JPH04242624A - Eyeball gazed region indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To indicate stably a gazed region by a comparing means for comparing the duration of gazing condition of eye balls with a predetermined duration of time and a discrimination indicating means for discriminating and indicating the eyeball gazed region and ungazed condition when the duration of gazing condition is longer than the predetermined duration of time. CONSTITUTION:When a subject gazes a region in a circle 51, the region is masked. Also when the subject gazes a region in a circle 52, the region is similarly masked. After the duration(td) of the masking, the masked region is unmasked as shown by the dotted region 53 and an image for presentation, i.e., the region gazed by the subject is indicated. Conversely, the field of vision can be similarly limited by indicating only the gazed region, i.e., masking the region except for the gazed region.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an eyeball gaze area display device, and more particularly to an eyeball gaze area display device that can stably display the eyeball gaze region.

0002

[Background Art] By analyzing eye movements, various data can be obtained in fields such as psychology and medicine. That is, in the field of psychology, for example, visual psychological experiments are conducted using image engineering, and in the fields of medicine and psychiatry, data necessary for brain function analysis, medical treatment, and treatment are obtained.

[0003] In order to display the subject's eye movements, in the image displayed on the screen, the image area that the subject is gazing at is masked, or the area that the subject is not gazing at is masked (visual field restriction). As an example of an eye gaze area display device which is the background of this invention, a device previously filed by the applicant of the present application is shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 7, light from a presented image is applied to the subject's eyeball 3 via a half mirror 21 and a lens system 25. On the other hand, infrared light for eye movement detection is emitted from the infrared LED 12, and this infrared light is given to the eyeball 3 via the lens system 27. Therefore, a virtual image of the spot of the infrared LED 12 is coupled to the subject's corneal surface. The combined image is focused on an area sensor 83 such as a video camera via a mirror 81 and a lens system 82. The eye movement detection unit 9 detects horizontal and vertical two-dimensional eye movement from the image output from the area sensor 83,
A control signal for controlling the servo control unit 10 is generated.

On the other hand, light of a masking image for indicating the region of interest is provided through prisms 23 and 24. Each prism 23 and 24 is controlled by drive units 111 and 112, respectively, in response to a control signal output from servo control unit 10 so that the masking image is placed on the subject's gaze area. As a result, half mirror 21
Above, a masking image indicating the subject's gaze area is superimposed on the presented image, and an image indicating eye movement is obtained.

[0006]

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, drive sections 111 and 112 are driven by control signals generated from a servo control section 10, and galvanometers 113 and 114 are used to drive these. is used. In order to display the movement detected by the eye movement detection unit 9 by moving the masking image, galvanometers 113 and 1 with fast response speed are used.
This is because it is necessary to use 14. Therefore, in a device that uses a galvanometer like this device, masking processing is performed even when the subject is not in a gazing state, such as when the subject blinks or moves the gaze point. Put it away. In other words,
Masked images are frequently displayed on the screen even when the subject is not gazing, which poses a problem in analyzing eye movements.

The present invention was developed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to stably display a gaze area in an eyeball gaze area display device.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] An eyeball gaze area display device according to the present invention includes gaze state detection means for detecting that a gaze state by the eyeball is occurring in an image displayed on an image display means; a time length detection means for detecting the time length of the fixed gaze state; a comparison means for comparing a predetermined time length with the time length detected by the time length detection means; , identification display means for distinguishing and displaying the gaze area and non-gazing area of the eyeball on the image displayed on the image display means.

[0009]

[Operation] In the eyeball gaze area display device according to the present invention, the comparing means compares the eyeball gaze state time length with a predetermined time length. The identification display means distinguishes and displays the gazing area and the non-gazing area of the eyeball when the time length of the gazing state is longer than a predetermined time length. The unstable movement prevents the gazing area and the non-gazing area from being distinguished and displayed on the image displayed on the image display means.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an eye gaze area display device showing an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
This gaze area display device includes an eye movement detection device 1 that detects the eye movement of the subject, an arithmetic processing device 2 that performs arithmetic processing based on the detected eye movement, and a presentation image generation device 3 that presents the image to the test subject. , a masking image generation device 4 that generates a masking (or visual field restriction) image for displaying the subject's gaze area, and a masking image on the presentation image in response to a control signal output from the arithmetic processing device 2. It includes an image switching device 5 to be inserted, and a display device 6 to display images output from the image switching device 5.

First, the processing in the eye movement detection device will be explained. The eye movement detection device detects eye movement when a subject is observing an image using a method described later. In general, even when a subject is gazing at a single point, the eyeballs make violent small movements called fixation micromovements. Therefore, the eye movement data obtained by the eye movement detection device includes the fixation micromovement component, the jumping movement that occurs when moving between fixation points, the eye movement called follow-up movement, and the noise component that occurs due to blinking, etc. and are included. In order to accurately detect, from such signals, the point of gaze that occurs when the subject fixes his or her gaze on the point seen in the image, it is necessary to define the point of gaze. As an example of a method for defining the gaze point, a method using eye movement speed as a reference is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 126140/1983. The eye movement detection device 1 shown in FIG. 1 uses this method to detect eye movement as follows.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining the principle of eye movement detection. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4,
A virtual image 33 of the infrared LED 12 is formed on the crystalline lens 31. Since the rotation center O of the eyeball and the rotation center O' of the crystalline lens 31 are different, this virtual image 33 moves in parallel as the eyeball rotates. This parallel movement amount 34 corresponds to the rotation angle of the eyeball, and is shown in FIG.
It is detected by capturing an image 33' of the virtual image 33 that has been translated in parallel, as shown in FIG. 4, using the video camera image area sensor shown in FIG.

In this way, the eye movement detection device 1 shown in FIG. A state signal indicating movement of the gaze point, blinking, etc. is detected.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the gaze area display device shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG.
” and a status signal St having “2” is generated. A value of "0" indicates blinking, a value of "1" indicates movement of the gaze point,
The value "2" indicates the occurrence state of the gaze point. time length t
v indicates the duration of the occurrence state of the gaze point.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for explaining the processing in the arithmetic processing device 2 shown in FIG. First, in step 41, ts, td, and θ are input using a keyboard (not shown) or the like. ts corresponds to a time length that becomes a threshold value for performing masking processing when the occurrence of the gaze point continues beyond that time length. td
indicates the time length in which the masking image should be inserted, and θ indicates the masking angle.

In step 42, the time length tv in the occurrence state of the gaze point is detected. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the time length t when the state St has the value "2"
v is detected.

In step 43, it is determined whether tv>ts. That is, when this condition is satisfied, the next step 44 is performed, and when it is not satisfied, the process returns to step 42. That is, when the gaze point generation state continues beyond the predetermined time length ts, the masking process described below will be performed.

In step 44, a switching signal Sw for inserting a masking image at a masking angle θ is generated at timings ts and td. The switching Sw is applied to the image switching device 5 shown in FIG.

In step 45, the image switching device 5 performs a switching operation to insert the masking image generated from the masking image generation device 4 onto the image generated from the presentation image generation device 3. That is, the switching signal Sw generated from the arithmetic processing device 2 has two levels, MSK and ORG, as shown in FIG. When the signal Sw indicates the level ORG, the image switching device 5
Only the image signal of the presentation image is given to the display device 6. When the switching Sw indicates the level MSK, an image signal of an image in which a masking image is superimposed on the viewing area on the presentation image is given to the display device 6. Note that the time length te shown in FIG. 2 is the time length tv, ts, and td of the gaze state.
is uniquely determined by.

An example of an image displayed on the display device 6 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 6, when the subject gazes at an area within circle 51, that area is masked as shown in this figure. Furthermore, when the subject gazes at the area of the circle 52, it is similarly masked. On the other hand, after the masking time length td has elapsed, as shown by a dotted circle 53, the masked area is unmasked, and the presentation image, that is, the area that the subject was gazing at, is Is displayed.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the gaze area was masked by the masking image, but on the contrary, the field of view can be restricted by displaying only the gaze area, that is, by masking the area excluding the gaze area. This can also be done in the same manner as described above. In either case, the point in common is that the gazing area and the non-gazing area of the eyeball are distinguished and displayed.

As described above, in the gaze area display device shown in FIG. 1, in step 43 shown in FIG. This is detected, and masking of the region of interest is performed in steps 44 and 45. Therefore, masking processing is prevented from being performed when the subject is not originally in a gaze state, such as when the subject blinks or moves the gaze point. Therefore, the subject's gaze area can be stably displayed on the display device 6.

The eyeball gaze area display device shown in FIG.
For example, it can be applied to a visual psychological experiment device for elucidating early human vision. It is also pointed out that the present invention can be applied to devices for diagnosing the progress of dementia, in particular in the field of psychiatry, and can be widely used for devices that perform tests based on the movement of a subject's gaze area.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, a comparison means for detecting that the time length of the gaze state is longer than a predetermined time length is provided, and the gaze area of the eyeball is determined based on the comparison result. Since the gazing area and the non-gazing area are identified and displayed, an eyeball gazing area display device capable of stably displaying the gazing area has been obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an eyeball gaze area display device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the gaze area display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an optical system diagram for explaining the principle of eye movement detection.

FIG. 4 is an eyeball diagram for explaining the principle of eye movement detection.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for explaining processing in the arithmetic processing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a screen diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a gaze area display device that is the background of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Eye movement detection device 2 Arithmetic processing unit 3 Presentation image generation device 4 Masking image generation device 5 Image switching device 6 Display device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An eyeball gaze area display device, comprising: an image display means; a gaze state detection means for detecting that a gaze state by the eyeball is occurring in an image displayed on the image display means; A time length detection means for detecting the time length of the detected gaze state in response to the gaze state detection means, and a comparison between a predetermined time length and the time length detected by the time length detection means. and an identification display means for identifying and displaying a gaze area and a non-gazing area of the eyeball on the image displayed on the image display means in response to the comparison means. Device.