Remote gaze control system and method
The present invention provides techniques for directing the gaze of a subject whose image is captured by a camera, including the direction in which the subject looks, or the distance between the subject and the camera, in such a way that a visually appealing image can be captured by the camera, where a media professional (e.g., an interviewer or a director) or other person knowledgeable in media best practices is non co-located with the subject. The techniques enable the media professional to provide visual hints both manually and automatically to the remotely located subject.
1. A media capture device, comprising:
(a) a camera adapted for capturing one or more images of a human subject, a portion of which corresponds to an iris,
(b) an image analyzer, operatively coupled to the camera, for analyzing the one or more captured images to determine a current iris position of the human subject and a current distance between the human subject and the camera, and calculating at least one position characteristic comprising a desired distance between the human subject and the camera, and a desired gaze direction, and
(c) a screen, operatively coupled to the image analyzer, the screen content configured to subtly direct the human subject to assume the at least one position characteristic by displaying a visual hint, wherein the size of the visual hint varies depending on the desired distance between the human subject and the camera, and the visual hint moves on the screen in a direction of the desired gaze direction.
2. A method, comprising:
(a) receiving and analyzing, using at least one studio equipment, one or more images of a human subject to determine an iris position of the human subject and a current distance between the human subject and a camera, from at least one media capture device;
(b) calculating at least one position characteristic comprising a desired distance between the human subject to the camera and a desired gaze direction;
(c) sending, using the at least one studio equipment, the at least one position characteristic to the at least one media capture device; and
(d) displaying, on a screen, a visual hint in accordance with the at least one position characteristic, wherein the size of the visual hint varies depending on the desired distance between the human subject and the camera, and the visual hint moves on the screen in a direction of the desired gaze direction.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one position characteristic is determined by at least one of an at least one human operator, an at least one image analyzer, or an at least one combiner.