IP Library Granted Patent US 11,435,820
Granted Patent B1
US 11,435,820 · App. 16/414,680 · Granted Sep 6, 2022

Gaze detection pipeline in an artificial reality system

Inventors: Seth Michael Hirsh (Seattle, WA); Qing Chao (Redmond, WA); Robert Dale Cavin (Seattle, WA); Elias Daniel Guestrin (Redmond, WA); Michael Hall (Bellevue, WA)
Assignee: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
G06F3/013G02B27/0093G02B27/0172G06N20/10G06N20/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,435,820
App. No.
16/414,680
Granted
Sep 6, 2022
Kind
B1
Abstract

One embodiment of the present disclosure sets forth a method that includes receiving one or more two-dimensional images of one or more light patterns incident on an eye proximate to an eye region of a near-eye display device, and computing a gaze direction associated with the eye based on the one or more two-dimensional images.

Claims (30)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, from one or more sensor devices included in a near-eye display device, sensor data associated with an eye proximate to an eye region of the near-eye display device;

generating, based on the sensor data, a segmented three-dimensional depth map of the eye, wherein the segmented three-dimensional depth map identifies one or more components of the eye; and

applying at least one of a first trained machine learning model or a plane fitting technique to the segmented three-dimensional depth map to determine a gaze direction associated with the eye, wherein the gaze direction is based on a foveal angular offset with respect to a pupillary axis of the eye and an estimated center of the iris.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the segmented three-dimensional depth map comprises:

applying a second trained machine learning model to at least a portion of the sensor data to generate the segmented three-dimensional depth map, wherein the second trained machine learning model is trained on annotated sensor data associated with other eyes.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first trained machine learning model is trained on annotated segmented three-dimensional depth maps of other eyes, and wherein one or more annotations on each of the annotated segmented three-dimensional depth maps identifies a corresponding gaze direction.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plane fitting technique comprises:

determining a vector that is normal to a plane of an iris segment included in the segmented three-dimensional depth map, and

the gaze direction is associated with the vector.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data comprises at least one image of one or more light patterns incident on the eye.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data comprises one or more two-dimensional red, green, blue (RGB) images of the eye.

7. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving, from one or more sensor devices included in a near-eye display device, sensor data associated with an eye proximate to an eye region of the near-eye display device;

generating, based on the sensor data, a segmented three-dimensional depth map of the eye, wherein the segmented three-dimensional depth map identifies one or more components of the eye; and

applying at least one of a first trained machine learning model or a plane fitting technique to the segmented three-dimensional depth map to determine a gaze direction associated with the eye, wherein the gaze direction is based on a foveal angular offset with respect to a pupillary axis of the eye and an estimated center of the iris.

8. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 7 , wherein generating the segmented three-dimensional depth map comprises:

applying a second trained machine learning model to at least a portion of the sensor data to generate the segmented three-dimensional depth map,

wherein the second trained machine learning model is trained on annotated sensor data associated with other eyes.

9. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 7 , wherein the first trained machine learning model is trained on annotated segmented three-dimensional depth maps of other eyes, and wherein one or more annotations on each of the annotated segmented three-dimensional depth maps identifies a corresponding gaze direction.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 7 , wherein the plane fitting technique comprises determining a vector that is normal to a plane of an iris segment included in the segmented three-dimensional depth map, and wherein the gaze direction is associated with the vector.

11. A near-eye display system, comprising:

a structured light generator configured to project one or more light patterns into an eye region of a near-eye display device;

an image capture device configured to capture one or more two-dimensional images of the one or more light patterns incident on an eye proximate to the eye region; and

a feature generator configured to determine one or more features of the eye based on the captured one or more two-dimensional images by:

receiving, from the image capture device, the one or more two-dimensional images,

generating, based on the one or more two-dimensional images, a three-dimensional depth map of the eye,

segmenting the three-dimensional depth map to generate a segmented three-dimensional depth map of the eye, wherein the segmented three-dimensional depth map identifies one or more components of the eye, and

applying at least one of a trained machine learning model or a plane fitting technique to the segmented three-dimensional depth map to determine a gaze direction associated with the eye, wherein the gaze direction is based on a foveal angular offset with respect to a pupillary axis of the eye and an estimated center of the iris.

12. The near-eye display system of claim 11 , wherein the feature generator generates the three-dimensional depth map by extracting depth information associated with the eye from the one or more two-dimensional images.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jul 12, 2022
From: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
To: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 060637/0858 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE THE FIRST INVENTOR NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 050765 FRAME: 0204. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Aug 23, 2021
From: HIRSH, SETH MICHAEL; CHAO, QING; CAVIN, ROBERT DALE; GUESTRIN, ELIAS DANIEL; HALL, MICHAEL
To: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 057256/0110 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 18, 2019
From: HIRSH, SETH; CHAO, QING; CAVIN, ROBERT DALE; GUESTRIN, ELIAS DANIEL; HALL, MICHAEL
To: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 050765/0204 →
Cited By (7)
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