Device and method for determining the orientation of an eye

• US 8,382,285 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2011
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Metaio GmbH (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Eberl, Roland, Eberl, Heinrich A., Dickerson, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Jack
• Application Number:
  US13/300,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20120300978A1
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: 351/200, 351/205, 351/206, 351/208, 351/209, 351/210, 351/221, 351/246
• US Class Current: 351/210
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/12 for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes A61B3/13 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/14 Arrangements specially adapted for eye photography apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0174 holographic
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/32 Holograms used as optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

In a device or a method for determining the direction of vision of an eye, a starting point or a final point of a light beam reflected by a part of the eye and detected by a detector system, or of a light beam projected by a projection system onto or into the eye two-dimensionally, describes a pattern of a scanning movement in the eye. The inventive method uses a displacement device that guides the center of the pattern of movement into the pupil or macula center of the eye, and a determination device that uses the pattern of movement of the scanning movement to determine the pupil center or macula center.

Claims

1. A device for determining the position and/or the orientation of an eye, comprising:

a detector system for detecting light reflected by at least a part of the eye, wherein the position of the pupillary center of the eye is determined from the detected light and is used for determining the position and/or orientation of the eye relative to the device,

a camera for capturing a first camera image and at least a second camera image by photographing the environment at a time interval from one another, wherein said camera is rigidly connected with the device,

wherein the first camera image and the at least second camera image are compared with one another in a common coordinate system for determining the position and/or orientation of the device relative to the environment; and

a projection system for projecting perceivable information into the eye such that it is correlated with the determined position and/or orientation of the eye and the determined position and/or orientation of the device,

wherein the device is integrated into a portable object which is movable relative to the environment and relative to a carrier of the device.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison of the first camera image and the at least second camera image comprises identifying at least one significant pattern of the environment in the first camera image and in the at least second camera image, and determining the orientation of the device with respect to the environment from the change of position of at least one significant pattern of the environment in the common coordinate system.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the projection system projects such that the projected perceivable information appears stationary relative to the environment.

4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a means for determining the distance of the pupillary center of the eye from the detector and determining the three-dimensional position of the eye from the determined position of the pupillary center of the eye and the determined distance from the detector.

5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an orientation determining device comprising a GPS receiver and the pertaining analysis device for determining the position of the device from received GPS signals, wherein the orientation determining device is fixedly connected to the device.

6. A device for determining the position and/or orientation of an eye, comprising:

a detector system for detecting at least one environment reflex image by detecting ambient light which is incident on and at least partially reflected by a part of the eye,

a camera for capturing at least one environment image by photographing the perceived environment,

wherein said camera is rigidly connected with the device,

a determination device which identifies a significant structure in both the environmental reflex image and the environment image and determines the orientation of the eye relative to the environment from the spatial assignment of the positions of said significant structure in the environmental reflex image and the environment image;

a projection system for projecting perceivable information into the eye such that it is correlated with the determined position and/or orientation of the eye,

wherein the device is integrated into a portable object which is movable relative to the environment and relative to a carrier of the device.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the determination device identifies a significant structure in both the environmental reflex image and the environment image by means of pattern identification.

8. The device according to claim 6, wherein said camera is arranged approximately confocal with respect to the eye.

9. The device according to claim 6, wherein the deviations of the determined position data of said significant structure from previously stored position data of this significant structure are used for the determination of the spatial position and/or orientation of the eye.

10. The device according to claim 6, with a projection device which projects perceivable information into the eye such that it is correlated with the determined orientation of the eye.

11. The device according to claim 6, comprising an orientation determining device, particularly at least one from laser triangulation, radar, GPS receiver, for determining the orientation of the device relative to the environment.

12. A device for determining the position and/or the orientation of an eye, comprising:

a detector system for detecting light reflected by a part of the eye,

wherein the position of the pupillary center of the eye is determined from the detected light and is used for determining the position and/or orientation of the eye relative to the device,

an orientation determining device comprising a GPS receiver and a pertaining analysis device for determining the position of the device from received GPS signals, wherein the orientation determining device is fixedly connected to the device; and

a projection system for projecting perceivable information into the eye such that it is correlated with the determined position and/or orientation of the eye and the determined position and/or orientation of the device,

wherein the device is integrated into a portable object which is movable relative to the environment and relative to a carrier of the device.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the projection system projects such that the projected perceivable information appears stationary relative to the environment.

14. The device according to claim 12, further comprising a means for determining the distance of the pupillary center of the eye from the detector and determining the three-dimensional position of the eye from the determined position of the pupillary center of the eye and the determined distance from the detector.

15. The device according to claim 12, further comprising a camera for capturing a first camera picture and at least a second camera picture by photographing the environment at a time interval from one another,

wherein said camera is rigidly connected with the device, and

wherein the first camera image and the at least second camera image are compared with one another in a common coordinate system for determining the change of position and/or orientation of the device relative to the environment.