Apparatus for detecting the direction of visual axis and information selecting apparatus utilizing the same

• US 6,091,899 A
• Filed: 05/24/1995
• Issued: 07/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Nagano, Akihiko, Konishi, Kazuki, Tsunekawa, Tokuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): ADAMS JR, RUSSELL E
• Application Number:
  US08/448,871
• Time in Patent Office: 1,882 Days
• Field of Search: 354/400, 354/404, 354/219, 354/62, 354/195.1, 354/289.1, 351/210, 396/51
• US Class Current: 396/51
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 13/02 Viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2213/025 Sightline detection

Abstract

A camera operating in a plurality of photographing modes is provided with an image receiver for receiving the optical image of an object, a viewfinder for observing the object therethrough, a display device for displaying the photographing modes in visually recognizable characters so that they can be seen through the viewfinder, detecting means for detecting the direction of the visual axis of the photographer gazing at desired one of the characters, means for causing the photographer to recognize the completion of the selection of the photographing mode, and a controller for setting the camera to the selected photographing mode in conformity with the result of the detection by the detecting means, and controlling the camera in the selected photographing mode.

Claims

1. A camera operable to perform a plurality of different functions, comprising:

viewfinder means for observing an object;

display means for displaying the plurality of different functions in visually recognizable characters within said viewfinder means;

determination means for determining a direction of a visual axis of a user corresponding to one of the characters;

means for operating said camera by a function selected by the user in response to a determination by said determination means; and

signaling means for producing a confirmation signal recognizable by the user to confirm selection of a function,

wherein said determination means calculates an angle of rotation of an eye of the user and an amount of shift of the eye from an optical axis of said determination means to determine a direction of the visual axis of the user based on such calculations.

2. A camera according to claim 1, further provided with manual input means for manually inputting the operating conditions of said selected function.

3. A camera according to claim 1, further provided with image forming means for optically forming the image of said object, and image receiving means for receiving said image.

4. A camera according to claim 3, further provided with light control means for controlling the light from said object received by said image receiving means, in conformity with said plurality of functions.

5. A camera according to claim 3, further provided with focus detecting means for detecting the focus-adjusted state of said image forming means and wherein one of said functions is to effect the focus adjustment of said image forming means in conformity with the result of the detection by said focus detecting means.

6. A camera according to claim 5, wherein said focus detecting means has a sub-function, subordinate to said one function, of detecting the focus adjusted state of said image forming means for an object entering predetermined one of a plurality of predetermined areas of the observation field.

7. A camera according to claim 1, further provided with:

observation means for enabling an object concerned with said apparatus to be observed simultaneously with the display by said display means;

image forming means for optically forming the image of said object;

image receiving means for receiving said image; and

light control means for controlling the light from said object received by said image receiving means, in conformity with said plurality of functions.

8. A camera according to claim 1, wherein even if the photographer'"'"'s eye deviates from a predetermined position, said determination means determines the direction of the visual axis in accordance with an algorithm compensating for the deviation.

9. A camera according to claim 8, wherein the deviation from said predetermined position is an alignment error.

10. A camera according to claim 8, wherein the deviation from said predetermined position is a spacing error.

11. A camera according to claim 1, wherein said selected function is an exposure control.

12. A camera according to claim 1 further comprising means for renewing the selected function.

13. A camera according to claim 12, wherein said renewing means starts to operate when the photographer gazes at one of said characters.

14. A camera operable in a plurality of photographing modes, comprising:

an image receiver for receiving an optical image of an object;

a viewfinder for observing the object therethrough;

a display device for displaying the plurality of photographing modes in visually recognizable characters observable through said viewfinder;

determination means for determining a visual axis of a photographer in a general direction and then determining the visual axis of the photographer in a precise direction, successively, wherein one of the plurality of photographic modes is selected when the direction of the visual axis determined by said determination means corresponds to the character representing said one of the plurality of photographic modes;

signaling means for producing a confirmation signal recognizable by the photographer to confirm selection of one of the plurality of photographing modes; and

a controller that sets said camera to a selected photographing mode in response to a determination by said determination means, and controls said camera in the selected photographing mode,

wherein said determination means calculates an angle of rotation of a eye of the photographer and an amount of shift of the eye from an optical axis of said determination means to determine a direction of the visual axis of the photographer based on such calculations.

15. A camera according to claim 14, further provided with a manual input device for manually inputting the operating conditions of said selected photographing mode.

16. A camera according to claim 14, further provided with a focus detecting device for detecting the focus-adjusted state of a photo-taking lens, said focus detecting device being controlled in the photographing mode selected by said controller.

17. A camera according to claim 16, wherein said focus detecting device is set to a single mode.

18. A camera according to claim 17, wherein said focus detecting device is set to a continuous mode.

19. An apparatus for determining the direction of visual axis, comprising:

an imaging optical system;

sensor means having a plurality of photosensors for receiving light reflected from an eye of an observer through said imaging optical system and generating an output signal including positional information concerning a plurality of mutually different points in an outside outline of an iris of the eye; and

a calculation device that receives the output signal of said sensor means, calculates an amount of angle of rotation of the observer'"'"'s eye and an amount of shift of the observer'"'"'s eye from an optical axis of said imaging optical system, by using the positional information concerning said plurality of mutually different points, and forms a signal indicative of the direction of the visual axis on the basis of the amount of rotation and the amount of shift.

20. A camera according to claim 19, further provided with an optical element for coupling said apparatus and the viewfinder of an optical instrument together.

21. A camera according to claim 20, wherein said optical element is a dichroic mirror.

22. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said sensor means is provided with a plurality of linear sensor arrays of photosensors.

23. A camera according to claim 19, wherein said sensor means is provided with a multi-line, two-dimensional photosensor array and said calculation device compares outputs from a plurality of lines of said two-dimensional sensor array.

24. A camera according to claim 19, wherein said calculation device calculates a distance between said imaging optical system and said observer'"'"'s eye using the information concerning the plurality of mutually different points, and calculation of the amount of rotation and the amount of shift is performed using the calculated distance.

25. A camera capable of being controlled in accordance with a direction of visual axis of a user, comprising:

displaying means for displaying a plurality of visually recognizable characters for indicating a plurality of mutually different photographing modes of said camera;

determining means for determining a direction of visual axis of the user selectively viewing one of the plurality of characters displayed in said displaying means;

inputting means for manually inputting a variable relating to each of said plurality of photographing modes; and

photographing means for controlling said camera according to the variable manually input by said inputting means with a photographing mode corresponding to a direction of the visual axis determined by said determining means.

26. A camera according to claim 25, wherein said determining means calculates an angle of rotation of an eye of the user and a position of the eye of the user relative to said determining means and calculates a direction of a visual axis of the user based on the calculated angle of rotation and position of the eye of the user.

27. A camera according to claim 26, wherein said determining means calculates the angle of rotation and the position of the eye of the user based on information relating to a boundary position between an iris and a white portion of the eye of said user.

28. A camera according to claim 25,

wherein said plurality of photographing modes include an aperture priority exposure mode and a shutter priority exposure mode.

29. An optical apparatus operable to perform a plurality of different functions, comprising:

viewfinder means for observing an object;

display means for displaying the plurality of different functions in visually recognizable characters within said viewfinder means;

determination means for determining a direction of a visual axis of a user corresponding to one of the characters;

means for operating said optical apparatus by a function selected by the user in response to a determination by said determination means; and

signaling means for producing a confirmation signal recognizable by the user to confirm selection of a function,

wherein said determination means calculates an angle of rotation of an eye of the user and an amount of shift of the eye from an optical axis of said determination means to determine a direction of the visual axis of the user based on such calculations.

30. An optical apparatus operable in a plurality of photographing modes, comprising:

an image receiver for receiving an optical image of an object;

a viewfinder for observing the object therethrough;

a display device for displaying the plurality of photographing modes in visually recognizable characters observable through said viewfinder;

determination means for determining a visual axis of a photographer in a general direction and then determining the visual axis of the photographer in a precise direction, successively, wherein one of the plurality of photographic modes is selected when the direction of the visual axis determined by said determination means corresponds to the character representing said one of the plurality of photographic modes;

signaling means for producing a confirmation signal to cause the photographer to confirm selection of one of the plurality of photographing modes; and

a controller that sets said camera to a selected photographing mode in response to a determination by said determination means, and controls said camera in the selected photographing mode,

wherein said determination means calculates an angle of rotation of a eye of the photographer and an amount of shift of the eye from an optical axis of said determination means to determine a direction of the visual axis of the photographer based on such calculations.

31. A camera capable of being controlled according to a direction of visual axis of a user, comprising:

display means for displaying a plurality of characters indicating mutually different exposure modes of said camera, said plurality of exposure modes including an aperture priority exposure mode and a shutter priority exposure mode;

detecting means for detecting to which character of said plurality characters said visual axis of said user is directed; and

means for controlling said camera so that a photographic operation is performed by one of said exposure modes according to a detection result of said detecting means.

32. A camera capable of being controlled according to a direction of visual axis of a user, comprising:

display means for displaying a plurality or characters indicating mutually different focus modes of said camera, said plurality of focus modes including a one shot focus mode and a servo focus mode;

detecting means or detecting to which character of said plurality of characters said visual axis of said user is directed; and

means for controlling said camera so that a photographic operation is performed by one of said focus modes according to a detecting result of said detecting means.

33. A camera capable of being controlled according to a direction of visual axis of a user, comprising:

display means for displaying a plurality of characters indicating mutually different exposure modes of said camera, said plurality of exposure modes including an automatic exposure mode and a manual exposure mode;

detecting means for detecting to which character of said plurality of characters said visual axis of said user is directed; and

means for controlling said camera so that a photographic operation is performed by one of said exposure modes according to a detection result of said detecting means.

34. A camera according to claim 33,

wherein said automatic exposure mode includes an aperture priority exposure mode and a shutter priority exposure model.

35. A camera capable of being controlled according to a direction of visual axis of a user, comprising:

display means for displaying a plurality of characters indicating mutually different focus modes of said camera, said plurality of focus modes including an automatic focus mode and a manual focus mode;

detecting means for detecting to which character of said plurality of characters said visual axis of said user is directed; and

means for controlling said camera so that a photographic operation is performed by one of said focus modes according to a detection result of said detecting means.

36. A camera according to claim 35,

wherein said automatic focus mode includes a one shot focus mode and a servo focus mode.

37. An apparatus comprising:

visual axis detecting means for detecting a direction of visual axis;

selecting means for selecting one setting mode from among a plurality of setting modes based on the direction of visual axis detected by said visual axis detecting means;

a manually operable member; and

setting means for performing a setting operation as to the one setting mode selected by said selecting means, in accordance with operation of said manually operable member.

38. An apparatus according to claim 37,

wherein said setting means changes a setting value as to the one setting mode selected by said selecting means.

39. An apparatus according to claim 37, further comprising:

displaying means for displaying a plurality of characters corresponding to the plurality of setting modes,

wherein said selecting means selects a setting mode corresponding to a specific character to which the direction of visual axis is directed.

40. An apparatus comprising:

visual axis detecting means for detecting a direction of visual axis;

first selecting means for selecting a setting mode capable of selecting a plurality of operational modes based on the direction of visual axis detected by said visual axis detecting means;

a manually operable member; and

second selecting means for selecting one operational mode from among the plurality of operational modes selected by said first selecting means in accordance with operation of said manually operable member.

41. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising:

displaying means for displaying a plurality of characters corresponding to the plurality of operational modes included in the setting mode,

wherein said first selecting means selects a setting mode to which an operational mode corresponding to a character to which the direction of visual axis is directed belongs.

42. An apparatus comprising:

visual axis detecting means for detecting a direction of visual axis;

a manually operable member for inputting a plurality of kinds of information; and

control means for changing over a kind of information which can be input by said manually operable member in accordance with the direction of visual axis detected by said visual axis detecting means.

43. An apparatus according to claim 42,

wherein said visual axis detecting means comprises a light-receiving sensor for light-receiving an image of an eyeball, and

wherein the visual axis is detected by using information as to an amount of rotation of the eyeball from the image of the eyeball light-received by said light-receiving sensor and information as to an amount of displacement between said light-receiving sensor and the eyeball.

44. An apparatus comprising:

visual axis detecting means for detecting a direction of visual axis;

a manually operable member; and

control means for inputting predetermined information in accordance with operation of said manually operable member when the visual axis detected by said visual axis detecting means lies in a predetermined direction and said manually operable member is operated.

45. An apparatus according to claim 44,

wherein said visual axis detecting means comprises a light-receiving sensor for light-receiving an image of an eyeball, and

wherein the visual axis is detected by using information as to an amount of rotation of the eyeball from the image of the eyeball light-received by said light-receiving sensor and information as to an amount of displacement between said light-receiving sensor and the eyeball.

46. A camera comprising:

a finder including a visual axis detecting apparatus, said visual axis detecting apparatus comprising;

a light source for illuminating an eye;

an image forming optical system for forming an image of the eye on an image sensor;

calculating means for detecting a plurality of positions in a boundary between an iris and a sclera of the image of the eye to obtain an angle of rotation of the eye and an amount of displacement of the eye with respect to said image forming system based on the detected result, thereby obtaining the direction of visual axis of the eye; and

a phototaking optical system for taking a photo of an object.

47. A camera comprising:

an imaging optical system;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor; and

calculating means for obtaining an angle of rotation of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from said eye to said image forming optical system;

wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points.

48. A camera according to claim 47, wherein said characterizing points correspond to points lying on a boundary between an iris and a sclera of the eye.

49. A camera comprising:

an imaging optical system;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor; and

calculating means for obtaining an amount of displacement of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from the eye to said image forming optical system;

wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points.

50. A camera according to claim 49, wherein said characterizing points correspond to points lying on a boundary between an iris and a sclera of the eye.

51. A camera comprising:

an imaging optical system;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor; and

calculating means for obtaining an angle of rotation of said eye and an amount of displacement of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from the eye to said image forming optical system and for obtaining a direction of visual axis of the eye based on the angle of rotation of the eye and the amount of displacement of the eye;

wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points.

52. A camera according to claim 51, wherein said characterizing points correspond to points lying on a boundary between an iris and a sclera of the eye.

53. A camera comprising:

a finder including a detecting apparatus, said detecting apparatus comprising;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor;

calculating means for obtaining an angle of rotation of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from said eye to said image forming optical system, wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points; and

a phototaking optical system for taking a photo of an object.

54. A camera comprising:

a finder including a detecting apparatus, said detecting apparatus comprising;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor;

calculating means for obtaining an amount of displacement of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from the eye to said image forming optical system, wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points; and

a phototaking optical system for taking a photo of an object.

55. A camera comprising:

a finder including a detecting apparatus, said detecting apparatus comprising;

a light source that illuminates an eye;

an image forming optical system that forms an image of the eye on an image sensor;

calculating means for obtaining an angle of rotation of said eye and an amount of displacement of the eye by using an output of said image sensor and a distance from the eye to said image forming optical system and obtaining a direction of visual axis of the eye based on the angle of rotation of the eye and the amount of displacement of the eye, wherein said calculating means detects positions of characterizing portions in the image on said image sensor to obtain the distance from the eye to said image forming optical system based on the positions of said characterizing points; and

a phototaking optical system for taking a photo of an image.