VISUAL FATIGUE LEVEL MEASURING DEVICE, VISUAL FATIGUE LEVEL MEASURING METHOD, VISUAL FATIGUE LEVEL MEASURING SYSTEM, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL GLASSES

• US 20130044291A1
• Filed: 10/18/2012
• Published: 02/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: KATO, Yumiko, INOUE, Tsuyoshi, OZAWA, Jun
• Granted Patent: US 8,899,752 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 351/209
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/0025 characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/08 for testing binocular or stereoscopic vision, e.g. strabismus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement

Abstract

A visual fatigue level measuring device includes: a video presenting unit which presents 3D video; a test period determining unit which determines two or more time periods each of which is for a test for measuring a level of visual fatigue; an eye movement obtaining unit which obtains data indicating eye movements of left and right eyes of a player with respect to the presented video; an eye movement extracting unit which extracts, from the obtained eye movement data, eye movement data in each of the two or more time periods determined by the test period determining unit; an eye movement comparing unit which compares eye movements in the two or more time periods based on the extracted data; and a fatigue level determining unit which determines the level of visual fatigue of the player based on the comparison result.

Claims

1. A visual fatigue level measuring device which measures a level of visual fatigue of a user who is viewing three-dimensional (3D) video, the visual fatigue level measuring device comprising:

a video presenting unit configured to present, to the user, left-eye video and right-eye video that are included in the 3D video;

a control input unit configured to receive a control by the user with respect to the presented 3D video;

a gaze target identifying unit configured to, when the control input unit receives a predetermined control, (i) obtain, from a storing unit, target region information including information for identifying a visual target in the 3D video and information indicating time at which the visual target is presented by the video presenting unit, and (ii) determine that the user was gazing at the visual target in the 3D video presented by the video presenting unit at a time at which the control input unit received the predetermined control, by referring to the obtained target region information;

a test period determining unit configured to (i) obtain, from the storing unit, target depth information indicating a depth of the visual target in the 3D video, and (ii) determine two or more time periods based on a depth change of the visual target identified by the gaze target identifying unit, by referring to the obtained target depth information, each of the two or more time periods being a time period for a test for measuring the level of visual fatigue;

an eye movement obtaining unit configured to obtain data indicating eye movements of left and right eyes of the user with respect to the 3D video presented by the video presenting unit;

an eye movement accumulating unit configured to accumulate the obtained data indicating the eye movements;

an eye movement extracting unit configured to extract, from the data accumulated in the eye movement accumulating unit, data indicating the eye movements in each of the two or more time periods determined by the test period determining unit;

an eye movement comparing unit configured to compare the eye movements in the two or more time periods based on the data extracted by the eye movement extracting unit; and

a fatigue level determining unit configured to determine the level of visual fatigue of the user based on a result of the comparison by the eye movement comparing unit.

2. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the visual target comprises a plurality of visual targets, and

when the control input unit receives the predetermined control, the gaze target identifying unit is configured to select one of the visual targets presented by the video presenting unit, and determine that the user was gazing at the selected one of the visual targets.

3. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 2,

wherein the video presenting unit is configured to present, to the user, left-eye video and right-eye video that are included in a game in which the user aims at the visual target and shoots the visual target,

the control input unit is configured to receive a control performed by the user to aim at the visual target for shooting, and

the gaze target identifying unit is configured to identify the visual target at which the user is gazing based on the control received by the control input unit.

4. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the test period determining unit is configured to determine, as the time period for the test for measuring the level of visual fatigue, two or more different time periods which have a same depth change among depth changes of the visual target identified by the gaze target identifying unit.

5. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the fatigue level determining unit is configured to determine that the level of visual fatigue is higher as a difference in the eye movements between the two or more time periods increases.

6. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the visual target comprises a plurality of visual targets,

the gaze target identifying unit is configured to determine that the user was gazing at the visual targets concurrently presented by the video presenting unit, and

the test period determining unit is configured to identify, as a part of the time period for the test, a time period during which a visual target having a large amount of depth change among the visual targets identified by the gaze target identifying unit is being presented.

7. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the visual target comprises a plurality of visual targets,

the gaze target identifying unit is configured to determine that the user was gazing at the visual targets concurrently presented by the video presenting unit, and

the test period determining unit is configured to identify, as the time period for the test, a time period during which a visual target having a high speed depth change or a large amount of depth change among the visual targets is being presented.

8. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the eye movement comparing unit is configured to compare components of the eye movements which follow a depth movement of the visual target, among eye movement components.

9. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 8,

wherein the eye movement comparing unit is configured to compare differences each between a position of a center of a pupil of the left eye and a position of a center of a pupil of the right eye.

10. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the gaze target identifying unit is further configured to generate information indicating a testable period that is a time period during which the user was gazing at the visual target,

the visual fatigue level measuring device further comprises:

a testable period accumulating unit configured to accumulate information indicating the testable period generated by the gaze target identifying unit; and

a target video information generating unit configured to generate video including the visual target, based on the information indicating the testable period accumulated in the testable period accumulating unit, and

the video presenting unit is further configured to present the video generated by the target video information generating unit.

11. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 10, wherein the target video information generating unit is configured to generate video including a visual target which has a depth change equivalent to a depth change of a visual target in the testable period indicated by the information accumulated in the testable period accumulating unit.

12. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 10, wherein the target video information generating unit is configured to generate video having a contrast equivalent to a contract between the visual target and background video in the testable period indicated by the information accumulated in the testable period accumulating unit.

13. The visual fatigue level measuring device according to claim 10,

wherein the target video information generating unit is configured to generate background video having a line segment which indicates a horizontal plane and which is in an amount equivalent to an amount of a line segment which indicates a horizontal plane in background video and which is contiguous to the visual target in the testable period indicated by the information accumulated in the testable period accumulating unit.

14. A visual fatigue level measuring method for measuring a level of visual fatigue of a user who is viewing 3D video, the visual fatigue level measuring method comprising:

(a) presenting, to the user, left-eye video and right-eye video that are included in the 3D video;

(b) receiving a control by the user with respect to the presented 3D video;

(c) determining, when a predetermined control is received in the receiving in (b), that the user was gazing at a visual target in the 3D video presented in the presenting in (a) at a time at which the predetermined control was received, by referring to a target region information storing unit which stores target region information including information for identifying the visual target in the 3D video and information indicating time at which the visual target is presented in the presenting in (a);

(d) determining two or more time periods based on a depth change of the visual target determined in the determining in (c), by referring to a target depth information storing unit which stores target depth information indicating a depth of the visual target in the 3D video, each of the two or more time periods being a time period for a test for measuring the level of visual fatigue;

(e) obtaining data indicating eye movements of left and right eyes of the user with respect to the 3D video presented in the presenting in (a);

(f) accumulating the obtained data indicating the eye movements in an eye movement accumulating unit;

(g) extracting, from the data accumulated in the eye movement accumulating unit, data indicating the eye movements in each of the two or more time periods determined in the determining in (d);

(h) comparing the eye movements in the two or more time periods based on the data extracted in the extracting in (g); and

(i) determining the level of visual fatigue of the user based on a result of the comparison in the comparing in (h).

15. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for use in a visual fatigue level measuring device which measures a level of visual fatigue of a user who is viewing 3D video, the program causing a computer to execute the visual fatigue level measuring method according to claim 14.

16. Three-dimensional (3D) glasses for viewing 3D video including an image to be presented to a left eye of a user and an image to be presented to a right eye of the user, the 3D glasses comprising:

an eye movement obtaining unit configured to measure eye movements of the user; and

a fatigue level determining unit configured to receive information of the eye movements of the user from the eye movement obtaining unit and determine a level of visual fatigue of the user based on the information of the eye movements of the user.

17. A visual fatigue level measuring system comprising:

an image displaying device which displays three-dimensional (3D) video; and

3D glasses for viewing the 3D video,

wherein the 3D glasses include;

an eye movement obtaining unit configured to measure eye movements of a user; and

an eye movement information transmitting unit configured to transmit information of the eye movements measured by the eye movement obtaining unit to the image displaying device including a video presenting unit which presents the 3D video, and

wherein the image displaying device includes;

an image accumulating unit configured to accumulate an image to be presented to a left eye of the user and an image to be presented to a right eye of the user;

a video presenting unit configured to present the images accumulated in the image accumulating unit; and

a fatigue level determining unit configured to determine a level of visual fatigue of the user based on the information of the eye movements of the user transmitted from the 3D glasses.

18. Three-dimensional (3D) glasses for viewing 3D video including an image to be presented to a left eye of a user and an image to be presented to a right eye of the user, the 3D glasses comprising:

a synchronization signal receiving unit configured to synchronously receive a signal for switching between the image to be presented to the left eye and the image to be presented to the right eye;

a shutter control unit configured to switch between blocking of video by a right-eye shutter and a left-eye shutter, based on the synchronization signal;

an eye movement obtaining unit configured to measure eye movements of the user of the 3D glasses; and

an eye movement information transmitting unit configured to transmit, to an image displaying device including a video presenting unit which presents the 3D video, information of the eye movements measured by the eye movement obtaining unit.