Oculomotor Simulator Assembly for 3D Eye-Tracking Accuracy Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing eye-tracking devices face calibration and accuracy issues due to violations of built-in assumptions in individuals with oculomotor and visual disorders, leading to increased errors in gaze detection.
Innovation Solution
An oculomotor simulator system with independently controlled simulated eyeballs that can emulate various oculomotor behaviors and visual deficits, providing ground truth assessment to evaluate eye-tracking accuracy by comparing simulated and measured gaze directions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard eye-tracking calibration routines are used, then calibration process is simple and fast, but calibration accuracy deteriorates when visual and pupillary axes are misaligned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a simulated eyeball that replicates the optical properties of a human eye, including the misalignment between visual and pupillary axes. This copy allows calibration routines to be tested and adjusted without requiring actual patients, enabling precise characterization of tracking errors under controlled conditions while maintaining simple calibration procedures.
2Device complexity
If eye-tracking algorithms assume alignment of visual and pupillary axes, then algorithm complexity is reduced, but measurement accuracy deteriorates for individuals with oculomotor disorders
Solution Approach 1:
The simulated eyeball acts as an intermediary device that introduces known misalignment parameters into the eye-tracking system. By using this mediator, researchers can quantify the impact of axis misalignment on tracking accuracy without modifying the core algorithms, thus maintaining algorithm simplicity while accurately measuring performance degradation in pathological conditions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple fixational loci are used during calibration to accommodate oculomotor deficits, then adaptability to disordered eye movements is improved, but calibration time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The simulated eyeball allows pre-characterization of tracking errors for various oculomotor disorder patterns before actual calibration with patients. By performing preliminary error mapping with the simulator, the system can apply pre-computed correction factors during patient calibration, reducing calibration time while maintaining adaptability to individual oculomotor deficits.
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
Enables accurate validation of eye-tracking devices by establishing ground truth values for eye movements, distinguishing between oculomotor-related changes and device tracking errors, thereby improving calibration and accuracy in gaze detection.
Implementation Method 1
The simulated eyeball includes a laser diode located in a center of the simulated eyeball that provides a 3D projection through a center of a simulated pupil located on the simulated eyeball
Data Source
AI summary
A system is described for determining accuracy of an eye-tracking device using an oculomotor simulator assembly. The system receives instructions specifying movement for simulated eyeballs in the oculomotor simulator assembly. The system enables movement of the simulated eyeballs based on the received instructions. The system obtains ground-truth values for three-dimensional gaze directions of the simulated eyeballs in response to the enabled movement using projections of laser diodes from the center of the simulated eyeballs during the specified movement. The system additionally gathers three-dimensional gaze directions as determined by the eye-tracking device that is tracking the simulated eyeballs during the specified movement. The system determines accuracy of the eye-tracking device based on the obtained ground-truth values and the determined three-dimensional gaze directions from the eye-tracking device.