Patent · US Expired

Eye tracking employing a retro-reflective disk

US6786899B1 · kind B1 · utility

10Cited by
2References
21Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 19, 1999
Grant dateSep 7, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 19, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B3/113
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method for tracking lateral movement of an object is disclosed employing a retro-reflective disk as a positioning reference and a simplified positioning detection to determine the position of the reference disk. The reference disk having a retro-reflective surface is affixed onto the object to be tracked. An illumination beam illuminates the reference disk from one direction and imaging optics forms a bright image spot of the reference disk with the backward scattering from the reference disk. A two-dimensional positioning detector detects the position of the bright image spot and an electronic circuit then generates positioning signals of the object for tracking applications. The bright image spot of the reference disk enables the use of single element two-dimensional positioning detector and thus enable fast detection (>1 kHz) of the object's position. An embodiment of the method on an eye-tracking system is described.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.