Gaze Tracking System Using Glint and Magnetic Head Position
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current gaze tracking systems for athletic training are inaccurate, cumbersome, and restrictive, particularly in tracking head and eye movements during dynamic activities, requiring a non-intrusive, accurate, and calibrated method to improve visual tracking abilities in sports like baseball and tennis.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a pitching machine, a glint tracking device, and a magnetic head tracker, synchronized with a computer system to analyze and provide feedback on gaze, head movement, and object position, allowing for simultaneous data collection and instantaneous feedback to improve coordination and tracking performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If non-video-based methods with special contacting devices are used to track gaze, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to intrusiveness and interference with the subject
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces non-video-based mechanical/contacting devices with a video-based optical system. The system uses video cameras to capture images of the subject's eyes and head, combined with magnetic field tracking for head position, eliminating the need for special contacting devices on the skin or eye while maintaining gaze tracking capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces video imaging and magnetic field detection as intermediary means to indirectly measure gaze and head position without direct contact. Instead of placing sensors on the eye, the system captures visual information through cameras and correlates it with head position data from magnetic tracking to calculate gaze direction.
2Ease of operation
If video-based gaze tracking methods are used to be unobtrusive and comfortable, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to insufficient accuracy in relating gaze to head orientation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges video-based eye tracking with magnetic field-based head tracking into a unified system. By combining these two independent measurement systems, the patent achieves accurate gaze determination that accounts for both eye position relative to the head and head orientation in space, resolving the accuracy limitations of video-only methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses real-time feedback from magnetic head position tracking to continuously update and correct the relationship between video-captured eye position and actual gaze direction. This feedback mechanism allows the system to maintain measurement precision while keeping the subject comfortable and unaware of the tracking process.
3Measurement precision
If existing eye and gaze tracking systems are used, then gaze tracking capability is provided, but device complexity increases due to cumbersome calibration processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-calibrating system where the magnetic tracking device automatically provides head position information that the video system uses to establish the gaze-head relationship. This eliminates the need for manual calibration procedures, as the system continuously adapts to the subject's individual anatomy and tracking characteristics through the integrated feedback from multiple sensors.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the ability to track and analyze head and eye movements during athletic activities, providing accurate and unobtrusive feedback to improve visual tracking skills and athletic performance by correlating gaze and head movement with the position of a moving object.
Implementation Method 1
Glint refers to the reflection off of the surface of the eye of directed light. The shape of the light source creates a recognizable pattern on the surface of the eye which can be tracked and, using simple concepts from the field of optics, can be used to determine the direction of the subject's gaze and their point of regard.
Implementation Method 2
track the movement of the participant's head within a generated magnetic field
Data Source
AI summary
Many athletic endeavors require focus on a moving object and subsequent coordination of bodily movement either in response to movement of the object or in an attempt to manipulate the object. Coordinated movement of the head and eyes can be improved through training when errors in gaze/head movement-coordination are identified. There exists a need for systems and methods capable of tracking and coordinating change in position of, for example, the head relative to a participant's gaze, and then to provide feedback on a participant's error in tracking moving objects. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to the technology of gaze tracking and more particularly to the application of gaze tracking technology to aid in the development of head-and-eye-movement coordination.