Steerable Camera Array for Compact HMD Gaze Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing head-mounted display (HMD) devices, such as smartglasses, face challenges in achieving a compact form factor while accommodating both a display system and a camera, often resulting in poor camera performance and user experience due to limited space and bulkiness.
Innovation Solution
A head wearable apparatus with a lens assembly and a camera assembly coexisting on the same side, utilizing a flexure to rotate the camera array horizontally and track the user's gaze direction, allowing the camera to adjust its pointing direction to maintain the user's gaze within its field-of-view, thereby minimizing the camera's aperture size and maintaining a compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the display system and camera are positioned side-by-side in the same physical region of smart eyeglasses, then the device can support binocular eyeglasses with both display and camera functionality, but the aperture size increases and the form factor becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a steerable camera array that can dynamically change its pointing direction to track the user's gaze. This dynamic positioning allows the camera to follow the user's eye movements, enabling the aperture to remain small while still capturing the full field of view needed for binocular functionality. The camera array rotates to maintain alignment with the user's gaze direction, resolving the contradiction between versatility and aperture size.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of expanding the aperture horizontally to accommodate both display and camera side-by-side, the patent utilizes the vertical dimension and rotational movement. The camera array is positioned to rotate around the user's line of sight, effectively using angular movement in three-dimensional space rather than requiring additional horizontal or vertical space. This dimensional approach allows compact aperture design while maintaining full functional capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the display system and camera are positioned side-by-side in the same physical region of smart eyeglasses, then the device can support binocular eyeglasses with both display and camera functionality, but the form factor becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The steerable camera array dynamically adjusts its orientation to track user gaze, eliminating the need for a large static aperture housing. This dynamic mechanism allows the camera to sweep across the field of view, enabling binocular functionality without requiring the device to be bulky. The rotational capability compensates for the limited space available in the smart eyeglass frame.
3Area of stationary object
If the camera aperture size is reduced to maintain a compact form factor, then the device remains lightweight and compact, but the camera field-of-view is limited and cannot track user gaze effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a rotatable camera array that can change its pointing direction to track the user's gaze. This dynamic positioning allows a small aperture to achieve effective coverage of the entire field of view by following the user's eye movements. The camera rotates to maintain alignment with the user's gaze direction, compensating for the limited aperture size and enabling effective gaze tracking despite the compact design.
Solution Approach 2:
The steerable mechanism acts as an intermediary between the small aperture and the user's gaze. Rather than requiring the aperture itself to be large, the intermediary rotation mechanism allows the small aperture to access different portions of the visual field, effectively extending its coverage capability without increasing its physical size.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a large aperture is used to accommodate both display and camera, then both components can coexist, but the device becomes bulky and uncomfortable to wear
Solution Approach 1:
The steerable camera array eliminates the need for a large static aperture by using rotational movement. This dynamic approach allows both display and camera components to coexist in a compact configuration, reducing the overall device weight. The camera rotates to track gaze, providing full functionality without requiring the bulky structure that would be needed for a large fixed aperture.
Data Source
AI summary
A head wearable apparatus, such as a pair of smart glasses are configured to track a gaze direction of a person for various applications. To support the tracking, the head wearable apparatus is configured with a lens assembly including at least one lens module (e.g., a lens or a lenslet array) operably coupled to the head wearable apparatus and a camera assembly including a camera sensor operably coupled to the head wearable apparatus. The head wearable apparatus is also configured with a camera assembly operably coupled to an anterior surface of a flexure of the head wearable apparatus (e.g., proximate to the front of the smart glasses frames) to minimize a size (e.g., to be as small as possible) of an aperture housing the camera assembly. The flexure is configured to be adjacent to the lens assembly operably coupled to the head wearable apparatus.