Gaze-Assisted Cursor Navigation for Large Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current computer interfaces, particularly with large screen resolutions, require cumbersome 'mouse hand shuffle' movements to navigate across extensive desktops, leading to user fatigue due to the mismatch between mouse control precision and the size of the virtual desktop.
Innovation Solution
Implementing gaze-assisted navigation by combining eye-tracking technology with user intent to move the cursor more efficiently across large displays, allowing the cursor to move faster when far from the target and slow down as it approaches, reducing the need for extensive mouse movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If mouse-controlled cursor navigation is used on large displays, then cursor control precision is maintained, but user effort and fatigue increase due to extensive hand movements required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines gaze detection technology with mouse-controlled cursor navigation, merging two input modalities (eye gaze and hand movement) into a unified control system. The gaze detection system determines a point of gaze on the display, while the mouse provides fine-grained control, and these are integrated to enable efficient cursor movement across large displays without requiring extensive hand shuffling
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational layer that translates the relationship between point of gaze and mouse position into cursor movement. This intermediary system calculates the offset between where the user is looking and where the cursor currently is, then uses mouse movements to adjust this offset, effectively mediating between the user's visual attention and cursor control
2Speed
If cursor speed is increased to move across large desktops faster, then navigation speed improves, but precision in selecting targets deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic cursor control where the relationship between mouse movement and cursor movement is not fixed but adapts based on the distance between the point of gaze and the current cursor position. When the cursor is far from the target, larger mouse movements produce proportionally larger cursor movements for fast navigation; when near the target, the same mouse movements produce smaller cursor movements for precise selection, creating a dynamic scaling effect
3Area of stationary object
If the virtual desktop size is increased to provide more workspace, then available workspace area increases, but the distance for cursor movement increases leading to more fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical mouse movement system with a hybrid system that incorporates gaze detection. Instead of requiring the user's hand to physically traverse the entire distance across the large display, the gaze detection system identifies the target area, and the system computationally bridges the gap between current cursor position and gaze point, substituting physical hand movement with optical detection and computational adjustment
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B~3
Figure 4A~4B
AI summary
Methods, systems, and computer programs for interfacing a user with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) are provided. One method includes an operation for identifying the point of gaze (POG) of the user. The initiation of a physical action by the user, to move a position of a cursor on a display, is detected, where the cursor defines a focus area associated with a computer program executing the GUI. Further, the method includes an operation for determining if the distance between the current position of the cursor and the POG is greater than a threshold distance. The cursor is moved from the current position to a region proximate to the POG in response to the determination of the POG and to the detection of the initiation of the physical action.