, in an image of the animal included in the user's field of view image.

9. 9. The gaze position determining device according to claim 8, wherein a lower limit can be set for the size of the determination region.

10. 10. The gaze position determining device according to claim 5, wherein the animal is a human.

11. a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, 11. A gaze position determination device according to claim 1, wherein the measurement unit measures an index of the user's social gaze control ability in addition to a first time period elapsed from when the gaze position is positioned in the determination area while remaining in the determination area.

12. The gaze position determination device of claim 11, wherein the indicator of social gaze control ability is at least one of an analysis value of the first time, a second time elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the determination area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the determination area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area.

13. A gaze position determination device according to claim 11 or 12, which estimates the task that the user is weak at among a plurality of tasks in a training consisting of a plurality of tasks by comparing the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the index of the social gaze control ability of other users.

14. 11. The gaze position determining device according to claim 1, further comprising a difficulty setting unit that sets the load of training consisting of a plurality of tasks.

15. The gaze position determination device according to claim 14 , wherein the difficulty level setting unit sets a load for the training based on the result of the determination by the determination unit.

16. a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The determination unit determining that the position of the gaze is in the determination area when the first time measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined maintenance time; The difficulty level setting unit 16. The gaze position determination device according to claim 14, wherein the training load is set by setting the size of the determination region and / or the duration of the maintenance time.

17. a measurement unit configured to measure a first time period during which the gaze position remains in the determination area from the time the gaze position is positioned in the determination area, The gaze position determination device according to claim 14 , wherein the measurement unit measures an index of the user's social gaze control ability in addition to the first time period.

18. The gaze position determination device of claim 17, wherein the indicator of social gaze control ability is at least one of an analysis value of the first time, a second time elapsed from when the gaze position is first input into the gaze position input unit until it is determined to be in the determination area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the determination area, and the number of times the gaze position is determined to be in the determination area.

19. The gaze position determination device of claim 17 or 18, wherein the difficulty setting unit increases the training load when the measured index of social gaze control ability is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured before the measured index of social gaze control ability.

20. The difficulty setting unit estimates the tasks that the user is weak at by comparing the deviation of each task from the average value of the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the deviation of each task from the average value of the index of the social gaze control ability of other users, and sets the training load based on the estimated tasks.

21. an operation unit capable of accepting a difficulty level change operation for changing the load of the training; 21. The gaze position determination device according to claim 14, wherein the difficulty level setting unit sets the difficulty level of the training in accordance with the difficulty level change operation received by the operation unit.

22. 22. The gaze position determination device of claim 1, wherein the feedback is provided through one or more senses selected from vision, hearing, and touch.

23. 23. The gaze position determination device of claim 1, which is used for the diagnosis, severity classification, treatment, training, and / or monitoring of a neuropsychiatric disorder, or for improving gaze communication ability.

24. The gaze position determination device according to claim 23, wherein the neuropsychiatric disorder is an anxiety disorder or a neurodevelopmental disorder.

25. The gaze position determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 24, a gaze position acquisition unit that includes a gaze direction acquisition unit that detects the gaze direction of the user and outputs the gaze direction of the user detected by the gaze direction acquisition unit to the gaze position input unit; A gaze position determination system comprising:

26. The gaze position acquisition unit, Further, a visual field image acquisition unit for acquiring a visual field image of the user is provided, The gaze position determination system according to claim 25, wherein the gaze position of the user is acquired based on the field of view image.

27. The gaze position input unit a display position detection unit that detects the position of a presentation image presented to the user in the field of view image acquired by the field of view image acquisition unit; a gaze position conversion unit that converts the position of the user's gaze in the coordinate system of the field of view image into the position of the user's gaze in the coordinate system of the presentation image based on the detected position of the presentation image; 27. The gaze position determining system of claim 26, further comprising:

28. Enter the user's gaze position, Set the judgment area, determining whether the input gaze position is within a determination area; When it is determined that the position of the gaze is within the determination area, feedback is output to the user.

29. measuring a first time period that has elapsed since the gaze position was positioned in the determination area while the gaze position remained in the determination area; 29. The method for determining a gaze position according to claim 28, wherein the gaze position is determined to be in the determination region when the measured first time period reaches a predetermined maintenance time period.

30. 30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein the feedback is output to the user in real time.

31. setting a target position at which the user will focus their gaze; 31. The method of claim 28, further comprising: setting the determination area to include the target position.

32. 32. The gaze position determination method of claim 28, wherein the determination area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal including a person facing the user, a part of the body of the animal facing the user, the entire face of the animal facing the user, a part of the face of the animal facing the user, the eye of the animal facing the user, and a part of the eyeball position of the animal facing the user.

33. 32. The gaze position determination method of claim 28, wherein the determination area is set to include one selected from the entire body of the animal, a part of the body of the animal, the entire face of the animal, a part of the face of the animal, the eye of the animal, and the eyeball position of the animal in an image of an animal including a person displayed on a display facing the user.

34. 34. The method of claim 28, wherein the size of the determination area is set based on the distance between the left and right eyeball positions of an animal, including a human, facing the user.

35. The method for determining a gaze position according to claim 34, wherein a lower limit is set for the size of the determination region.

36. 36. The method for determining a gaze position according to claim 35, wherein the lower limit value is determined based on gaze position fluctuation data that indicates a gaze position that fluctuates over time when the user gazes at an arbitrary point.

37. 37. The method of claim 32, wherein the animal is a human.

38. A training system comprising the gaze position determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 24 or the gaze position determination system according to any one of claims 25 to 27.

39. A method for evaluating gaze communication ability, using the gaze position determination method according to any one of claims 28 to 37.

40. The evaluation method according to claim 39, wherein the gaze communication ability is social gaze control ability or social gaze sending ability.

41. The evaluation method according to claim 40, wherein the social gaze control ability is social gaze matching ability, social gaze shifting ability, or joint attention ability.

42. A training method, comprising carrying out training using the gaze position determination method according to any one of claims 28 to 37.

43. the training is comprised of a plurality of tasks configured to obtain a determination result as to whether or not the position of the gaze is in the determination area at least once, and the plurality of tasks are performed consecutively; 43. The training method according to claim 42, wherein the task includes directing the gaze to any one of the plurality of judgment areas in accordance with instructions.

44. The above-mentioned problems include: A first task in which the judgment area is set to include a component part of a social object to which the gaze is directed; A second problem in which the judgment region is set to include a structural unit that encompasses the structural portion.

44. The training method of claim 43, comprising:

45. The above-mentioned problems include:

45. The training method according to claim 44, further comprising a third task in which the judgment region is set to alternately include the constituent parts and the constituent units.

46. The above-mentioned problems include:

46. ​​The training method of any one of claims 43 to 45, further comprising a fourth task of inferring the facial expression and / or emotion of a social object in which the judgment area is set, in addition to directing gaze toward the judgment area.

47. 47. The training method according to any one of claims 43 to 46, wherein the training load is set based on a determination result as to whether or not the position of the line of sight is within the determination region.

48. When a first time period elapsed since the position of the gaze was positioned in the determination area while the position of the gaze remained in the determination area reaches a predetermined maintenance time period, and it is determined that the position of the gaze is in the determination area, 48. The training method according to claim 47, wherein the training load is set by setting the size of the judgment region and / or the length of the maintenance time.

49. 49. The training method according to any one of claims 43 to 48, wherein the training load is set according to the difficulty of the task.

50. 50. The training method according to any one of claims 43 to 49, wherein the training load is set based on an index including a subjective or objective evaluation by the user.

51. 51. The training method of claim 50, wherein the user's subjective evaluation includes a self-reported evaluation by the user of the difficulty experienced while performing the training.

52. 52. The training method of claim 50 or 51, wherein the objective evaluation of the user includes at least one of the results of the training, changes in the user's heart rate and / or heart rate variability index during the training, the degree of pupil dilation of the user, and changes in the user's blink rate.

53. 53. A training method according to any one of claims 42 to 52, which measures a first time period elapsed while the gaze position remains in the judgment area from the time it is positioned in the judgment area, and an index of social gaze control ability, which is the ability to control and use gaze as a signal.

54. The training method of claim 53, wherein the indicator of social gaze control ability is at least one of the analysis value of the first time, the second time elapsed from when the gaze position was first input until it was determined to be in the judgment area, the distance between the user's gaze position and the judgment area, and the number of times the gaze position was determined to be in the judgment area.

55. 55. A training method according to claim 53 or 54, wherein the training load is increased if the measured index of social gaze control ability is higher than the index of social gaze control ability measured before the measured index of social gaze control ability.

56. A training method according to any one of claims 53 to 55, which estimates the tasks that the user is weak at by comparing the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the measured index of the user's social gaze control ability with the deviation of each of the tasks from the average value of the index of the social gaze control ability of other users, and sets the training load based on the estimated tasks.

57. 56. The training method according to any one of claims 42 to 55, wherein the difficulty level of the training is set by a difficulty level change operation that changes the load of the training.

58. 58. The training method of any one of claims 42 to 57, wherein the training is configured to present to the user successively, in order of increasing difficulty, a plurality of tasks configured so that a determination result as to whether the gaze position is in the determination area is obtained at least once.

59. A monitoring method using the gaze position determination method of any one of claims 28 to 37.

60. 59. A method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder, comprising carrying out training using the training method of any one of claims 42 to 58.

61. 61. The method of claim 60, wherein said training is performed for 1 to 240 minutes per session, from once every 90 days to 12 times per day, for a period of 1 to 1 year.

62. 62. The method for treating a neuropsychiatric disorder of claim 60 or 61, wherein the training load increases gradually.

63. 63. The method of any one of claims 60 to 62, wherein the difficulty of the training is adapted to the user.

64. A method for diagnosing a neuropsychiatric disorder, using the gaze position determination method according to any one of claims 28 to 37.

65. 38. A program for causing a computer to execute the gaze position determination method according to any one of claims 28 to 37.

66. 59. A program for causing a computer to execute the training method according to any one of claims 42 to 58.

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