IP Library Granted Patent US 10,546,194
Granted Patent B2
US 10,546,194 · App. 15/511,489 · Granted Jan 28, 2020

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,546,194
App. No.
15/511,489
Granted
Jan 28, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is an information processing apparatus including: a detection unit configured to detect a corneal reflection image corresponding to light from a light source reflected at a cornea from a captured image in which an eye irradiated with the light from the light source is imaged. The detection unit estimates a position of a center of an eyeball on the basis of a plurality of time-series captured images each of which is the captured image according to the above, estimates a position of a center of the cornea on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball, estimates a position of a candidate for the corneal reflection image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the cornea, and detects the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the candidate for the corneal reflection image.

Claims (57)

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect a corneal reflection image corresponding to light from a light source reflected at a cornea from a captured image in which an eye irradiated with the light from the light source is imaged,

wherein the captured image of the eye includes a pupil of the eye, an eyeball of the eye, and the cornea of the eye,

wherein the detection unit

estimates a position of a center of the eyeball from the captured image on the basis of a plurality of time-series captured images each of which is the captured image according to the above,

estimates a position of a center of the pupil from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball,

estimates a position of a center of the cornea from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball and the estimated position of the center of the pupil,

estimates a position of a candidate for the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the cornea, and

detects the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the candidate for the corneal reflection image,

wherein the position of the center of the pupil, the position of the center of the cornea, and the position of the center of the eyeball are different from each other, and

wherein the detection unit is implemented via at least one processor.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the detection unit estimates, as the position of the center of the eyeball, a point of intersection of optical axis vectors at time points obtained on the basis of the plurality of time-series captured images.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the detection unit

estimates, as the position of the center of the cornea, a position that is on a line segment connecting the estimated position of the center of the eyeball and the estimated position of the center of the pupil and that is identified on the basis of information concerning the eye.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the detection unit estimates the position of the candidate for the corneal reflection image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the cornea, information concerning the eye, and a position of the light source.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the detection unit detects an optical axis vector on the basis of a position of the detected corneal reflection image, information concerning the eye, and a position of the light source.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 ,

wherein the detection unit detects the optical axis vector using two or more of

the position of the center of the cornea identified on the basis of positions of a plurality of the detected corneal reflection images, information concerning the eye, and positions of light sources,

a position of a center of a pupil identified on the basis of the identified position of the center of the cornea and information concerning the eye, and

the estimated position of the center of the eyeball.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 ,

wherein the detection unit corrects the optical axis vector using a set offset value.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:

a processing unit configured to perform processing using the optical axis vector,

wherein the processing unit is implemented via at least one processor.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 ,

wherein the captured image is captured by an imaging device included in a device usable by being worn on a user's head or an external imaging device connected to the device usable by being worn on the user's head, and

the processing unit detects a change in a wearing state of the device usable by being worn on the user's head on the basis of a distance between the optical axis vector detected at a first time point and the position of the center of the eyeball estimated at a second time point before the first time point.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an image recognition unit configured to recognize a pupil and the candidate for the corneal reflection image from the captured image,

wherein the detection unit detects the corneal reflection image using a recognition result of the image recognition unit, and

wherein the image recognition unit is implemented via at least one processor.

11. An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

detecting a corneal reflection image corresponding to light from a light source reflected at a cornea from a captured image in which an eye irradiated with the light from the light source is imaged,

wherein the captured image of the eye includes a pupil of the eye, an eyeball of the eye and the cornea of the eye,

wherein the detection includes

estimating a position of a center of the eyeball from the captured image on the basis of a plurality of time-series captured images each of which is the captured image according to the above,

estimating a position of a center of the pupil from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball,

estimating a position of a center of the cornea from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball and the estimated position of the center of the pupil,

estimating a position of a candidate for the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the cornea, and

detecting the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the candidate for the corneal reflection image, and

wherein the position of the center of the pupil, the position of the center of the cornea and the position of the center of the eyeball are different from each other.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to execute a method, the method comprising:

detecting a corneal reflection image corresponding to light from a light source reflected at a cornea from a captured image in which an eye irradiated with the light from the light source is imaged,

wherein the captured image of the eye includes a pupil of the eye, an eyeball of the eye and the cornea of the eye,

wherein the detection includes

estimating a position of a center of the eyeball from the captured image on the basis of a plurality of time-series captured images each of which is the captured image according to the above,

estimating a position of a center of the pupil from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball,

estimating a position of a center of the cornea from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the eyeball and the estimated position of the center of the pupil,

estimating a position of a candidate for the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the center of the cornea, and

detecting the corneal reflection image from the captured image on the basis of the estimated position of the candidate for the corneal reflection image, and

wherein the position of the center of the pupil, the position of the center of the cornea and the position of the center of the eyeball are different from each other.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 17, 2025
From: SONY CORPORATION
To: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 073986/0571 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 15, 2017
From: TSURUMI, SHINGO
To: SONY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 042019/0847 →