Gaze-Positioned Virtual Trackpad for Occlusion-Resistant Content Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content manipulation methods using integrated input systems, such as extremity tracking, are prone to inaccuracies due to occlusions and limited mobility, especially when dealing with objects at varying depths within a display.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilizes eye tracking and spatial selector data to position a computer-generated trackpad representation on a physical surface, allowing for more accurate and intuitive content manipulation by correlating gaze position with a selection point on the physical surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If extremity tracking input is used to manipulate content, then the system can enable content manipulation, but the reliability is reduced when physical objects occlude the user's extremity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a physical surface as an intermediary between the user and the digital content. Users interact with a physical surface (like a table) while a camera tracks their hand movements, converting physical gestures into digital commands. This intermediary surface is not occluded by physical objects in the same way direct extremity tracking is, thereby maintaining input reliability while enabling content manipulation.
2Measurement precision
If extremity tracking is used for content manipulation, then the system can process user inputs, but tracking inaccuracies occur when dealing with objects at varying depths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a two-dimensional representation (shadow or projection) of the user's hand movements on a reference plane. Instead of directly tracking three-dimensional extremity positions at varying depths, the system captures the shadow or projection of hand movements onto a flat reference surface. This copying approach eliminates depth-related tracking inaccuracies by converting 3D movements into 2D coordinates on a stable reference plane.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a physical surface interaction system is implemented, then input stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the camera system multi-functional by using it for both capturing the physical surface/reference plane and tracking hand movements simultaneously. The same imaging device serves dual purposes: establishing the reference frame and detecting user gestures. This universality reduces the need for separate specialized sensors, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maintaining input stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes determining a first gaze position within a content manipulation region based on eye tracking data from an eye tracker. The method includes determining a selection point associated with a physical surface, based on spatial selector data from a spatial selector tracker. The method includes displaying a computer-generated representation of a trackpad on the physical surface, based on the first gaze position and the selection point. In some implementations, a method includes displaying a user interface including a plurality of content manipulation regions, a plurality of affordances respectively associated with the plurality of content manipulation regions, and a computer-generated representation of a trackpad. The method includes detecting, via a spatial selector tracker, an input directed to a first affordance associated with a first content manipulation region. The method includes associating the computer-generated representation of the trackpad with the first content manipulation region, based on the input.