{
  "patent_number": "US 10878237",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Eye Tracking Systems Adapt When They Can't See Eye Glints",
  "original_title": "Systems and methods for performing eye gaze tracking",
  "summary": "This patent describes an eye-tracking system that intelligently switches between two methods: one using bright reflections on the eye when available, and another using head position and facial features when those reflections are absent.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent outlines a method for determining where a person is looking, called \"eye gaze vectors\" (Claim 1). It starts by capturing a series of images of the person's face and eyes using cameras. The system then looks for bright, mirror-like spots, called \"specular reflections,\" in these images and figures out their exact positions. It then decides if these bright spots are \"corneal reflections\" (glints from the surface of the eye itself) or other types of reflections (Claim 1). If the system finds at least one corneal reflection, it uses a \"first eye gaze tracking procedure\" (Claim 1). This procedure relies on the positions of these corneal reflections relative to other eye parts, like the pupil or iris (Claim 2). For example, if you're looking at a screen and a light source creates a glint on your eye, the system uses that glint and your pupil's position to figure out your gaze. However, if there are no corneal reflections detected, the system switches to a \"second eye gaze tracking procedure\" (Claim 1). This second method estimates the person's \"head pose\" (the 3D position and angle of their head) by tracking other facial features like eyelids, mouth corners, or even ears (Claim 3). It then uses this head pose to figure out where the eyes are looking. This dual approach ensures the system can track eye gaze even when lighting conditions are poor or reflections are obscured.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover eye tracking systems that *only* rely on corneal reflections without a fallback head-pose-based method.",
    "Does not cover eye tracking systems that *only* use head pose and facial features without first attempting to use corneal reflections.",
    "Does not cover systems that determine eye gaze solely from pupil dilation or eye color changes.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not differentiate between corneal and non-corneal reflections.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not capture a sequence of time-separated images."
  ],
  "filed": "2017-06-14",
  "granted": "2020-12-29",
  "expires": "2037-06-14",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Seeing Machines",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/seeing-machines",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Sebastien Rougeaux",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/sebastien-rougeaux"
    },
    {
      "name": "Timothy James Henry Edwards",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/timothy-james-henry-edwards"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 4,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "telecommunications",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "A method includes: capturing, from one or more imaging devices, a sequence of time separated images of the subject's face including one or both of the subject's eyes; processing the images to detect specular reflections present in the images, and determining a two dimensional position of any detected specular reflections; characterizing the detected specular reflections into corneal reflections and non-corneal reflections; upon detection of at least one corneal reflection, performing a first eye gaze tracking procedure based on the relative positions of the at least one corneal reflection and at least one reference eye feature; upon detection of no corneal reflections, performing a second eye gaze tracking procedure on one or both eyes of the subject based on the estimation of head pose of the subject; and outputting eye gaze vectors of one or both eyes from the first or second eye gaze tracking procedure.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10878237/systems-and-methods-for-performing-eye-gaze-tracking",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10878237/systems-and-methods-for-performing-eye-gaze-tracking/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10878237",
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}