WO2018004933A1 - Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard - Google Patents

Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2018004933A1
WO2018004933A1 PCT/US2017/035057 US2017035057W WO2018004933A1 WO 2018004933 A1 WO2018004933 A1 WO 2018004933A1 US 2017035057 W US2017035057 W US 2017035057W WO 2018004933 A1 WO2018004933 A1 WO 2018004933A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
viewer
gaze
content
path
profile
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2017/035057
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Dennis D. CASTLEMAN
Original Assignee
Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US15/280,962 external-priority patent/US10805592B2/en
Application filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. filed Critical Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Priority to EP17820805.4A priority Critical patent/EP3479257A4/fr
Priority to CN201780039518.8A priority patent/CN109416931B/zh
Priority to JP2018568225A priority patent/JP6686186B2/ja
Publication of WO2018004933A1 publication Critical patent/WO2018004933A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
    • H04N21/845—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
    • H04N21/2343—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/442—Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk
    • H04N21/44213—Monitoring of end-user related data
    • H04N21/44218—Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47—End-user applications
    • H04N21/472—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
    • H04N21/4728—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65—Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/658—Transmission by the client directed to the server
    • H04N21/6587—Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/81—Monomedia components thereof
    • H04N21/816—Monomedia components thereof involving special video data, e.g 3D video
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60—Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/90—Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60—Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H04N23/698—Control of cameras or camera modules for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
    • H04N5/222—Studio circuitry; Studio devices; Studio equipment
    • H04N5/262—Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects
    • H04N5/265—Mixing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to motion tracking.
  • Gaze tracking is the process of tracking a viewer's gaze location using sensors. The gaze location may then be used as an input to a computer system.
  • One embodiment provides a method for gaze tracking comprising: presenting a content to a viewer via a playback device, tracking a gaze path of the viewer with a gaze tracker coupled to the playback device, selecting a viewer profile from a plurality of viewer profiles stored in a viewer profile database based on the gaze path of the viewer, and predicting a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile.
  • Another embodiment provides a system for gaze tracking, comprising: a viewer profile database, a communication device, and a processor coupled to the viewer profile database and the communication device.
  • the processor being configured to: present a content to a viewer via a playback device coupled to the communication device, track a gaze path of the viewer with a gaze tracker coupled to the playback device, select a viewer profile from a plurality of viewer profiles stored in the viewer profile database based on the gaze path of the viewer, and predict a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile.
  • Another embodiment provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more computer programs configured to cause a processor based system to execute steps comprising: presenting a content to a viewer via a playback device, tracking a gaze path of the viewer with a gaze tracker coupled to the playback device, selecting a viewer profile from a plurality of viewer profiles stored in a viewer profile database based on the gaze path of the viewer, and predicting a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile.
  • a system for gaze tracking comprising: a display device, a gaze tracker, a communication device, and a processor coupled to the display device, the gaze tracker, and the communication device.
  • the processor being configured to: present a content to a viewer via a display device, track a gaze path of the viewer with the gaze tracker, select a viewer profile from a plurality of viewer profiles stored in a viewer profile database based on the gaze path of the viewer, predict a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile, and retrieve, with the communication device, a portion of the content from a content server based on the future gaze location.
  • FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for tracking gaze in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for tracking gaze in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention
  • FIG. 3 is an illustration of gaze paths in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a process diagram illustrating a process for tracking gaze in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing content in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing content in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
  • Gaze tracking may comprise eye tracking and/or head tracking.
  • gaze tracking may be used to determine a viewer's point of fixation in a displayed image and/or in a scene of the real world.
  • VR virtual reality
  • AR augmented reality
  • the system may use the viewer's gaze location to determine the content to display to the user.
  • FIG. 1 a method for tracking gaze is shown.
  • the steps in FIG. 1 may generally be performed by a processor-based device such as one or more of a computer system, a server, a cloud-based server, a content host, a streaming service host, a media server, a playback device, a display device, and the like.
  • the steps in FIG. 1 may be performed by one or more of the server 210 and the playback device 220 described with reference to FIG. 2, the server described with reference to FIG. 4, and/or other similar devices.
  • the system presents a content to a viewer via a playback device.
  • the content may comprise one or more of a movie, a TV show, a video clip, prerecorded video content, streaming video content, live-streamed video content, and the like.
  • the content may comprise a single video stream or a plurality of video streams captured by one or more of a stereoscopic camera system, a panoramic camera system, a surround view camera system, a 360- degree camera system, an omnidirectional camera system, and the like.
  • the content may be streamed from a content server to the playback device.
  • the playback device may comprise one or more of a game console, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a television, a head mounted display ("HMD"), an augmented reality device, a virtual reality device, a wearable device, a portable user device, a smartphone, etc.
  • the playback device may comprise a device and/or system of the type described in United States Patent Application No. 15/085,887, filed on March 30, 2016, entitled “Head-Mounted Display Tracking," the entire disclosure of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
  • step 120 the system tracks a gaze path of the viewer.
  • the gaze path may be tracked by a gaze tracker coupled to the playback device.
  • the gaze tracker may be configured track one or more of the viewer's eye movement, head movement, and body movement.
  • the gaze tracker may comprise one or more of an image sensor, an optical reflector sensor, a range sensor, an electromyography (EMG) sensor, and an optical flow sensor for detecting eye and/or head movement.
  • the gaze tracker may comprise an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and/or magnetic field surrounding the body, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes, sometimes also magnetometers.
  • IMU Inertial Measurement Unit
  • the gaze tracker may be coupled to an HMD and/or a wearable device that allows the sensor to detect the motion of the user's head or eyes via the motion of the HMD and/or wearable device.
  • the gaze tracker may comprise an optical sensor for detecting one or more of a head motion and eye-motion of the user.
  • the sensor may be coupled to an HMD and/or a wearable device or comprise a relatively stationary device that captures data from the viewer from a distance.
  • the gaze path of the viewer may be tracked by any conventional eye tracking, head tracking, and/or motion tracking sensors.
  • the gaze path of the viewer may comprise a record of a plurality of gaze locations and/or directions of the viewer detected over time.
  • the gaze path of the viewer may comprise gaze locations and/or directions timestamped according to the timestamp of the content viewed by the viewer.
  • the gaze locations in a gaze path may each be associated with one or more frames of the content.
  • the gaze path may comprise a two-dimensional gaze path.
  • the gaze path may comprise gaze locations comprising a coordinate in the display area of the content.
  • the gaze path may comprise a three-dimensional gaze paths.
  • the content may comprise immersive content in which viewers may navigation through a three-dimension space with body movement and/or input devices.
  • the gaze path comprises x, y, and z coordinates corresponding to the head and/or eyes of the viewer and a viewing direction.
  • the system selects a viewer profile based on the gaze path of the viewer tracked in step 120.
  • the viewer profile may be selected from a plurality of viewer profiles associated with the content stored in a viewer profile database.
  • each viewer profile may comprise an expected gaze path associated with the content.
  • a viewer profile may be associated with a segment of the content and/or the entire duration of the content.
  • the expected gaze path may comprise expected fixation points in one or more frames of the content.
  • the viewer profile may be selected based on matching the user's gaze path tracked in step 120 with the gaze paths in the plurality of viewer profiles during the same time period in the content.
  • the tracked gaze path may be compared to the viewer profiles by determining the amount of deviation between the tracked gaze path and the gaze paths in the viewer profiles and selecting the viewer profile with the least amount of deviation.
  • the viewer profiles may comprise one or more viewer profiles generated based on gaze paths of a plurality of users who viewed the content.
  • the system may record gaze paths of a plurality of viewers that viewed the same content. The gaze paths may then be grouped by their similarity to each other and a viewer profile may be created for each cluster of similar gaze paths.
  • the viewer profiles may comprise one or more default viewer profiles created during a post-production process of the content. For example, a producer of the content may manually input a default gaze path based on where he/she believes the viewer's fixation locations will likely be.
  • one or more viewers may view the content during the post production processor to generate a default viewer profile.
  • the viewer profiles may comprise one or more viewer profiles generated based on tracking a movement of one or more objects in the content.
  • a viewer profile associated with a soccer game may comprise a gaze path that is associated with the movement of the soccer ball during gameplay.
  • a viewer profile may comprise a gaze path that follows the fastest moving object in the frame.
  • a viewer profile may comprise a gaze path that follows a particular actor or actors in the content.
  • the content may be processed with an object recognition engine to identify one or more objects in the content. The locations of the identified objects may then be used to generate a gaze path of a viewer profile.
  • the system may use a default viewer profile to predict the viewer's future gaze location and the viewer profile associated with the viewer may be subsequently adjusted in step 130 when gaze tracking data becomes available.
  • a viewer profile may be selected base on the viewer's demographic information such as age, gender, location, etc.
  • one or more the default viewer profiles may be generated during the post-production process of the content.
  • the system predicts a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile selected in step 130.
  • the predicted future gaze location for a frame of the content may correspond to the gaze location and/or direction of the expected gaze path in the viewer profile selected in step 130.
  • the expected gaze path in the viewer profile may comprise gaze direction information and the system first identify a portion of the content display area that corresponds to the expected gaze direction to predict the gaze location.
  • the future gaze location predicted in step 140 may be used by the system to affect the display of the content.
  • the system may be configured to select a portion of the content based on the future gaze location and buffer the portion of the content at the playback device.
  • the portion of the content buffered at the playback device may correspond to a focal area associated with the future gaze location.
  • a system may be configured to provide a low bitrate version of a content item and a portion of a high bitrate version of the content item corresponding to the focal area to a playback device as described in United States Provisional Patent Application No. 62/374,687, filed on August 12, 2016, entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING AND DISPLAYING CONTENT" the entire disclosure of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
  • the portion of the high bitrate version may be selected and/or buffered at the playback device based on the future gaze location predicted in step 140.
  • the portion of the content corresponds to a video stream selected from a plurality of video streams comprising the content.
  • the content may comprise a plurality of separately encoded video streams and the system may be configured to select one or more streams to provide to the playback device as described in United States Provisional Patent Application No. 62/357,259, filed on June 30, 2016, entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING AND DISPLAYING SEGMENTED CONTENT" the entire disclosure of which is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
  • the one or more video streams provided to the playback device may be selected based on the future gaze location predicted in step 140.
  • the system may further determine an insertion location for added content based on the future gaze location.
  • the added content may comprise one or more of alert information, supplemental information, selection menu, and advertisement content.
  • the system may be configured to insert native advertisement into legacy content based on the predicted gaze location of the viewer. Examples of methods and systems that displays content based on predicted future gaze location according to some embodiments are described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 herein.
  • the process may return to step 120 during the playback of the content.
  • the system may track the subsequent gaze path of the viewer after selecting the viewer profile and select a different one of the plurality of viewer profiles based on the subsequent gaze path.
  • the viewer profile selected for a viewer in step 130 may change any number of time as the viewer views the content.
  • step 130 may be repeated periodically (e.g. 1 second, 2 seconds, 240 frames, etc.). In some embodiments, step 130 may be repeated when a substantial deviation from the expected gaze path is detected.
  • the system includes a server 210 and a playback device 220 communicating over a data connection such as a network.
  • the server 210 includes a processor 212, a memory 213, and a communication device 214.
  • the server 210 may generally comprise one or more processor-based devices accessible by the playback device via a network such as the Internet.
  • the content server may comprise one or more of a cloud-based server, a content host, a streaming service host, a media server, a streaming video server, a broadcast content server, a social networking server, and the like.
  • the processor 212 may comprise one or more of a control circuit, a central processor unit, a graphical processor unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a video decoder, a video encoder and the like.
  • the memory 213 may include one or more of a volatile and/or non-volatile computer readable memory devices.
  • the memory 213 stores computer executable code that causes the processor 212 to provide content to the playback device 220.
  • the communication device 214 may comprise one or more of a network adapter, a data port, a router, a modem, and the like. Generally, the communication device 214 may be configured to allow the processor 212 to communicate with the playback device 220. In some embodiments, the processor 212 may be configured to match a user's gaze path detected by the playback device 220 with a viewer profile stored in the viewer profile database 219. In some embodiments, the server 210 may further comprise a content server configured to provide content to the playback device 220 based on the selected viewer profile.
  • the server 210 may be configured to stream the content recorded by a capture device to the playback device 220 in substantially real-time. In some embodiments, the server 210 may be configured to host a plurality of prerecorded content items for streaming and/or downloading to the playback devices 220 on-demand.
  • the viewer profile database 219 may comprise computer readable memory storage storing a plurality of viewer profiles associated with one or more content items.
  • the viewer profiles may each be associated with a particular content item and comprise an expected gaze path associated with the content.
  • the expected gaze path may comprise expected fixation points and/or viewing directions in one or more frames of the content.
  • each viewer profile may be associated with a segment of the content and/or the entire duration of the content.
  • the viewer profiles in the viewer profile database 219 may comprise one or more viewer profiles generated based on gaze paths of a plurality of users who viewed the content.
  • the system may record gaze paths of a plurality of viewers that viewed the same content. The gaze paths may be grouped by their similarity to each other and a viewer profile may be created for each cluster of similar gaze paths.
  • viewer profiles may be established based on the gaze paths of model viewers who views the content with no or less time delay as compared to the viewers of the broadcasted content.
  • the viewer profiles in the viewer profile database 219 may comprise one or more default viewer profile created during a post-production process of the content.
  • the viewer profiles in the viewer profile database 219 may comprise one or more viewer profiles generated based on tracking a movement of one or more objects in the content.
  • a viewer profile associated with a soccer game may comprise a gaze path that is associated with the movement of the soccer during gameplay.
  • a viewer profile in the viewer profile database 219 may comprise a gaze path that follows the fastest moving object in the frame.
  • a viewer profile in the viewer profile database 219 may comprise a gaze path that follows a particular actor or actors in the content.
  • the content may be processed with an object recognition engine to identify one or more objects in the content. The locations of the identified objects in the frame of the content may then be used to generate a gaze path for a viewer profile.
  • one or more viewer profiles in the viewer profile database 219 may be associated with viewer demographic information (e.g. gender, age, location, etc.). If a tracked gaze path is not available, a viewer profile may be selected based on viewer demographic information.
  • the server 210 may be configured to simultaneously select viewer profiles and/or provide content to a plurality of playback devices 220 via the communication device 214. In some embodiments, the server 210 may be configured to facilitate peer-to-peer transfer of video streams between capture devices and playback devices 220. In some embodiments, the server 210 may be configured add to and/or modify viewer profiles in the viewer profile database 219 based on records of viewer gaze paths received from a plurality of playback devices 220. For example, if a group of viewers shares a similar gaze path for a portion of the content that does not match well with an existing viewer profile in the viewer profile database 219, the server 210 may create a new viewer profile based on the group of similar gaze paths. In some embodiments, the system may use the demographic of viewers to update the demographic associated with one or more viewer profiles. While one server 210 is shown, in some embodiments, functionalities of the server 210 may be implemented on one or more processor-based devices.
  • the playback device 220 comprises a processor 221, a memory 223, a display device 225, and a sensor device 227.
  • the playback device 220 may generally comprise a processor-based devices such as one or more of a game console, a media console, a set-top box, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a television, a head mounted display ("HMD"), an augmented reality device, a virtual reality device, a wearable device, a portable user device, a smartphone, etc.
  • the processor 221 may comprise one or more of a control circuit, a central processor unit (CPU), a graphical processor unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a video decoder and the like.
  • the memory 223 may include one or more of a volatile and/or non-volatile computer readable memory devices.
  • the memory 223 stores computer executable code that causes the processor 221 to track a viewer's gaze path with the sensor device 227.
  • the playback device 220 may be configured predict a further gaze location based on viewer profiles retrieved from the server 210 and/or stored locally.
  • the playback device 220 may be configured to retrieve content from the server 210 and/or render content locally based on the predicted gaze location of the viewer.
  • the memory 223 may comprise a buffer for buffering, from the server 210, a portion of the content being view on the display device 225.
  • the computer executable code stored in the memory 223 may comprise one or more of a computer program, a software program, a playback device firmware, a mobile application, a game and/or media console application, etc.
  • the display device 225 may comprise a device for displaying content to a viewer.
  • the display device 225 may comprise one or more of a monitor, a television, a head mounted display (HMD), a virtual reality display device, a wearable device, a display screen, a mobile device, and the like.
  • the display device 225 may comprise a stereoscopic display having one or more screens.
  • the sensor device 227 may comprise one or more sensors configured to track the gaze of a viewer of the display device 225.
  • the sensor device 227 may comprise one or more of an image sensor, an optical reflector sensor, a range sensor, an electromyography (EMG) sensor, and an optical flow sensor for detecting eye and/or head movement.
  • the sensor device 227 may comprise an IMU that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and/or magnetic field surrounding the body, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes, sometimes also magnetometers.
  • the sensor device 227 may be coupled to an HMD and/or a wearable device that allows the sensor to detect the motion of the user's head or eyes via the motion of the HMD and/or wearable device.
  • the sensor device 227 may comprise a camera for detecting one or more of a head motion and eye-motion of the user.
  • the sensor device 227 may be coupled to an HMD and/or a wearable device or be a relatively stationary device that captures data from the viewer from a distance.
  • the display device 225 may comprise a separate device with or without a separate processor.
  • the display device 225 may be coupled to the playback device 220 via a wired or wireless communication channel.
  • the playback device 220 may comprise a PC or a game console and the display device 225 may comprise an HMD configured to display content from the playback device 220.
  • the sensor device 227 may be part of the playback device 220, the display device 225, and/or may be a physically separated device communicating with one or more of the playback device 220 and the display device 225.
  • one or more of the display device 225 and the sensor device 227 may be integrated with the playback device 220.
  • the display device 225 may further comprise a processor and/or a memory for at least partially storing the retrieved content and/or the viewer's eye or head movement detected by the sensor device 227.
  • the playback device 220 may further include a communication device such as a network adapter, a Wi-Fi transceiver, a mobile data network transceiver, etc. for communicating with the server 210 and/or a capture device.
  • the playback device 220 may further include one or more user input/output devices such as a motion tracker, buttons, a controller, a keyboard, a display screen, a touch screen and the like for the user to control the selection and playback of content items.
  • the input devices may further be used by the viewer to navigate in an immersive reality content.
  • the content area 300 represents the display area of a content and gaze paths 301, 303, and 302 represent gaze paths covering the same time period of the content playback and associated with different viewer profiles.
  • the system may match the viewer to the viewer profile associated with the gaze path 302.
  • the viewer's future gaze locations may then be predicted based on continuing to follow the gaze path 302 with time.
  • the viewer may be associated with the gaze path 302 until a substantial deviation from the gaze path 302 is detected.
  • the gaze paths shown in FIG. 3 are provided for illustration only and may not necessarily represent actual gaze paths. While two-dimensional gaze paths are shown, in some embodiments, the gaze paths associated with viewer profiles may comprise gaze paths in the three-dimension space.
  • the content may comprise immersive content in which viewers may navigation through a three-dimension space.
  • the gaze locations comprising the gaze path may then each include x, y, and z coordinates from a point of reference in the virtual space and a viewing direction.
  • the gaze paths in FIG. 3 are shown as thin lines, in some embodiments, a gaze path may comprise a wide band of area and/or viewing directions.
  • the server in FIG. 4 may comprise the server 210 described with reference to FIG. 2 or a similar device.
  • the playback device in FIG. 4 may comprise the playback device 220 described with reference to FIG. 2 or a similar device.
  • the gaze tracker 410 of the playback device first detects the user's gaze locations and determine a gaze path 412. The gaze path 412 is then provided to the server.
  • each gaze path data point may be transmitted to the server as they are collected and the server may aggregate the data points to form a gaze path.
  • the server selects a viewer profile by matching the gaze path 412 with a plurality of viewer profiles 414.
  • the server predicts a further gaze location of the viewer based on the selected viewer profile.
  • the system selects a content portion to provide to the playback device based on the predicted gaze location.
  • the content portion may be retrieved and/or extracted from the content file 432.
  • the content portion may correspond to one or more video streams comprising the content.
  • the content portion may comprise a portion of a high bitrate version of the content.
  • the content portion is buffered at the playback device.
  • the content, including with the content portion is displayed to the user.
  • one or more of the steps 416, 420, and 430 may be performed by the playback device.
  • a plurality of viewer profiles may be preloaded on the playback device.
  • the playback device may be configured to predict gaze locations based on the detected gaze path 412 and the plurality of locally stored viewer profiles.
  • the playback device may be configured send a request to the server that specifies the content portion based on the predicted gaze location.
  • the playback device instead of buffering retrieved content, may be configured to begin rendering the content based on the predicted gaze location using locally stored and/or streamed content files.
  • FIG. 5 a method for providing content is shown.
  • the steps in FIG. 5 may generally be performed by a processor-based device such as a one or more of a head mounted display ("HMD"), an augmented reality device, a virtual reality device, a wearable device, a portable user device, a smartphone, a personal computer, a server device, a television, a tablet computer, a game console, etc.
  • the steps in FIG. 5 may be performed by one or more of the server 210 and the playback device 220 described with reference to FIG. 2, the server described with reference to FIG. 4, and/or other similar devices.
  • the system predicts a viewing direction of a user viewing a content item.
  • the viewing direction of the user may comprise one or more of a head direction and an eye direction.
  • the viewing direction may comprise a predicted direction based the future gaze location predicted in the method described with reference to FIG. 1 or a similar method.
  • a viewer gaze path comprising a history of the viewer's viewing directions may be compared to a plurality of gaze paths in viewer profiles. If the viewer's gaze path matches a gaze path in a viewer profile, future viewing directions of the viewer may be predicted based on the matching gaze path.
  • the content item may comprise a plurality of video streams captured by one or more of a panoramic camera system, a surround view camera system, a 360-degree camera system, an omnidirectional camera system, and the like.
  • a panoramic camera system a surround view camera system
  • a 360-degree camera system a 360-degree camera system
  • an omnidirectional camera system a 360-degree camera system
  • the content item may comprise a segmented content corresponding one or more of a panorama video, an immersive video, and/or an omnidirectional video.
  • each of the plurality of video streams may be captured by a separate image sensor of a camera assembly.
  • the content item may comprise pre-recorded or real-time streaming content.
  • the content item may comprise a plurality of individually encoded video streams hosted on a server accessible to a playback device.
  • the system may determine whether one or more video streams of the content item falls within the predicted view area of the user viewing the content item.
  • the user's predicted view area may correspond to an area around a fixation point corresponding to the viewing direction predicted based on the selected viewer profile.
  • the viewing direction may be based on a user's input via one or more input devices. For example, a user may use a joystick, a touchpad, a mouse, direction key, and the like to change the viewing direction. The view area may then correspond to the display area associated with the viewing direction.
  • the system may only retrieve and/or decode the select video stream to display to the user.
  • the system may perform steps 520-540 only if two or more video streams fall within the view area of the user.
  • the system selects two or more video streams of the content item.
  • the selection of the video streams may be based on the viewing direction of the user predicted in step 510 and directional data associated with the plurality of video streams of the content item.
  • the directional data of the plurality of video streams may be recorded by the capture system that records the content item and included as part of the content item file.
  • the capture system may include one or more IMUs for recording the orientation of the captured system during the recording of the content item.
  • the IMU data associated with the current section of the content item may be compared with the predicted viewing direction of the user to determine the video streams that corresponds to the predicted viewing direction of the user.
  • selecting the two or more video streams comprises loading the selected video streams to a buffer or cache to decode.
  • selecting the two or more video streams comprises retrieving the selected streams from a server that hosts the content item.
  • steps 510 and 520 may be performed by the content server, the playback device, and/or a third device.
  • step 530 the system decodes the two more video streams selected in step 520 to form two or more decoded video streams.
  • the decoding may be performed by an image or video decoder hardware and/or software module on the playback device.
  • the system stitches the two or more decoded video streams to form a combined image.
  • the video streams may be stitched according to known stitching methods such as methods comprising one or more of aligning, warping, and blending of the video streams.
  • the aligning of the images may be performed at the playback device via feature and/or keypoint detection.
  • the system may further be configured to selectively stitch portions of the video streams based on the predicted view area of the user. For example, if only a portion of the overlapping area of the two video streams falls within the predicted view area of the user, the system may only blend the portion of the overlaying area that is estimated to be visible to the user based on the prediction.
  • the degree of blending may further depend on the area's position in the field of view. For example, a rough (e.g. less computationally demanding) blending may be performed if the overlapping area falls in the peripheral area of the user's field of view and a more extensive blending may be performed if the overlapping area falls near the expected fixation point of the user. In some
  • the stitching of the two or more decoded video streams further comprises combining images based on warp and distortions associated with a playback device.
  • step 550 the system causes the combined image generated in step 540 to be displayed to the user.
  • the image may be displayed on a flat screen display device or a head mounted display.
  • the system prior to step 550, the system further adjusts the combined image based on the parameters associated with the display device.
  • the system may generate stereoscope images for a 3D and/or virtual reality display device.
  • the system may adjust the resolution of the combined image based on the display resolution of the display device. In some embodiments, the system may adjust the images based on warp and distortion associated with the display device.
  • steps 510-550 may be continuously repeated as the user changes his/her viewing direction while viewing the content item.
  • the viewer profiles selected to predict user's viewing direction in step 510 may change any number of times during a viewing of the content item. In some embodiments, depending on the viewing direction predicted in step 510, the video streams selected, decoded, and stitched in steps 520-540 may change over time.
  • FIG. 6 a method for providing content is shown.
  • the steps in FIG. 6 may generally be performed by a processor-based device such as one or more of a computer system, a server, a cloud-based server, a content host, a streaming service host, a media server, and the like.
  • the steps in FIG. 6 may be performed by one or more of the server 210 and the playback device 220 described with reference to FIG. 2, the server described with reference to FIG. 4, and/or other similar devices.
  • the system predicts a future gaze location a viewer of a content item.
  • the gaze location of the user may comprise one or more of a head direction and an eye direction.
  • the future gaze location may be predicted based the method described with reference to FIG. 1 or similar methods.
  • a gaze path comprising a history of the viewer's gaze locations may be compared to a plurality of gaze paths in viewer profiles. If the viewer's gaze path matches a viewer profile gaze a path, future gaze locations the viewer may be predicted based on the matching gaze path.
  • steps 610 may be performed by the content server, the playback device, and/or a third device.
  • the playback device retrieves a low bit rate version of a content item.
  • a playback device sends a content request to a server hosting the content item in step 620 to retrieve the content item.
  • the low bit rate version of the content item may comprise a reduced bit rate version of the content item generated by a content provider and/or the hosting service.
  • step 620 may occur prior to step 610 and the low bit rate version of the content item may begin to be downloaded, buffered, and/or viewed prior to the focal area of the viewer being determined or predicted.
  • the playback device retrieves a portion of a high bit rate version of the content item.
  • the playback device sends a content request identifying the focal area of the viewer predicted in step 610 to a server to retrieve the portion of the high bit rate version of the content item.
  • the server may be configured to predict a focal area and send the corresponding portion of the high bit rate version of the content item to the playback device.
  • the retrieved portion may comprise a spatial portion of the content selected based on the predicted focal area of the viewer.
  • the retrieved portion may comprise a short temporal segment of an area of the content item (e.g. milliseconds, seconds, frames, etc.).
  • the portion of the high bit rate version of the content item may be retrieved in a video stream separately encoded from the low bit rate version of the content item retrieved in step 620.
  • the low bit rate version of the content item may buffer ahead of the retrieval of the high bit rate version of the content item.
  • step 640 the system combines the portion of the high bit rate version of the content item with the low bit rate version of the content item to generate a combined image.
  • the system first decodes the portion of the high bit rate version of the content item retrieved in step 630 and the low bit rate version of the content item retrieved in step 620.
  • the system may first adjust the resolution and/or framerate of at least one of the versions prior to combining the images.
  • the combined image is displayed on a display device.
  • the display device may comprise one or more of a monitor, a television set, a projector, a head mounted display (HMD), a virtual reality display device, a wearable device, a display screen, a mobile device, and the like.
  • HMD head mounted display
  • virtual reality display device a virtual reality display device
  • wearable device a display screen
  • mobile device a mobile device, and the like.
  • the system may further adjust the combined image based on the display device's specifications. For example, for virtual reality display devices, the system may adjust for the warp and distortions associated with the device.
  • steps 610 to 650 may be repeated continuously as a viewer views a content item.
  • the viewer profiles selected to predict user's focal area in step 610 may change any number of times during a viewing of the content item.
  • different portions of the high bit rate version of the content item may be retrieved in step 630 and combined with the low bit rate version in step 640 over time.
  • step 620 may occur independently of steps 610 and 630.
  • the system may further be configured to predict a view area of the viewer and retrieve only a portion of the low bit rate content based on a view area of the viewer in step 620.
  • the view area of the viewer may be predicted based on matching the viewer to a viewer profile similar to the prediction of the focal area in step 610.
  • the view area of the viewer may generally refer to the area of the content that is visible to the user but may or may not be in focus in the viewer's field of vision.
  • one or more of the embodiments, methods, approaches, and/or techniques described above may be implemented in one or more computer programs or software applications executable by a processor based apparatus or system.
  • processor based apparatus or systems may comprise a computer, entertainment system, game console, workstation, graphics workstation, server, client, portable device, pad-like device, etc.
  • Such computer program(s) may be used for executing various steps and/or features of the above-described methods and/or techniques. That is, the computer program(s) may be adapted to cause or configure a processor based apparatus or system to execute and achieve the functions described above.
  • such computer program(s) may be used for
  • program code macros, modules, loops, subroutines, calls, etc., within or without the computer program(s) may be used for executing various steps and/or features of the above-described methods and/or techniques.
  • the computer program(s) may be stored or embodied on a computer readable storage or recording medium or media, such as any of the computer readable storage or recording medium or media described herein.
  • the present invention provides a computer program product comprising a medium for embodying a computer program for input to a computer and a computer program embodied in the medium for causing the computer to perform or execute steps comprising any one or more of the steps involved in any one or more of the embodiments, methods, approaches, and/or techniques described herein.
  • the present invention provides one or more non-transitory computer readable storage mediums storing one or more computer programs adapted or configured to cause a processor based apparatus or system to execute steps comprising: presenting a content to a viewer via a playback device, tracking a gaze path of the viewer with a gaze tracker coupled to the playback device, selecting a viewer profile from a plurality of viewer profiles stored in a viewer profile database based on the gaze path of the viewer, and predicting a future gaze location of the viewer based on the viewer profile.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Social Psychology (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
  • User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé destiné au suivi du regard. Un mode de réalisation du procédé destiné au suivi du regard consiste : à présenter un contenu à un observateur par l'intermédiaire d'un dispositif de lecture, à suivre une trajectoire du regard de l'observateur avec un suiveur de regard couplé au dispositif de lecture, à sélectionner un profil d'observateur parmi une pluralité de profils d'observateur mémorisés dans une base de données de profils d'observateur en fonction de la trajectoire du regard de l'observateur et à prédire un emplacement futur du regard de l'observateur en fonction du profil de l'observateur. L'invention concerne également des systèmes qui effectuent des étapes similaires et des supports d'informations non transitoires lisibles par ordinateur, chacun mémorisant un ou plusieurs programmes informatiques.
PCT/US2017/035057 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard WO2018004933A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP17820805.4A EP3479257A4 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard
CN201780039518.8A CN109416931B (zh) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 用于视线跟踪的装置和方法
JP2018568225A JP6686186B2 (ja) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 注視追跡のための装置及び方法

Applications Claiming Priority (10)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US201662357259P 2016-06-30 2016-06-30
US62/357,259 2016-06-30
US201662374687P 2016-08-12 2016-08-12
US62/374,687 2016-08-12
US15/280,962 US10805592B2 (en) 2016-06-30 2016-09-29 Apparatus and method for gaze tracking
US15/280,933 US11089280B2 (en) 2016-06-30 2016-09-29 Apparatus and method for capturing and displaying segmented content
US15/280,933 2016-09-29
US15/280,947 2016-09-29
US15/280,962 2016-09-29
US15/280,947 US20180007422A1 (en) 2016-06-30 2016-09-29 Apparatus and method for providing and displaying content

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2018004933A1 true WO2018004933A1 (fr) 2018-01-04

Family

ID=60786538

Family Applications (3)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2017/035060 WO2018004936A1 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé de fourniture et d'affichage de contenu
PCT/US2017/035058 WO2018004934A1 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé de capture et d'affichage de contenu segmenté
PCT/US2017/035057 WO2018004933A1 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard

Family Applications Before (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2017/035060 WO2018004936A1 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé de fourniture et d'affichage de contenu
PCT/US2017/035058 WO2018004934A1 (fr) 2016-06-30 2017-05-30 Appareil et procédé de capture et d'affichage de contenu segmenté

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (3) WO2018004936A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10826964B2 (en) 2018-09-05 2020-11-03 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Priority-based tile transmission system and method for panoramic video streaming
US10931979B2 (en) 2018-10-18 2021-02-23 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Methods, devices, and systems for decoding portions of video content according to a schedule based on user viewpoint

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP7219620B2 (ja) * 2019-01-23 2023-02-08 株式会社近江デジタルファブリケーションズ 配信画像生成方法

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20050273185A1 (en) * 2004-06-02 2005-12-08 Winfried Teiwes Method and apparatus for eye tracking latency reduction
US20150237336A1 (en) 2014-02-19 2015-08-20 Roger Sebastian Sylvan Stereoscopic display responsive to focal-point shift
US9462230B1 (en) * 2014-03-31 2016-10-04 Amazon Technologies Catch-up video buffering

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4208811A (en) 1978-11-30 1980-06-24 Enrique Junowicz Display with overlapping picture elements
JP2001008232A (ja) * 1999-06-25 2001-01-12 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 全方位映像出力方法と装置
US20090278921A1 (en) * 2008-05-12 2009-11-12 Capso Vision, Inc. Image Stabilization of Video Play Back
US8184069B1 (en) 2011-06-20 2012-05-22 Google Inc. Systems and methods for adaptive transmission of data
US9948970B2 (en) * 2013-03-15 2018-04-17 Cox Communications, Inc. Systems, methods, and apparatus for accessing recordings of content items on multiple customer devices
AU2013206560A1 (en) 2013-06-27 2015-01-22 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Method, system and apparatus for rendering
JP2017527230A (ja) * 2014-05-29 2017-09-14 ネクストブイアール・インコーポレイテッド コンテンツを配信および／または再生するための方法及び装置
US10204658B2 (en) * 2014-07-14 2019-02-12 Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. System and method for use in playing back panorama video content
IN2015CH02866A (fr) 2015-06-09 2015-07-17 Wipro Ltd

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20050273185A1 (en) * 2004-06-02 2005-12-08 Winfried Teiwes Method and apparatus for eye tracking latency reduction
US20150237336A1 (en) 2014-02-19 2015-08-20 Roger Sebastian Sylvan Stereoscopic display responsive to focal-point shift
US9462230B1 (en) * 2014-03-31 2016-10-04 Amazon Technologies Catch-up video buffering

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
CIG ET AL.: "Gaze-Based Virtual Task Predictor", GAZEIN, ACM, November 2014 (2014-11-01), pages 9 - 14, XP055154827, ISBN: 978-1-4503-0125-1, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:https://iui.ku.edu.tr/sezgin_publications/2014/ICMI_Gazeln.pdf> [retrieved on 20170726] *
See also references of EP3479257A4

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10826964B2 (en) 2018-09-05 2020-11-03 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Priority-based tile transmission system and method for panoramic video streaming
US10931979B2 (en) 2018-10-18 2021-02-23 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Methods, devices, and systems for decoding portions of video content according to a schedule based on user viewpoint

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2018004934A1 (fr) 2018-01-04
WO2018004936A1 (fr) 2018-01-04

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US10805592B2 (en) Apparatus and method for gaze tracking
US10721439B1 (en) Systems and methods for directing content generation using a first-person point-of-view device
JP6708689B2 (ja) 三次元ゲームプレイの共有
US10536693B2 (en) Analytic reprocessing for data stream system and method
US10834454B2 (en) Personalized presentation enhancement using augmented reality
JP6558587B2 (ja) 情報処理装置、表示装置、情報処理方法、プログラム、および情報処理システム
JP5868507B2 (ja) 視線に基づくオーディオビジュアル再生の位置選択
JP6178524B2 (ja) パノラマ動画再生装置、パノラマ動画編集装置、パノラマ動画再生方法、パノラマ動画再生プログラム、パノラマ動画再生システム及びパノラマ動画送信装置
US20120200667A1 (en) Systems and methods to facilitate interactions with virtual content
US20200388068A1 (en) System and apparatus for user controlled virtual camera for volumetric video
US11748870B2 (en) Video quality measurement for virtual cameras in volumetric immersive media
JP2019159950A (ja) 情報処理装置および情報処理方法
KR101606860B1 (ko) 파노라마 동영상의 화면 표시정보 디스플레이 방법 및 이를 이용한 모바일 단말 및 전방위 가상현실 제공 시스템
KR20180130504A (ko) 정보 처리 장치, 정보 처리 방법, 프로그램
WO2018004933A1 (fr) Appareil et procédé destinés au suivi du regard
US10388323B2 (en) Method and apparatus for displaying light field video data
KR101810671B1 (ko) 전방향 영상의 방향 정보를 생성하는 방법 및 이러한 방법을 수행하는 장치
KR20180102482A (ko) 전방향 영상의 방향 정보를 생성하는 방법 및 이러한 방법을 수행하는 장치
US20210195300A1 (en) Selection of animated viewing angle in an immersive virtual environment

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 17820805

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

ENP Entry into the national phase

Ref document number: 2018568225

Country of ref document: JP

Kind code of ref document: A

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

ENP Entry into the national phase

Ref document number: 2017820805

Country of ref document: EP

Effective date: 20190130