Eye controlled information transfer

• US 4,595,990 A
• Filed: 03/31/1983
• Issued: 06/17/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Garwin, Richard L., Levine, James L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas, James D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shaw, Dale M.
• Application Number:
  US06/480,992
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 364/518, 364/525, 364/709, 358/93, 358/107, 358/113, 340/365 P, 356/152, 351/209, 250/203 CT, 250/209, 250/215, 250/216, 250/221, 250/349
• US Class Current: 708/141
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor

Abstract

Information is transferred interactively between a user and an information processor by establishing the direction of the user'"'"'s gaze or visual focus with relation to portions of a viewing surface and thereafter the direction of the user'"'"'s gaze or visual focus to a specific portion of the viewing surface conveys information. The direction of a user'"'"'s gaze is established through a reflected signal from the operator'"'"'s eyeball.

Claims

1. In a user-machine visual communication device of the type involving displayed data wherein a user indicates by the location of the gaze of said user on a partitioned display a proposed machine action and said machine executes said action based on a verificatin from said user of a displayed indication of that proposed action, the improvement comprising:

means for said machine to indicate a proposed interpretation of said user gaze movement derived from the parameters of gaze location points, time and frequency of occurrence by locally changing the intensity of a portion of said displayed data, and

means for detecting in a specific location of said displayed data assigned for a verification signal concerning the information conveyed by said locally changing the intensity of a portion of said displayed data, the presence of the gaze location of said user.