JP2003255278A - Autofocusing spectacles and method for calibrating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide variable focusing spectacles which are easily adjustable in the corresponding relation between the distance information to a gaze position and the controlled variables of variable focus lenses. <P>SOLUTION: When calibration is necessary, an operator first gazes an arbitrary physical object. The distance up to a gaze point is calculated by a gaze point calculating section 2 in accordance with the line-of-vision direction of this time. The operator adjusts the focal lengths of the right and left lenses 1 so as to make the physical object most distinctly visible by operating an adjusting section 4. As a result, the focal lengths of the lenses 1 can be adapted to the arbitrary physical object. The controlled variables for the right and left lenses 1 of this time are stored in a memory setting section 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to automatic focusing glasses and a calibration method thereof.

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the human eye, the thickness of the crystalline lens changes according to the distance of the object to be watched, and a clear image is projected on the retina. However, the adjustable range of the lens thickness becomes narrower with aging. Therefore, even in everyday life, the distance of the object to be viewed often exceeds the range in which focus adjustment is possible, which makes various tasks difficult. Eyeglasses are used to compensate for the lack of focusing ability in the eyeball. When the focus adjustment range is narrowed due to aging, a method of selectively using two types of glasses for near vision and distance vision is generally used.

Bifocal lenses also exist. this is,
The region on the upper side of the spectacle lens is the focal length for distance vision, and the region on the lower side is the focal length for near vision. According to this, by intentionally changing the line-of-sight direction with respect to the spectacles, it is possible to selectively use distance vision and near vision.

However, in the method of selectively using two kinds of glasses, when both hands are used for work,
It becomes difficult to continue the work. Further, since the bifocal lens requires movement of the line of sight with respect to the lens and head movement for matching the line of sight with the point of gaze, it is often the case when work such as continuously concentrating consciousness. It is difficult to work with.

In order to reduce such difficulties, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The automatic focusing glasses shown in 00-249902 (Reference 1) have been proposed. In this technique, the distance from the observer to the gazing point (target point) is detected based on the directions of the binocular eyes. The focal length of the variable focus lens is automatically adjusted according to this distance. As a result, a clear image can be observed over both the distance and near distance ranges without exchanging eyeglasses, intentional line-of-sight movements, and head movements. By using these glasses, you can judge by clearly observing near and distant objects, such as work within the reach of your arm (such as office work in the office or assembly work in factories). In the case of operating by doing so, the work efficiency can be remarkably enhanced. In such automatic focusing glasses, the lens focal length is controlled based on the distance information to the gaze position acquired during use. Therefore, it is necessary to set the correspondence between the distance information and the control amount in advance before using it.

Therefore, the conventional technique requires the following adjustment work. (1) Measuring the visual characteristics of each user. (2) To acquire the control characteristics of the variable focus lens. (3) Based on the data obtained from these, set the correspondence between the distance to the gaze position and the control amount of the lens focal length.

However, in order to measure the visual characteristics of each user and to accurately obtain the control characteristics of the variable focus lens, a special measurement system is required. And
The control characteristics of the varifocal lens are expected to change gradually during use. In addition, variable focus lenses deteriorate during use. Then, it is necessary to replace the lens from time to time, in which case the control characteristics of the varifocal lens differ. When the control characteristic of the lens changes, it is necessary to measure the control characteristic again. Furthermore, the visual characteristics of the user also fluctuate due to visual factors such as tiredness and time changes such as morning, noon, and evening. Therefore, even if the correspondence information for determining the distance information to the gaze position and the control amount of the varifocal lens is once obtained, recalibration is desired. However, there is a problem in that repeating the above-mentioned adjustment work is complicated.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made on the basis of the above background, and it is possible to easily adjust the correspondence relationship between the distance information to the gaze position and the control amount of the variable focus lens. It is intended to provide focusing glasses.

[0008]

The automatic focusing glasses according to claim 1, comprising a variable focus lens, a gazing point distance calculating section,
A focal length control unit, an adjustment unit, and a memory setting unit are provided. The gazing point distance calculation unit calculates the distance from the variable focus lens to the gazing point. The focal length control unit controls the focal length of the variable focus lens. The adjuster adjusts the focal length of the variable focus lens by an operator. The memory setting unit stores the control amount of the varifocal lens in the focal length obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit and the gazing point distance at that time in association with each other.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic focus adjustment eyeglasses according to the first aspect, the memory setting section further comprises:
Interpolation data is generated from the control amount of the variable focus lens obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit and the gazing point distance at that time.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the automatic focus adjustment spectacles according to the first or second aspect, wherein the memory setting section further obtains the control amount of the variable focus lens obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting section. And the gazing point distance at that time, or based on the interpolation data obtained from them, the control amount at a certain gazing point distance is set.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for calibrating automatic focusing glasses using a variable focus lens, wherein the control amount of the variable focus lens in a state where an object can be clearly seen by the variable focus lens. And the calibration is performed based on the correspondence between the gazing point distance from the variable focus lens to the gazing point.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of calibrating automatic focusing glasses using a variable focus lens, the control amount of the variable focus lens and a gazing point distance from the variable focus lens to a gazing point. Correspondence is set in advance, and then, the correspondence between the control amount of the varifocal lens and the gazing point distance from the varifocal lens to the gazing point in a state where an object can be clearly seen by the varifocal lens. Is recorded, and the control amount is calibrated based on the difference between the preset control amount and the control amount recorded thereafter.

According to a sixth aspect of the calibration method, after the calibration is performed by the method of the fifth aspect, the control amount of the varifocal lens and the gazing point from the varifocal lens to the gazing point are further provided. The correspondence with the distance is recorded, and the control amount is calibrated based on the difference between the calibrated control amount or the preset control amount and the control amount recorded thereafter.

A calibration method according to a seventh aspect is the calibration method according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, further, the visual condition at the time of calibration is recorded in association with the calibration. If the visual condition is met, the control amount associated with the condition is used.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Variable focus glasses according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the variable focus adjustment glasses include a variable focus lens 1, a gazing point distance calculation unit 2, a focal length control unit 3, an adjustment unit 4, and a memory setting unit 5. It is equipped as the subject.

The variable focus lens 1 is located in front of the eyeball 10 (see FIG. 2). Variable focus lens 1
There are left and right. That is, in this embodiment, two variable focus lenses 1 are used. These variable focus lenses 1 have the same configuration as each other.
The varifocal lens 1 includes two transparent plates 11 and a transparent body 12 filled therein (see FIG. 3). The transparent body 12 is deformable, and the focal length can be adjusted by this deformation. Such a variable focus lens is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-249813 (Document 2) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-249202 (Document 3), and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The gazing point distance calculation unit 2 calculates the distance to the gazing point. The gazing point distance calculation unit 2 includes a gaze direction detector 21 for the right eye and a gaze direction detector 22 for the left eye.
It has and. The structure of the gazing point distance calculation unit 2 is described in Reference 1
As described above, detailed description will be omitted.
The focal length control unit 3 includes an actuator 31. The focal length control unit 3 controls the focal length of the varifocal lens 1 by the operation of the actuator 31. Such a focal length control unit 3 is also as described in Document 1. The gazing point distance calculation unit 2 and the focal length control unit 3 are attached to, for example, the varifocal lens 1 or the vicinity thereof.

The adjusting section 4 adjusts the focal length of the varifocal lens 1 by an operator's operation. For example,
The adjustment unit 4 has an operation unit (not shown) that allows the operator to operate the focal length. The adjusting unit 4 includes the variable focus lens 1
Or it may be attached in the vicinity thereof, or
The focal length may be adjusted from a distant position by using wireless or wired. The adjusting unit 4 may be capable of adjusting the focal length steplessly, or may be adjustable at each preset step.

The memory setting unit 5 stores the control amount of the variable focus lens 1 obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit 4 and the gazing point distance at that time in association with each other. The memory setting unit 5 further generates interpolation data from the control amount of the variable focus lens obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit 4 and the gazing point distance at that time. The memory setting unit 5 is further based on data of the control amount of the varifocal lens 1 obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit 4 and the gazing point distance at that time (or the interpolation data obtained from these). The control amount at a certain gazing point distance is set. The set control amount is sent to the focal length control unit 3 and can be controlled according to this control amount. The memory setting unit 5 is, for example, the varifocal lens 1
Or it is attached in the vicinity.

Next, the operation of the automatic focusing glasses according to this embodiment will be described. The spectacles of this embodiment are used in the same manner as that described in Document 1. When the calibration becomes necessary, the operator first looks at an arbitrary object. The calculation unit 2 can calculate the distance to the gazing point based on the line-of-sight direction at this time. On the other hand, the operator operates the adjusting unit 4 to adjust the focal lengths of the left and right lenses 1 so that the object can be seen most clearly. This allows the operator to adapt the focal length to any object. The control amount for the left and right lenses 1 at this time is stored in the storage setting unit 5. This relationship is conceptually shown in FIG.

A more specific example of use is shown in FIG. The broken line in the figure shows the correspondence between the distance information and the control amount (the preset content). On the other hand, the correspondence can be reset at any number of points. The resetting method at each point is basically the same as the method shown in FIG. However, in this example, the setting is performed based on the difference between the preset control amount (broken line in FIG. 5) and the control amount recorded thereafter (solid line in FIG. 5). That is, first, the control is performed based on the preset control amount. The difference from that point to the optimum value is acquired by operating the adjustment unit 4. The control amount is set using this difference. In this way, it is possible to shorten the time for acquiring the control amount by operating the adjustment unit 4.

Another example of use is shown in FIG. In this example, readjustment is first performed for any one point. Then readjust the other points. Repeat this work. By this method, it is possible to perform the calibration sequentially while observing different positions such as short distance, medium distance, and long distance. Also in this example, as in the case of FIG.
It can be adjusted using the difference. In this way, after the control amount is adjusted by adjusting at one point,
Since the setting can be performed by using the difference between the adjusted control amount and the optimum value, there is an advantage that the time for acquiring the adjusted control amount can be further shortened.

In this way, the correspondence between the distance information and the control amount can be readjusted. Points that are not actually measured can be interpolated by an arbitrary interpolation method.

When using the autofocus eyeglasses readjusted in this way, they can be used in the same manner as ordinary autofocus eyeglasses. That is, since the readjusted correspondence is stored in the focal length control unit 3, it is possible to adjust the focal length using it.

In this embodiment, the correspondence between the distance information to the gaze position and the control amount of the variable focus lens can be easily reset. Further, even if the visual characteristic of the user or the control characteristic of the variable focus lens 1 changes, the correspondence can be easily corrected. Furthermore, it is even possible to reconfigure one person's autofocus glasses for another person.

In the above embodiment, the correspondence relationship between the distance information to the gaze position and the control amount of the variable focus lens is stored in advance, but such a data is not provided from the beginning. Good. In this case, the correspondence obtained by the above method may be used from the beginning. When acquiring the control amount for the above-mentioned calibration, the visual condition at the time of acquisition (for example, the temporal condition such as morning, noon, and evening, and the physical condition such as fatigue) are stored together with the control amount. It can also be recorded by the setting unit 5. By doing so, when the visual condition of the user matches the recorded condition, the control amount suitable for the condition can be used.

It should be noted that the above description of the embodiment is merely an example, and does not show an essential structure of the present invention. As long as the configuration of each part can achieve the gist of the present invention,
Not limited to the above. For example, each component described above may exist as a functional block, and may not exist as independent hardware. The mounting method may be hardware or computer software. Furthermore, the functional blocks may be configured by a plurality of hardware, or the plurality of functional blocks may be configured by a single piece of hardware. The power supply for operating the above-mentioned components may be arranged near the lens 1 or may be arranged at a separated position.

[0028]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide variable focus adjustment spectacles capable of easily adjusting the correspondence relationship between the distance information to the gaze position and the control amount of the variable focus lens.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of variable focus adjustment glasses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overall configuration of variable focus adjustment glasses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a variable focus lens.

FIG. 4 is a graph for explaining how to use the variable focus glasses.

FIG. 5 is a graph for explaining how to use the variable focus adjustment glasses.

FIG. 6 is a graph for explaining how to use the variable focus adjustment glasses.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Variable focus lens 2 gazing point distance calculator 3 Focal length controller 4 adjuster 5 Memory setting section 10 eyeballs 20 gazing point

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Ota             722-1 Nakashinda, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture (B-             208) F-term (reference) 2H006 BD00                 2H051 AA00 BA80 DA24

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A variable focus lens, a gazing point distance calculation section, a focal length control section, an adjusting section, and a memory setting section, wherein the gazing point distance calculation section is from the variable focus lens to the gazing point. The focal length control unit controls the focal length of the varifocal lens, and the adjusting unit adjusts the focal length of the varifocal lens by an operator. The storage setting unit stores the control amount of the varifocal lens at the focal length obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit and the gazing point distance at that time in association with each other. Automatic focusing glasses characterized by. 2. The storage setting unit further generates interpolation data from the control amount of the varifocal lens obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit and the gazing point distance at that time. The automatic focusing glasses according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The storage setting unit further includes data of a control amount of the varifocal lens obtained by the adjustment by the adjusting unit and a gazing point distance at that time, or the data obtained from them. The automatic focusing glasses according to claim 1, wherein the control amount at a certain gazing point distance is set based on interpolation data. 4. A method of calibrating automatic focusing glasses using a variable focus lens, comprising: a control amount of the variable focus lens and a variable focus lens in a state where an object can be clearly seen by the variable focus lens. A calibration method, characterized in that the calibration is performed based on a correspondence with a gazing point distance from the gazing point to the gazing point. 5. A method of calibrating automatic focusing glasses using a variable focus lens, wherein correspondence between a control amount of the variable focus lens and a gazing point distance from the variable focus lens to a gazing point is preset. Then, the correspondence between the control amount of the varifocal lens and the gazing point distance from the varifocal lens to the gazing point is recorded in a state where an object can be clearly seen with the varifocal lens, and the preset value is set. A calibration method comprising calibrating the controlled variable based on a difference between the controlled variable and the recorded controlled variable. 6. After the calibration is performed by the method according to claim 5, the correspondence between the control amount of the varifocal lens and the gazing point distance from the varifocal lens to the gazing point is recorded, A calibration method for calibrating a controlled variable based on a calibrated controlled variable or a difference between a preset controlled variable and a recorded controlled variable thereafter. 7. The calibration method according to claim 4, further comprising: recording a visual condition at the time of calibration in association with the calibration, and recording the visual condition. The calibration method is characterized in that the control amount associated with the condition is used when the above condition applies.